GWENPOOL #17
Writer: Chris Hastings
Artist: Gurihiru
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Release Date: 06/14/17
Price: $3.99
Gwen may be back in the “normal” world – but the comic world still won’t leave Gwen alone. What ensues is a psychological thriller for the ages!
Plot
Gwen is living a normal life – she has a job, she has a family and she for sure is not seeing comic book panels. It starts off mundane enough, with Gwen working her job at a movie theatre listening to a guy talk about Winter Solider. Soon after, Gwen brings up how she is seeing comic panels. Totally normal. The rest of the issue is comprised of Gwen realizing the panels are there and letting them interact with her. She takes it too far when one of them ends up pushing her out of a window. This lands her in a hospital, the doctor saying she needs to have an eye kept on her. Gwen, knowing it will cause her more harm than good, continues to interact with the panels. She knows her brain is breaking and she is willing to push it to the limit to find out what’s going on. And what her brother seems to be hiding from her.
Story
Chris Hastings delivers one of the most creative arcs in recent comic history. Gwenpool is a story built upon playing with the 4th wall and taking meta to an extreme. Hastings amps this concept up even more by turning it into a psychological thriller – Gwen is hospitalized for falling out of her window for seeing comic panels. No longer is the 4th wall simply a fun joke to play with, instead, it is a very serious epidemic forming for Gwen. Last issue, which was dull and slow, now is seen as a tactic by Hastings – it makes this issue shine even brighter.
There are so many possibilities for where this story arc could go. Will Gwen make it back to the Marvel universe? Or is her story going to linger in the comic world she so clearly is in already? Will Gwen remember her time in the Marvel universe? What exactly is this super power forming for Gwen? It’s all these questions that make this story even better. Giving readers all the clear-cut answers is easy, Hastings delivers something harder. He is putting forward a story that is creative, genre-bending, and leaving readers wanting more. Allowing Gwenpool to not simply rely on the 4th wall breaking in the same way Deadpool does, but changing it to make it so different and entirely Gwen’s is marvelous and a testament to her character.
Art
Gurihiru is a pair of visionary geniuses. An issue that was centered on a creative arc needed creative art to match. The colors remained as vibrant as ever despite Gwen not being in the comic world. Her facial expressions never seemed to reach the full Gwenpool happiness level, she always looked annoyed or sad. Where this issue shines in art is the meta scenes they depicted.
Gwenpool hold its place as one of the best 4th wall breaking things in media. The answers readers so desperately are craving will hopefully be given to us soon. The wait is killing me! Then there is also the art done by Gurihiru – always going where we least expect it to go. If you haven’t read Gwenpool consider this issue a wake up call to do so! It’s been a joy to read and it seems to not be stopping now.
Star Rating
5/5