A Clone of a Clone? Really, Marvel?

Remember earlier this year when Marvel made a big deal out of Gwen Stacy (the real, original one) coming back from the dead? It was going to happen in a new, "Gwenpool," mini-series where Gwen Poole (she's kind of like Deadpool but even more prone to meta-antics) would confront a newly alive and suddenly evil Gwen Stacy. Well, after all the hubbub that caused online the fourth issue this week revealed that the Gwen Stacy we've been watching get up to no good is a clone...of a clone. Yes, really.

Gwen Poole was killed by Gwen Stacy earlier in the series but has managed to exist as a spirit, possessing folks. She goes into the mind of Gwen Stacy and we see how a different Stacy clone from a previous comic event called the, "Clone Conspiracy," (Poole knows she's a comic character and everyone else is too) had a clone made of that clone. Gwen Poole commenting on how absurd this is doesn't excuse how lame this is--pointing out your own lazy writing in a book does not make up for said lazy writing. If you kinda squint, it is a clever commentary on the lack of ideas in comics, but we got to that point through a lot of B.S.

Perhaps if Marvel hadn't promoted this as the, "Real," Gwen Stacy coming back from the dead, it would feel less like a bait-and-switch (which, again, the text itself admits). Saying from the start, "There is a mystery about this Gwen Stacy and her claims," would have made this less annoying than Marvel trumpeting, "The OG Gwen is coming back, guys/gals, totally for real!" I get that Gwen Poole's whole gimmick is being meta about comics and making fun of their tendency to do silly storylines, but this is a serious case of a comic wanting to have its cake and eat it too, as the weird old saying goes. I'm perturbed by this messy plotting and the bizarre way it was promoted, clearly.

Gwen Stacy is Set to Come Back From the Dead as a Villain

Marvel has very few characters who have died and stayed dead. Two of them relate to Spider-Man, Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy. There are versions of them in other realities that are alive, but in the main Marvel continuity, they've stayed dead from the Spidey's start (Ben) or for decades (Gwen). Other characters who were dead for a long time came back and it worked out, however--look at Bucky/Winter Soldier. With that in mind, Gwen Stacy is coming back from the dead, it seems, as a baddie. She'll be returning in a new, "Gwenpool," mini-series. Who is Gwenpool? Allow me to explain.

Spider-Man and a character named Gwen Poole who was Gwenpool at points (no relation to Gwen Stacy, she's more like Deadpool, it's weird) are going to have to fight against a new Gwenpool who appears to be villainous and is the original Gwen Stacy back from the dead...for reasons? I get the shock value of the O.G. Gwen coming back from the dead even if it is a little less wild with Spider-Gwen having existed for a while (she's an alternate Universe Gwen who pops into the main Marvel Universe a lot). Still, doesn't this kind of take away from the long-lasting impact of Gwen's death? 

I'm not going to judge a story before it releases, but it just cheapens a huge story that has had repercussions for years on Spidey/Peter Parker. This could be a fun yarn, but it just feels like Marvel is grasping at straws with this idea. Again, once the latest, "Gwenpool," mini-series starts it might make a good argument for Gwen coming back, but right now I'm more bewildered than excited at the idea.