Spider-Geddon

This collection is something of a mix. The individual stories are good, but they're all segments of something larger, most of which isn't included here, making the end result rather disappointing. The main story is a side trip within a larger storyline, in which Gwen explores yet another parallel universe - one where her local counterpart is a supervillain. There are a number of twists on the characters here, as usual in these alternate reality stories and it's a decent cutaway from the main plot, but hard to see as any more than that. It's followed by a one-episode piece reflecting on loss, which makes even less sense out of its context. And then, for some peculiar reason, there's a repeat of the first section of the longer story, with a different artist. It's a bit like the alternate covers that always round out these collections, but lasting several pages... I'm not clear what the point was, to be honest.

I'm excited that Seanan McGuire is writing for Marvel! I'm less excited about another big crossover event that I guess this tied into?? I haven't read any of the other, uh, Spider-Geddon (sure) books and at first this was a lil confusing. I guess I got the gist of it but, ugh, quit it.

That said, I love Seanan's writing and the way Gwen's personality shines out here despite the confusing setting! I'm excited to read continuing volumes where hopefully we can just get Gwen being Gwen without so much multi-verse shenanigans.