Gwenpool Strikes Back #3 // Review
If you want nothing more than fanservice this story is great—you can see your favorite heroes fight one on one in their swimsuits. But fanservice isn’t enough to carry an entire story. While the premise is unique and the team talented— writer Leah Williams, artist David Baldeón, color artist Jesus Aburtov, and letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna—. This issue falls victim to over ambition as too much is done with too little time and space.
Gwen’s newest idea to stick around in the comics universe is by playing to her bad side. By luring some recognizable faces (Captain America, Tony Stark, Black Widow, Thor, etc.) to a deserted island, she plans to have everyone fight each other before the winner faces her. After that, she’ll fight the final opponent and win, be the bad guy, and solidify her spot in the ongoing Marvel lineup. It’s a crazy plan, but it’s Gwenpool- that’s what she does.
Pulling out all of Gwenpools tricks, breaking the fourth wall, traveling off-panel, and showing flashbacks is too much for one story. Many scenes end up falling flat because too much effort was put into making them humorous. Gwenpool is often off-the-wall and spontaneous, but a lot of the references in this story feel forced or don’t make sense and feel like a failed attempt at ‘random’ humor.
The art in this issue is its saving grace. Didn’t get enough of America’s ass in Endgame? Don’t worry, Steve Rogers apparently owns denim booty shorts. It’s an interesting character choice, but who’s complaining? And fanservice aside (hello Steve/Bucky ship reference), it’s a lot of fun to see Baldeón’s take on so many different Marvel characters from Kate Bishop to Tony Stark.
With Gwenpool trying every idea she can to boost her sales and keep a solo series, some of those ideas are bound to fail. So far, they’ve failed on the page, but the execution of the actual story has been good. This time, however, things didn’t work out in either situation. But there’s always next month.
