The first issue of Marvel’s Spider-Gwen was released on Wednesday, and comic book fans are raving about the female-driven take on Spider-Man.

Spider-Gwen Hits Shelves

In Spider-Gwen, Gwen Stacy, known as Spider-Man/Peter Parker’s first true love, takes center stage as the web-slinging superhero. Most recently, Gwen Stacy has been seen on the big screen in The Amazing Spider-Man movies played by Emma Stone. But, as most fans know, Gwen Stacy died in the original Spider-Man comics. In the Spider-Gwen universe, however, it’s Gwen who was bitten by the radioactive spider, and Peter who died. Now Gwen is trying to clean up the streets of New York while also drumming in her girl band called The Mary Janes.

The Origins Of Spider-Gwen

The character of Spider-Gwen was first introduced in Edge of Spider-Verse #2, which was released in September 2014, and fans flocked to see a character previously dubbed Peter Parker’s trophy girlfriend as the hero.

Written by Jason Latour with illustrations from Robbi Rodriguez, Spider-Gwen exists in a universe where she is the only Spidey superhero around. And Latour is hoping that Spider-Man’s absence from the new universe will help set her apart. “The other Spider-Women all co-exist with Peter and share the same threats and allies. And there are lots of cool things about that, but Gwen has her own stream, one that’s free to flow wherever it takes us,” Latour said in October.

Rodriguez added that, as the illustrator, he took great pains to ensure that the costume wasn’t objectifying. In fact, in the photos of Spider-Gwen in her suit, she shows no cleavage, as is normally seen in female superheroes, and is wearing pants, not a short skirt.

“I also wanted a look that even if someone draws her in an objective manner, it will just look wrong. I’m not against cheesecake, but doing a design that forces the hand to step away from it is just refreshing in my opinion,” Rodriguez explained.

That real desk shot: boys don’t far cry. #spidergwen

A photo posted by robbi rodriguez (@robbirodriguez) on Dec 10, 2014 at 2:22pm PST

Spider-Gwen #1 is currently available in stores and online. Spider-Gwen #2 will be released on March 11.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.