So I've read Spider-Gwen Smash #1 and have many thoughts to share with you. First of all I'm absolutely loving what they're doing with Gwen in this. Her not feeling at home in her home dimention was such a cool plot point from her Ghost-Spider run that really deserved to be explored further and i'm glad they're finally doing that. There is this quote from that run that really stuck with me:
I’m not alright. I don’t even know what ‘all right’ is anymore. Is it saving the city? Because I did that, and they hated me. Is it making amends? Because I did that too. And they still hated me. Is it burying my friends because I’ve buried so many of the people I loved. And when I buried Peter, they hated me for that too. I don’t belong here. I can’t… I chose this world. Out of an entire multiverse. I chose my world. When does it start choosing me?
I don't know why but that piece of dialogue really hit hard for me in that run and I always wanted them to explore how travelling the multiverse is a form of escapism for Gwen for all the stuff she has and is dealing with on her home dimention. The whole setup of her having to figure out what exactly makes her want to stay even if she doesn't feel at home there is so good. And I have my theories as to what those other reasons will end up being
Secondly the dynamic between Gwen and the Mary Janes is so good in this. I always liked her struggle between wanting to be there for the band so bad but knowing she can't due to being spider-gwen. It's really cool that they're expanding on that, and the whole vibe of both Gwen and the band wanting her to be a part of it so bad but knowing that it won't always work is so good. The dynamic between MJ and Gwen especially was really good. They share so much history and a lot of it is very unexplored so I hope they touch upon that in future issues. But the small scene when they're doing the soundcheck and talk about the events of Gwenom vs Carnage and how this time they want it to be just them was so good. I really appreciated that.
I'm glad George Stacy is a prominent figure in this as well, his absence was very much felt in the last two mini's. He's such an integral part to Gwen's story in her first run and I love their bond so much. The conversation they shared on the rooftop was very good.
I also liked the new characters in this. Dazzler is such a cool hero especially visually. But the standout for me was earth-65 black widow. One of my fav things about earth-65 is the very unique and different takes on the characters. So I'm super intrigued as to what they'll be doing with her. She seems to be a very influential and powerful person in this universe. So I really wanna know what's up with that, especially because she's aware of her other multiversal variants.
Also thank God they gave an explenation for the ending of her ghost-spider run. So glad it finally got acknowledged because it was getting ridiculous. Nat being behind fixing that whole situation is super interesting though. I hope they go more in detail with that because Sue and Johnny were litterally unbeatable villains for gwen at the end of her ghost-spider run. So I want to know to what extent Nat's influence goes and how she made them "dissapear" like that.
All by all this issues lays some amazing groundwork for what's to come. Flores absolutely nails the characterization for all the characters in this in my opinion. Feels very true to how the characters were in her debut run while still keeping in mind all the character progression and arcs they went through. I'm really excited to see how the dynamic between Gwen & MJ and the band will evolve. Especially if they figure out that the only reason they got this gig was due to gwen being ghost-spider, the only thing they asked her not to bring to the tour. Earth-65 bruce banner also seems to be a wildly different character, interested in seeing how he'll be like. But yeah this was a very good issue. I think they captured the vibe of earth-65 rly well along with the vibe of each of the characters. It's very on point in my opinion.
One small nitpick I have is how on the first page of the issue they mention how gwen is a teenager despite her being like 20-21. Surprised that made it to the final print because this issue is very good with keeping in mind her previous stories and in her first run Gwen litterally mentions how she's 19 and jokes about barely being a teenager anymore (and that's even before she spends a year in prison!). So I'm super excited for how everything will evolve from here.