The Night Gwen Stacy Died

Cover to Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #121, "The Night Gwen Stacy Died."

"The Night Gwen Stacy Died" is a story arc of the Marvel Comics comic book series The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1, #121-122 (June-July 1973), that became a watershed effect in the life of the superhero Spider-Man, one of popular culture's most enduring and recognizable fictional characters. The two-issue story, written by Gerry Conway, with pencil art by Gil Kane and inking by John Romita Sr. and Tony Mortellaro, features Spider-Man's fight against his archnemesis, the Green Goblin, who has abducted his girlfriend Gwen Stacy and lured him to the George Washington Bridge.

Plot

Prior to this arc, Norman Osborn had been the Green Goblin, but came down with amnesia, suspending his identity as the supervillain and most notably forgetting that Spider-Man and Peter Parker are the same person. Also, Harry Osborn, Peter's best friend and Norman's son, became addicted to drugs and was sequestered in the Osborn home for detoxification in order to keep a potentially embarrassing issue from becoming public and hurting Norman Osborn's business.

The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1, #122 (June 1973). Cover art by John Romita Sr.

Peter, his girlfriend Gwen Stacy, and friend Mary Jane Watson visit Harry, who is in a sorry state. His father Norman is livid about Harry's condition, blames Peter, Gwen, and Mary Jane for Harry's drug abuse, and throws them out. When Norman hears that he is facing financial ruin, he suffers a breakdown, and suddenly remembers everything. Norman again becomes the Green Goblin and makes it his goal to kill Peter/Spider-Man for all the misery he imagines Spider-Man has caused him and his family.

The Green Goblin abducts Gwen and lures Spider-Man to the George Washington Bridge. Holding an unconscious Gwen, he gloats at Peter. The two fight, and just when Spider-Man seems to get hold of Gwen, Norman hurls her off the bridge. Spider-Man shoots a web strand at her legs, and catches her. As he pulls her up, he thinks he has saved her. However, he soon realizes she is already dead. Peter is unsure whether the whiplash from her sudden stop broke her neck or if Osborn had broken it previously, but he blames himself for her death regardless. The Green Goblin escapes, and Peter cries over Gwen's corpse and swears deadly revenge.

Spider-Man tracks Green Goblin down to a warehouse where Peter beats Norman to a pulp. But he cannot bring himself to kill him and freezes. Norman uses the opportunity to send his glider to impale Spider-Man from behind. Warned by his spider-sense, Peter jumps away just in time, and the glider instead impales the Green Goblin and seemingly kills him.

Peter goes home, feeling washed-out, hurt, and deeply empty. When he meets Mary Jane, her sympathy is lost on him. He only sees MJ as a carefree party girl, unable to feel his pain. But then, Mary Jane also cries, and for the first time, the two characters relate.

Significance

• The death of Gwen Stacy shocked the American comic book community. Previously, it had been unthinkable to kill off such an important character -- the girlfriend of the main character and a character with a large fanbase. This story arc is considered one of the markers of the end of the Silver Age of Comic Books, and the beginning of the darker, grittier Bronze Age.
• A fan poll conducted by Marvel Comics for their series The 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time voted The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #121 and 122 to be the 6th and 19th greatest, respectively..
• The 36th (2006) edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide lists the values of Amazing Spider-Man #121 and #122 with a grade of NM- (CGC grade 9.2) or better as starting at $300. Prices decline sharply for lower-graded copies (common for books of that age), but can be much higher for pristine copies.
• The story arc galvanized the personality of Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man's future wife. She played a strong role in supporting Peter after the death of his girlfriend and changed from a carefree party girl into a much deeper and more responsible character.
• In the following story arc, an important Marvel Comics character, the Punisher, is introduced. He is hired by the Jackal to hunt down Spider-Man. The Jackal convinces him that Spider-Man actually killed Gwen.
• Gwen's death is one of the few comic book deaths that stuck. Excluding the Gwen Stacy clone that the Jackal created, she has stayed dead, joining Uncle Ben in a very exclusive club of characters who were never resurrected. Many feel that resurrecting her would be akin to resurrecting Thomas and Martha Wayne, Batman's parents.

Controversy

Behind the scenes

The question arises why exactly Gwen was killed off in the first place. Gwen was a popular character on a popular comic: killing her could have easily damaged the sales and reputation of the Spider-Man comic. In a nutshell, Gwen Stacy had to die because the creators wanted her to die.

According to Comic Buyer's Guide, it was a decision made jointly by Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr. and editor Roy Thomas. They killed Gwen because they did not know what to do with her anymore. Gwen and Peter had grown so close that they were bound to get married, but nobody at Marvel wanted a married Spider-Man: it would have drastically aged him and would have made plotting difficult. At the time, he was still a college student in his late teens. Furthermore, a breakup would have appeared unrealistic.

In the comic book collection The 100 Greatest Marvels Of All Time: #9-6 (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #121 was the #6 comic), Conway explained that Gwen and Peter were a "perfect couple", but taking that relationship to the next level (i.e. marriage or at least Peter revealing his secret identity to her) would "betray everything that Spider-Man was about", i.e. personal tragedy and anguish as root of Peter's life as Spider-Man. Killing Gwen Stacy was a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: breaking up the "unfitting" relationship and reinforcing the element of personal tragedy which was, in his opinion, the essence of Spider-Man.

In 1987, Peter Parker married Mary Jane Watson. Most of the points which led to the death of Gwen Stacy apply to MJ, too. But unlike Gwen, MJ was allowed to marry Peter, and the marriage is very popular in fandom and has heightened Spider-Man's appeal rather than destroying it. While Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada stated in an interview with Wizard Magazine that he felt MJ's presence does lessen Spider-Man's appeal with young readers, past attempts to write out the character have been unpopular and short-lasting. While Gwen was popular, fans seemed to prefer the more vivacious Mary Jane, and when Spider-Man and Mary Jane were married in 1987, he was no longer in college and therefore seemed older anyway, at least in his early twenties.

Misogyny

Gwen Stacy's death is listed on the website Women in Refrigerators as an example of a trend in superhero comics whereby female characters tend to suffer more than their male counterparts. Gail Simone, the creator of the list, observed that almost all female superheroes are inevitably tortured, maimed, killed, or otherwise traumatized. The site also notes that, unlike male characters, when a female character is injured or killed, she is not allowed to return to her former status quo. Similarly, the wives and girlfriends of male superheroes also frequently meet grim fates, a tendency which was referred to as "The Gwen Stacy Syndrome" by the Comics Buyer's Guide. While the death of Gwen Stacy storyline is not individually singled out as being misogynistic on Women in Refrigerators, it was frequently referenced in discussions about the trend.

Which bridge

It is unclear from which bridge Gwen fell. The bridge in the original issue of Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #121 was stated in the text to be the George Washington Bridge. The Pulse #4 (September 2004) also states the bridge to be the George Washington Bridge.

However, the art of Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #121 depicts the Brooklyn Bridge. Some reprints of the issue have had the text amended and now state the bridge to be the Brooklyn Bridge rather than the George Washington Bridge. Also, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #147-148 (1975) and Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) Annual #21 (1987) imply that Gwen fell off the Brooklyn Bridge. In a television interview for the Travel Channel's "Marvel Superheroes Guide to New York City" (2004), Stan Lee said that the artist for the issue had drawn the Brooklyn Bridge, but that he (as editor) mistakenly labeled it the George Washington Bridge.

Further confusing the issue, Mary Jane Watson was thrown off the Queensboro Bridge in both Ultimate Spider-Man #25 and the Spider-Man movie, while in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Mary Jane is thrown off the George Washington Bridge.

Cause of death

Gwen's death in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1, #121.

The greatest source of controversy is Gwen's cause of death. There are three possibilities:

• Gwen died from the "shock of the fall" itself.
• Gwen had already been killed by the Goblin before the fall.
• Gwen died from having her neck broken by shock of the web catching her.

Shock of the fall

The Goblin told Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #121 that the shock of the fall killed Gwen--"Romantic idiot! She was dead before your webbing reached her! A fall from that height would kill anyone—before they struck the ground!" This may have been a lie or a delusion.

Spider-Man may half-believe the "shock of the fall" argument as a way of denying his guilt for the possibility of accidental death.

Already dead

When she is thrown off the bridge, Gwen appears to be either unconscious or dead, leading to speculation as to whether she was dead already. Then there was nothing Spider-Man could have done, and the Goblin pushing her body off the bridge was just to torment his enemy with the possibility he had accidentally killed her.

Accidental death

Spider-Man himself worries that it was the sudden stop, and he torments himself with the what-if question that if he had not stopped her fall, she might have survived hitting the water below (though a realistic assessment indicates that hitting the water from that height would have probably killed her anyway). Indeed, in What If? (vol. 1) #24, Spider-Man saves Gwen not by letting her fall, but by being able to leap down in time to catch her.

The original comic features a "snap" sound effect next to her head in the panel in which Spider-Man's webbing catches her. Some believe this indicates that her neck is broken by being caught by Spider-Man's web. In the History Channel special Spider-Man Tech, Stan Lee himself alludes to this hypothesis. Others do not think this sound effect implies this. Further confusing the issue, some reprints of the story take out the "snap" sound effect.

Writer Gerry Conway admitted that he added the "snap" into the story to torture readers with the distinct possibility that Spider-Man himself may have inadvertently killed Gwen, a "snap" that neither Spider-Man nor the Green Goblin heard (hence the Goblin's assumption in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #121 that the shock of the fall killed Gwen - "Romantic idiot! She was dead before your webbing reached her! A fall from that height would kill anyone—before they struck the ground!")

In The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #125 (October 1973), Roy Thomas wrote in the letters column that "it saddens us to have to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her. In short, it was impossible for Peter to save her. He couldn't have swung down in time; the action he did take resulted in her death; if he had done nothing, she still would certainly have perished. There was no way out." They also explained that Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, and Stan Lee had decided that she had to die because Peter Parker wasn't ready for marriage, and the relationship was too often off and on again.

This also follows with what physicist and comic collector James Kakalios has written in his book The Physics of Superheroes, which states that physically, it was the whiplash effect which killed her.

Replays

Several subsequent issues have echoed Gwen's death when others fell from great heights during Spider-Man's battles. On most occasions, he saves them by jumping after them and working with their momentum, rather than trying to stop them with his webbing (as he did in the What If where he saves Gwen).

In a later storyline, the Green Goblin once again replays the scenario, this time with Spider-Man's wife Mary Jane Watson-Parker. As with Gwen, Mary Jane plummets toward her death (this time from the recoil from her gun when she shoots at the Green Goblin). Learning from his previous error, Spider-Man uses multiple weblines and catches every major joint, saving Mary Jane from suffering the same whiplash effect that killed Gwen. (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #12.)

During the Civil War, both Iron Man and Captain America quoted Gwen as argument. Iron Man argued that if Spider-Man had received proper training as registered heroes were given, he would have saved her. Captain America overlined that she died because the Goblin knew Spider-Man's identity, and the Superhuman Registration Act forbids secret identities. Of course, both these arguments are debatable as trained law-enforcement officers and military personnel have often done things other than what they were taught in the field, sometimes to disastrous consequence. Even if Spider-Man's identity had been public knowledge, Green Goblin could have just as likely committed the same actions just to spite him.

What If?

In a What If...? storyline, Peter managed to save Gwen by jumping after her rather than catching her with a web-line (in the same way he saved Mary Jane in the film), allowing him to cushion her from the impact as they hit the water and subsequently give her CPR. In the aftermath of this rescue, he proposed to Gwen after revealing his secret identity to her, and, in a subsequent confrontation with the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn finally fought off his evil side when Harry moved to protect him regardless of what he'd become. However, their life was not destined to be a happy one; to ensure his victory, the Goblin had sent J. Jonah Jameson proof of Spider-Man's real identity, which Jonah had subsequently published and used to acquire a warrant for Peter's arrest, thus forcing Peter to escape from the police mere moments after his wedding to Gwen. As the issue ended, Gwen departed with Joe 'Robbie' Robertson, who promised Gwen that they would do whatever they could to help Peter.

Why Gwen?

In the collection The 100 Greatest Marvels Of All Time, #21-16 (the #122 issue was voted #19 on that list), it is said that also Aunt May and Joseph "Robbie" Robertson were considered. However, Aunt May was considered too important to lose as a background character, and Gwen fit better as a victim than anyone else.

In the story itself, the crazed Green Goblin goes to Peter Parker's apartment to kill him, but finds Gwen there instead. He then takes her hostage and uses her as bait for Spider-Man.

In a highly controversial story arc by J. Michael Straczynski called "Sins Past" (The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #509-515), it was revealed that Gwen Stacy had a one-night stand with Norman Osborn, and seven months later gave birth to twin children, Gabriel and Sarah. Norman's Goblin-formula enhanced blood had given them increased stamina, strength, and intelligence, and they grew at an accelerated rate. Gwen kept their birth a secret, but planned to tell Peter, who she was sure would forgive her and help her raise them.

When Harry Osborn was sick after a drug overdose, Norman refused to take him to a hospital for fear of scandal. Having become more familiar with Norman's cruel personality, Gwen refused to allow him to have anything to do with the children, saying she would rather die. Norman killed Gwen—instead of another of Spider-Man's friends or family—because he wanted the children under his control.

Norman had the children raised by housekeepers and nannies in Paris, and Norman told them that Peter was their father and had abandoned them and murdered their mother. The twins grew to adulthood in only a few years, and tried to kill Spider-Man. Spider-Man saved Sarah's life after she was shot and convinced her of the truth, but Gabriel briefly became a Goblin and nearly killed Spider-Man.

Different versions of the "bridge scene"

The "bridge scene", in which the Green Goblin hurls Gwen Stacy to her death, has remained one of the most iconic scenes in Marvel Comics and has been redone several times. Striking is the fact that in many re-imaginings, Mary Jane Watson—Spidey's future wife—plays the role of the victim, and in contrast to Gwen, always survives.

Gwen's death has been repeatedly revisited by many writers and artists: In Paul Jenkins' "Peter Parker: Spider-Man - A Day in the Life," a supervillain named The Chameleon commits suicide in a grim recreation of the sequence: After tricking Spider-Man to the bridge where Gwen Stacy died, on the pretext of having kidnapped Mary Jane Watson Parker, he declared his own loneliness and love for Peter. When Peter laughed out of surprise, he threw himself off the bridge.

• Marvels #4: Gwen's death is seen from the point of view of the protagonist, Phil Sheldon, a photographer. He had been researching Spider-Man's involvement in Gwen's father's death, and had become quite close to Gwen herself. Her death disillusioned him and prompted him to retire.
• Spectacular Spider-Man: In Spectacular Spider-Man #200, Harry Osborn, losing his sanity as the Green Goblin, takes Mary Jane to the top of the bridge where Gwen died. The bridge is not named, but the Brooklyn Bridge is depicted.
• Web of Spider-Man: In Web of Spider-Man #125, the fourth Green Goblin (Phil Urich) places the Gwen Stacy clone, Gwen Miles, on the top of the George Washington Bridge after her husband crashes their car into the Hudson River; she accidentally falls off the bridge, but is saved by Spider-Man.
• Spider-Man: In the film, Spider-Man's webs are often much more elastic, like a bungee cord, behaving like a shock absorber. Mary Jane Watson (assuming the "role" of Gwen Stacy) is thrown off the Queensboro Bridge by the Green Goblin. The situation is especially tricky, as the Goblin also sends a cable car loaded with passengers falling to the ground at the same time. Spider-Man manages to save both by first catching Mary Jane in his arms, and then catching hold of the car's cable, before webbing the bridge to anchor himself. Also, Spider-Man then follows the Green Goblin aka. Norman Osbourn to an abandoned building on Roosevelt Island when he then fights him (unlike in the comic where he fights the Goblin before he throws Gwen off the bridge).
• Spider-Man: India: With Meera Jain (the Indian counter-part of Mary-Jane) in the role as the victim. However, this version of the bridge scene has much more magical look-and-feel to it.
• Due to rules imposed by Fox Kids' Standards & Practices department, no characters could be killed on Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Writers excluded Gwen from the series as they felt they could not use a character who was destined to die. In the episode "Turning Point," Mary Jane fulfilled Gwen's role, but she and the Goblin fell into a portal to the Negative Zone. Due to the series' cancellation, they never returned (aside for a brief mention by Madame Web at the end of the series' finale episode) although the creators had intended to bring her back in the never-made sixth season. Like Gwen Stacy in the comics, a clone of Mary Jane appears in the fifth season. In spite of the rule against death that kept Gwen out of the show in the first place and caused Mary Jane to fall into a portal instead of falling to her death, Mary Jane's clone actually dies. In the comics, the clone of Gwen Stacy lived although the original died.
• In The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #513, Gwen's daughter, Sarah, after being shot by police, falls off the Brooklyn Bridge, and Spider-Man swings down to save her, reflecting how he wished he could have saved Gwen if he had just one more chance at it all those years ago.
• In Ultimate Spider-Man, the Goblin attempts to kill Mary Jane. In an attempt to save her, Peter shoots webbing to her legs. The violent deceleration causes her to pass out. MJ survives, but suffers from deep trauma after that. Gwen herself dies in a completely different way: she is killed by the Carnage creature.
• In Earth X, there is a scene in which Gwen pushes Norman from a great height, although it is only an illusion. Later, when the Skull kills Norman Osborn, the scene is reminiscent of Gwen's fall.
• In Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #10, Liz Allen references to the scene by telling Mary Jane "Bet you'd love to bump her off a bridge".
• In Spider-Man 3, a different scene is done without a bridge where Parker swoops down and fights his way through rubble to save Gwen.
• In the Marvel Knights: Spider-Man saga, "The Last Stand," Peter saves Mary Jane from falling of the George Washington Bridge because of the kickback from her handgun. Spider-Man's rescue worked this time since he supported all of her major joints (elbows, knees, etc.) with multiple weblines so that she wouldn't suffer the same fate as Gwen. Here Spider-Man explained that he replayed Gwen's death in his mind over and over again, allowing him to come up with a correct, non-lethal way to save her. Writer Mark Millar makes a distinction between the bridges here, as the Green Goblin tells Spider-Man he chose a different bridge (the George Washington Bridge) to kill Mary Jane. The story arc concludes with Peter taking Aunt May to the Brooklyn Bridge, remembering Gwen's death.

The scene is also parodied by DC Comics in Superman/Batman #22, when the girlfriend of a hero named Bug, obviously based on Spider-Man, is thrown off a bridge before being saved by Superman, who comments on his wife being in the same situation frequently, a reference to Lois' role as a damsel in distress.

Ultimate Gwen Stacy's Death

In Ultimate Spider-Man, Gwen died in a completely different way which happened a few issues after she found out Peter's secret identity, which never happened in mainstream continuity. Walking home after a talk with MJ, she realized she had forgotten her key so she tried to open the door to the cellar (Peter's lab) but that was locked too. She heard rustling in the bushes so she turned around and was grabbed by small tentacles coming from the Ultimate version of Carnage who killed her the way it killed its other victims: stabbed them in the stomach and absorbed their fluids. The last thing Gwen saw before being turned into a mummy-like corpse was Carnage taking the form of a more solid Peter (actually Peter's father due to Dr. Connors mixing his and Peter's DNA with elements of the Venom suit, which was used with Richard Parker's DNA.)

Notes

• The Clone Saga, a Spider-Man storyline published twenty years later, explains away the Goblin's death as a ruse so that the character can be used as the deus ex machina manipulating everyone involved.
• The splash page with the title "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" actually comes at the end of the comic, so that the main event isn't spoiled.

External links

• Analysis of this story arc