Graphic Novel Review Christopher Hastings The Unbelievable Gwenpool

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Marvel Comics 2016 – Spoiler alerts. Gwenpool (Gwendoline Poole) has one of the most unlikely histories in comic book stories, both in fiction and in reality. She was created as nothing more than a series of comic book cover art, after Gwen Stacey became an alternative Universe version of Spiderman. Marvel jokingly created Gwen versions of different heroes and villains and put them on some of the comic covers even though the character never appeared in any of the issues involved. Then they noticed fans of the comics were dressing as Gwenpool at conventions such as Comicon. That was when Christopher Hastings was invited to create her for real. She is actually presented from the outset as a character with no business being in the comics but a reader of the comics from an outside dimension who has somehow ended up in the comics she has read and loved. She has no super powers and actually wears a rubbish spandex top, crude mask and her knickers without trousers. She gets by for simply accepting the absurdity of her new World and shamelessly ignoring its rules. In many ways she is a feminized variation on Deadpool, violent, uncaring, and constantly breaking the fourth wall (talking knowingly to the readers). With a sassy script she is also a whole lot of fun. She first appears alongside Howard The Duck, after stealing deadly weapons off Black Cat and selling them to the evil conspiracy group HYDRA thinking that The Avengers can sort out the mess. Howard tells her the Avengers are away fighting in space so she and the duck help fix the mess themselves. Later she goes on to meet MODUK, Thor (the feminized version), Deadpool and even Father Christmas. It is a very inventive romp through the comic book world, and one largely created in deference to fans appreciating a character who genuinely never existed and doesn’t belong anywhere she turns up. Arthur Chappell