There was kind of a lot going on in 2016, so you could be forgiven for forgetting that it brought with it the introduction of the first Gwenpool ongoing. Who’s Gwenpool? Well. Hailing from Earth-TRN565 (that’s a “temporary reality number” until Marvel officially assigns it one), unemployed teen Gwen Poole is an avid comic book fan in her world. Now, she’s in the main superhero reality, Earth-616. How did she get there? Not totally sure. Don’t worry about it.
Despite having no superpowers herself, Gwenpool has extensive knowledge of all other superheroes via reading their comic book adventures. This gives the character a sort of “sixth sense” advantage, allowing her to plan several steps ahead of every other hero and villain. She is also Marvel’s first openly aromantic and asexual character, imbuing her with extra importance for many fans.
It began with a variant cover. After Marvel struck gold with the introduction of Spider-Gwen to the multiverse in 2014, the publisher ran a month of variant covers featuring Gwen Stacy as various established characters. As such, the character to be known as Gwenpool first popped up on the cover of Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #2 by artist Chris Bachalo.
As the lore goes, editor Jordan White noticed fans cosplaying this one-off spoof character who had no comic stories to her name and decided something needed to be done. He teamed with writer Christopher Hastings and editor Heather Antos to work out a story. Gwenpool made her official story debut in a backup story from Howard the Duck Vol. 6 #1 and a one-shot titled Gwenpool Special #1, which hit comic book store shelves in November 2015. The following April, we got The Unbelievable Gwenpool #1.
The first issue kicks off with Gwen taking on a group of Sentinels. These robotic killing machines are deadly to the Mutants they hunt, but Gwen is able to easily defeat them through her knowledge of Marvel arcade games from her own reality. However, she causes serious property damage along the way, and her clients refuse to pay. Now broke, she takes another job passed on by the superhero tailor, Ronnie.
Arriving on the scene, Gwen realizes that the job has already been completed by another mercenary. Before finding out anything about this character, she casually pushes him into a fire pit to take credit for his work. Thanks to this, she collects a big check, but her adopted sidekick Cecil warns her there will be repercussions for her actions.
Gwenpool’s chaotic nature makes her a laugh riot most of the time. Her genuine fandom often adds an oddly wholesome element to stories despite her notorious love of dangerous missions and lethal weaponry. Yet, this comic wouldn’t work if it didn’t have a serious side, and The Unbelievable Gwenpool nailed it from day one. After a hijinks-filled first issue, the story concludes on a shockingly violent note.
It turns out the assassin Gwenpool killed was working for MODOK, and the supervillain shows up looking to recruit her as a replacement. Gwen laughs at the absurdity of MODOK, provoking the villain into a fit of rage. This is a bad move, as he simply fries Cecil to a crisp before repeating his offer of “job or death.” The issue ends with a devastated Gwen realizing she is no hero; she’s simply a henchman. This would kick off a now lengthy history with the villain, eventually earning him the status of Gwen’s nemesis.
The Unbelievable Gwenpool wrapped up in 2018 after 26 issues, but the character continues to enjoy a strong fandom. She was a main character in Kelly Thompson and Stefano Caselli’s painfully brief run on West Coast Avengers, at which time we were introduced to another surprise breakout character in her pet, Jeff the Landshark. Popping up in various one-shots, miniseries, and crossovers since, Gwenpool is easily one of Marvel’s most successful “new” characters of the last decade.
By proving this apparent gimmick could carry an ongoing narrative with aplomb, the creators behind The Unbelievable Gwenpool #1 solidified her standing in the 616. And that strong foundation is what allowed this oddball — and her many fans — to truly shine.
