Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy: All the Beautiful Angst of First Love

For the fourth installment of my series exploring the variety of romantic archetypes we find in literature (illustrating the variety of romantic experiences we find in life) using only Spider-Man comics, I’m considering the first great love of Peter Parker’s life – Gwen Stacy.  To write this, I went back and read the entirety of Gwen’s time with Peter, beginning with her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (from December 1965) through issue #120 (from May 1973).  Over the years, Gwen has taken on a hallowed significance in Peter’s life as his great, irreplaceable lost love.  But in reading these comics I realized she – and her relationship with Peter – illustrated something far more universal and far more interesting.  Gwen and Peter perfectly present our first love with all the awkward, emotional, angsty, and idealized moments that come with it.

Hugh Jackman and the Modern Cinematic Superhero

It was the summer of 2000.  I was just eighteen years old and on a two week trip with my high school Youth Group.  We piled into the church van and drove across country to Yellowstone, hiking every day and camping every night.  I saw some majestic sights.  I bought a literal sword (a rapier) in the “bargain cave” at a Cabella’s.  It was awesome!  As this adventure was unfolding, Bryan Singer’s X-Men was opening at movie theatres across the country.  With it, Hugh Jackman would usher in the age of the modern cinematic superhero with his iconic turn as Wolverine (it killed me that I couldn’t see it opening night, regardless of an awesome trip).  With Logan coming out this weekend I felt I had to offer my humble tribute to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.