The Unbelievable Gwenpool #2 Review

Welcome back everyone, to The Unbelievable Gwenpool, the tale of a fan-girl from our reality trying to be a hero in the fictional world of Marvel Comics. While at first, Gwen believed being a super-hero would be all fun and games, she soon learned that this fictional world is more real, and more dangerous than she initially thought possible. After laughing in the face of M.O.D.O.K. for being a “lame villain” M.O.D.O.K. vaporized her sidekick and friend, Cecil. Crushed by the violent reality check she just received, Gwen, barely having the strength to get to her feet as she cradled the charred skull of her friend in her arms, agrees to become one of M.O.D.O.K.’s agents.

We open in M.O.D.O.K.’s war room where his mercenaries are given their assignment. Apparently, they need to terminate a dark druid called The Seed of Pains. Gwen speaks up and asks why M.O.D.O.K. isn’t retired, and shocks him by using her meta-fictional knowledge to reveal that she knew where he’d been hiding before he returned. M.O.D.O.K. claims that he simply got bored of retirement but Gwen doesn’t accept that as a reason for Cecil to die. M.O.D.O.K. shuts down Gwen’s argument by saying that she killed Cecil by laughing in M.O.D.O.K.’s face. She didn’t take his threat seriously, and because of that, her friend paid the price. This shuts Gwen down completely, showing that her friend’s death still weighs heavy on her conscience.

However, Gwen figures that if she’s stuck in this situation, she may as well make the most of it, so she introduces herself to the rest of her team and likens them to a D&D party. There’s Mega Tony, the healer and science expert, Terrible Eye, the magic user, and finally, Batroc, the thief and acrobat. With all the other adventuring roles filled, that leaves poor Gwen as the group’s Tank. Yeah, to put this in context, making Gwen the group’s heavy hitter is a lot like hiring a chimpanzee to be your chauffer. In theory, it can do it, but in practice, it’s probably not going to end well.

Regardless, the team goes to work. While Seed of Pains is being transferred by the cops, Terrible Eye uses her powers to blow out their tires. Gwen, using the cop car she acquired last issue, poses as a cop and abducts Seed of Pains with the cops none the wiser. All things considered, that was pretty easy. But, our comics not over, so something has to go wrong. That something turns out to be Thor, who requires Seed’s unique magical gifts to help a village of elves or something. Gwen is star struck, while Batroc is beseeching her to run for her life. Thor is in no mood for games, probably because earlier tonight Spider-Man and Deadpool tried to trick her into a mudwrestling with a succubus, so she tosses around the team like their nothing while a petrified Gwen fan-girls over Thor while trying not to attract her attention. Gwen’s plan backfires when she slips up and refers to Thor by her mortal name, Jane.

So, this requires a bit of an aside. See, in the comics, Thor can only stay in Midgard if he/she inhabits a mortal host’s body. I’ve honestly never quite understood how this works exactly, because it’s made clear that it’s Thor’s mind in control but the mortal host is still there, sort of. It’s all really confusing. Personally, I much prefer the cinematic version in which Thor is Thor and that’s that. However, to explain the whole Jane thing, while originally Thor’s host was a scientist named Donald Blake, Thor’s recent gender transformation has something to do with the fact that Thor now inhabits the body of Jane Foster, the love interest for the character from the films. I’m unsure of the logistics of all this, but the short version is while this woman is very much Thor, she is also Jane Foster or at least part of her is, I think.

Anywho, Gwen referring to her as Jane is enough to merit Thor’s complete and undivided attention. Gwen, thinking quickly, claims that she actually said Sprain. Thor doesn’t buy it, but decides to let it go, for now. However, this distraction allows Gwen to set off her Bazooka and incinerate Seed of Pains. However, Mega Tony uses his weird science to siphon Seed’s powers into an elixir, which he gives to Thor as a way of saying, “please don’t kill us.” Thor departs, but tells Gwen she’ll be keeping an eye on her. After the mission, Gwen sits alone, staring at Cecil’s skull and contemplating the true horror of her new reality, and how living in the Marvel Universe is not at all what she hoped it would be. Why did Cecil have to die? Why am I nothing more than a henchman? Is Thor going to kill her now because she knows her identity? How long will I last before M.O.D.O.K. kills me? All of these questions run through Gwen’s head as she contemplates the fact that if all of this is real, then maybe she’s not the hero at all. Maybe she’s just nobody. However, as our comic ends, Gwen’s somber self-reflection is interrupted by Batroc who has realized that Gwen is a Fraud and plans to tell M.O.D.O.K.

What Works: While this series still has a sense of humor about itself, the seriousness of Gwen’s situation and the emotional pain it has caused her are never forgotten. This isn’t the story of a happy-go-lucky fan-girl who’s having fun in a world of fiction. This is the story of someone who now has to fear for her life everyday as she’s forced to do terrible things at the behest of a mad man and she has no one to blame but herself for her situation. Not only is this an incredibly fascinating concept, but it also shows a level of maturity that isn’t seen very often in comics these days.

The scenes with Thor were well done, and once again helps demonstrate that the Marvel Universe is incredibly dangerous. Only time will tell if Gwen’s little slip-up will lead to a greater story somewhere down the line, but it is highly intriguing nonetheless.

What Doesn’t: It’s a minor nitpick, but I think the resolution to the whole Seed of Pains issue was a little forced and out of nowhere. Then again, after last weeks Once Upon a Time, I have a very low tolerance for forced resolutions. Overall: 5/5 The real tragedy of this book is the fact that most casual consumers will see the title “Gwenpool,” see it as a joke, and dismiss it. Hell, if it wasn’t for someone else calling attention to the absurdity of the concept in the store that day, I’d have likely done just that and missed out on this unique gem of a story. So now I say to whomever may be reading this, give this book your attention, because this is an incredible work of storytelling that deserves to be recognized.