The Unbelievable Gwenpool #8 Review
Well everyone, we obviously need a lot of cheering up today, so I’ll try and do my best to contribute to that effort by doing what I do best, reviewing a comic book.
For the first time since the series started, we missed an issue of Gwenpool, for which I sincerely apologize. Between all the stuff I was working on for Halloween and some things going on in my personal life, Gwenpool #7 sadly fell through the cracks.
Last time, Gwen finally met the client of the mercenary organization she’s found herself the leader of, and much to her surprise, he seems like a perfectly normal guy. Fitting seeing as how the guy, Vinnie, seems to have a deep disdain for all things supernatural or weird, essentially everything that uniquely exists in fiction. Vinnie hired Gwen to take out the Teuthidans, the Squid aliens that Gwen fought in the first issue, but that’s going to prove a lot more difficult than first thought as the aliens seem to have allied themselves with a corrupt sect of the NYPD.
We open with Gwen cornered by the cops and the aliens in a subway tunnel. Gwen, thinking quickly, hops a passing train and the cops at least have enough morals left to prevent the aliens from firing on a train full of civilians.
Back at base, takes a moment to meet with Cecil, who is presently talking to The Terrible Eye, the team’s magic expert. I haven’t really elaborated on Terrible Eye a lot in previous reviews since she hasn’t contributed much to the overall story, but suffice to say, she’s a bit of a weirdo. More often than not, she’s babbling incoherently or just talking to rocks. But much to Gwen’s surprise, when she’s out of costume, she’s actually a relatively normal and sane human being. Terrible Eye, whose real name is Sarah, draws her immense magical power and knowledge from her helmet, the obvious tradeoff being her apparent insanity when wearing it. Sarah doesn’t mind though as she explains that what everyone else perceives as weirdness is actually her human mind processing all the information the helmet grants her faster than the average person is capable of. More on this later, but for now, Gwen needs all hands on deck to brief the team on her plan to deal with the aliens.
Gwen explains her plan to the team, complete with wacky and cartoony dramatizations. The plan involves Gwen calling out the aliens to fight her in the middle of times square, Batroc beating up the U.N. to create a distraction, Cecil “ghost hacking the police computers making it look like the city is overrun with crimes that are enough to keep the police occupied but not enough to attract any real superheroes, while Sara uses her magic to maintain the illusion of Cecil’s fake crime wave. Batroc has a problem with the plan, but surprisingly, it’s not the one you think it is. Batroc, who I’ll remind you is a criminal, is concerned that it’s reckless to render the police useless as innocent people may still need them. Gwen argues that in a world of fiction, the cops are intentionally ineffectual, otherwise superheroes would not need to exist. This is something I’ll get more into during the wrap up, but for now, the plan is agreed upon and everyone is ready to kick some alien ass.
Unfortunately, the plan almost instantly goes tits up as Vinnie, who bugged Gwen during their meeting, heard all about the plan, decided that Gwen’s plan was reckless and has decided that her and her team are a bigger threat than the aliens. As such, Vinnie has sold the team out to the aliens in exchange for them leaving Earth forever. He plans to do the same to Gwen, but first he wans her to tell him all about the supposed world without Superheroes where she comes from. In her anger, Gwen shoots Vinnie in the face but surprisingly, that doesn’t kill him. Instead, Vinnie gets up showing that some of his skin has been ripped off, revealing what appears to be a Doctor Doom mask underneath.
What Works: I really liked the scene with Sarah/Terrible Eye. As I mentioned, I haven’t commented much on her character, but that’s only because she hasn’t contributed much to the story. Frankly, I find it refreshing that the writers took the care to actually give her a bit more depth and actually make her a very likeable and fascinating character.
On a similar note, I continue to be impressed with the development of Batroc. Considering that in earlier issues the comic flat out admitted that he’s a two-dimensional villain, he’s come a considerably long way towards proving that statement wrong. Over his time in this comic, he’s become a friend and mentor to Gwen and in this issue, his concern over innocent lives shows that even though he’s a bad guy, he still has a conscience.
The cartoonish dramatizations of Gwen’s plan were pretty funny and definitely felt in character for Gwen.
Finally, there’s the reveal of Vinnie’s true nature. I have no idea what it means, but it certainly was an effective cliffhanger and one that I frankly find a lot more interesting than Vinnie simply being some random guy who hates superheroes.
What Doesn’t:
I really don’t care for Gwen’s philosophy on the police, and it’s indicative of one of my only major problems with this book. I get that the writers want to portray Gwen as a naïve fangirl who thinks this is all a game, but the problem there is, that mentality should have gone out the window once Cecil was murdered right in front of her. But, since Cecil came back, that character development seems to have regressed. Am I saying bringing Cecil back was a mistake, no, but I am saying that Gwen should have matured more than the writers have allowed her to, at least to the point to where she realizes that innocent lives, be they real or fictitious, are not something to casually play around with.
Overall: 4/5
This was a very strong issue and allowed for some great development for Gwen’s supporting cast. I’m not entirely pleased with Gwen’s regressed character development, but ultimately, it’s not enough to ruin the book for me.