The Scott Summers Awards for Top 5 Doomed Superhero Romances: #1

#1: Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy
Began Courtship in The Amazing Spider-Man #31, 1963
Written by: Stan Lee

Summary:
If your knowledge of the Spider-Man universe were based solely on the hugely successful movie franchise, you’d think that Mary Jane was Spidey’s one true love, and you’d be under the impression that Gwen Stacy was just some background character that flirted with Spider-Man in the awful, awful, awful third movie.

In the comics, however, you could certainly make the case that Gwen was the greatest love of Spider-Man’s life. She certainly was his first love.

They first met when Pete was in college and the attraction was immediate, though Peter had other things to deal with, and Gwen dated both Flash Thompson and Harry Osborne while waiting for Pete to notice her. Eventually, though, she got his attention and they started dating.

As is the case in all relationships, though, they had a few complications that pretty much any couple can relate to. For instance, there was one point where Gwen’s father, Captain Stacy, attacked Peter while his mind was being controlled. After they got through that, some time later, Spider-Man was fighting Doctor Octopus when Captain Stacy accidentally got crushed by falling debris from the fight. Gwen left for Europe to deal with her grief, which halted their relationship for awhile. Who can’t relate to that?

Eventually, Gwen came back, and she and Peter resumed dating, planning their future together, and discussing the possibility of marriage.

What Doomed It:
Then came one of the biggest events in the history of comics, something that is widely regarded as one of several contributing events that signaled the end of the Silver Age of Comics: The Night Gwen Stacy Died.

The Green Goblin figured out Spider-Man’s secret identity, and when he went calling for the web crawler, he found Gwen at Peter Parker’s place. He kidnapped her and took her to the top of the George Washington Bridge. When Spider-Man arrived, Gobby tossed an unconscious Gwen Stacy off the side of the bridge. Spider-Man was quick to rescue her, catching her in one of his webs, but the sudden jolt to her body that occurred when he stopped her free-fall snapped her neck and left her dead.

This obviously left Peter grief-stricken, blaming himself and his carelessness for her death. After fighting the Green Goblin and seemingly killing him, Pete returned home, where Mary Jane Watson tried to console him. Peter thought she was just a brain-dead party girl, though, so her sympathy meant nothing to him until she also started crying, and the two of them connected for the first time. So it just goes to show you that in both love and life, if you want to see the rainbow, you have to put up with some rain.

Oh, and, for the record, I’m still in denial about Sins Past and Brand New Day. I’m pretending they never happened.