Here are some of the things Krakoa’s newest resident aren’t:
- Gwen Stacy
- Deadpool
- The Batman Character Spoiler
- A character with any right to be as good as she is
I am, of course, talking about Gwenpool, the alter-ego of Gwendolyn Poole, a comics fan from the real world who accidentally got brought into Marvel’s 616 because people cosplayed as her a bunch. After several years of trying to find her place, in Gwenpool Strikes Back #5 by Leah Williams and David Baldeón, Gwen goes home to Krakoa. That’s right folks, Gwenpool is now a mutant thanks to her retconning herself to being one.
Followers of this series will notice that Gwen hadn’t been acting exactly like herself. More manic, more lol memes, less nuance. Some claimed that this as due to Unbelievable Gwenpool writer Christopher Hastings not writing the character anymore (regardless of his one-page cameo in GSB #4). Leah, however, showed her skills as a writer by having Ms. Marvel confront Gwen about her behavior, concerned about her mental health.
Gwen had been having an existential crisis due to unnamed higher ups in Marvel (looking at you David’s Gabriel and Bogart) not understanding her as a character and wanting to get rid of her. Gwenpool Strikes Back was her last shot at success. Her dark potential future was averted when, luckily, issue #1 sold out at Diamond on day one, proving her fiscal worth. Still she needed a place to exist and Editor Jordan D. White celebrated his 40th birthday by giving Gwen a home on Krakoa.
Thanks to Ms Marvel’s suggestion that Gwen might be a mutant, Gwenpool used her reton powers to make herself a mutant. After walking through a gate, Gwen meets up with Wolverine and her ex, Quentin Quire, filled with joy that she can still exist. While some may turn up their nose at this, we have at Xavier Files say welcome to the X-Men Gwendolyn Poole, here’s your data page since that’s a thing now.
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
