gwenpool

Check out the best new characters in comics in 2016, including our critics' picks and the characters you voted the runner up and winner in this category!

This month in Marvel's February solicitations, there's a fight you never knew you wanted, answers you've been clamoring for for over a year, and an odd reunion of an odd superhero team, of a sorts.

When Marvel first introduced the character of Gwenpool, a lot of people were instantly turned off by what seemed like a blatant cash-grab. She’s Spider-Gwen + Deadpool, and inspired by cosplay; there doesn’t seem to be much there to her at all. However, under the watch of Christopher Hastings and Gurihiru in the pages of The Unbelievable Gwenpool, she’s actually one of the most interesting and complex characters in the Marvel Universe.

Recently, Marvel has been releasing teaser images with the tagline "Divided We..." featuring two characters separated by shattered imagery, and all we knew was that it pointed to the publisher's fall slate of comics set to be unveiled later this month under the Marvel NOW banner. Today, Marvel released a complete teaser titled "Divided We Stand," featuring two distinct groups of heroes and villains separated by a literal divide.

In honor of the caped crusaders of the convention scene, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), an ongoing collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into a super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.

Because somebody apparently demanded it, the character that Marvel Comics describes as "2015’s overnight sensation" is getting her own series by Christopher Hastings and Gurihiru. The Unbelievable Gwenpool #1 comes out April 13. Despite what you might have reasonably assumed, Gwenpool is neither Gwen Stacy nor Deadpool. She's a girl named Gwen Poole, who comes from a mundane, non-superhero Earth just like ours, where she was way into Marvel Comics and video games. So when she finds herself in the Marvel Universe, she figures she can do whatever she wants, and it turns out she's right.

Marvel has announced an ongoing series for Gwenpool, star of the recent Gwenpool Holiday Special. The Unbelievable Gwenpool launches in April, written by Christopher Hastings with art by the team of Chifuyu Sasaki and Naoko Kawano, better known as Gurihiru. The Entertainment Weekly article announcing the book attributes the launch to the character's popularity, which means solo books for quantifiably more popular Marvel characters like Jessica Jones and America Chavez will surely be announced any day now.

I had absolutely no interest in Marvel’s Gwenpool Special #1 when it was announced. I like Spider-Gwen a whole lot, but what looked like essentially a gender-bent Deadpool in pink? Yeah, the best I could come up with was a shrug at the news that this random mash-up character would be getting a holiday issue. Which is why I’m quite honestly shocked that I liked Gwenpool Special #1. I liked it a lot. It’s a real Christmas miracle, people.