Gwen Stacy

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. This week's selection of the best cosplay ever includes Gwen Stacy and Spider-Man, Gamora, Green Lantern, Mary Poppins, and more!

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics. There's nothing fun about the topic, but death is unquestionably a huge part of superhero comics, and this week we're looking at five of the deaths that had the most profound effect on the Marvel Universe.

There are lot of things that make Spider-Man one of the most interesting and captivating characters in the Marvel Universe, but one of the franchise's greatest strengths has always been his supporting characters, and even more specifically, his love interests. For a character known for his "Parker Luck", he's attracted the attention of several impressive, accomplished, and beautiful women. We've put together a guide to some of the most important romances in Spider-Man's life.

Marvel Comics has been teasing its big Spider-Man event for 2016, "Dead No More" for a few months now, but over the last week information has slowly trickled out in the form of teasers by Alexander Lozano, seemingly showing Spider-Man's closest loved ones and deadliest enemies returned from the grave. The last of the teasers has been released today and with it comes the reveal of the return of Peter Parker's greatest enemy.

Decades after its release on March 13 1973, The Amazing Spider-Man #121 by Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, John Romita and Tony Mortellaro remains one of the most affecting, heartbreaking superhero comics to see publication. What starts off as a traditional superhero versus supervillain battle over the fate of the hero’s love interest takes a tragic turn when Gwen Stacy dies despite the hero's best efforts to save her --- and in that moment, superhero comics grew up in a major way.

I have to admit, I was worried about this one. While Kotobukiya's had a string of really strong comic character Bishoujo figures, there have been some wild swings and misses from that line as of late. When the Spider-Gwen Bishoujo was first teased, there was no telling which way the figure would fall. Thankfully, Spider-Gwen seemingly gets the comic statues back on track and falls more in line with the Batwoman and Black Canary pieces rather than the Lady Deadpool and Starfire statues. The horror line is still a hot mess, but I'm pretending those exist in a vacuum somewhere far, far away. I understand the point of the Bishoujo line is to show a Japanese approach to beautiful girls, but sometimes that concept just doesn't result in very good portrayals of these characters. Shunya Yamashita's renderings, while stunning, don't always translate to Western audiences. With Spider-Gwen being a teen hero, there was a chance this figure could have ended up on the wrong side of "beautiful." After seeing these production shots of the somewhat final statue, I'm impressed and pleased. Spider-Gwen doesn't have a lot of collectibles at the moment, and that her Bishoujo has come out this nicely is good news for fans.

There's just something about Spider-Gwen that calls to me. From the ways the spider legs are incorporated to the color palette, that whole suit just pops. That style carries through to the main book itself to a degree, and helps Gwen stand out from most other books on the shelf at the LCS. That and the crazy, cool kinetic art of Robbi Rodriguez. I'm guessing that's a bit of what inspired Allegra Town Studio to craft this little fan animation of Spider-Gwen. The hyper pace, the vivid colors; everything that makes Spider-Gwen awesome is all there. And they did it in just seven seconds.

Costume design is one of the great strengths of the superhero genre, a way to establish distinctive visual shorthand for a character and reveal key details about concept, purpose, and personality. But which is the best superhero costume of all time? This month, we're asking you to decide, by voting up your favorites and voting down the rest. When we have your votes, we'll compile a list of the greatest super-costumes of all time. For day one, we're looking at Spider-Man costumes --- and Spider-Woman costumes. Steve Ditko's Spider-Man costume is considered one of the all-time classics, but it's also inspired some incredible variations. Today, rather than jump rightt in with the classic blue-and-red Spidey costume, we're asking for your take on some of the other spider-folk, including Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen.

Everyone needs to get on board the Spider-Gwen train, because the hooded Gwen Stacy Spider-Woman was one of the most exciting new (or improved) characters of 2014, with our favorite new costume of the year, and with February's Spider-Gwen #1, by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi, she'll aim to really make her mark as the best spider-themed hero out there. OK, that's a tall order. But definitely in the top three, which places her in the top 1% of spider-heroes. Marvel has released a three-page unlettered preview of Spider-Gwen #1 showing Gwen in action, plus a look at three awesome variant covers by Adam Hughes, Skottie Young, and Kris Anka. The Hughes cover offers a glimpse of classic Gwen; Young serves up another of his fantastic baby variants; and Anka treats us to a shot of an unmakes Spider-Gwen delighting in the joy of webswinging. It's a gorgeous image that shows Gwen every bit at home on the end of a webline as Peter Parker. (She might want to put that mask back on, though. J. Jonah Jameson would kill for this picture.)

Gwen Stacy was meant to stay dead. Her death back in 1973 in Amazing Spider-Man #121, by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane, was a mark of maturation for the genre, a sign that superhero comics were ready to embrace more sophisticated storytelling. Her death became as defining to Spider-Man's story as that of his Uncle Ben. It could never be undone. But there's no such thing as "never" in superhero fiction. Gwen Stacy is back -- sort of. The character's debut as another reality's Spider-Woman in Edge of Spider-Verse #2 by writer Jason Latour, artist Robbi Rodriguez, and colorist Rico Renzi was so well received that the character will spin off into her own ongoing series, Spider-Gwen -- created by the same team, and set in a world where Peter Parker is just as dead as Gwen Stacy is in the main Marvel Universe. ComicsAlliance spoke to Latour, Rodriguez, and Renzi, to find out more about their plans -- and their response to Spider-Gwen's new-found popularity.