The Night Gwen Stacy Died
| "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" | |
|---|---|
The Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973). Cover art by John Romita, Sr.
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| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Publication date | June – July 1973 |
| Genre | |
| Title(s) | The Amazing Spider-Man #121-122 |
| Main character(s) |
Spider-Man Gwen Stacy Green Goblin |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Gerry Conway |
| Penciller(s) | Gil Kane |
| Inker(s) |
John Romita Tony Mortellaro |
| Letterer(s) | Artie Simek |
| Colorist(s) | David Hunt |
| Editor(s) | Roy Thomas |
"The Night Gwen Stacy Died" is a story arc of the Marvel Comics comic book series The Amazing Spider-Man #121–122 (June–July 1973), that became a watershed event in the life of the superhero Spider-Man, one of popular culture's most enduring and recognizable fictional characters. The two-issue story, written by Gerry Conway, with pencil art by Gil Kane and inking by John Romita Sr. and Tony Mortellaro, features Spider-Man's fight against his nemesis, the Green Goblin, who abducts Spider-Man's girlfriend Gwen Stacy; during their battle, she falls off a bridge and dies, despite Spider-Man catching her before she hits the water.
Prior to this arc, Norman Osborn had been the Green Goblin, but due to amnesia, he had suspended his identity as the supervillain and forgotten that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Also, Harry Osborn, Parker's best friend and Norman's son, became addicted to drugs and was sequestered in the Osborn home for detoxification. Norman's parental grief, combined with financial pressure, triggered a breakdown resulting in Norman Osborn remembering his Goblin identity and again targeting Spider-Man and his loved ones for misery.
The Green Goblin abducts Peter's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, and lures Spider-Man to a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text). The Goblin and Spider-Man clash, and the Goblin hurls Stacy off the bridge. Spider-Man shoots a web strand at her legs and catches her. As he pulls her up, he thinks he has saved her. However, he quickly realizes she is dead. Unsure whether her neck was broken by the whiplash from her sudden stop or had been already broken by the Goblin prior to her fall, he blames himself for her death. A note on the letters page of The Amazing Spider-Man #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her."
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