We know Gwen was at an appropriate age as an undergraduate (rather than being a year younger or older) at eighteen years old, because she references her age in issue #60 of The Amazing Spider-Man.
Then, 27 issues later, the writers use Gwen Stacy's birthday as a plot device to add to the stresses of Peter Parker's day with the intention of adding a sense of suspense to the reader.
Specifically how old she turned is never mentioned, but I have seen a few fan sources who have accepted this issue to be featuring the celebration of her 19th birthday.
It will be 34 issues from here that Gwen Stacy will die, in The Amazing Spider-Man #121 - The Night Gwen Stacy Died, and it's well-known that Gwen never had the chance to graduate from Empire State University. Personally, going by what little information we have, I would say she was 20 or almost 20 at the time of her death. Way too young, and I think putting a number on her age adds to the tragedy of her death. We all know that 'comic book years' are their own entity, so it makes sense why we wouldn't know for sure how old she was. All we can really do is have this discussion as fans.
What do you think?
Log in to comment