a touching reflection
Without going into tons of detail, the basic premise of the story is that Peter Parker remembers the last date he had with Gwen Stacy before her death. So, be warned, it’s a downer.
The Kiss is by no means an essential Spider-Man story. There is no advancement of the fiction, no hero/villain secrets exposed. But if you are like me, and started reading comics after Gwen died in the Marvel continuity, then this will help explain why Spidey will at times mourn his old flame. The reason is that Gwen was his first love, and that is why she’ll always have a special place in his heart. Mary Jane might be there today, but she wasn’t the first, and she never will be. Peter, who narrates the tale, correctly points out that his whole story, his memory of the date, is seen through about a decade of nostalgia. So it probably wasn’t that great, but that’s how he remembers things, and that’s a version he wants to hold on to. In perhaps the truest thing ever said about Stacy/Spider-Man, he thinks that it is possible they might have drifted apart and eventually broken up had her life not been cut short. Most writing about Spider-Man’s romance, indeed about any character’s personal relationship in any medium, is not this honest.
For what it is, a story that could have been about anyone that lost their first love due to an accident, the writing is good and well paced. The longer passages do not obscure the art which is clean but nothing really to write home about. Take out the few pages that feature a dude in blue and red spandex and the crazy looking demon on a metal bat and you made a romance comic.
While this story will by no means a go down as one of the greatest Marvel yarns every put to paper, it is a good reflection and provides some exposition on Spider-Man. I never had a girlfriend that died suddenly, but I could imagine that if I had, I would probably feel about her the same way that Peter feels about Gwen.
This story continues the fine tradition of making Spider-Man a believable character, despite his crazy, ill-defined super powers.