I’m tired of this misconception so I’m debunking it once and for all. Feel free to reblog or link to this in any discussions you find yourself in.
Let me start by making something clear. Yes, Gwen Stacy did have sex with Norman Osborn/the Green Goblin. My contention though is not about that but about the misconception that this was an affair or constituted unfaithfulness towards Peter/Spidey.
I think people have this weird idea that Gwen emerged wholecloth as Spider-Man’s waifu when that’s not how things happened. Gwen and Peter gradually got together and fell in love with their first date occurring in ASM #53
It was effectively their only date between then and ASM #59-61. This is relevant because the latter issues comprise a story arc in which Gwen and Peter are on the outs. Gwen’s father, Captain Stacy, was brainwashed by the Kingpin and as a result attacked Peter. Peter defended himself but didn’t account for his strength. When Gwen walked into the room she believed her father’s story that Peter had attacked him. She told Peter to get lost, temporarily ending any relationship they had at the time; not that they were even exclusive at the time anyway.
Compounding things Gwen saw Peters pictures in the Daily Bugle incriminating her father.
The long and short of this story is that Gwen and her father found themselves endangered by the Kingpin until they were rescued by none other than Norman Osborn.
At the time Norman was amnesic and was unaware that he was the Green Goblin.
After this incident that Gwen went to thank Norman for saving her and her father. It was at this point that she and Norman slept together as established by The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2005.
Neither the handbook nor any other story ever even hints that Gwen and Norman had sex more than once. By any definition it was a one time encounter.
Now let’s take a quick trip to Wikipedia and read the first few sentences on their ‘Infidelity’ article.
Perhaps we could argue she did something wrong. That it was wrong for her to have slept with the father of her friend Harry or to have not told Peter about her encounter with Norman or being pregnant with his children.
But given that Gwen and Peter had been on effectively one date and were not together when she slept with Norman, by definition she was NOT CHEATING on anyone!
“We all wear masks Spider-Man, but which one is real? The one that hides your face, or the one that IS your face?”~Green Goblin
Spider-Man has been consuming my brain for the past five months. I sketched a bunch of expressions of my take on Gobby, of course a blend of inspiration from his original comic look and spectacular Spider-Man. I’m tempted to do a full lineup of how I’d tackle the Spider-Man characters~
