Gwenpool Holiday Special by Gerry Duggan and Charles Soule

Gwenpool Holiday Special by Gerry Duggan and Charles Soule and a bunch of other, is a one-off fifty-page comic ostensibly about the new Gwenpool character but actually a She-Hulk story with a bunch of cameos. But who the hell is Gwenpool, you ask? Apparently she started out as a variant cover when Gwen Stacey was doing the variant-cover-rounds dressing up as various characters (I assume to promote Spider-Gwen). Then, when the Marvel powers-that-be saw how popular she was (how many people were cosplaying her), they gave her her own series. So that's pretty cool. I just wish they'd also given her pants (or a skirt, I'd settle for a skimpy skirt). This holiday special is a lead-in to that upcoming series, which doesn't start until April. She is also, apparently, in/going to be in the first three issues of the rebooted Howard the Duck, but I haven't read any of those.

An All-New, All-Different Marvel Holiday Special! She-Hulk throws a holiday party and invites the entire Marvel U! Deadpool teams up with both Hawkeyes- Kate and Clint- to...stop a pickpocket? Ms. Marvel takes on her most dangerous threat yet: the holiday blues! And then there's the reason for the season (al special): Gwenpool! Yup, you read that right- Gwen. Pool. C'mon, you know you're curious.

As I said, this is mainly a She-Hulk comic. She-Hulk has to save the building her office is in from being sold. She enlists the help of her paralegal with a magic monkey and Patsy Walker (Hellcat) to throw an end-of-year party with all her superhero friends. That's the overarching story that ties everything together.

We also have short cameo stories from a few groups of characters: there's Ms Marvel hating the Christmas (and Chanukah) season because she feels left out; there's the Hawkeyes and Deadpool catching a bad guy; and there's Gwenpool who has a little mission before the party. These were all fun, with the Ms Marvel story being my favourite. Gwenpool was an interesting new character who seems to be Marvel's version of a teen Harley Quinn. (From a bit of googling, it seems her backstory is she's from the "real" world and has been transported into the world of Marvel comics, which she read in the real world, and thinks that everything is a video game and has no consequences. So that's kind of fun.)

This was an enjoyable issue, long enough to feel worth my time and money, but still pretty quick to get through. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in any of the characters mentioned above. And don't worry, you don't have to like or hate the holiday season to enjoy it.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2015, Marvel
Series: Not yet
Format read: Digital
Source: Purchased from Marvel store thingy