Posted By Dan Greenfield on May 5, 2024 | 6 comments

The country where GWEN STACY LIVED…

There’s a comics urban legend that kinda goes like this: In the ’70s, Mexican comics publisher La Prensa, which held a Marvel license and also distributed to other Latin American countries, refused to buy into the idea that Gwen Stacy was killed off and so kept her alive with a run of original stories where she and Peter Parker get married and live happily ever after.

It’s only partially true — but true enough. Basically, La Prensa got the license in 1963 and started reprinting the original U.S. Spider-Man stories (as well as early Ant-Man tales) translated into Spanish under the title El Sorprendente Hombre Araña (The Surprising Spider-Man).

At some point, La Prensa began inserting original stories into the run — generally illustrated by José Luis Durán — including, notably, May 1972’s Issue #128, which featured a dream sequence where Peter and Gwen, who was very popular with readers, get hitched. (As time went on, La Prensa began to increasingly spotlight Gwen and other fetching women in cheesecake poses on the covers.) By the time Gerry Conway, Gil Kane and John Romita killed Ms. Stacy off in March 1973’s The Amazing Spider-Man #121, the Mexican publisher felt the audience wouldn’t go for it and kept her alive until their license ran out in October 1973.

Marvel’s Tom Brevoort does a great deep dive into the phenomenon here but with Cinco de Mayo upon us, we’ve decided not to celebrate with tequila and music, but with 13 MEXICAN SPIDER-MAN COVERS. (See how many swipes you can find!)

¡Maravilloso!

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MORE

— 13 COVERS: The Colorful World of Italian BATMAN Comics. Click here.

— 13 FRENCH SUPERMAN AND BATMAN COVERS to Celebrate BASTILLE DAY. Click here.