Spider-Man: Blue (Comics) | Review

Most Spider-Man stories focus on responsibility and power. Spider-Man: Blue focuses on something more painful: the weight of first love and the guilt that comes with moving on. It's grief packaged as nostalgia and it cuts deeper than any villain ever could.

Writer Jeph Loeb (Catwoman: When in Rome, Superman for All Seasons) and artist Tim Sale (Batman: Dark Victory, Batman: The Long Halloween) kick off their acclaimed color series with their most heartbreaking entry, proving Peter Parker's greatest tragedy wasn't Uncle Ben's death but learning to live after losing Gwen Stacy.

This isn't your typical web-slinging adventure. Blue is Peter Parker on Valentine's Day, alone, recording a message to the woman he couldn't save. What follows is a journey back to his early days with Gwen, before the Goblin, before the bridge, before everything fell apart.

The framing device anchors everything in grief. Peter sits in his apartment on Valentine's Day, recording a tape for Gwen Stacy years after her death. Mary Jane is out of town and Peter finds himself pulled back to memories of his first love. The setup establishes this isn't about heroics but a man trying to make peace with the past.

We flash back to Peter's high school and college years, when Gwen was alive and their relationship was beginning. Peter remembers the awkwardness, jealousy when Gwen showed interest in other guys, the juggling act between being Spider-Man and boyfriend.

Here's what Blue does brilliantly: it re-contextualizes Peter's mythology through loss. Every swing through the city, every joke to criminals, every heroism is undercut by knowing none of it saved the person who mattered most. The tape recorder framing reminds us Peter carries this weight, talking to someone who can't hear him.

The connection to Marvel's color series is foundational. Blue launched the concept, establishing the template that Daredevil: Yellow and Hulk: Gray would follow: heroes reflecting on lost loves. But Blue has an edge the others don't. Peter's grief is compounded by guilt.

He blames himself for Gwen's death in ways that go beyond simple survivor's guilt. Every happy memory becomes painful because he knows where the story ends. What makes this essential reading is how it deepens Gwen's character. For decades, Gwen existed primarily as the girlfriend who died, a plot device to motivate Peter.

We see why he loved her, why losing her broke something fundamental inside him that never fully healed. She's funny, intelligent, occasionally frustrating and utterly real in ways comic book love interests rarely achieve, making her loss feel devastatingly personal.

Supporting characters get meaningful development throughout. Harry Osborn's friendship with Peter carries additional weight when you know what's coming. Flash Thompson's evolution from bully to friend feels genuinely earned. Aunt May's concern for Peter's constant exhaustion adds domestic stakes that ground the super-heroics.

Even the villains, Rhino and Vulture among others, serve the emotional narrative rather than existing for action sequences. They're obstacles that highlight Peter's divided attention, the impossible balance between saving the city and being present for people he loves most.

One sequence encapsulates everything: Peter and Gwen on a date, trying one normal evening. Peter's spider-sense keeps going off. Gwen notices but doesn't understand. Holding hands becomes loaded with secrets. It's why superhero relationships are doomed, the distance created by lies told to protect someone you love.

The blue costume design is crucial to the story's identity. Peter's early costume had blue highlights instead of the black we know today and Sale leans into that aesthetic choice. The brighter colors reflect the lighter tone of Peter's early days, before tragedy hardened him.

Blue explores Peter's relationship with Mary Jane in subtle ways. The framing device shows Peter married to MJ but talking about Gwen. There's no jealousy or resentment, just understanding that Peter needs to process grief. It's a mature handling of emotions that respects all characters without artificial drama.

Tim Sale's artwork transforms Blue into something timeless. His style mixes clean lines with expressive character work, making every emotion land with precision. The way he draws Gwen, full of life and personality, makes her death hit harder because we see what Peter lost.

Sale's panel layouts mirror Peter's emotional state. During happy memories, panels are open and bright. When tape recorder scenes intrude, layouts tighten and darken. Steve Buccellato uses blues throughout to create thematic consistency. Blue represents both nostalgia and melancholy, the bittersweet color of memory.

Loeb's writing finds poetry in Peter Parker's voice without sacrificing authenticity. His Peter sounds like a real person, not a writer's idea of how teenagers talk. The tape recorder narration gives everything an intimate quality, like reading someone's private journal.

The pacing allows emotions to build naturally. Blue doesn't rush through Peter and Gwen's relationship to get to the tragedy. It trusts readers to invest in small moments: first kisses, arguments about Peter's mysterious disappearances, stolen afternoons. When action arrives, it matters because we understand what Peter risks.

Spider-Man: Blue is essential reading that transcends typical superhero storytelling. Loeb and Sale created something that works as a love letter to Spider-Man's history while standing alone as a meditation on grief. This is Peter Parker at his most vulnerable, stripped of quips.

The tape recorder framing elevates everything. By making this explicitly about Peter processing loss, Blue gives itself permission to be melancholy in ways mainstream superhero comics rarely attempt. There's no world-ending threat to punch away. The only villain is time and the cruel reality that some people can't be saved in the end.

What makes Blue timeless is its refusal to cheapen Gwen's memory. She's not idealized or reduced to motivation for Peter's heroics. She's a real person Peter loved and losing her hurt in ways he's still trying to understand. That honesty about grief gives Blue emotional resonance.

The ending will wreck you not through shock but through accumulated weight. By the time Peter stops recording, you understand why some losses never stop hurting. If you think Spider-Man is just about wise-cracking and web-slinging, Blue will reframe the character. This is Peter Parker's heart laid bare, beautiful and devastating.

Spider-Man: Blue is available in both trade paperback and hardcover editions through local comic-book shops, major bookstores and various online retailers. Digital readers can access it through Amazon Kindle, ComiXology and Marvel Unlimited platforms.