Thread by @seananmcguire

So it's time for a little story. A story about a blonde girl sitting on the floor at @flycojoe's comic book store, reading the books from the quarter bin as she tried to make a choice.

She was nine years old, in love with the X-Men and with Spider-Man, and most especially, with Gwen Stacy, who was smart and blonde and liked to do her homework and could do science even better than Peter Parker.

Tiny Seanan didn't really see herself in any of the superheroes who were running around the Marvel Universe at that specific moment in time, but wow, did she see herself in Gwen Stacy.

And then Gwen died. And it was the worst thing that had ever happened in any comic book, ever, because Gwen didn't have super powers, or her name on the cover, or anything. Gwen dead now was Gwen dead forever.

I cried. A lot. I stopped buying Spider-Man comics, because how could they do that to me? (I later came back for ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, because it was a clean start.) I dedicated myself to the X-Men in all ways.

But my dreams were always of Gwen. When she came back in House of X, I felt like I'd been given a gift. I mourned her for DECADES.

In 2014, suddenly, all the comic and geek news sites were buzzing with the news that Gwen Stacy was back...and this time, she was Spider-Woman, thanks to @jasonlatour and @RobbiRodriguez.

"That's cool, but it's a gimmick," I said at the time. "They're just going to kill her again." They were just going to break my heart.

Instead, they made something incredible. She got her own solo series. She stuck around, breakout star of the new extended spider-verse. I began, cautiously, to let myself believe in Gwen Stacy.

And then, on June 7, 2018, the editor I had been working with for X-MEN GOLD asked if I'd be willing to get on the phone with the Spider-Office. I would walk into fire for @writeneski, so of course I said sure.

It was me, her, @EDevinLewis, and Devin's boss, Nick. And one of them--I honestly cannot tell you which one--asked if I had any interest in writing Gwen.

I nearly passed out. I nearly threw up. I somehow managed to keep my voice from shaking as I squeaked, "Well, that would be nice."

Because I'll be honest: Gwen wasn't even on my BUCKET LIST. There was no way I was ever going to get to write for her, and so I hadn't allowed myself to want.

I was announced as the author of SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST-SPIDER at SDCC 2019. I attended the Spider-verse panel as an audience member, and took pictures of the title slide. I only cried a little.

SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST-SPIDER was always about a transitional period in Gwen's life, the space created when she got out of prison and had to start figuring out who she was going to be post-high school, in a world without a secret identity.

This was always going to be a somewhat limited series, because it could only stay with Gwen until she worked some things out.

GHOST SPIDER, which begins in August, is going to let us explore Gwen now that she has her feet a little more solidly on the web, and a better sense of where she fits into this big, wild world of superheroics.

SG: GS has been my first ongoing comic title, and it contains some of my best work. The first trade is available now from a comic book store or online retailer near you. I would really appreciate it if you'd pick it up, if you haven't already.

I get to keep working with the editorial team I adore, and with @takmiyazawa, whom I positively love. He makes me (and Gwen) look so good!

Please stick with us as we keep swinging into bigger and better adventures, and a bigger and better future for the girl I grieved for more than half my life. I am honored to be her custodian as she swings into the future. I'd be even more honored if you'd come along.

In closing, Thomas.