Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Paolo Villanelli
Colorist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Cover Artists: David Marquez & Federico Blee; Inhyuk Lee; Leirix; David Yardin
Logo Designer: Stacie Zucker
Production Designer: Kat Walkington
Editors: Emerald Bensadoun, Martin Biro, Jordan D White & CB Cebulski
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 19, 2025
After he abducted Judge Jeffrey Barbour, Carlos LaMuerto conducted a trial via cell phone. Carlos presented evidence of Barbour's corruption. The people of New York who tuned into his app voted that Barbour was guilty of embezzling public funds devoted to assisting the unhoused. Carlos tried to execute the people's mandate, but Spider-Gwen and his son Fabian stopped him. The authorities threw Carlos in Ryker's Island without access to a judge, attorney, phone, or visitors. He cannot even see Fabian.
Carlos isn’t the only one who is angry at the situation. As he helps Spider-Gwen track down the symbiote she abandoned, Fabian LaMuerto seethes at his father's imprisonment. So, when Spider-Gwen and the new Black Tarantula corner the symbiote in an alley, and Gwen refuses to take it back again, the alien lifeform finds a new host in Fabian. Can Gwen Stacy and Flash Thompson recapture the symbiote and free Fabian from its influence? Or are Spider-Gwen and Anti-Venom a match for a venomous Black Tarantula? Let’s thwip into All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #4 and see!
Story
When Spider-Gwen and Anti-Venom track Fabian and the symbiote to Ryker’s Island, they find the facility in lockdown. Instead of securing the prisoners in their cells, tanks and armored vehicles surround the facility. Spider-Gwen and Anti-Venom take themselves to the leader. The soldier claims they are clearing the facility, but the power is down, and the soldiers cannot contact the corrections officers. He sees no option but to bomb the facility while the monster is inside.
In All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #4, Flash and Gwen ask him to delay his air strike so they can defuse the situation. After they gain entrance, Gwen tries to control the situation by giving the symbiote a name. She attempts to bond with Flash and inject a little humor to lift their spirits. But as Gwen and Flash venture deeper into the prison, both realize how dangerous the symbiote has become.
Stephanie Phillips' story is a meditation on how anger drives us. As Gwen fights, she reflects on how the symbiote empowered her and why she wanted to get rid of it. Flash argues that Gwen shouldn't feel guilt over the symbiote's actions or what it forced her to do while bonded with her. But as her father told her, when Gwen put on the symbiote suit, it stole her joy. And even though she’s free of the symbiote, Gwen still feels its allure. Years of relying on anger tempt Gwen to attack problems instead of contemplating a peaceful solution in All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #4.
Art
With the military on high alert outside Ryker's Island, Spider-Gwen startles a soldier when she lands beside him. Anti-Venom stands at ease in his armor. When the soldier reaches for his handgun, Gwen thwips it while Flash lifts his hands to explain. The soldier glances back at the entrance, where soldiers are assisting civilians from the facility. A star bursts from Gwen’s head when she grows angry, turning her into a partial silhouette. In response, Anti-Venom moves between her and the soldier. Then Flash pumps his fist, adopting a hero pose to assert his capabilities.
As Paolo Villanelli shows how Anti-Venom teams with Spider-Gwen while compensating for her impulsiveness, Matt Milla adorns All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #4 with a limited fluorescent palette. While pink, yellow, and orange shine in the abandoned lobby, the symbiote amplifies the colors as the fighting grows intense. After Carlos experiences a revelation drenched in green, he pumps his fist to assert his capabilities. Yet amid the anger and emotions sending the prisoners into a frenzy, Gwen’s dominant color is black, while Anti-Venom’s is white.
Ariana Maher thwips uppercase black letters into white dialogue balloons and red letters into turquoise-outlined boxes. A thick line of turquoise underlines the words that locate us in time and space. The text grows bold and enlarges for intonation, while intense emotion turns balloons spiky. An abrupt landing threatens to stop a soldier's heart. Then, heroes and villains battle amid hits and thwips while hissing echoes through the cells and dormitories of Ryker’s Island. Thanks to Marvel for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
Gwen loves music filled with rage at the machine. Music with a post-punk experimental vibe (influenced by the grindcore scene) makes her feel alive. Yet as much as she delights in the punk scene, Gwen knows she should restrain her anger. Having a symbiote was like plugging herself into Wes’s amplifier. And like a magnet, the symbiote Gwen cast off makes a new home among prisoners filled with rage at the machine in All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #4.
Rating 9.2/10
To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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