Tsundere is a term manga fans use to describe a certain type of character. A tsundere character is "a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms tsun tsun (ツンツン?), meaning to turn away in disgust, and dere dere (デレデレ?) meaning to become 'lovey dovey'." (From here.)
Now, I haven't read the comics where Gwen Stacy first appeared - I've mostly seen her in flashbacks where, frankly, she came across as a sort of bland "stock love interest" character. However, I've come across descirptions of early Gwen that describe her as being a very different, sort of character, even a tsundere. These scans here are used to support the "Gwen as tsundere" theory - they're interesting. Gwen's alot different than I would have thought, but mostly these scans make me think what jackasses Gwen, Peter, Harry and Flash all were.
So, anyhow, what do you folks who've actually read those early Spider-Man stories think?
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Yes, Gwen definitely fits that. She was in the in crowd and thought Peter was just a scince geek. But then she saw signs that he had integrity and knew how others saw him a could have changed people's perspective of him but didn't bother.That intrigued her and she began to change her opinion of him--which is probably the most unusual part.
I suppose the rebooted (1986) Lois also fits that.
-- MSA
Interesting. Thank you, sir.
Yes. It was extremely frustrating too, as all Peter had to do was let the others know why he was always busy and couldn't hang out and spend time with them. When I was reading these comics, I kept expecting him to just turn and snap, "I've got a sick aunt at home and she needs me." That would have resolved the issues with everyone thinking he was an aloof arrogant jerk in a heartbeat.
Of course, it wouldn't have been as dramatic that way...
Randy Jackson said:
Interestingly enough, that was one of the few aspects in the early depiction of Peter Parker with which I agreed. It was none of their business why he didn't hang out with them. Parker wasn't obliged to explain to the "cool kids" why he didn't have time to bother with them, and who were they, anyway, to expect him to want to be with them?
Flash and Gwen and the rest of the gang always came across to me as insufferably impressed with themselves, given their attitude was that there was "something wrong" with Parker for not wanting to hang out with them.
I read this when it first came out. Re-reading the scans, I think the "gang" comes off as mainly immature, although they think they are mature. This isn't atypical for people their age. They assume that Peter is blowing them off instead of just being lost in thought and not hearing them. The first time Gwen actually speculates that he didn't hear them.
The "Scans Daily" comment that "Gwen is clearly attracted to men who ignore her" is believable in that all the guys she meets fawn over her. Is there really such a thing as a "beauty queen" in a high school, which Harry said she was? Her later anger at his apparent ignoring of her is also consistent with her finding him attractive and her being immature.
I keep saying "Bingo" as I read these posts! My wife must think I'm playing online games or something ...