The two-issue story was written by Gerry Conway, with pencil art by Gil Kane and inking by John Romita Sr. and Tony Mortellaro.

Prior to the release of the story arc, it was not considered common for major members of a superhero's supporting cast to be killed.

Gwen's death and the story at large had major impact on the Marvel brand, as they directly led to increased emphasis on Luke Cage and Mary Jane Watson, the creation of the Punisher, and Green Goblin's status as Spider-Man's archenemy in alternate media and, following his resurrection during the Clone Saga, the comics.

Prior to this arc, Norman Osborn had been the Green Goblin, but due to amnesia, he had suspended his identity as the supervillain and forgotten that Spider-Man is Peter Parker.

A note on the letters page of The Amazing Spider-Man #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her.

Later, a devastated Parker, back at home, encounters an equally shocked and saddened Mary Jane Watson, who has lost a close friend with Gwen's death, and the two attempt to comfort each other in the wake of their loss.

Inker John Romita Sr. recalled in a 2015 interview how the character to be killed off for what became The Night Gwen Stacy Died was selected.

The comic features a "snap" sound effect next to Gwen Stacy's head in the panel in which Spider-Man's webbing catches her.

In The Amazing Spider-Man #125 (Oct. 1973), Marvel Comics editor Roy Thomas wrote in the letters column that "it saddens us to have to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her.

Physicist and comic collector James Kakalios, in his book The Physics of Superheroes, states that in the real world, the whiplash effect would have killed her.

Learning from his previous error, Spider-Man uses multiple weblines and catches every major joint, saving Mary Jane from suffering the same whiplash effect that killed Gwen.

[15] A similar event occurs when Spider-Man saves Anna Maria—the girlfriend of Otto Octavius during a time when he was in Spider-Man's body—when Green Goblin uses her as a hostage and throws her off a building after learning that his true enemy has returned, Peter reflecting as he catches Anna Maria that he has learned over time to catch every joint in moments like this to limit potential whiplash.

[16] During the Civil War,[17] both Iron Man and Captain America cited Gwen as argument for their opinions on the Superhuman Registration Act.

Thomas, Romita and other editorial board members, however, convinced him otherwise, stating that this would be an "embarrassing silliness" and could ruin the emotional impact of her death.

[7] While developing the story for the Spider-Man: One More Day storyline along with Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Ed Brubaker and Dan Slott; Joe Quesada and J. Michael Straczynski made plans to resurrect Gwen Stacy along with Harry Osborn, who had been killed in The Spectacular Spider-Man #200 and ultimately revived during the story (though this Harry was later revealed to be a clone who later died himself during the "Kindred Rising" storyline).

Numerous Marvel writers and editors, however, lobbied for Stacy to remain dead, forcing Quesada and Straczynski to discard their idea upon frustratingly realizing that they were outnumbered.

[19] Among the changes to continuity going as far back as 1971, Straczynski's original script had, as a consequence of Mephisto erasing Spider-Man's and Mary Jane's marriage from reality, Gwen Stacy being restored to life as her death never happened as well her affair with Norman Osborn.

In the story, Gwen is resurrected by Ben Reilly alongside other deceased Spider-Man supporting characters, initially helping him achieve his goals but eventually assisting Peter and dying after the two of them make amends with each other.

In the aftermath of this rescue, he proposed to Gwen after revealing his secret identity to her, and, in a subsequent confrontation with the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn finally fought off his evil side when Harry moved to protect him regardless of what he'd become.

", Peter, who is the Punisher in addition to Spider-Man, is able to save Gwen by killing the Green Goblin and webbing her body to a suspended scaffold on the bridge.

She vows to take revenge on the Goblin and dons Spider-Man's costume, but realizing she lacks training and super powers, she decides to work together with Harry and set up a trap for the villain.

[21] Gwen's death shocked Spider-Man readers, with some appreciating the bold move and others horrified by the unexpected demise of a popular character.

In Amazing Spider-Man #125 (Oct 1973), an editorial comment on the letters page explained the creators' view: "The relationship between Pete and Gwen had been through a lot of inconsequential ups and downs, and unless the two were to be married, there was nowhere else to take it.