Things have not been going well for Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man as he has been getting his ass handed to him by Hellgate. Because of that it was no surprise that the previous issue of Amazing Spider-Man ended with Hellgate appearing to defeat Peter. Even if he is able to get back up from the latest beating it is tough to tell how Spider-Man will stand a chance. If that wasn’t hard enough Amazing Spider-Man #9 is teasing the involvement of the newest Venom host, Mary Jane Watson.
Before getting to this review I will be changing our review format. Rather than straight forward review, the new format will break down the specific highlights and weakness, if any, of the comic book. This is the new review format that will be used. With that said let’s get into how Amazing Spider-Man #9.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artist: Michael Dowling
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9 SOLICITATION
“SPIDER-MAN’S SHOCKING DEFEAT! Battered and broken following his battle with HELLGATE, SPIDER-MAN needs to level up if he’s going to survive the next round. Peter Parker is a different man following Hellgate’s revelation. But MARY JANE WATSON has a revelation of her own to share! And the first foes to put Spidey’s strength to the test are SHOCKER and his new allies, THE AFTERSHOCKS!”
HIGHLIGHTS OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9
1) Deep Impact Of Losing The Fight
There was no time wasted in showing the impact of Spider-Man losing the fight. It wasn’t just a physical loss that Spider-Man suffered but also an emotional one. Joe Kelly and Michael Dowling got over how the loss to Hellgate wasn’t one that Peter could simply move past. The hints of Peter’s accelerated healing not working possibly being mental during the interaction with Norman Osborn was a subtle way to show this.
2) Peter Parker Professional Progression
While Spider-Man is mostly MIA during this issue we get a large focus on Peter Parker. And unlike what we have come to expect, we don’t see Peter simply being his depressed self. At least on a professional level Peter is shown giving genuine effort to progress his career at Rand Industries. The success of his presentation helps to further establish this as being, on a professional level, Peter’s new normal. He isn’t letting what happens to him as Spider-Man derail his entire life. That is progress from Peter that has been seen since his Horizon days.
3) Supporting Cast Not Blind To What’s Going On With Peter Parker
Peter isn’t the only shown to get some progress. Joe Kelly actually shows us how the supporting cast for Amazing Spider-Man aren’t buying Peter’s excuses. They aren’t just blindly believing Peter’s lies about his injuries or why he is ignoring them. The interaction Aunt May has with her co-worker and Shay Marken and Randy Robertson’s back-and-forth does a lot to for the investment Kelly is making in the supporting cast. Rather than just being characters that appear every once-in-a-while, almost every character comes across as a real person. Not buying Peter’s lies or excuses goes a long way in strengthening the overall narrative.
4) Spider-Man Return To Action
The ending of Amazing Spider-Man #9 having Peter get back in the action is an interesting one. This entire issue built the expectation that we weren’t going to see Spider-Man. Afterall, we saw Peter walking with one of his leg’s still heavily injured. Which made the updates to Spider-Man’s costume standout even more. Are these additions to his Spider-Man costume done to compensate for his injuries? Or are there other reasons for the changes?
WHAT DIDN’T WORK IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9
1) Chaos Just The Normal For New York City
With Spider-Man MIA for most of this issue it is understandable that the villains would try to take advantage. Unfortunately the only villains we see taking advantage of the situation are Shocker and Tombstone. While Tombstone certainly has the credibility of a villain to take advantage of the situation the same can’t be said about Shocker. To put over the dark status quo that we see J. Jonah Jameson talk about we should’ve seen other villains also creating havok. It was a good chance to bring in other villains through a montage sequence to further put over how Kelly is looking to utilize Spider-Man’s rogues gallery.
2) The Mary Jane Watson Factor
It was only a matter of time before Mary Jane Watson would be brought back into the fold. We got a hint of her being brought in with her short appearance in the previous issue. And unsurprisingly with MJ’s status as the All-New Venom her first interaction with Peter in this volume of Amazing Spider-Man does not go well. And it is not clear if Kelly wrote MJ in a way that she comes across as an awfully selfish sounding person or that is her new normal. With how MJ was written it was just a reminder Spider-Man editorial has left Peter and MJ’s relationship in a state that would be a step backwards. Maybe it could be improved in the future but if Amazing Spider-Man #9 is any indication that it will be a long, tough road to be fixed.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Amazing Spider-Man #9 does a lot to continue the progress we’ve been seeing throughout this series. The way Joe Kelly and Michael Dowling utilize Spider-Man’s loss to Hellgate helped drive up the growing in investment for Peter Parker’s personal life. It leads to the ending creating intriguing questions around the choices Peter is shown making throughout this issue. If it wasn’t for the continued questionable writing of Mary Jane Watson’s character this would’ve been the best issue of this volume of the series.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
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