Amazing Spider-Man #9 Review

The multiverse contains many Spider Totems, but none are more important than the original friendly neighborhood Spider-Man Peter Parker of Earth 616; this is made even more apparent in Amazing Spider-Man #9. So far Spider-Verse has been a amalgamation of side stories and plots that are meant to build up to the event itself. If each Edge of Spider-Verse branded issue or tie-in is a thread, then Marvel’s flagship Spider-Man comic is the center of the great web itself. This issue gives us readers what they’ve been waiting for since this event was announced, Spider-Man meeting the rest of the Spider-Verse and finding out that he is the chosen one.

This issue does a lot of things right. It seems normal for Marvel to compress stories or spread their characters or story too thin during events, but Spider-Verse escapes this routine. Though there are a lot of characters, or Spiders, they are used wisely and aren’t placed in a scene just for their presence alone. The manner in which the Spiders were drawn to Peter Parker-616 is satisfying, and the way they just seem to appear out of the woodworks and converge on Peter whilst he and Silk are breaking up a robbery is effective as a simple way to bring them together. It’s simple fun to see Peter react to the different versions of himself, some he’s met, and some he’s never seen before.

Many questions are answered, though some new threads are revealed. The other Spiders are drawn to Peter because he’s faced an Inheritor before, Kaine is a special totem referred to as the other, Cosmic Spider-Man’s universe is a safe zone due to the fact he has the Enigma Force – the power of a god, and Morlun is saving Earth-616 for a special occasion and doesn’t wish any of his kin to pay a visit to it. All of this we learn in one issue, which is quite a feat in and of itself as sometimes comics today have a lot of content but feel like nothing is happening.

Though a gathering of the Spiders is happening, there still remains little excerpts of other Spider-Men still not brought into either of the main squads: Miles Morales the Ultimate Spider-Man in this case. Hopefully these scenes will begin to dwindle as the rosters fill out with the required characters and we can get into some plot moving action. Speaking of action, there is little present in this issue aside from the robbery break up. The fight between Daemos and the New Warriors isn’t shown, just the aftermath interaction with Kaine, which might have been a missed opportunity to demonstrate the raw power of Daemos against heroes who aren’t Spider based, and would have infused the issue with some nice Spider vs. Inheritor action.

What this issue succeeds at is moving along the story. The main cast aside from the Superior Squad is assembled and the event is ready to proceed to the main battle between the Spiders and the Inheritors. We learn more about the Inheritors and the differing personalities between each offspring of Lord Solus – the bickering between the siblings about which Spider they hunted is better is quite funny in particular. The more we learn about the antagonists of the Spider-Verse the less of a nameless force they are, and the more interesting they become.

As usual Oliver Coipel’s art is crisp and clean. I am a fan of Humberto Ramos and his direction; but, except for some rough face artwork, Coipel gets the job done. His designs of the characters are smooth and detailed, and he’s able to pack a lot of bodies or setting into one page without it seeming too cluttered or unfinished. I find that his poses and depictions of movement are well drawn, and perhaps I’ve just grown a fan of his art direction but I think he’s done an amazing job on the event so far.

Amazing Spider-Man #9 is a solid issue that moves the event along without compressing the plot and manages not to have empty pages that don’t have a meaning or impact on the story. More action could have been shown, but issues such as this one are necessary to put the event in motion. Aptly titled the Gathering, the cast has been assembled and now readers can be ready for the action packed Spider vs. Inheritor sequences that are sure to come.

Check out Whatever a Spider Can’s other Spider-Verse comic book recaps and reviews
Amazing Spider-Man #9 Recap
Amazing Spider-Man #7 Recap and Review
Spider-Man Team up #1 Recap and Review

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