The timing of Amazing Spider-Man #9 is, unfortunately, its downfall. There's a small clue as to what Spider-Man did, but it's not big enough to sustain the fact that this issue should have come closer to the release of the Hellfire Gala special. The action is excellently drawn, however, and it's suitable for some fun interactions between Wolverine and Spider-Man, so if you've got a few extra bucks, throw it on the pile for the visuals alone. Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #9 is a narrative meh, but lush and kinetically drawn entry into a miz ongoing series. The issue manages to cross off another element set up previously but still feels directionless and uneven compared to the larger line at Marvel. While the story falls flat, in part due to the gap between this story and its set-up from the Hellfire Gala, Gleasons art redeems the book and makes it worth picking up. Heres hoping that Marvel will get him locked onto a book that allows him to shine as he does in this issue. Read Full Review

Another very interesting issue kicks things up a notch at exactly the right time for this story to kick off. Read Full Review

Ultimately, the issue reads like a holding pattern for a crossover that would have made more sense in July and already ready for Romita to return. Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #9 is a baffling misstep in an increasingly baffling run by Zeb Wells. The issue takes readers back to the Hellfire Gala to flesh out MJ's predicament and eventual salvation, which adds nothing to the current arc and shuffles the resolution with Moria off to the A.X.E. event. But for the art, this issue is pointless. Read Full Review

Good art and good issue

While this is a fairly fun issue, it feels a little unnecessary. The story is fine, but not the best. Although, Spider-Man and Wolverine teaming up is still fun here. The main highlight here, in my opinion, is Gleason's always fantastic art. I really wish we could have Gleason back on ASM full-time, as he's probably one of my favorite current Spider-Man artists, if not my absolute favorite.

This ASM issue is just out of place with this run except for a few pages. Zeb Wells script falls flat for me. Some of it works and is fun but the dialogue and action sequences are weird. I'm starting to not care about the 6 months gap because there are no answers 9 issues in and so the mystery just disappears for me. The art by Gleason is really good but it didn't help me read and understand this issue especially when Moira and MJ are talking. His choices to represent them in that weird format where I one second MJ is there and then Moira shows up was very confusing. Great art but the script and drawing choices didn't help this one on top of being a tie-in to an event from 2 months ago.

This was a well-written and well-drawn downgrade. After what's felt like a lot of forward momentum into this new status quo, this issue puts on the breaks. When it comes to ASM, I try to really give each issue its due when I go to review the book. Spider-Man is my favorite character after all, and I feel like it's worth the time put forth, especially when the title is, uh, "controversial." I have almost nothing to say about this issue, though.

I am currently reading all the X-titles, but I'm a bit behind on most of them, and that means I've yet to read the Hellfire Gala one-shot that this story ties into. Thankfully, the first couple pages catch any readers like me up on what happened in that one-shot, as it pertains to Spider-Man. There's never a moment where I was confused about what was happening. I do think this issue reads like it was written during the 90s. I don't necessarily mean in terms of tone or style, I mean that there's a ton of continuity wrapped up in this issue, and there's not a ton of explanations given. You won't be confused, but there is so much happening in regards to Moira and the X-Men that is simply taken for granted that the reader would understand it. It's madness.

I don't know if any of this will matter past this issue. I know Dark Web also will involve the X-Men, but I really can't see Moira playing a large role in that. This issue doesn't suggest that at all, with a caption saying to watch for her in AXE of all things. The only "important" part of this issue is the brief few pages at the end where Peter and MJ attempt to talk, or rather Peter does. MJ blows him off. Revealing that the reason they can't talk is because of the vague notion of responsibility.

I've been pretty defensive about the time-jump and the mystery regarding MJ. I've said that it ultimately shouldn't bother the readers that it exists, and that it's not hindering my enjoyment of the book. That is still mostly true. However, with an issue that seems as empty as this one was, they should've given us a real hint at what's happening at the end. Presumably, the responsibility MJ mentions is her kids. But who's to say that's actually what she means?

Side note: I do really like Peter's attitude towards MJ in this issue. People were acting like the romance was dead when Black Cat kissed him in 900. This issue makes it very clear that he's still interested in her. Which is refreshing, because usually, they'd shy away from that. It makes me think that the relationship is actually pretty far from dead.

While this issue is a bit lackluster in story, I will say that the art is great. Gleason renders everything perfectly. It looks so damn pretty. It's just a shame that he wasn't allowed to draw something more memorable.

Next issue is also a tie-in, but I have a feeling this next one will have more emotional weight to it, which will hopefully lead to a more satisfying reading experience.

This issue isn't bad, it just feels wholly unnecessary. more

It has nice team-up between Logan and Pete and wonderful art from Gleason. That makes this a pretty good read.

The final panels... not so much. It's irritating, but we'll see what happens next.

Brisk, stylish, entertaining? Sure. Inventive? Revelatory? Even particularly clear? No, not really.

Ok issue to kick off Judgment Day and show some more tension between Peter and Mary Jane.

There's nothing really wrong with it, it's just pretty odd until the end. Felt like an X-Men comic with Spider-Man.

first issue from this run so far that I don't care much about

Hm. Didn't love this one; Peter having a weird night at the Gala was the best part. This issue coming months after the Gala ran in other comics makes it feel strange and even dated, I'm officially losing patience with the "what happened between Peter & MJ?" story (which has started to spin its wheels a bit), and I'll just never find Evil One-dimensional Supervillain Moira interesting. Patrick Gleason makes it look great, of course, but this felt pretty inessential, an outdated crossover intruding on the story and adding nothing.

this was honestly a weird issue. I get it ties into hellfire Gala, but you dont need to read the story, and the action is lackluster. art looks good though.

Another waste of paper and ink. Useless tie-in.

Maybe I made the mistake of viewing the reviews before I read it but it did suck. I’m tired of waiting for this run to “click.” It’s just not good. Every creative team change, we hope for something better and get something worse.

As a Spider-man fan - I feel like this was way too quick of a read. It was a quick set up which got resolved in less than a a page. I wish that wolverine and spidey had more interactions with each other. Calling back to the story like in Spider-man vs Wolverine wouldve neat. It just seems like they could have replaced wolverine with any other hero and the results wouldve been the same. Gleason's art is not as phenomenal as it used to be. I dont know if this was a rushed job but usually he can formulate dynamic poses or remerable pages. Here it seem like he was just turning in pages for a deadline. The Mj/ Peter interaction was the best part.

As a Jonathan Hickman Xmen fan- I dislike everything about the direction that they taken with Moria X. Turning her into a evil supervillain robot is such a disservice to the complexity that was added to her in House of X. This issue gets huge points down for this aspect. more

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daspidaboy - Sep 16, 2022

could you elaborate further on how Moira was unlikeable and why you dont like the new direction?

Jeff Plaza - Sep 16, 2022

I guess by direction I mean Moria X's sudden heel turn at the end of Inferno. More specifically, X Lives/Deaths of Wolverine where the X-office doubled down. I stop reading about her after that. I know she plays a big part in AXE: Jusgement

Jeff Plaza - Sep 16, 2022

I preferred her complexity in house of x and the mystery behind all her lives. She was obviously planning something big but that plan never came about once Hickman left.

Jeff Plaza - Sep 16, 2022

In this spidey, she just seemed to one note villian for me. It's okay if you disagree. Just my thoughts on the whole matter

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Sheesh MJ please have some respect for the guy who just saved your life