Spider-Man #9: Electric Blues

Every long-running cape comic needs a baseline for strong, world expanding stories. In a world where Batman can have twenty books a week and Superman can have five, it isn’t much of a surprise that Peter Parker gets two. However, Dan Slott and Mark Bagley’s Spider-Man run kicked off with a story entitled End of the Spider-Verse, which was a massive story that normally would’ve been granted its own event mini-series. It was an odd choice, one that didn’t make much sense. With all the craziness occurring in Zeb Wells’ The Amazing Spider-Man, giving Peter yet another grand, loud ongoing was seemingly redundant. With that arc in the can, Slott and Bagley set out to try something smaller with an added bit of zaniness to it, as seen in last month’s Spider-Man #8. In, dare I say, spectacular fashion, this issue builds off of the return to grounded and small-scale storytelling in fresh, yet classic ways. It’s safe to say that for those who were hoping that this title would be a more Peter Parker focused narrative with emphasis are in good hands with the story that begins in issue #8 and follows through into #9.

This issue’s story is focused on a few things, some bigger than others. The highlight here though is Slott’s exploration of how Peter’s extended cast react and feel about the ongoing redemption of Norman Osborn. We haven’t gotten to see Pete’s friends and family as more than set dressing in a very long time, so the Parker family dinner that takes place in this issue is not only hopelessly nostalgic and warm, but utilized for much needed social drama.

JJJ is the most headstrong with Norman, the events of The Amazing Spider-Man #800 straining their relationship deeply. Although, an added level of depth is there as JJJ himself was another Spider-Man antagonist that himself went through a bout of redemption. Hypocrisy plays a pivotal thematic role in this issue, with Norman calling out Robbie’s forgiveness of Tombstone when confronted about his own sins. Having Peter Parker’s social life play a role in the drama once again, and intersect with the Spider-Sense plot, is classical, but due to the strange new status quo we find ourselves the story remains fresh.

If any criticism can be made of this issue, and by extension this arc so far, is that it lacks a stronger thematic core. This is not a surprise, or even something that kills the book. Slott is balancing a lot out in this issue and leveraging that against page count is no small feat. However, it does feel like the story doesn’t have anything to say, but that’s exactly what this title is meant to be. It’s a fun Spidey adventure with a creative plot device, no more, no less.

The smaller bits of this issue follow the plots that are being slowly threaded out and into the finale of Maxed Out and the future of this title. Spider-Boy appears more so in this book than anywhere else, and spends the book tailing Peter around until he runs into the Gold Goblin. Electro remains a background player up until the end, where Slott ties every thread together into one, predictable yet well written bow. The story pacing takes great advantage of Pete’s new power development, Slott not leaving much of anything out of the book.

Mark Bagley’s art may be getting retro in comparison to the hot shots of today, but the visuals still remain very strong. His skill as a sequential storyteller is as sharp as ever. If you take away the dialogue from this issue, it would read just as clearly. Bagley also pens the best visual representation of the Gold Goblin suit thus far.