Story by: Jason Latour
Art by: Robbi Rodriguez
Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 15, 2016
Publisher: Marvel
Review by: Paul B Check out his site HERE
I am a huge fan of all the Spider-Women books! They each have a unique point of view, but have a common thread that usually brings them all together from time to time. Sometimes it is a fluid transition into each title, and at other times it seems forced. So when Spider-Women Alpha and Omega came out, I was on board. It was a bit rocky in my opinion, and I feel that the drastic differences in the art teams played a big part of that. I thought that each book looked good individually, but overall it threw the vibe and feel of the book off.
So now that we have that out of the way, we start new with Spider-Gwen #9. The book starts off with a quick recap in the form of a newspaper, something that keeps our characters from repeating themselves. As you will read in my other reviews that is my number one pet peeve, but let's get back to the book. We have Gwen on a train heading home and we have dialog boxes throughout the page talking about her, and it ends with the line, "Spider-Woman doesn't exist Frank". and we see that it is Frank Castle and he is watching her from the rooftop across from her apartment like a peep freak!
This issue also has a lot of inner monologue from Gwen as she tries to sort out her feelings of guilt about those that got hurt and died during her battles as Spider-Gwen. Her friends convince her to go out and she finally caves in. She is able to take her mind off of her problems and was just starting to feel at ease, but it doesn't last long. She almost smashes in a hobo's face who creeped up on her for some change. Get a job, buddy! Wait, I shouldn't have said that...I'm sorry.
We continue with her meeting up with her friends at the Dollar Dog. Regular readers will know this place for sure and she goes to talk to her old boss. He tells her he is now just a manager, since he had to sell the place after it got destroyed in a battle with the "Spider-Woman", and that she ruined his life. Robbi Rodriguez did a great job with the expression on Gwen's face here, even though we only see her eyes. She then heads off to the restroom and tosses her equipment in the sink and is ready to give up being Spider-Gwen as we see two characters from the Spider-Woman Alpha and Omega book talking about Gwen's powers. I don't want to spoil too much by telling you who they are, especially the woman, but depending on how big a role they will have in the arc I may have to spoil more in the next review.
The place gets robbed by some jabroni, and before Gwen can take action, the robber gets his ass kicked by Frank Castle! Just as I was excited to see some Punisher action he grabs Gwen's arm and tells her that he knows the truth. That bastard Frank won't let go and Gwen's friend tries to push him back as Gwen is pulling her arm causing her to slam back into a table. Needless to say this pisses her off and she punches the hell out of Frank sending him out of the window! This panel was awesome! Just seeing her standing there telling him she is not afraid of him and the shadow over her face really made her come off as such a hardcore badass. The only problem was that her friends just saw her lay the smack down, so she bolts out of there.
How will she explain this to her friends? What is Frank Castle going to do about getting his ass kicked? Who are those two discussing Gwen's powers? Who's going to fix the window at the Dollar Dog? We need to wait until issue #10 for the answers to those questions and more!
This would be a good jumping on point for new readers. It gives you insight into Spider-Gwen's state of mind and you do not need to know the backstory of the two characters from the Alpha/Omega series right away. I hold this series in high regard, it is always well written and drawn. The previous volume is great and I recommend it as a trade, or if you have Marvel Unlimited you can catch up on it there.
Bits and Pieces:
So finally, on to the score. This was not the best Spider-Gwen book that I've read so far. It did have some slow parts and a lot of inner dialog. That aside, it is still one of the better Marvel titles you can grab right now. It was a good start to a new arc, but I expect better from this team and this book, and I am sure I will get that with the next issue.
7.5/10
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