Spider-Woman #9 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Mondays

Man. It’s What’s For Dinner.

Written By: Dennis Hopeless
Art By: Javier Rodriguez, Alvaro Lopez
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 6, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoiler and Score At The Bottom*

Spider-Woman has been one of the big surprises of the All-New, All-Different Marvel. I saw more than one comic book news source predicting that this would be one of the first books to fall by the wayside. I certainly don’t blame them for thinking that. After all, from what we know about comic book audiences, the majority of readers would not be able relate to a pregnant superheroine who is about to enter the world of motherhood. That said, Marvel was really able to tap into something that made this book special. Surprisingly, Spider-Woman has done fairly well and it’s really nice to see. Even now, with Marvel NOW just a couple months away Spider-Woman still will continue. A soft relaunch is one of the easiest times for a publisher to prune their book list but Spider-Woman is still there. That said, this is the second crossover that this book has been a part of and it is only issue 9!  Aside from my crossover blues, let’s take a look at Spider-Woman #9.

The issue begins with Jess’s inner dialogue, about the issues that are going on with the current situation in Civil War II. She appears to be in a ski lodge where she is investigating some disappearances. While there, she is constantly being called by Captain Marvel, her best friend. Carol wants to talk to her about Ulysses, the new Inhuman who can see the future. However, Jess would rather ignore the situation and instead focus on the matter at hand. She is investigating some wendigo rumors and is about to attend a banquet. The rumor from the area is that all one must do to become a wendigo is consume human flesh. Jess’s sidekick/babysitter starts to look around for clues. As he does, he suddenly comes across something very shocking in the kitchen. I’m sure you can all see where this is going.

Soylent Green is people! It’s people! Always wanted to make that reference. Obviously, he messages back to Jess that the food is made of human flesh and that she must keep the entire banquet from eating it. Being quick on her feet, Jess suddenly acts as though she is an animal rights activist and screams out about meat being murder. She hops table after table, throwing the food across the room and preventing anyone from eating it. Suddenly, one of the management staff begins to transform into a wendigo himself and attacks Jess. It attempts to get away into the mountains but Jess brought her ski gear and chases after it. However, some of the patrons haven’t had their food taken away yet. Jess fights with the wendigo and struggles a bit but suddenly the wendigo is stopped and flying in the air is none other than Captain Marvel.

Jess and Carol argue about the phone calls until Jess’s phone rings again. It’s Roger on the other side and he is asking for some help as he’s dealing with his own wendigo problem at the lodge. Jess and Carol fly back to the lodge and take care of the problem, all the while still arguing. When they are done they all sit down to have a chat. Carol explains the situation to Jess about Ulysses and Jess still doesn’t want any part of it. Carol tells her that is why she is perfect. She wants an unbiased person to vet all of Ulysses smaller visions so that they can tell how accurate he actually is. After the discussion, Jess and her team discuss it and it would seem that they agree that they should take Carol’s offer and Jess agrees.

This issue was interesting to say the least. The situation they are actually quite gruesome but it is handled with such a lighthearted tone. Normally I would say that it was jarring but honestly, I kind of liked it. However, that lighthearted tone that encompasses a wendigo attack, cannibalism, and an argument between two friends turns into Civil War II set up for this series. Honestly, it makes sense and ultimately is handled well. However, set up is set up and while it promises greater things in the future, it ultimately isn’t the most exciting thing in the world of comics. The art is alright for the most part and it really fits with the lighthearted tone of the book.

Bits and Pieces:

Having a book with such a lighthearted tone while tackling gruesome situations would be very intimidating for most writers and artist but this book handled it flawlessly. Ultimately the rest of the book is set up for Jess’s role in the Civil War II crossover. The part of the book that stood on its own was very fun and entertaining as well.

7.5/10