Writer: Joe Kelly
Artist: Michael Dowling
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover Artists: John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz; Ema Lupacchino & David Curiel; J Scott Campbell & Sabine Rich; Netho Diaz & Alex Guimarães
Designer: Jay Bowen
Editors: Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Tom Groneman, Nick Lowe, & CB Cebulski
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 6, 2025
Nikodemu promised Hellgate a great teacher. But Hellgate values strength, and he perceives weakness in Spider-Man. It’s not Peter’s fault. His uncle Ben raised him to pull his punches and flee a fight when no one else was in danger. But Peter has a dark side like everyone else. He tried to kill Hellgate with an axe. Then he dropped a building on his prospective pupil. Has Peter taught Hellgate what Nikodemu wanted her warrior to learn? What will Hellgate's lesson cost Spider-Man and the people of New York City? Let's grab a cone from the I Scream van at Columbus Circle, thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #9, and see!
Story
Peter Parker’s life is one nonstop juggling act. Every time he strives to get on top of a situation, life hurls him back down. Everyone makes demands on his time, and try as he might, he never satisfies them. Perhaps Peter feels this most with the women in his life. Aunt May befriends a man who badmouths him. Mary Jane chooses a life with Paul Rabin instead of him. Shay Marken insists that they're not a couple and goes on a date with someone else. What's the point in trying hard when people shrug off your best efforts?
In Amazing Spider-Man #9, Peter survives his battle with Hellgate. Yet something in him has died. Whether it was Hellgate’s final punch, his broken leg, or just the unending series of disappointments, Peter has retrenched. He hasn’t given up on life as he did after Cyra’s test. Instead, he does what Aunt May requested. Peter settles down and concentrates on his job at Rand Industries. He doesn’t take on additional obligations, such as working with Norman Osborn to put down the Hobgoblin’s burgeoning organization. Nor does he don his red-and-blue suit and protect New Yorkers as Spider-Man.
Joe Kelly’s story ponders the delicate dance we walk through life. It also reminds us how integral we are to those around us. In Amazing Spider-Man #9, Peter Parker makes the responsible choice. Peter distances himself from the people that he can never please and doesn’t accept responsibility for another would-be protégé. If New York falls apart in his absence, it’s not his problem. Then Peter watches to see how the people he can never please, like Aunt May, Shay Marken, and Mary Jane, react.
Art
Guest artist Michael Dowling shows the Shocker taking over the streets of New York City. Peter stands on a street corner, his leg in a brace, and watches the man in quilted armor attack a police truck. Then Peter hobbles off to sit in a subway train, using earbuds to tune out his surroundings. He smiles as he approaches the gleaming modern Rand building and does a choreographed high-five with Brian to end a team briefing.
Gold symbolizes Peter’s potential futures in Amazing Spider-Man #9. Brian Nehring’s glasses glow gold as he tries to set Peter up with a blonde coworker. The lenses match the mushrooms growing in Brian’s terrariums. The gold material of the Shocker’s armor also signals the anarchy that could reign in New York’s streets, if Spider-Man continues to play Hider-Man. Like the rivulets of lava that flowed through Hellgate’s dark skin, gold lines flow through Captain Kintsugi’s white suit. Marcio Menyz also uses green to link Peter with some of those in his web of relationships. As he hobbles through his day, Peter’s green slacks link him to a friend on his phone, Mary Jane and Randy’s green jackets, and the soup May cooks in the FEAST center.
As block letters locate us in time and space, Peter shares his thoughts in red-edged narrative boxes. Joe Caramagna's black uppercase letters in white balloons grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and shrink for lowered voices. Small gray letters in gray balloons share the colorful future Peter once imagined, while the words of a newscast swell as Peter inserts his earbuds. Red and yellow sound effects help us hear the pain and destruction villains inflict while Peter sits on the sidelines. Thanks to Marvel for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
While Peter hobbles around on a crutch, his friends worry about him. He seems to have lost his verve. But in Amazing Spider-Man #9, Peter is lying low. He realizes his dream of having it all and living the best life was a lie. So, he settles for what he can do, even if that means he’s quit with quips.
Rating 9.2/10
To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
