REVIEW: ‘Spider-Woman,’ Issue #9

Spider-Woman #9 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Karla Pacheco, art by Pere Pérez, colors by Frank D’armata, and letters by Travis Lanham. Jessica’s long search is over. After many dead ends and false leads, she has finally tracked down the High Evolutionary. But what will her long quest finally yield? Will she receive the cure she so desperately needs? Or will she simply find more mom clones?

This is a difficult issue to talk about without straying into spoiler territory. The reveals start fairly early, and they don’t stop. But as the pieces come together and Jessica discovers some startling truths, what remains consistent in the ever-shifting narrative is the quality the creative team brings to the book.

Writer Pacheco continues to deliver a version of Spider-Woman that is constantly being tossed around between moments of frustration, rage, and confusion. As her world continues to spiral out of control, Jessica’s slipping grasp on herself nears the point of shattering here. And to be fair, who can blame her. Her world has been delivering one hard kick to her after another for the entire run of this story. Whether or not it will get better remains to be seen. This tumultuous existence is breaking our hero down bit by bit. And Pacheco does a great job of writing Jessica’s ongoing struggle.

The only place that Spider-Woman #9 struggles a little for me is how rapidly the situation sometimes evolves here. Just as one piece of information is divulged, another comes along that quickly overtakes it. During the climactic moments of this issue, my mind went into a little bit of narrative overload.

The art in this issue further compliments the story’s strongest elements. Perez’s depictions of Jessica’s struggle with the swirling vortex of chaos her life has been reduced to is excellent. Jessica’s emotional state throughout this issue is palpable. And while she is the obvious focus of the story, no less care is given to the visual presentation of the other characters that surround her.

Furthering the visual aspects of Spider-Woman #9 is D’armata’s gorgeous colors. While the book’s entirety is bathed in the fabulous colors and lighting that has made the visuals so striking throughout, there is a panel near the end of the book that highlights just how versatile the colorist can be. Completely throwing their usual color approach out the window, D’armata goes in a completely different direction to make this panel stand out in a striking fashion. And nails it!

Lastly, we have the lettering. Lanham’s letters deliver all the emotion, exposition, and plot twists with plenty of skill and style. The dialogue always flows smoothly thanks to the letterer’s skillful touch.

When all is said and done, Spider-Woman #9 delivers a lot of bang within its pages. While I felt it got a little too busy with plot reveals at times, it nonetheless delivers some great character-driven moments and ends its time with a story beat that has me eager to see what comes next.

Spider-Woman #9 is available now wherever comics are sold.