Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 9

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #9

by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr. (Illustrator), Jim Mooney (Illustrator)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #78-87.

Spider-Man's early tales continue with the Prowler in his first appearance; the beautiful Black Widow seen for the first time in her sultry new spy gear; an underworld family in-fight between the Kingpin and the Schemer including Vanessa Fisk's entrée into Marveldom; and the Chameleon, Electro and the Kangaroo, a poor assemblage that's always a bridesmaid and never a bride. It's not just the most colorful array of villains in comics, of course! There's melodrama aplenty in the fashion that could only befit poor Peter Parker. See how Mr. Luckless himself handles not only the loss of his powers and glowing Gwen's fear of Spidey, but how he wiggles his way out of revealing his identity right before Gwen, MJ, and the gang's very eyes!

Genres: Comics, Spider Man, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 9 by Stan Lee is an okay collection of Spiderman stories. This is the weakest volume so far in terms of story and memorable action and storylines. There's a lack of long-form storytelling, which is explained and does make sense, if you had a long-form story and miss one issue there were no comic book stores in the 1960s to get the missed issue, but it was a step back in storytelling. The adds to the Marvel universe in this issue are the Prowler who is not bad just misunderstood, he ends up donning the spider suit once in this volume, and to a greater effect later, we also meet Vanessa Fisk the woman behind The Kingpin, and The Black Widow makes an appearance where she changes costume which is pretty close to the outfit she wears today. The only villains in Spiderman's rogue gallery appearing in these issues are Electro, The Chameleon, and the Kingpin. The notable issue that is also on the cover is Spiderman unmasking in front of Harry Osborn, Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacey, Gwen's father Captain Stacey, when he comes to his senses he fixes it but this issue will place doubt in some that find the truth later. Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 9 by Stan Lee collects Amazing Spider-Man issues 78-87.

Plots: The Prowler is born and runs into peter parker who tries to stop him fearing he shows too much strength in front of J. Jonah Jamison throws himself out the window, with the Prowler believing he killed him, the Prowler gets set straight and vows to do only good. Electro works at a tv studio that just booked Spiderman for an interview, this will not be good. The Schemer takes away all of Kingpin's old property while he is in hiding, and the Kingpin comes out of it to deal with the Schemer. Spiderman wants the bounty for The Schemer and things end up getting personal for the Kingpin. Black Widow after having been in a relationship with Hawkeye and briefly joining The Avengers wants to go on her own she wants to learn the secrets to Spiderman's powers. The Kangaroo is an Australian villain that can jump high. Spiderman thinking he lost his powers shows his friends that he is Peter Parker, only to realize what the problem is and have to fix what they just saw. Spiderman stays with Aunt May and sneaks out making a dummy out of the web which Aunt May finds and has passed out, Peter has no choice but to lie to her making her think she's starting to go crazy.

What I Liked: The lying to Aunt May was pretty soul-crushing and was done well. The internal monologue was written well showing the indecision of the moment. The way Peter Parker fixed the reveal that he was Spiderman was clever and desperate. The Electro Fight was the only really good one on this issue, but it was really good. Gwen and Peter's relationship is so up and down but you see what he falls for.

What I Disliked: there's some dated sexism and it is from the smartest most thought-provoking character Captain Stacey. "You know Peter women are not like men, they think only with their heart", this line is said twice, causing me to roll my eyes both times. The Black Widow and Kangaroo storylines are horrible. Stan Lee even admits this is a promo for Black Widow's book and that is what it feels like.

Recommendation: Most of this book is skippable because it does not impact the larger story of what Spiderman becomes and it is just not as fun as the previous issues. I would recommend reading the 2 issues Prowler Issues 78-79 and the reveal of Spiderman's identify issue 87. The Chameleon and Electro issues are fun as well. But the 5 other issues are skippable. I rated Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 9 by Stan Lee 2 out of 5 stars.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad writing! Good artwork! No so much fun.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 rounded down.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee at his best. Really focused on the personal struggle of being Spider-Man this time out. Readers wanted one-off stories, so much of the drama is held together by the non-costume stuff. Some amusing mistakes like George Stacy referred to as John Stacy in a newspaper headline only to be referred to as George again by Peter two pages later. Everyone seems to have blue eyes except Wilson Fisk (green), even Hobie Brown, who is black (I've met black people with blue eyes in New York, but it's rare).

When I was younger and would read books about comics because reptint volumes like this mostly didn't exist, I would often read about how superheroes meeting at Marvel usually meant a fight would ensue. There's not much change here as Spider-Man sees the debut of the Black Widow in her new costume. She wants to fight with him because she understands him to be a formidable opponent with powers similar to her own. She is only the second female opponent he has had (after Medusa of the Inhumans), and he isn't sure how to respond, not to mention she doesn't make her intentions clear to him even though she does in her interior monologue, and, as we eventually learn, he's extremely physically ill at the time, and doens't learn why until the last chapter of the volume, fearing that either he has radiation poisioning or is losing his powers.

It's also masterful in the way such a large supporting cast is juggled, especially when only one other powered character is in each issue. The Chameleon (who used to be used quite a lot, but now the footnote refers you to issue #2 when it actually meqans #1, his first appearance) makes the mistake of impersonating Peter Parker for one of his heists, making it easy for Spider-Man to know who he is, as well as the introduction of an Australian villain called the Kangaroo (who studied kangaroos and taught himself to imitate them), and the first appearances of Richard Fisk, Wilson's son. One panel even foreshadows the death of Gwen Stacy, which Lee didn't even want. Romita's introduction comments on how seamelessly the stories appear and how non-reflective of the actual instances of their creation are, attributing it to Lee's genius (although, as a Marvel publication, he may be ingratiating himself excessively).

I particularly like the way this volume begins and ends with Hobie Brown, an inventor who can't get anyone to take his ideas seriously (surely race is a factor, though it's not mentioned explicitly), so he tries to rob the Daily Bugle to draw attention to his work. When Peter learns his story, he finds him extremely relatable. Brown never intended to hut anyone, but when Peter jumps out the window to avoid letting his secret out, he has to be concerned about a murder rap, which was never something he wanted to do. These volumes typically contain ten issues apiece, buit since it goes from 78-87, it seems that some real thought was put into where to end the volume (the starting place was necessitated by where the previous volume ended).

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvel must have gotten some negative reactions back in the day after the volume-long epic collected in Volume 8. Volume 9 opens with the introduction of the Prowler in a story that - according to an editorial caption - was truncated to fewer issues and followed by a series of standalone adventures. Happily, the Prowler story doesn't feel the least bit rushed and I quite liked it. I'm familiar with that character mostly because of his connection to the modern day Miles Morales character, so I didn't know how touching his origin story is.

I got a little bored with the standalone stories, featuring the returns of the Chameleon and Electro and the introduction of a new villain, the extremely silly Kangaroo. But happily again, the standalone format didn't stick and another multi-issue story launches with the introduction of the horribly named Schemer as he tries to takeover the Kingpin's operations. This story also features the first appearance of the Kingpin's wife, Vanessa.

Peter Parker's personal life just spins its wheels in this volume with manufactured drama between him and Gwen. Peter's never been the most rational, stable human being, but he blows his cool for the dumbest reasons like seeing Gwen having coffee with Flash Thompson. And Gwen's not much better. She's relentless in her love for Peter, which is great, but she worries over him almost as much as Aunt May does, which adds to his stress. It's understandable in Gwen though. Aunt May is irrational and paranoid (at one point in this volume, she orders Peter to his sickbed because he's sweaty from running to meet her train on time). But Peter is so flighty and bad at making decisions that he gives Gwen reason to be concerned about his stability, if not his safety.

The art in this volume is some of my favorite in comics ever though.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apart from the multi-arc involving the Schemer and once again the Kingpin, a lot of this volume consisted of one-off encounters with the likes of the Kangaroo, Electro, the Prowler and even the Black Widow. But these individual encounters were actually pretty solid and made for some great Spider-Man adventures, along with a lot of the moaning and wailing that was sort of signature for Peter Parker at the time.

I was really floored by the Black Widow issue as this was where her costume changed end right before she got received more dedicated attention in the Amazing Tales title. So yeah, it's the classic maneuver of using an already popular comic to help launch another title (and the editors were very transparent about that), but it didn't take away from the experience.

The last story about Peter potentially losing his powers is a true classic and one of those rather convoluted narratives that only make sense in comic books, but hey it worked for the time.

[Ross Kitson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although enjoyable, it’s perhaps the weakest of the Spider-Man Masterworks thus far. The prior volume had linked stories and culminated in a great Lizard story. Here we have a multipart with Kingpin and the Schemer (who was rather lacklustre) in which at least we meet Vanessa for the first time. Then there’s lots of one shots, with Electro, the daft Kangaroo, and an obligatory fight another hero story with Black Widow.
On the positive side we get plenty of Peter melodrama which I suppose keeps a link between stories. The art is generally good too, with Romita variably pencilling or doing layouts.
3 stars

[April Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s not a lot of interest in these issues from a villain standpoint, but there’s still the good ‘ol Parker luck, lol. I don’t like it that the time period made it seem okay to tell fat jokes and to call all women “emotional,” but I do recognize that these issues are more than 50 years old. The stories are mostly well-written and the artwork really captured everyone.

[Michael L Rubens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great way to catch up on your collection

Having spent money on hardcover books, this is the inexpensive way to fill in on gaps between what is available at reasonable price g and very expensive. Fun read, on to the next.

[Kevin Nobel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big letdown at the end of this run when Peter didn't really have the guts to reveal his identity to his friends. Oh well, back to the status quo. I bet this will be a running theme... Anyway, fun adventures nonetheless.

[Robert Kimberlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good collection. Some decent stories. I loved it when Kingpin was in shock. He had it coming though. I really like John Romita quite a lot but I wish Mike Esposito would have inked more issues.

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stan Lee has stopped trying....he's just hitting the same points over and over again, often in the same issue.

[Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among other things, Peter tells Gwen, her dad, Harry and MJ that he is Spider-Man while holding his mask.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spiderman series rumbles on to a consistently high standard. Possibly not the most dynamic stretch of 10 issues but neither are there any weak moments of which to speak. The character of the Kingpin continues to inspire Stan Lee and the major highlight of this bunch is a 3 part storyline featuring the Kingpin going to head with the devious Schemer who wants to bring the crime boss down. Spiderman, of course, gets caught in the middle and Vanessa Fisk is introduced, a surprisingly level headed partner to an obviously psychopathic husband. In fact this storyline introduces a lot of depth to the saga of the Kingpin which is quite surprising.

Elsewhere Spiderman battles some villains in a perhaps misjudged attempt to introduce more of a one-shot formula, and storylines featuring Prowler, Kangaroo and Elektro, whilst entertaining, don't get the space to breathe that they really needed. In one of the most amusing issues of the collection Spiderman finds himself battling his worst fears when he thinks he's losing his superpowers and confesses to everyone that he is, in fact Spiderman. The getout clause is a little convenient, but Lee's ever present tongue in cheek make it a winner.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The volume gets off to a strong start with the introduction of the Prowler, who's more confused kid than villain. (Sound familiar?) There's a decent Electro story in here as well as Spidey tries to cash in on his fame with a paid late-night tv appearance, but too much of the volume just treads familiar ground.

Spidey is broke, he runs into misunderstandings with his girlfriend, he's sick and troubled about his secret identity. We've heard it all before. There's still vitality in the art and storytelling, but the series could use a new direction or a new challenge to shake things up a bit.

Read digital versions.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a volume of separate stories. It introduces the Prowler, a story of a kid in a similar situation to Peter. The Chameleon and Shocker return. The Schemer tries to take over from the Kingpin with quite emotional consequences for both the Kingpin and his wife. Black Widow finds her new black costume. Finally, Peter thinks he's losing his powers and is prepared to tell the truth about his identity. A good read.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Marvel Masterworks volumes are fantastic reprints of the early years of Marvel comics. A fantastic resource to allow these hard to find issues to be read by everyone. Very recommended to everyone and Highly recommended to any comic fan.