Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 3) #9 (Story 2)

Background

This story acts as an Epilogue to Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 3) #9, Spider-Verse Part One.

Story 'The Feast'

On Loomworld (Earth-001), Jessica Drew leads Mr Robertson and his servants to deliver their wine to The Inheritors. She talks of their brutality towards Doctor Connors and Flash Thompson as his men finish their delivery.

At the feast table, Bora, Brix and Daemos wait impatiently for Morlun and Verna to return. They are eager to eat their offerings but Solus, their father, orders them to wait. Morlun returns through the great web from Earth-9105 having killed their Spider-Man. The great web depicts dozens of alternate Spider-Man! Solus demands to know about their kills before they eat. Brix has brought a Vampire Spider-Man and Bora brings Man-Spider. They argue over whose is best and bring up how they failed to bring in more in Superior Spider-Man #33 because of their outcast brother Karn. Jennix ponders the fact that Spiders are gathering but Daemos tells him not to worry. Daemos has brought Spider-Man (Bruce Banner Earth-70105) from his altercation on Earth-616 with The Other (Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 3) #9). Morlun is outraged that Daemos went to Earth-616! They scuffle until Solus orders them to stop! Solus knows the location of The Other, The Bride and The Scion and reiterates that it is their hands at the centre of the web. A dying Spider-Man (Earth-9105) mutters that the web does not belong to them... it belongs to the Spiders and that they will always have the responsibility... Morlun orders him silent and then the Inheritors begin their feast!

General Comments

Dan Slott blatantly uses these 10 pages as a villain catalogue and it works perfectly thanks to clear differences in characters.

If you thought Morlun was bad, Slott depicts him as a sane kitten compared to the bickering, sly and loomingly powerful array of characters sat around that table. It is such a clever move and storytelling prowess to raise the stakes even higher for our heroes to deal with. Slott understands the formula of a good story and this Epilogue weaves nicely in as a crucial piece.

He even throws some of the exposition that would have slowed the main story down so that readers know a little more about their motivation and what the great web actually is.

Combine this with some strong pencils from the ever-reliable Guiseppe Camuncoli, more nods to more Spider-Men we might know and love and a mystery surrounding the importance of The Other, The Bride and The Scion and you've got a story worth spending time thinking about.

Overall Rating

A good reminder of the villainous cast and a nice display of a few more forgotten Spider-Men.