The Spider #9
Written by David Liss
Art by Ivan Rodriguez
Inks by Antonio Lima
Colors by Vinicius Andrade
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 20, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

The Spider #9 is the latest in many reasons why Dynamite Entertainment is KILLING it with all of the pulp hero properties that they publish. Who’d have ever thought that almost a CENTURY after his debut, The Spider would be as exciting as he was back then. Actually, I can’t verify that. You’ll just have to trust me.

David Liss brings us a story that’s SUPER retro and yet 100 percent set in the modern day and doesn’t even begin to feel out of date or like it should have been told in the past. It’s all the great trademarks of an old pulp yarn — betrayal, seduction, action, adventure, suspense, and mystery — all mixed together by a great narrative that really sucks the audience into the book. What I loved about this story was the fact there’s a great level of believability in it. Sure, there are some things that happen in the book that couldn’t really happen in real life, but about 95 percent of it COULD actually happen and I think that’s what makes this issue such a great read.