written by Nick Spencer
penciled by Humberto Ramos (with Michele Bandini)
inked by Victor Olazaba
colored by Edgar Delgado (with Erick Arciniega)
After shrouding his "Thieves' Guild" in a whole lot of mystery in issue #8, Nick Spencer makes an obligatory, multi-page exposition dump in issue #9, without explaining just how the guild managed to literally teleport the gear of all the major heroes and keep it hidden from them, and then wraps things up in issue #10 with a solution which, I suppose, is intended to be funny but which comes across as just a little bit lazy. It's really kind of a pity that these last three issues were as lackadaisical as they were because I really enjoyed the two Boomerang-centric issues that preceded them. Spencer hasn't exactly squandered the goodwill he's earned with me with his first story arc and even his two-issue mini-arc, but this is definitely the weakest story he's turned in so far in the six months since he's taken over this book.
Issues #9 and #10, however, do have one saving grace, and it's the surprisingly moving subplot featuring Mary Jane, who is now very much Peter's squeeze again, Avengers butler Edwin Jarvis, and a support group whom Jarvis has organized for the significant others of superheroes. It's a simple but brilliant concept, and plays out quite well. Michele Bandini illustrates this story and does a pretty good job of it, though to be fair Ramos recovers from a wobbly first issue of the story (issue #8) and delivers decent art in both issues #9 and #10. Of the stories being told here, though, I easily gravitated more towards MJ's.
Finally, as the issue ends, one of the running story threads resumes on the very last panel, and I gotta say, even though Spencer may have stumbled a bit with this arc, he's still got me hooked for what comes next.
7/10 (both issues)
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