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Spider-Man Noir (Collected Editions)
Homem-Aranha Noir: A Face Oculta
Peter Parker has a lot to be hopeful about. The Spider-Man is the beloved town hero; President Franklin D. Roosevelt is in the White House; the spiraling economy is on its fi rst steps toward recovery; and with Norman Osborn out of the picture, organized crime in New York has lost its major player. But all is not well in 1934 America...dark forces are at play in the world, and a power vacuum in New York crime is quickly-and violently-being fi lled! Now Spider-Man must contend with a vicious new breed of killers, criminals, and maniacal death-dealers, reimagined from some of the greatest and deadliest foes of the Spider-Man!
COLLECTING:
Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without a Face #1-4
100 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 2010
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385 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
September 4, 2014
8 months following the events in Spider-Man Noir, the power vacuum left by Norman Osborn's disappearance has led to a new crime presence on the streets, with the imaginatively-named Crime Master taking charge of New York City's criminal underworld. Elsewhere, Peter's reporter friend Robbie Robertson has suspicions over the experiments of one Dr Otto Octavius as the dark shadow cast by the Nazis grows larger upon the world...
This is pretty noir stuff even for a series called noir! Doc Ock is re-cast as a crippled scientist who experiments on black people in a real-life role Dr Mengele would go on to play in WW2, while Crime Master does some heinous things with a knife to some women.
Mary-Jane is introduced to the story but Peter doesn't notice her yet and she doesn't play a big part in the story. Also Spider-Man still uses a gun which I find strangely fun. The noir approach is an interesting way of rewriting well-defined superheroes and villains.
Carmine di Giandomenico's artwork is as fantastic as before, and David Hine's script is brilliant. He's doing a fine job with the Spider-Man Noir series and, the way this book ends, I hope there's more on the way (this book has a great subtitle too, by the by).
Eyes Without a Face is dark stuff for Spidey, but I still enjoyed the heck out of it and recommend it for fans of the webslinger looking to see him shoot off in a different direction.
This is pretty noir stuff even for a series called noir! Doc Ock is re-cast as a crippled scientist who experiments on black people in a real-life role Dr Mengele would go on to play in WW2, while Crime Master does some heinous things with a knife to some women.
Mary-Jane is introduced to the story but Peter doesn't notice her yet and she doesn't play a big part in the story. Also Spider-Man still uses a gun which I find strangely fun. The noir approach is an interesting way of rewriting well-defined superheroes and villains.
Carmine di Giandomenico's artwork is as fantastic as before, and David Hine's script is brilliant. He's doing a fine job with the Spider-Man Noir series and, the way this book ends, I hope there's more on the way (this book has a great subtitle too, by the by).
Eyes Without a Face is dark stuff for Spidey, but I still enjoyed the heck out of it and recommend it for fans of the webslinger looking to see him shoot off in a different direction.
May 19, 2019
A good return to the Marvel Noir universe. Although it is a Spider-Man Noir tale, it centers more around the villains Crime Master and Doctor Otto Octavius and (what noir tale would be complete without) Evil Nazi plots. Steel yourself for a hard tearjerker of a story, though, for nearly all of our secondary characters.
January 20, 2021
I appreciate how well this comic blends the Spider-Man mythos with the real-world politics and issues of the time. It doesn't just want to tell us a story of Spider-Man as a private eye in a black-and-white Great Depression/Prohibition era America, with the trappings of the time but little else - it takes full advantage of the period and mixes them up quite well.
Pretty dark, though. But perhaps that too was to be expected of the period.
Pretty dark, though. But perhaps that too was to be expected of the period.
January 21, 2022
This book was better than the first book. I felt this way because I found more to like about the book in general. There was a more interesting plot and more action happening throughout. The author also did a better job of developing the characters in comparison with the first one.
April 26, 2020
O něco lepší a temnější než první díl, ale na 5 hvězd to pořad úplně není.
February 16, 2025
Bravo, j'ai préféré cette histoire à celle du volume 1 et les 2 se complètent très bien, cependant j'ai l'impression que la BD s'est lissé entre les 2 volumes et les discours communistes de Tante May ont disparus.
November 21, 2015
I'm always up for something new; a fresh take on something old and beloved. I'm not like some fans out there who can't stand when one little thing is changed from the comics. However, Spider-Man Noir (while it is a notable and... unique choice) falls flat as new takes on the web-head go. The main reason is because at the heart of Spider-Man is humor surrounded by all the crap that's happened to Spider-Man..... and it's safe for kids and adults. I would NOT recommend my ten-year-old son to read this (even thought I don't have one, thank heavens), but that doesn't make the story bad. It just shows Spider-Man for more mature readers. Fine then. If you're going to target me as an adult, Mr. Hine, then show me an adult story.
Long story short, it's pretty lazy. It handles racism in America very awkwardly, and ends up tying all of the many villains and villain-promises (Seriously, this thing has Sandman, Doc Ock, Crime Master, Green Goblin, Black Cat, and Dr. Connors appear or mentions at least once in this novels) to Nazis. Okay, then. Spider-Man fights the Nazis in America. Sure. What I can't stand is also all the moments that could've been taken a lot smarter. Crime Master shouldn't have been a character that was only seen for one panel. Sandman could have just been an ordinary guy, instead of a strange man capable of taking multiple bullets before dying. A Doc Ock didn't have to have oddly high-tech arms for the 1930's. Seriously! Why don't Peter or Robbie freak out about his arms! That's DECADES ahead of their time period! But probably the greatest problem of the whole aspiring series was not fleshing out Peter Parker. He simply has no personality or anything interesting about him. He's basically a wannabe Batman, getting his face punched to a pulp and fighting the Nazis because "It's what I do!". But not enough time is spent in Peter's daily life to really get a sense of who he is. We know what's happened prior to those events, and it certainly makes the world of New York feel lived-in, but the characters themselves are really boring.
Spider-Man Noir could have been really cool. It could have had black and white panels and tons of narration (but I bet Hine didn't want to seem like he was copying Frank Miller's supposed "style"), and the characters and story just aren't gripping or fun to read. The only people I could recommend this to are the really die-hard Spider-Man fans.
Long story short, it's pretty lazy. It handles racism in America very awkwardly, and ends up tying all of the many villains and villain-promises (Seriously, this thing has Sandman, Doc Ock, Crime Master, Green Goblin, Black Cat, and Dr. Connors appear or mentions at least once in this novels) to Nazis. Okay, then. Spider-Man fights the Nazis in America. Sure. What I can't stand is also all the moments that could've been taken a lot smarter. Crime Master shouldn't have been a character that was only seen for one panel. Sandman could have just been an ordinary guy, instead of a strange man capable of taking multiple bullets before dying. A Doc Ock didn't have to have oddly high-tech arms for the 1930's. Seriously! Why don't Peter or Robbie freak out about his arms! That's DECADES ahead of their time period! But probably the greatest problem of the whole aspiring series was not fleshing out Peter Parker. He simply has no personality or anything interesting about him. He's basically a wannabe Batman, getting his face punched to a pulp and fighting the Nazis because "It's what I do!". But not enough time is spent in Peter's daily life to really get a sense of who he is. We know what's happened prior to those events, and it certainly makes the world of New York feel lived-in, but the characters themselves are really boring.
Spider-Man Noir could have been really cool. It could have had black and white panels and tons of narration (but I bet Hine didn't want to seem like he was copying Frank Miller's supposed "style"), and the characters and story just aren't gripping or fun to read. The only people I could recommend this to are the really die-hard Spider-Man fans.
April 22, 2019
This was my first dip into Spider-Man Noir, which unfortunately means that I read it out of order. Oops.
Nevertheless, Eyes Without a Face was a good, succinct read, that stands up on its own in my assessment. The plot was rather tight, and if you've any familiarity with the characters at all it falls into place rather easily. The characters are comfortable enough to the reader that it feels a lot like coming home. Only home in this case is 1930s New York and things are a bit different. It's the same story, just a different flavor. What's not to love?
This setting is its own sort of fun, and lends itself far too well to the complex world of superheros and their vigilante justice. Human experimentation is rife, and the threat of gangsters and the FBI itself high. The world is a complicated place, and really no place at all for someone like Peter Parker. Yet here he is, fighting Sandman and Doctor Octavius. Trying to do the right thing when his view of the world is colored by the popular perceptions of life around him. There are so many lessons to learn.
The color palette is great, and the artwork utterly fantastic. The plot and its moral implications were fascinating, as were the quiet references to real-life situations, one of which drew a cringe from me. I would be happy to read more of this series, and the Noir runs in general. I'm curious where they all ended up. The only thing that would have fully pushed this over the edge would have been if they had done the whole thing in black and white - Spiderman's suit in this would've been gorgeous rendered in such a way, as would Felicia Hardy, honestly.
Nevertheless, Eyes Without a Face was a good, succinct read, that stands up on its own in my assessment. The plot was rather tight, and if you've any familiarity with the characters at all it falls into place rather easily. The characters are comfortable enough to the reader that it feels a lot like coming home. Only home in this case is 1930s New York and things are a bit different. It's the same story, just a different flavor. What's not to love?
This setting is its own sort of fun, and lends itself far too well to the complex world of superheros and their vigilante justice. Human experimentation is rife, and the threat of gangsters and the FBI itself high. The world is a complicated place, and really no place at all for someone like Peter Parker. Yet here he is, fighting Sandman and Doctor Octavius. Trying to do the right thing when his view of the world is colored by the popular perceptions of life around him. There are so many lessons to learn.
The color palette is great, and the artwork utterly fantastic. The plot and its moral implications were fascinating, as were the quiet references to real-life situations, one of which drew a cringe from me. I would be happy to read more of this series, and the Noir runs in general. I'm curious where they all ended up. The only thing that would have fully pushed this over the edge would have been if they had done the whole thing in black and white - Spiderman's suit in this would've been gorgeous rendered in such a way, as would Felicia Hardy, honestly.
March 24, 2011
While not very familiar with the Spiderman-verse, and I hadn't read the first one, I was drawn to this because I really liked the IronMan Noir, so I thought I'd give it a try. While some of the references were probably lost on me, it was an engrossing story, and when I started I didn't stop until I was finished with the whole book. Spiderman takes on a Nazi-influenced hategroup who is trying to fill the void left by the death of Goblin, only he doesn't know about most of that. He just knows he has to save his friend, a man who was taken to be experimented on by Dr. Ock. I liked many of the elements, such as a little of the politics of the era, however I would have really liked a little more development of the storyline. The ending was particularly great, with Dr Ock being sent to Germany, where even though his experiments go with Nazi ideologies, he is cast out by them for his physical infirmities. Enjoyable, and might try to find the first. One thing I didn't dig was his costume. Maybe that makes more sense with the first though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2015
Interesting blend of history and Spider-Man mythology here. I liked seeing more of Peter and Felicia's relationship.
January 11, 2022
trying to imagine the nicolas cage spider-man noir going through all this and it's extremely unnerving
June 12, 2020
A follow-up on Spider-Man Noir’s last outing this one pulls no punches and produces some harrowing images and scenes. Some creative alternate versions of villains such as Sandman and Doctor Octopus entice the long time reader to learn more. The story, which is set in the thirties, incorporates ideas of Nazi experiments and infiltration in the United States of America.
Peter Parker is introduced to Robbie Robertson (a younger version of him than normally portrayed) who has a fire in his belly and a keen eye for a story. Robertson, who is a black man, wants to investigate Doctor Octopus’ horrific experiments that lead to a nasty revelation of black people going missing in Harlem.
Eyes without a Face shows a dark, dark side of the mad scientist trope and is not scared to highlight horrific experiments of the Nazis. It can serve as a brutal reminder of what happens when ideologies that are wicked and evil take predominance in a group of people. A relevant book on racism and wicked ideologies.
I would strongly recommend this. As an avid fan of the noir series, I believe Spider-Man Noir does a terrific job of showing us that some of the greatest evils to have existed were not larger than life colourful villains but insidious men with power. Once again would not recommend for younger readers.
Peter Parker is introduced to Robbie Robertson (a younger version of him than normally portrayed) who has a fire in his belly and a keen eye for a story. Robertson, who is a black man, wants to investigate Doctor Octopus’ horrific experiments that lead to a nasty revelation of black people going missing in Harlem.
Eyes without a Face shows a dark, dark side of the mad scientist trope and is not scared to highlight horrific experiments of the Nazis. It can serve as a brutal reminder of what happens when ideologies that are wicked and evil take predominance in a group of people. A relevant book on racism and wicked ideologies.
I would strongly recommend this. As an avid fan of the noir series, I believe Spider-Man Noir does a terrific job of showing us that some of the greatest evils to have existed were not larger than life colourful villains but insidious men with power. Once again would not recommend for younger readers.
September 18, 2020
Doctor Octupus was not a Nazi.
July 6, 2023
truly incredible, we needed a spider-man who is explicitly antifascist
August 21, 2023
they did Felicia dirty 😔
August 31, 2025
Pretty much all the same thoughts as Volume 1, but this story was a lot darker.
If you enjoyed volume 1, you will enjoy this as well.
If you enjoyed volume 1, you will enjoy this as well.
January 9, 2020
A solid 3.5 stars for a spider-man universe that couldn't be more different from the one most of us know and love. The noir series is much darker than I was expecting, but was very interesting nonetheless.
September 30, 2018
Por fin me meto de lleno en el mundo Noir de Marvel y de la mano de mi súper héroe favorito, Spiderman. Soy un gran fan de nuestro amigo y vecino y del mundo de marvel, pero siempre he tenido mucha curiosidad por esta versión alternativa del Estados Unidos de los años 30. Debo decir que el diseño del traje de Spiderman Npor siempre ha sido de mis favoritos y, a partir de leer el comic, puedo decir que es uno de mis cómics Marvel favoritos sin lugar a dudas, mostrándonos una historia de gangsters y súper héroes en un ambiente de lo más lúgubre, tratando temas tan delicados como el racismo de aquella época y el poder de las mafias en la década de los años 30. Una obra que logra dejarme con un apetito bestial de leer más sobre el universo Noir.
November 1, 2022
A fresh iteration of the well-known hero in the red and blue leotard, but this time wearing a raincoat and a mask. Spider-Man Noir, who is gloomy, ruthless, and unyielding, purges the streets of the 1940s' smell of crime. Heroes and villains from popular culture acting in unconventional roles. Several moral issues are raised in the comic. The first is the problem of oppression of racial minorities, which was especially relevant during the times described in this story. The second is the problem of inhumane experiments on animals and people, which was the subject of a separate dialogue on the pages of the comic, as well as a couple of scenes. Even though this is the second book in the Spider noir series, it stands on its own and is a standalone.
March 9, 2018
Well, this is sequel to Spider-Man Noir, continuing the story almost right after first book. this is more spider-man-ish. Bad luck for the noir part. The first book wasn't pure blooded noir, but it was "good enough". This is more your historical-neighbour-Spider-man than Spider-man-noir. The story bears more stereotypes and it is bit disappointing at the end. Spider-man - yes, a mediocre one; noir - very little. Only for die hard fans or collectors.
January 6, 2013
Direct sequel to Spider-Man Noir, this time with Nazis. I think that maybe you either have to be a bigger fan of Spider-Man than I am in order to see and appreciate all of the parallels, or simply stop caring about who's who.
January 9, 2026
At this point, Luke Cage is the only remaining Marvel Noir title which I have yet to read. Based on the rest of the titles in this series, however, I can confidently say that these two Spider-Man titles are the best of the bunch.
June 24, 2024
A continuation of the first volume's gritty story, seperated far enough from the classic Peter Parker tropes to feel sufficiently original.
A pity there weren't more written in this series.
4/5.
A pity there weren't more written in this series.
4/5.
January 23, 2019
gruesome racism and ableism and all the isms. period-typical and all that, but,,,
if robbie had ended up ok then i wouldnt be so pressed...
if robbie had ended up ok then i wouldnt be so pressed...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2019
Less of a mess than the first one. Still not GREAT but at least things felt more or less like they fit together in this story.
Still really grim tone - this time we are dealing with racism and race politics. And I'm not sure this is really the book to cover or explore those themes. Once again lots of history is used, though at least it feels more tied in this go around. Only a bit though.
The art works - but for some reason we are really into dark muddy colors - and everyone tends to look kinda the same - so I just glaze over whose who. The art does not redeem this book.
Though it feels odd that no one is talking about the end of Prohibition which is a few months away and probably going to impact the speakeasies and clubs. Like at one point someone is making a throw away line about buying Felicia's club - but this seems an odd time to get into the biz. The plot has little to do with Prohibition - but still - if you are going to throw some history around try to work with it.
After the weird ass "no Peter don't kill people while defending loved ones - he doesn't even blink when he debates about killing in this one. So glad we established that whole "no killing" thing in previous books. Time well spent guys.
But yea - the racial aspects and the human lobotomy test subject plots - while they make sense. They also feel very heavy. For this book. This book about a man with voodoo spider powers - who punches people. When he isn't threatening people with a revolver.
Still really grim tone - this time we are dealing with racism and race politics. And I'm not sure this is really the book to cover or explore those themes. Once again lots of history is used, though at least it feels more tied in this go around. Only a bit though.
The art works - but for some reason we are really into dark muddy colors - and everyone tends to look kinda the same - so I just glaze over whose who. The art does not redeem this book.
Though it feels odd that no one is talking about the end of Prohibition which is a few months away and probably going to impact the speakeasies and clubs. Like at one point someone is making a throw away line about buying Felicia's club - but this seems an odd time to get into the biz. The plot has little to do with Prohibition - but still - if you are going to throw some history around try to work with it.
After the weird ass "no Peter don't kill people while defending loved ones - he doesn't even blink when he debates about killing in this one. So glad we established that whole "no killing" thing in previous books. Time well spent guys.
But yea - the racial aspects and the human lobotomy test subject plots - while they make sense. They also feel very heavy. For this book. This book about a man with voodoo spider powers - who punches people. When he isn't threatening people with a revolver.
May 14, 2025
I didn't realize...or remember? that this was Volume 2 of this series. Though, as I was reading it, I kept wondering where the Buzzard was, as I definitely remembered some messed up stuff around the Buzzard. Must have been in Volume 1, which I've read, but apparently don't own. What can I say? It's been 15 years since I read these the first time and I barely remember what I ate for breakfast. Actually, I didn't eat breakfast. Dang it. After the review...
This is pretty grim. It is a bit more Hard Boiled than I remembered it being. My memory of this series was that it was really more "Pulp" than "Noir." And that's still true, but this one felt a touch less pulpy. That said, it felt more like The Shadow than Philip Marlowe.
This one gets into racism and the rise of fascism in the US before WWII, and it's pretty ugly. Not a book for the little ones, for sure. I'm not sure it's always handled well, and there are a few tropes that are a little off-putting. But the concept is there.
The art is nice. Though it doesn't really lean very far into either the pulpy side or the Noir side. It's just nice, early 2000s comic book art.
This is pretty grim. It is a bit more Hard Boiled than I remembered it being. My memory of this series was that it was really more "Pulp" than "Noir." And that's still true, but this one felt a touch less pulpy. That said, it felt more like The Shadow than Philip Marlowe.
This one gets into racism and the rise of fascism in the US before WWII, and it's pretty ugly. Not a book for the little ones, for sure. I'm not sure it's always handled well, and there are a few tropes that are a little off-putting. But the concept is there.
The art is nice. Though it doesn't really lean very far into either the pulpy side or the Noir side. It's just nice, early 2000s comic book art.
May 23, 2020
Wow. A proper noir story. Racial politics. Characters who are on the edge of humanity, gritty and weighty violence and actions with realm consequences.
For a graphic novel this book carried a significant amount of heft and it was a big ask for it to make it an entertaining Spiderman story while doing so in a darker setting where the background issues being dealt with are very serious indeed.
It pulls it off with aplomb. I loved the art, I loved the style of the art and the design. It drew you into the page and the place effectively.
The writing was spot on. Gripping and punchy with a light touch to keep the action moving. I thought it walked the narrow line between fun and gravity deftly. There were some twists and turns in the plot and the fate of one particular character is grim indeed. This was a great book.
A full on noir read and I liked that.
For a graphic novel this book carried a significant amount of heft and it was a big ask for it to make it an entertaining Spiderman story while doing so in a darker setting where the background issues being dealt with are very serious indeed.
It pulls it off with aplomb. I loved the art, I loved the style of the art and the design. It drew you into the page and the place effectively.
The writing was spot on. Gripping and punchy with a light touch to keep the action moving. I thought it walked the narrow line between fun and gravity deftly. There were some twists and turns in the plot and the fate of one particular character is grim indeed. This was a great book.
A full on noir read and I liked that.
November 1, 2020
This book was quite good. We see Pete dealing with 1934 as a new crime lord called the Crime Master has taken the Goblin's face but he is mysterious. And its an era where there is drugs, prostitution and more crimes taking place. Felicia is still operating the Black cat place thats like Neutral territory. Pete gets a friend in Agent De Wolfe but when his friend Randy Robertson disappears its upto Pete to save the day and go against Dr Octopus and Crime master and we learn more about their secrets and connections to the Nazis and like more people involved. This is a very adult book and like doesn't hold back and uses words and political talk thats lacking in today's book and thats why its so awesome and then the way Pete defeats them is so awesome but what happened with Black Cat was just sad and then that ending..
May 18, 2023
Really liked it! As with the previous entry, I find the noir take on the rogues gallery much more interesting than Spidey, but it works for the story. I think my MVP must be Felicia, I like everything about her. As for the plot, it's much more darker than the first one and it's worth exploring.
Final note: I still don't know how I feel about Spidey with a gun though. He looks cool, but what's the point? There are times that he doesn't feel all that Spider-Man to me, more like a mixture of Rorschach and Batman with spider-powers.
Final note: I still don't know how I feel about Spidey with a gun though. He looks cool, but what's the point? There are times that he doesn't feel all that Spider-Man to me, more like a mixture of Rorschach and Batman with spider-powers.
July 18, 2018
Sin la carga de introducir el universo, los personajes y sus orígenes, ésta historia es mucho más interesante e intensa. Me gusta mucho el tono oscuro y violento de todos los personajes, incluyendo Spider-Man. Excelentes interpretaciones de Sandman y Otto Octavious. El arte es sumamente adecuado para el tono de la historia, y los efectos para dar la sensación de movimiento, el sentido arácnido y las telarañas son extraordinarios. Ojalá y hagan más comics de la serie.
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