The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 9: Gang War

The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) (Collected Editions)

by Zeb Wells, Joey Vazquez (artist), John Romita Jr. (Cover Art)

The Spider-Man event that will rock the street-level Marvel Universe! New York City's super-crime landscape has been a ticking time bomb, and now it finally explodes! What incites the Gang War?! Who hired Shotgun and took out Tombstone? And what, if anything, can Spider-Man do about it? As NYC becomes an open battlefield for a ruthless super-villain conflict, the wall-crawler will need an amazing team. But which side will the injured Tombstone take in this war? And will Wilson Fisk, the former Kingpin of Crime, sit this one out? Don't bet on it! The biggest and most brutal battle in Spidey history is about to play out. And if you thought you knew what Madame Masque, Hobgoblin, Beetle or Diamondback were capable of, think again!

Collects Amazing Spider-Man: Gange War First Strike #1 and Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #39-44.

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

175 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 22, 2024

About the author

Zeb Wells is an American comic book writer known for his work at Marvel Comics, as well as his work on the animated TV series Robot Chicken.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is usually the case with these big crossover events, the main book (which this is) is significantly better than the various tie-ins. Gang War was basically a huge slugfest, which is cool if you’re into that sort of thing, which made the setup and conclusion by far the most interesting issues for those of us more interested in plot. I would say the last few pages of the final issue collected here were definitely the most powerful.

John Romita, Jr.’s art was worth the price of admission in itself for me and my heart goes out to the guy because he must have been drawing this while his dad was dying. RIP John Romita, Sr.; a giant of the comicbook industry who will be missed terribly.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. After the events of Janice (Beetle) and Robbie’s failed and chaotic wedding attempt, Tombstone is left hospitalized and someone else was killed. With these two incidents, territories have come up for grabs. Hammer Head doing some manipulations, Tombstone’s daughter, Beetle wanting to take his territory and someone proving they didn’t die, shows up pushing things over into an all out war. Things get crazy with the different factions about to face off making Spider-Man put together his own team to help try and stop this war. Lots of double crossing, scheming, unlikely team-ups and a bunch of action turn this into a solid arc. Jr Jr’s art unfortunately doesn’t look as good as it did in his earlier works.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, in a plenty ridiculous "Fight! Fight! Fight!" kind of way.


For my part I really enjoyed JRJ's stylized art.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*
My favourite run to date. The gang war has begun and by the end of the game the map of New York crime will have been completely redrawn.
We're back on a very urban adventure, with a well-constructed plot, one or two nice twists and characters who are generally well mastered and have a few good lines. Special mention goes to Tombstone, a C-list character at best on a good day, who under Wells' pen becomes an imposing and truly menacing criminal. The same goes for Madame Masque, though to a lesser extent.

JR Jr is still a long way from his heydays - and that makes me sad - but it's still about right.

[Roman · Rating 3 out of 5]

​​"Gang War" в онґоїнґу Павука закінчився, а це означає що? Правильно, що треба робити відгук.

Стартує сюжет у ван-шоті "ASM: Gang War: First Strike" у якому Ренді Робертсон намагається скасувати "закон Фіска" який забороняє героям займатися геройством у Нью-Йорку, хоча якщо казати відверто він не те щоб їх і зупиняв. Це не подобається кримінальним авторитетам які змушують Джаніс, яка намагається зробити так щоб територія їх батька, Тумбстовна, не потрапила в чужі руки, розібратися з колишнім нареченим. Вона не наважується це зробити, але найманці Молотоголового ранять Ренді й він потрапляє у лікарню. В той же час на Молотоголового нападає Мадам Маска й спровоковує початок війни між бандами. У результаті Павук змушений зібрати свою команду з героїв та Тумбстовна.

Щодо самого сюжету то він мені загалом сподобався, але не обійшлося без деяких "але". До 39 і 40 номерів жодних претензій не маю, вони вийшли непоганими й показали як Павук, Шалкі та Тумбстовн розбираються з безпорядками в місті. От з 41 номеру уже починаються мої претензії, 41 та 42 вийшли досить філерними. Суть у тому, що до нашої трійці приходить Кінґпін з дружиною в результаті якого починається мордобій. Як у результаті виявилося, весь цей сегмент з Фіском був потрібний лише для того, щоб вивести Розу з сюжету, а також розповісти нашим героям, що за всім стоїть Мадам Маска. І ось це мене просто найбільше вибісило, всю роль Кінґпіна можна було б спокійно вмістити в один номер плюс мене вбила реакція Павука "А, та? Я думав вона мертва" на рівіл Маска мене просто вбила. Останні два номери це просто одна величезна екшен сцена, з досить очевидним твістом. І фіналом який вийшов досить ніяким та трішки розчаровуючим, хотілося чогось більшого. Що там зі скасуванням "закону Фіска" з якого все почалося? Його просто скасували за кадром, що мене трохи теж розчарувало, бо була досить непогана нагода показати як мешканці міста розуміють, що їм потрібні герої які б їх захищали (хоча я з тай-інів читав тільки лімітку Шанґ-Чі, може в якихось інших це є).

З того, що ще може не сподобатися деяким людям це те, що Пітер тут вийшов досить пасивним персонажем, хоча от мені його дует та динаміка з Дженіфер тут досить таки сподобалася. Тут, ще Майлз вирішив з ним посваритися і слава богу, що на цьому не сильно робили акцент й таких моментів було декілька і тільки на початку, бо його причини дутися на Пітера, як на мене дуже натягнуті. Основний фокус тут йде на Лінкольна та Джаніс, і у мене немає жодних дорікань до цього. Велс вкотре показав, що вміє з ними працювати й за ними було досить цікаво спостерігати. Щодо малюнку то теж жодних нарікань, я Роміту молодшого люблю і, як на мене він тут видав хороший малюнок.

Загалом початок у "GW" був досить сильним, але чим далі все йшло, тим більше втрачався запал. Однак це далеко не найгірший сюжет у рані Велса. Далі на нас чекають філери та повернення Чазма та Зеленого Ґобліна. І наступний відгук на серію я вже напишу або коли вийде 50 номер або коли вийде 49 і потім ще окремо на 50 разом з якимись підсумками того, що ми отримали за ці 50 номерів у цьому рані.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
I was actually into this story more than I thought I would be. The ending was a bit lackluster, though.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the story and the action of this Gang War event but I really dislike this art style. It’s so unserious for such a serious event. It feels very unprofessionally drawn. This story also requires you to know a lot of what’s going on in the Spider-Man side of the world. I don’t read Spider-People comics unless it’s part of an event or tie in. So with only that limited knowledge I was able to follow this event well but it might not be super accessible to people who haven’t been keeping up. But at least the anti vigilante act is finally gone.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as bad as Dark Web but holy fuck is this wayyyyy too long and made me wanna fall asleep by the time we got to the 4th issue. Just Spidy going around trying to stop this gang war but the war is happening for such a stupid fucking reason and Spidy teaming up with multiple villains is nonsense. Some good fights but most of this is skippable and you'll miss NOTHING.

[j_ay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another non-story brought to you by the ever-boring Zeb Wells.
My first time reading anything with the ‘Miles’ Spider-Man. As always, Ultimate crap should stay out of the ‘616’. And….swords? Really. For Spider-man? Really.
And what the hell is a Spider-Boy. Keep ‘multiverse’ crap out of here.

And sorry, Spider-Man does not say, “In the name of God!”. Wells needs to keep his religious lunacy out of the books.
And you get one, not several, “You shot my friend!”, Peter is not a whiny-ass bitch. And Randy is a useless character, and the whole Friend in Jeopardy thing was tired in the 1970s...

At least JR JR looks like he was having fun.

[Dubzor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, just shy of a 4. And I'm going to be honest, a lot of that score is due to mah girl Jen being awesome and Madame Masque doing her worst. Otherwise, not sure many people will dig this. It's a real bait and swotch event, most of the other heroes breaking off to have their own adventures that you'll need to buy their tie in issues to find out what happens. Sure it's been like this forever, but it never stops being annoying.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: GANG WAR is probably the best of the trade paperbacks in the entire run as it is built around the gangs of New York going to war due to the power vacuum created by taking down Tombstone as well as Wilson Fisk deciding he'd rather be the Hellfire Club's White King than a mob boss. There's a lot of forgotten Spider-Man villains acting out here as well as street level violence that is fun to read. The art and action is great too. Ultimately, I think this is a really solid and entertaining TPB.

[MoonKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Thaddeus Tuffentsamer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brief visit to the hospital, then more non stop fighting

[Sem · Rating 1 out of 5]

why

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun event and its a slug fest with every street gang villain group targeting NYC and its all set in motion because of Hammerhead and Maggia, but we see Madame Masque betray him and being the main catalyst of this conflict and when Spidey's best friend Randy gets hurt, Peter takes to the action and he assembles a team to go after these villains and stop this gang war and its epic!

I love how his team is composed of heroes and they get their tie ins and yeah they are cool but the main event here is better and then you see how he is going after them one by one like starting with Ringmaster, and then teaming up with TOMBSTONE to stop other gangs and he can't stop all of them and I love how this run is focusing on this villain and elevating his status and here you see him use Pete basically and Janice aka the beetle wants her own territory and she is the other focus of this story.

There is a battle between the house of fisk vs lincolns, aka Tombstone vs Kingpin while Beetle takes on the rose and its a fun slug fest but it ends the way which was not that cool but you would think that with an event like this, Kingpin will be the main villain but at this point he is the Hellfire clubs white king and its a cool status quo shift and you see so many potentials of who will be the next kingpin and there is a good moment between MM and Beetle towards the end of the story with their father issues.

And in the end the big battle and how it sort of ends and what the conclusion is and that felt anti climactic but oh well and if you have read the tie-ins you see them being mentioned here and sort of get a conclusion but even if you don't oh well, but we do see how the streets have changed and there is a vaccum of someone wanna taking the power and it will led to the big Tombstone vs Spider-man story they have been teasing!

But yeah fun volume. I loved it overall and the art is good too, it leads to some great fight scenes and considering so many characters, JRJR drew it really well and that moment between Randy and Pete was so cool! It will be interesting to see the next status quo of this book!

[Kameron P · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I’m at the point in Zeb Wells’ ASM run where I’m still getting the issues only because I want to be informed about what’s going on in Pete’s life. But I checked out a while ago. I hated the Dark Web event, but at least the art for that was still very good. The Gang War event had no redeeming qualities.

What probably could have been summed up in three issues was spread out into six issues, as well as one shots and several miniseries. Not to mention the fact that Spidey was hardly in this event at all. There was pointless fighting for fighting’s sake, and it wasn’t even pleasant to look at. I’m a fan of John Romita Jr’s work (see Planet Hulk), but it was clear that he either had way too much on his plate or was very rushed or both. The art in this was clunky at best and awkward and awful at worst. Often it was oddly square and really just lacked depth even (maybe especially) in the multi-page panel spreads.

Truly I wish I had better things to say about this event (and Zeb Wells’ run in general), and I’m not even saying everything he or JR Jr has done is bad, just this particular event it felt like so much buildup for extremely little payoff, and even wishing I hadn’t bought any of the issues. Spend your time elsewhere…

0.5 stars

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed a little longer than it needed to be, and I haven't even read most of the other titles in this crossover yet. Am I the only one who felt like the motivations for Peter seemed a little off? Like maybe too much anger and rage building? Perhaps Venom on the horizon? Not sure...
Highlights:
- Tombstone still lies in the hospital recovering, and all of NYC is getting divided up amongst crime lords, causing war between the factions and chaos.
- Much of it revolves around the aspirations of Madame Masque wanting to take over the Maggia and run all of New York AND Janice Lincoln (daughter of Tombstone and identity of Beetle) trying to hold on to what her father built
- By the end, Fisk's Law, which prohibited vigilantes and superheroes operating in NYC, is repealed, people protesting and taking to the streets begging for heroes to step back in and fight against the gang violence.
- Tombstone knocks out Beetle, wanting to save his daughter from having to be a crime lord, then after helping Spidey and his friends to stop Madame Masque, takes over as the new Kingpin of New York.

This event was built up too long, in my opinion, and there wasn't much payoff. I didn't hate it, but also wouldn't really recommend it to others.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the core of the 'Gang War' crossover in ASM and feels very...
90's?

Early 90's (which, if I remember correctly, was when the last gang fighting happened in ASM) was a lot less 'superhero fighting aliens' and more 'kicking mafia goons'. It's back when Tombstone looked a LOT less like an albino and more like a ...shark?

This wasn't bad. I'm sure the Gang War side stories are helpful. They're all really popular characters (or trying to be...I SEE YOU, SPIDER BOY!). I'm curious to see where this goes. It's nice to see a more neighborhood friendly Spider-Man.

Bonus: What the HELL is with Beetle's, Gang War armor? Are those vampire teeth on the mask??
Bonus Bonus: Wouldn't be a gang war without a Fisk (or more than one)

[Mr. Stick · Rating 4 out of 5]

"YOU KNOW, I NEVER THANKED YOU FOR INVITIN' ME TO YOUR WEDDING. IT'S WHERE I MET WHAT'S-HER-NAME, HERE."
- (the chivalrous) Hammerhead to Janice Lincoln, as what's-her-name stands beside him.

A spidey event that actually didn't suck(?)! I didn't even get lost in all the moving around or switching sides.
The one-on-one fight between Tombstone and Kingpin was very well done. Just the right amount of insults and one-liners. Best ending.
Madame Masque proves, once again, to be the sexiest, most cunning, and most brutal mob boss in the 616. I mean, if Marvel ever made a villain of NYC swimsuit calendar, Kingpin in a banana hammock isn't on my "to see" list (or is he?).
Villain heavy. Lots of fun. Actually interesting. Three and a half (rounded up to four) stars.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is about as good as Spider-Man gets these days and it's kind of amazing to have one artist see the entire thing out. And when that artist is John Romita, Jr.? Well, this is the kind of company-wide crossover event that almost makes sense. I know I was interested enough in this main story to want to seek out some of the side tales, for once in a long, long time. Nice, epic story that actually delivers what it promises (for once). I hope Zeb Wells isn't going anywhere for awhile, though with this being volume 9 in his run, that might not be the case. Very much looking forward to what's next.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the best part of the Gang War crossover. And, that's underselling it. It's pretty good, unlike the last year or two of Wells' run (what happened!? Wells is generally a good to great author!) and unlike much of the rest of the crossover (Luke Cage did not happen!).

But here we get the core of the interesting politics underlying the Gang War and some notable changes in the status quo. We get exciting massive conflicts, but supported by real character moments. And we get the always gorgeous Romita Jr. artwork.

It's a shame that this got turned into a big ugly crossover (but to answer my earlier question: I suspect editorial mandate is what is ruining Wells' run).

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gang War brings home to roost a lot of the ongoing plotlines that have been dancing around Spider-Man's title since Wells relaunched it a few years ago, shifting the landscape of New York's gangs once again, as well as putting some nice focus on the Beetle and Lonnie Lincoln.

It's always nice to see John Romita Jr. unleashed as well. I'm so glad he's been back on Spidey, and consistently as well.

Not really the massive event Marvel turned this into, but a decent Spidey story, with some longer lasting repercussions too.

[Dean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't feel I needed to read any dialogue for this. it was all superfluous, which i guess makes the story telling proficient just the style was bland and uninteresting.

the tombstone character development was the best thing about this volume and probably this run in general.

he was reforming but to save his daughter/beetle he's going bad again.

Spider-Man teams up with some fun heroes. typhoid Mary has one good moments with she Hulk and Spider-Man. not sure narratively why kingpin and tombstonw fight for, just seemed like a selling point for the action in one issue.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best arc of this run so far. This is what Spider-Man should be doing, stopping city wide gang wars, not dealing with Limbo or any of that Dark Web nonsense. Spider-Man should be street level. Wells can write Spider-Man well when he play to Pete's strengths. Same goes for JRJR. I like his Spider-Man work. Much better than how his art changed while over at DC. For the first time during this run, I'm looking forward to the next arc.

[Myles Gerber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than expected but I still didn’t love it. I liked Miles and Peter’s confrontation a lot, the Madam Masque reveal was expected but still cool in all honesty, I like She-Hulk and Spidey working together and I didn’t feel like I needed to read all of the unnecessary tie-ins! So yay! Overall it was alright, I like the setup with Tombstone at the end and I had a good time reading it. Overall, not great, not bad, just good. 3/5.

[Jeremy Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another satisfying volume in this current Amazing Spider-Man run. This time around, a gang war erupts between the major crime families in the Marvel Universe. What I find interesting about Wells' current Spidey run is his choice of characters. In this storyline, most of the villains are second tier characters, Wells is able to take what is old and make it new again. If you had told me almost forty years ago that Tombstone would be a major Spider-Man villain, I would have laughed.

[Néstor Vargas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more from this event. It had the potential of being a great street-level story, but it was wasted. For example, the map that shows the territories’ division was a nice idea, but it basically changed two times in the whole event, I think. Which is a reflection of how the story was handled; instead of being a big war, it felt like generic gang stories per issue. The final battle was extremely bland, and JRJR’s art lacked impact as well.

[sabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun to see the team up !! spider man is so funny and so unserious.

it’s interesting to see the turf war politics behind it and the fight scenes were fun. lots of daddy issues.

the ending kinda felt brushed off ?? idk but happy to see that community banding together always helps humanity and the vigilantes !

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back to street fighting crime with Spider Man and it looks/feels good on him.
The tie in event was centered around these issues and so are probably the essential ones to read.
Felt like some focus came back to the title.

[Thaddeus Tuffentsamer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s ok. More fighting, not much else to the story.