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The next amazing chapter in Nick Spencer’s shocking saga of Spider-Man — guaranteed to get your Spidey senses tingling! We literally can’t say any more without ruining it all!
128 pages, Paperback
First published November 23, 2021
About the author
Nick Spencer
1,039 books348 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Nick Spencer is a comic book writer known for his creator-owned titles at Image Comics (Existence 2.0/3.0, Forgetless, Shuddertown, Morning Glories), his work at DC Comics (Action Comics, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), and for his current work at Marvel Comics (Iron Man 2.0, Ultimate Comics: X-Men).
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Nick Spencer is a comic book writer known for his creator-owned titles at Image Comics (Existence 2.0/3.0, Forgetless, Shuddertown, Morning Glories), his work at DC Comics (Action Comics, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), and for his current work at Marvel Comics (Iron Man 2.0, Ultimate Comics: X-Men).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
December 3, 2023
To be read alongside Amazing Spider-Man vol. 15 What Cost Victory?, this is the culmination and supposed peak of Spencer's ASM run, where all the sub plotting, past re-imagining, twists and turns should bring the reader peak satisfaction and appreciation. Spoiler alert - it doesn't. There is pretty much zero character development in this volume which is ultimately a series of flashbacks interchanged with an ongoing battle between Spidey and multiple foes across all four issues. Some more weak stuff coming from Marvel in 2o21 :( Just about a 5 out of 12, Two Star read.
2023 read
2023 read
December 3, 2021
As a small kid in the '80s I remember I used to enjoy pro Wrestling, and the event I probably liked most of all, even more than the inevitably overhyped Wrestlemania, was the Royal Rumble. They would essentially send in waves of musclebound 2-dimensional personas who would bicker, beat and heave each other bodily out of the ring until there was literally one man left standing as "King of the Ring." And, in spite of the excitement of seeing all the star wrestlers just go at it in an orgy of carefully choreographed violence, by the time it was all done it invariably felt like overdoing it on candy the night of Hallowe'en- empty, and a little groggy.
TL;DR: In case you hadn't caught on to my laboured and half-remembered analogy yet, this comic was the 1988 Royal Rumble of comics.
TL;DR: In case you hadn't caught on to my laboured and half-remembered analogy yet, this comic was the 1988 Royal Rumble of comics.
July 31, 2022
Nick Spencer pulled all of the action scenes out of his last Spider-Man arc and put them here. It's a capper on the The Amazing Mary Jane and then a big Royal Rumble for 4 issues with 30 villains. It's completely pointless to the overall story and a waste of time just like most of Nick Spencer's run.
September 18, 2021
This was building up for awhile and the whole thing felt rushed. Spencer seems like he’s trying to tie up every lose end before he leaves Marvel and this book suffers from it.
November 19, 2021
It's hard to write a lot about Sinister War because hardly anything happens. It's all padding for the already-padded-out final arc of Amazing Spider-Man. Aside from the opening few pages of the first issue and the awesome Doc Ock plot point in the final issue, it's all just fight scenes overlaid with some inner monologue about how sad Spidey is.
The art's all over the shop as well with three artists minimum on all but the first issue. Mark Bagley's art is a nice draw, but it's not enough to justify all of this mucking about.
I don't even know what else there is to say. An almost totally pointless mess, and I say that as someone who really wanted Spencer's final arc to land well.
The art's all over the shop as well with three artists minimum on all but the first issue. Mark Bagley's art is a nice draw, but it's not enough to justify all of this mucking about.
I don't even know what else there is to say. An almost totally pointless mess, and I say that as someone who really wanted Spencer's final arc to land well.
September 12, 2021
4 issues of Spider-Man being punched in a graveyard. Although this needs to be read in tandem with the Amazing Spider-Man issues, I recommend you don't read it at all.
January 18, 2022
Before 2021 concluded, I read the final volume of Nick Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man, a series I was really losing interest with as it was getting consumed by its mythology that was constantly adding a lot of new elements without much development through a release schedule of a bi-monthly comic. As I was reading the finale, which was a confusing chore to get through, I was aware that I didn’t read Sinister War, a four-issue mini-event that was occurring around the same time as the last issues of Amazing. So do these issues, co-written by Spencer and Ed Brisson, fit nicely into the main series to make it a cohesive whole, or does it contribute to the continuing chaos?
Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are attending the premiere of MJ's new movie, which she worked on with Mysterio under the alias of Cage McKnight. As Peter is planning to propose to her when the movie is over in front of the press and public, Spider-Man's entire rogues gallery battle it out to see which one will kill the web-slinger, all of which orchestrated by Kindred AKA Harry Osborn.
The first issue showed potential interest as we see Doctor Strange talking with Mephisto at over his part in corrupting Peter Parker's soul, setting up the dilemma for the final issues of Amazing. The issue also serves an epilogue to the short-lived comic Amazing Mary Jane, whilst setting up something interesting as Peter finds out about Mary Jane working alongside one of Spidey’s villains, albeit reformed. As much as Spencer made the return of Peter and MJ’s romance a staple in his run, it does get bogged down by everything else happening in the story and with Sinister War, once the baddies show up, it’s all about the slug-fest.
With so many villains thrown into the kitchen sink, there are multiple artists involved and so the switching from one artist to the next can jarring, which doesn’t make the nonsensical fight scenes any easier. However, the first issue is drawn by Mark Bagley, which will delight those who read Ultimate Spider-Man or his Spidey work in the 90s. Bagley’s art is so good, especially when it comes to splash pages featuring a large number of characters, you wish he was in charge of the whole book.
Ultimately, the sad thing about Sinister War is that there is the potential for being more than the slug-fest with the few instances of characterisation, notably towards Doc Ock and Boomerang. However, because the selling point of this mini-event is Spider-Man versus his entire rogues gallery, it embodies not only the main problem of Spencer’s Amazing run, but the negative aspects when it comes to these particular event storylines.
Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are attending the premiere of MJ's new movie, which she worked on with Mysterio under the alias of Cage McKnight. As Peter is planning to propose to her when the movie is over in front of the press and public, Spider-Man's entire rogues gallery battle it out to see which one will kill the web-slinger, all of which orchestrated by Kindred AKA Harry Osborn.
The first issue showed potential interest as we see Doctor Strange talking with Mephisto at over his part in corrupting Peter Parker's soul, setting up the dilemma for the final issues of Amazing. The issue also serves an epilogue to the short-lived comic Amazing Mary Jane, whilst setting up something interesting as Peter finds out about Mary Jane working alongside one of Spidey’s villains, albeit reformed. As much as Spencer made the return of Peter and MJ’s romance a staple in his run, it does get bogged down by everything else happening in the story and with Sinister War, once the baddies show up, it’s all about the slug-fest.
With so many villains thrown into the kitchen sink, there are multiple artists involved and so the switching from one artist to the next can jarring, which doesn’t make the nonsensical fight scenes any easier. However, the first issue is drawn by Mark Bagley, which will delight those who read Ultimate Spider-Man or his Spidey work in the 90s. Bagley’s art is so good, especially when it comes to splash pages featuring a large number of characters, you wish he was in charge of the whole book.
Ultimately, the sad thing about Sinister War is that there is the potential for being more than the slug-fest with the few instances of characterisation, notably towards Doc Ock and Boomerang. However, because the selling point of this mini-event is Spider-Man versus his entire rogues gallery, it embodies not only the main problem of Spencer’s Amazing run, but the negative aspects when it comes to these particular event storylines.
September 14, 2021
I’m guessing this is meant to be a finale event to Nick Spencer’s Spider-man run. Just a few points:
You’ll really want to have the last volume of his Spider-man run at hand to read along with this, as they cross over
It’s a bit of a mess. I’m sure having 30 supervillains against Spider-man seemed good when he thought of it and pitched it, but the story itself is kind of weak
And speaking of the story, it all hinges on the villain Kindred, who I got bored of about 4 volumes ago. I’m also confused as to who he is at this point
So yeah. I feel like I’m being generous with 3 stars to be honest
You’ll really want to have the last volume of his Spider-man run at hand to read along with this, as they cross over
It’s a bit of a mess. I’m sure having 30 supervillains against Spider-man seemed good when he thought of it and pitched it, but the story itself is kind of weak
And speaking of the story, it all hinges on the villain Kindred, who I got bored of about 4 volumes ago. I’m also confused as to who he is at this point
So yeah. I feel like I’m being generous with 3 stars to be honest
February 20, 2022
Wow. What an entirely worthless spectacle.
Spider-Man spends 4 issues fighting 30+ foes, all just to show what a big meanie whats-his-name, the centipede guy is. Spencer offers a "shock" that undoes most of the character development of his run. In the end, Spidey has no agency in the whole thing or how it concludes. And there's no actual conclusion to the bigger plot.
This is 4 issues of padding and worthless fight.
Spider-Man spends 4 issues fighting 30+ foes, all just to show what a big meanie whats-his-name, the centipede guy is. Spencer offers a "shock" that undoes most of the character development of his run. In the end, Spidey has no agency in the whole thing or how it concludes. And there's no actual conclusion to the bigger plot.
This is 4 issues of padding and worthless fight.
January 4, 2022
HOT
MESS
Avoid at all cost.
MESS
Avoid at all cost.
June 23, 2022
more like 2.5 this was underwhelming for what should have been epic fights
February 27, 2022
Absolute drivel. The sort of superhero comic which makes me understand why people hate superhero comics. A miniseries which thinks the way to build a sense of event is to squeeze 30 supervillains into four issues, with a Macguffin to erase any nuances in their motives - then still ends up chucking a few more in as a desperate bid to make the reader give the slightest toss about the finale. All wrapped up with a resolution where the obvious comparison would be horribly unfair to damp squibs. Just inexcusably bad.
December 3, 2021
Trying to figure out the purpose of this series, but juvenile. Writing and art was horrible. Spidey is up against a number of sinister 6(even 7 in one case)…probably the worst read in quite a while
October 12, 2021
Useless event!
December 14, 2021
And so Nick Spencer's run ends as it began...shittily.
January 15, 2022
Whhhhhhat is this?
August 5, 2026
Absolute chaos! Spider-Man gets absolutely clobbered through the whole story. It's an interesting read with a fun ending. The downside for me was that it doesn't have much depth to it. Its a mile wide story thats an inch deep.
October 13, 2021
Tohle mělo být to velké finále? Tak zase nic... Spencerův konec u pavouka se naštěstí blíží.
May 31, 2022
A big huge fight but not what I was expecting. Decent and I am hoping the Kindred storyline is coming to an end soon.
December 23, 2021
One long fight scene with Nick Spencer's repetitive voiceover from Kindred rehashing the same things he's been saying for the past 70-odd issues. "There's so much you don't know" ... "You're going to pay for your sins" ... etc. My patience is beyond tested ... it's gone.
Weak.
Weak.
April 28, 2022
This wasn't terrible, though it ultimately was rather pointless. Spencer's big trick was making us believe he had a story to tell with all this Kindred nonsense. You only need to look as far as Morning Glories to see he doesn't really have anything up his sleeve after all...
November 7, 2024
I will admit that this ends in a kind of unsatisfying way, and Kindred is a pretty lame villain, but it’s just so damn cool to see all these different Sinister Six teams fighting against each other. Endgame for guys who like villains more than heroes.
January 25, 2022
2.75
Something something... Spider-Man fighting bad guys... something...
Something something... Spider-Man fighting bad guys... something...
January 18, 2025
This was so dog shit but the fact they retconed ‘Sins Past’ by having Mysterio fuck Norman instead is fucking hilarious💀
April 25, 2026
Spidey vs. SIX SINISTER SIXES?!? 36 villains in all (plus one or two extras lurking in the background). I mean, I guess it's never been done before, but it kind of feels like overkill. Also, what is Morlun doing teaming up with other rando villains? That guy is a super-powerful interdimensional vampire; he's probably as strong as the other 35 combined. Again, overkill.
As you might expect, then, this fight wasn't really much of a "war." It was mostly just Spidey running away from the villains and trying to preserve his life, since there's no way he could take them all at once. And (vague spoilers) I'm glad it didn't end with him somehow beating them all, because that would just be too far.
Anyway...mildly entertaining for a Spidey story. Not bad, just not super memorable beyond the initial novelty of it.
As you might expect, then, this fight wasn't really much of a "war." It was mostly just Spidey running away from the villains and trying to preserve his life, since there's no way he could take them all at once. And (vague spoilers) I'm glad it didn't end with him somehow beating them all, because that would just be too far.
Anyway...mildly entertaining for a Spidey story. Not bad, just not super memorable beyond the initial novelty of it.
December 24, 2021
Collects Sinister War issues #1-4
This collection should be read in tandem with "The Amazing Spider-Man: What Cost Victory?" When I read this story, I would read one issue at a time from each collection, and then move over to the other collection, as I made my way through the story. There is some really great stuff here, as Nick Spencer's run on "Amazing" is coming to an end.
SPOILERS:
The idea to have six Sinister Six-like groups all attack Spider-Man at the same time could be overkill, but it worked for me. I'm surprised that something like this hasn't happened before (that I know of). Because of "Superior Spider-Man," I'm a big fan of Doc Ock, and I appreciated when he had a moment to shine.
This collection should be read in tandem with "The Amazing Spider-Man: What Cost Victory?" When I read this story, I would read one issue at a time from each collection, and then move over to the other collection, as I made my way through the story. There is some really great stuff here, as Nick Spencer's run on "Amazing" is coming to an end.
SPOILERS:
The idea to have six Sinister Six-like groups all attack Spider-Man at the same time could be overkill, but it worked for me. I'm surprised that something like this hasn't happened before (that I know of). Because of "Superior Spider-Man," I'm a big fan of Doc Ock, and I appreciated when he had a moment to shine.
January 25, 2022
Premise: The Sinister Six, the Savage Six, and the Sinister Syndicate are all being slightly controlled by Kindred.... so they all decide to fight Spider-Man at the same time. This time happens to interrupt MJ's movie premiere. GIANT FIGHT! Only the restoration of Boomerang's friendship (before his death by Morlun) and the last-minute escape allowed by Doc Ock (breaking free of the control of Kindred), leave Peter alive... but he must deal now with Kindred.
This ties directly into Vol 15, which apparently is the end of Nick Spencer's run on ASM... more on that Volume soon.
This could have been so amazing.... but just sort of fell flat.
Recommend, but at your own risk.
This ties directly into Vol 15, which apparently is the end of Nick Spencer's run on ASM... more on that Volume soon.
This could have been so amazing.... but just sort of fell flat.
Recommend, but at your own risk.
February 18, 2022
Honestly, for something as intense as so many Spidey villains coming together, plus Harry Osborne's death, plus the finale of Kindred's arc... I kind of expected more. While this story wasn't bad, per se, it seemed like a lot of build-up with a pretty rushed pay-off. Which is a shame, because I loved Nick Spencer when he first started on "Amazing Spider-Man." It kind of feels like he was pushed to finish up his storytelling rather than letting it just be its own organic tale. The emotions from this just didn't hit as hard as, say, the hunt that Kraven did several volumes back. Worth a read, but not the epic event that I was expecting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2022
Another showcase of too many ideas thrown together. This is an offshot of the previous volume, and really should be incoporated within it. It's not written long enough or written well enough to stand on its own. I'm getting the feeling that Nick Spencer just takes EVERY idea he has and throws it into his stories. His whole run has been a mess. This collection (of just 4 issues) is no different.
It's Spider-Man getting the crud kicked out of him for page after page...only to "amazingly" make it out at the end.
Could have been its own thing. As it is, it's a poorly fleshed out idea haphazardly pieced together.
It's Spider-Man getting the crud kicked out of him for page after page...only to "amazingly" make it out at the end.
Could have been its own thing. As it is, it's a poorly fleshed out idea haphazardly pieced together.
January 14, 2026
If you only want to see fight scenes, this is the book for you. Four issues, dozens of characters, zero plot. This story is actually taking place within another book not collected here and its insanely dumb. The reasons for the characters to behave the way they do makes little sense. The solution to the problem is worse. There is a senseless death that happened here of all places. Crazy. Nick Spencer wanted to cram this into Amazing Spider-Man and for some reason Marvel wanted it to be separate. If you love Mark Bagley art, and I do, this will appeal to you as long as you don't read the words. Overall, utterly pointless.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews