Justin’s masochistic streak gets Spider-themed in Sinister War #1! The latest and final “event” spinning out of Nick Spencer’s tenure on Amazing Spider-Man. Written by Nick Spencer. Drawn by Mark Bagley. Inked by Andrew Hennessy, John Dell, & Andy Owens. Colored by Brian Reber. Lettered by Joe Caramagna.
I read all 70 issues (plus specials) of the current volume of Amazing Spider-Man to prepare for Sinister War #1.
I told myself it was for context. I take my job seriously and I want to be as informed as possible going into every piece I write, no matter the title. I do that for myself, sure, but I also do it for you, the reading audience, too. I want YOU ALL to take me seriously as well and I always want to try and do the best possible job every time I sit at the keyboard. Week after week, month after month. So, I put the work in. I buckle down. I get that context that I need in order to review something as incisively as possible.
Turns out, that was a huge mistake. As Sinister War #1 wasn’t really worth the time it took for me to get there.
Positioned as the “grand finale” to Nick Spencer’s time on the flagship Spidey title, Sinister War #1 continues this volume’s streak of wooden, lore-filled Spider-Man action. Mary Jane’s movie is premiering FINALLY and Peter, naturally, is her plus one. But the Spider’s henchmen-filled life doesn’t stop when he goes to the movies as the premier is quickly busted up by The Savage Six; the new animal-themed cadre of super-villains Spencer set up all the way back in “Hunted”.
However, Kindred, Spencer’s “new” creation, is still pulling the centipede-covered strings behind the scenes, gathering the classic roster of the Sinister Six once again and throwing them into the mix for a grand throw down in a crowded movie theatre. All for the right to squish the Spider for good.
Like most things during the Nick Spencer era of Amazing Spider-Man, the surface-level enjoyment of this stuff still remains. Spencer continues to pull liberally from his own previous issues, but also volumes past too. Allowing the sense of history that he clearly loves about the title to keep shining through. The context afforded to me by my binge-read does also support the text well. Spencer has been putting a lot of pieces in position for this finale for a while now, so it gives the issue a nice cumulative feeling now those pieces are finally moving meaningfully.
I will also admit to enjoying the novelty of seeing Spidey’s numerous teams of squadded up rogues duke it out for the honor of killing Spider-Man. I must confess I still don’t really feel that all jazzed up about Kindred as the villain. But thankfully, this issue keeps the heel roles largely centered on the “Six” teams, again focusing on a sense of fun, Spider-Man-centric continuity that the title has made good use of thus far.
However, I am still just so struck by how largely hollow Sinister War #1 feels and reads. Though briskly paced and filled with all sorts of callbacks to the volume before it (and more), Spencer’s script here still just never feels purely FUN. At least not in the way solo Spider-Man events SHOULD feel fun. And this isn’t from lack of trying, either. You can clearly tell throughout the issue that Spencer wants to make this a real blockbuster. He is piling on the villain characters and doing all sorts of grounded beats of character texture for Peter and MJ amid the superhero action. But just like the run that preceded it, there still just doesn’t seem to be any real spark behind any of this. Nothing to really make it pop off the page like you really want Spider-Man comics to be.
Mark Bagley and a stocked bench of support artists do their damndest to add some though. Drenched in heavy inks and even heavier colors, Bagley and the art team really lean into the theatricality and silliness of seeing a bunch of weirdos in costumes trading blows. Some of the issue’s bigger visuals are too much to spoil too early, but trust me when I say that Bagley here continues to display a keen understanding of Spider-Man visuals that I feel fans will always appreciate in one way or another.
Nick Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man run and Sinister War #1 should be books I am really into. Both are filled with all sorts of crunchy continuity deep cuts and D-list Spider-Man characters that I always love seeing pop back up. But unfortunately, the actual issues I read failed to ever get off the ground, no matter how badly I wanted them to.
Sinister War #1 suffers the same leaden fate. A great Spidey premise and hook dashed by lackluster execution.
Which may very well be the lasting legacy of the Nick Spencer era of Amazing Spider-Man overall. I should know. I f&*$ing read all of it, didn’t I? That has to mean something, right?
RIGHT?!
Oh, God…
What have I done?
Zachary Jenkins runs ComicsXF and is a co-host on the podcast “Battle of the Atom.” Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside of all this.
