Amazing Spider-Man #39

While Peter acts as unofficial lieutenant to Mayor Luke Cage in Amazing Spider-Man #39, Tombstones uneasy reunion with his daughter steals the spotlight. Despite all the love in the world, youth must have its day. Read Full Review

Romita Jr. delivers some great art throughout the issue. The action is visually fun and thrilling and there is some great imagery in the battles. Read Full Review

"Gang War" is in full swing this week, and the danger level is high. Amazing Spider-Man #39 does a good job establishing how dangerous and just how chaotic the war is as many footsoldiers of the various gangs are at war and civilians are in danger. It's still odd other heroes aren't mentioned, and it's also difficult to care much when most of these gangster villains are C-Listers at best. Read Full Review

It's a very exciting time to be reading Amazing Spider-Man and the fireworks found in the first issue of "Gang War" suggests it will be an unforgettable event. Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #39 is controlling the chaos. This event has unleashed its full power, with heroes and villains everywhere in a power struggle that stretches over an entire city. And yet, with everything erupting, the story is captivating and keeps the exposition from overloading. Read Full Review

Gang War launches Peter Parker and friends into the conflict head-on with a great introduction. Wells, Romita jr, Hanna and the team construct excellent action with high-stakes drama to give readers a great read for New Comic Book Day! Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #39 is a surprisingly decent action comic. Wells pits Spider-Man and his allies against an assortment of Gangs across NYC, and the strategic maneuverings by the Gang leaders behind the scenes are intriguing. Wells may have gotten this event off to a rocky start, but this issue shows promise. Read Full Review

The Amazing Spider-Man#39 falls further into feeling like a cheap grab for cash, it's story riddled with so many odd holes and lackluster moments of character writing that it's a shame something this unfinished is being billed as a top event for Marvel. Read Full Review

derbycomics

Dec 07, 2023

While the interlude scenes of the Gang War arc in previous ASM issues left something to be desired, I’m really enjoying the event more than I expected so far! ASM #39 picks up the pace and helps set the stage for most of the heroes who will be involved in the event. Zeb Wells throws Spidey and his allies into the thick of battle against various gangs across New York City, keeping the energy high throughout the issue even with so many moving pieces. Including various Gang leaders also present, the sheer number of characters involved in the issue can be overwhelming at times, but Wells takes some time to explore character motivations, providing readers with a glimpse into their world and why they're acting in certain ways. This adds a to uch of humanity to the story and helps readers connect with the characters on a deeper level. John Romita Jr.'s art is a perfect fit for this action-heavy issue, which will surely please longtime Spidey fans. His dynamic layouts and detailed panels capture the chaos and energy of the action effectively. The fight scenes are particularly well-drawn, with each panel conveying the intensity of the action. Marcio Menyz's vibrant colors complement Romita Jr.'s art perfectly, making the visuals pop off the page. more

Afre

Dec 06, 2023

It's very chaotic and action-heavy. Much like the city is. It's a very enjoyable second part to this storyline. Not the best comic, but there isn't really anything wrong here. Plot moves forward, we visit all major players and see great action from JRJR. There isn't anything more I wanted from this comic. It's so hard to not compare this to the travesty event we got last year in the form of Dark Web. In almost every aspect that failed, this feels to excel. It's funny looking back.

Hex

Dec 06, 2023

To start, that cover is atrocious. The story however was pretty bombastic. Great story beats with Lonnie and Robbie, Janice taking over her dad's territory, Madame Masque continuing to torture Hammerhead and the dynamic that Peter has be it strained with Miles, absent with Elektra or the surprisingly good rapport he has with Jen and Jess made for a really compelling narrative. I'm actually looking forward to the next few issues.

Screaming Enigma

Dec 13, 2023

I think it's kind of funny that the team on the cover of this fights together for a few pages and then, all of a sudden, just disbands to go protect different areas of New York so they can have their own books. Regardless, this was an entertaining issue. I liked the Tombstone stuff here especially, as Wells has done a good job writing the character since the first arc of this series. There was also some good humor with Spider-Man and She-Hulk towards the latter half.

Psycamorean

Jan 21, 2024

This is better, but I'm still waiting for something to truly grab me.

CrazyforRAMU

Nov 01, 2025

Gang War seems to be off to a good start. The action is epic and tense, the dialogue is packed with both emotion and humor, and the "traffic direction" organizing the various tie-ins feels (at least somewhat) organic. The art works for me, though, as usual for JRJR, details and facial expressions are occasionally lacking. Spider-Man is pretty flat, character-wise, and the downside of teaming him with She-Hulk is that he becomes passive yet again. However, some real depth of feeling from the Lincolns and Robertsons gives this issue the character insight it needs.

DDJamesB

Dec 12, 2023

Lots of action. It had some good moments. It had moments that made me care. There's just part of me that thinks the stakes aren't there. It doesn't have that punch to make me really care at that next level.

Criminology.

Dec 07, 2023

I liked the opening issue, this is still alright but I did not enjoy it as much. I feel like so much is going on, all of a sudden. I like the position Peter is in this event, how this is a moment for him to prove himself, to be competent, which was just a big part of the critique towards this run, from the start of it, so it has like a meta element to it. Like meta stakes to the event. If the alpha issue was about establishing that, now we are getting to the meat of the problem, by Spidey showing his worth as a leader and that's done mostly by his actions, but as for now nothing definite. But still, the whole issue feels like ''now it's time for the action'', which I found fitting after the boom of the first issue. It's a little bit on the decompressed side and that's valid for the whole issue, which I get. It's going to be a long event. 4-5 months is not a small period of that. Still, I feel like this has so much going on and this progresses with such baby steps when I finished it, I was like like ''is that it?''.It creates the expectation for more because there is just so much happening, plus the whole issue feels like building up to something and it just ends out of a sudden. But again I get it, there should be a hook, just idk the way it's done, it's not satisfactory to me. The story uses a lot of characters and even if not balance them and the plots so well, which honestly is by design, presents them clearly and well. Especially noticeable with Team Spidey, even if we see the whole team for a little bit, the way they talk and even relate to Peter feel really motivated. The bits with She-hulk and Spidey were definitely a highlight and carried the otherwise pretty mundane action, which looked like that was there just to move the plot and to deal with certain threats, which were there just for the quantity. Those interactions reminded me of the humor of JMS's Spider-Man, which was certainly the Romita influence. It's not really in line with how Rowell writes She-Hulk rn, but honestly, I liked the more classic bolder, Avengers by Stern-like Jen, we get here too, certainly fits the explosive and direct nature of this event better and makes for better interactions. I think that's the only way she can contribute to the event, by just enhancing certain moments with her strong personality. Janice's story here feels more complete, to be honest, but at the same time, she feels somewhat inconsistent, with what exactly she wants. The whole thing is written, even the whole run(maybe with few exceptions), very directly, there is not stuff under the stuff we see, everything is delivered through dialog. Makes the experience of reading really light, but sometimes it comes too strong and that's something i feel with Tombstone and Janice's conversation. Again the plot has so many moving pieces and it's focused on the action, so it fits perfectly here, so overall I'm excited for the arc in the future. more

Kalaoui

Jul 27, 2024

The event is good but for a Spider-Man Book he feels like a reactive character with no real depth or oomph to him. Like a secondary person there witnessing a great Mafia war happening. Wells just can't do Peter Parker or Spider-Man fully right but he's good at the crime guys drama. JR Jr. back on art and brings the rough edge this type of book needs.

Kenjamin

Jul 28, 2024

Art: 3/5 Story: 3.5/5 Total: 6.5/10

Mout

Dec 30, 2023

Spidey's gang war

K-23

Mar 11, 2024

This book is pretty ruff with some poor writing and nonsense that Well's just won't accept isn't funny at all. But the art is great and the Tombstone/Janice stuff was good.

BirdmanG07

Dec 13, 2023

There’s a lot going on here, unfortunately I don’t think the execution was there. Character voices felt off to me. Too much of the dialogue was just, bad.