Amazing Spider-Man #44

Amazing Spider-Man #44 crackles with energy and drama, leaving much to ponder as Spider-Man achieves a moral victory, empowers a villain, and helps inspire the citizens of New York City to achieve the impossible. Read Full Review

The emotional payoff after the action subsides marks the issue's best qualities with heartfelt reunions and coldhearted progressions. It's clear that "Gang War" is building to something bigger and its' finale shares in some of that future promise. Read Full Review

The battle of Central Park ends with a clear-cut winner in Spideys last chapter of the Gang War crossover. Wells puts the emotional weight on Spideys back with solid writing. Romita and the team give the issue that big fight feel with some memorable visuals. This will be one for all Spidey fans to check out on New Comic Book day. Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #44 brings the Gang War “event” to a close with the deciding battle in Central Park to establish the new top gangster in NYC. Unfortunately, the battle is mindless, Spider-Man is barely a factor in the outcome, and the mountain of tie-ins turns out to be pointless. Wells and Lowe have turned in worse events, but Gang War fails to be anything more than forgettable. Read Full Review

Psycamorean

Feb 29, 2024

Nothing about this ending made me feel anything. In fact the only thing that got my ol' ticker going is reading the letters page and finding out this is simply the end of Phase Two of this ASM run. Stop with the events, Lowe and co. You're not very good at them. Dark Web and now this. I will defend this run for a lot of things, but the events aren't one of those things. I just want to move on to something fresh.

derbycomics

Feb 29, 2024

The dust finally settles on the Gang War arc. Wells' story wraps up the conflict between Madame Masque, Tombstone and Spider-Man, leaving a trail of destruction & a new normal for NYC's gangs. While the action is well-paced, I found the conclusion underwhelming. Spider-Man has felt sidelined throughout the majority of Gang War & the final twist hinged more on Tombstone than anyone else. John Romita Jr. brings his signature dynamic style to the large fight sequences, effectively conveying the chaos and brutality of it all. Was ASM the right title to headline this event? In terms of generating sales, yes. But it probably would have been best served as a standalone mini as it was really meant to continue Tombstone's narrative. Wells' ove rarching ASM narrative has been bouncing around ideas for quite some time now and this only added to the lack of direction accusations many have thrown at the series. more

AmericanHealthcare

Mar 01, 2024

This is a poor showing no matter how you look at it. It's readable and mostly harmless in that it's not doing anything offensive, but the dialogue is weirdly flat and clunky while the event itself is underwhelming and somewhat nonsensical. Was this supposed to be in some way climactic? A more restrained conclusion would've been fine if there had been some emotional stakes or something, but this does not gel. There are flashes of charm here and there and the art is good, but it's inexplicably mediocre all around, especially for a book that I would think is one of Marvel's flagship titles. It feels dated, but not in a way that works positively by tapping into nostalgia.

Screaming Enigma

Mar 01, 2024

Gang War was a bit of a disappointment, but I didn't hate this. I will say that I did like the way this ended, referring to Tombstone's closing words here. I hope this means there's still more story for him, as his storyline with Peter back in this run's first arc was the best this series has consistently been.

Kalaoui

Jul 31, 2024

Gang war didn't start well and it didn't end well. Spider-Man/Peter Parker feels like a B-level character in his own book whereas the Mafia camps upstage him with more dynamics and development especially Tombstone. Tombstone's first arc was the best this run has done but that feels like years ago especially when Wells started with the Peter/MJ mystery that took forever to answer only to disappoint then MJ is kicked to the curb then we circle around till we get to Gang War only to fall flat yet again. I'm just ready for the next creative team. Positive is John Romita Jr. delivered good art and kudos to Hanna on inks who made his art tight and Menyz on colors is classic.

Afre

Feb 28, 2024

Yeah it's the best ending this event could've received. Nothing major but readable.

BirdmanG07

Feb 28, 2024

Basically nothing came out of this entire event except, minor spoiler, Tombstone is back on top. JRJR’s art quality was all over the place in this issue. Some panels were ok and others were just, bad/low effort. Jackpot (aka the superhero we never needed or wanted because MJ is great as herself and doesn’t need powers) made a brief cheesy appearance. If you’re tired of this mediocrity, Ultimate Spider-Man is a great read. The only reason I’m still getting Amazing is because I’m collecting the series as a whole.

Kenjamin

Aug 09, 2024

Art: 3/5 Story: 3/5 Total: 6/10

Hex

Mar 01, 2024

It says a lot about the failure of an event when the only time the team talks to one another is at the very end to realize who all was even on the team. Great job Lowe. My expectations for anything during the rest of this run are completely shot at this point. Any praise I had to give toward the Tombstone arcs has fallen completely flat because up to this point it has all led to absolutely nothing. Madame Masque effectively did nothing. None of the Maggia were involved in the run up to this point and are unlikely to feature again so why did we even do this? I can't fathom. I just want a new writer and editorial team. Better yet, give me a new issue of USM. It's the only good thing coming out of any Spider-Man camp.

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Psycamorean - Mar 1, 2024

USM is part of the Marvel Heroes editorial group. They cover books like Avengers titles. So USM ain't coming out of any Spider-Man camp and that may be why it's good.

Hex - Mar 2, 2024

At least it shows they seem to care for it.

Mout

Mar 10, 2024

A massive waste of everybody's time

daspidaboy

Feb 28, 2024

to be honest, as a whole I got to say this event was bland, mediocre, and forgettable. I dont know what it is, but from what I'm reading, it feels like its devoid of passion and doesnt have that much effort at all. Spidey literally gets his butt kicked multiple times in this event, then he talks about his feelings to Madame Masque, then wins the day by shooting out webs into her gauntlets. Very anti-climatic as well. The art here is also bland and not interesting. John Romita Jr art doesnt stand out anymore, its too clean for my taste. This event was basically people talking, then rushing into an ending. Overall, a lot of people are going to take issues and be pissed off about my reviews and think I'm "toxic" and "uneducated". An d its totally fine if people like this event more than me. I'm glad people are enjoying this event. It's just for me, I didnt enjoy this event. I'm glad I took a break from Zeb Wells Spider-Man, and I'm not going to be reading Zeb Wells Spidey run anymore. This run is not for me, I'm not going to be reading this event if it somehow devolves into me hate-reading this event, and I dont want to be toxic. Overall, this event had bland art, action, dialogue, a wonky pacing, and Spider-Man really doesnt get much to do here, and when it comes to the climax of the story, it fell flat. more

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BirdmanG07 - Feb 28, 2024

Only thing I disagree with is calling JRJRs art “clean.” I see what you mean in some panels but a lot of it is just sloppy to me.

jbong

Mar 06, 2024

this was so boring and dumb. why do any of us still bother reading this crap? oh yeah that's right, we can't help ourselves. Nick Lowe, please retire or fire yourself.

Von Esper

Mar 06, 2024

Pointless cash grab event. Probably one of the better storylines from the current Amazing Spider-Man team, but that's not saying much.

DDJamesB

Mar 03, 2024

I'm not sure what the point of this Gang War was. Just felt so repetitive to say a whole lot of nothing.

Nice198

Apr 19, 2024

I don't understand why people still read it. It really sucks. Some say this makes the story of Tombstone interesting. Sorry, these are AMAZING SPIDER-MAN stories, not AMAZING Tombstone. Peter Parker has encountered obstacles, yes. The fact that he transcended it makes it interesting, it makes him a hero. But Zeb Wells wrote Peter Parker to experience only pain. Yes, experiencing pain may be the color of the story. But we are not psychopaths who want to see our beloved heroes suffer and suffer again and again. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN zeb wells makes me really depressed. And this is a comic for children too. What story do you really want to tell children? Being a good person will bring you only pain. That is what you are proposing. WHAT MAKES A SPIDER-MAN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN? The Gang War “event” was the last straw for me. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was barely relevant, he was just a supporting character like other heroes especially in his own books. Damn it, how long will SPIDER-MAN be AMAZING SPIDER-MAN again? more