Rate Gang War

[Frontier]

On paper, a gang war featuring classic villains should be an easy hit. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

A good number of the rogues shown were ultimately treated like afterthoughts (The Owl, The Rose, Mr. Negative, Diamondback, Crime Master, Black Mariah, etc) which defeats the overall purpose. The Kingpin vs Tombstone could've and should've been a bigger deal but was wasted with an awkward tussle between the two of them. Too much focus was on the Beetle and the Sinister Syndicate, they all came across more as wanna bee gangsters as opposed to the real deal. Spider-man came across more as a supporting character than the actual star in his own book and to add even more insult to injury, Wells continues to treat Spider-Man more as a lightweight than a heavyweight which is completely asinine.

After what happened to Randy, Spider-Man should've gone into serious ass kicker mode. About the only character who benefited from any of this was unsurprisingly Tombstone. So basically the crime lord who was already on top, essentially stays on top which makes this "war", pointless. Spider-Man was already played by Tombstone once, there was no reason to do it twice. Would've been better if a crime lord we least expect was the last one standing like Black Tarantula or Don Fortunato or even a new, mysterious player operating as the Big Man. Bottom line, the event wasn't terrible but it was definitely mediocre.

But...but now Tombstone really hates Spider-Man! I'm sure that will really change up their dynamic and future stories !

[Darthfury78]

Marvel should have had Roger Stern write the Gang War story instead of Wells....

[HypnoHustler]

Marvel should have had Roger Stern write the Gang War story instead of Wells....

Why him? You know the original Gang War wasn’t written by him, so that’s kind of random. Is Stern even still actively writing?

[Sr. Bungle]

Why him? You know the original Gang War wasn’t written by him, so that’s kind of random. Is Stern even still actively writing?

That's our boy DarthFury78

[comictimes]

That remarks sounds quite dismissive.

Why him? You know the original Gang War wasn’t written by him, so that’s kind of random. Is Stern even still actively writing?

Not much, he hasn't done any regular work for over ten years, just commemorative issues.

[t-spider]

It was... middling, is the nicest I can say about it.

I do wonder, with Masque being a major player in this, if maybe she should segue from Iron Man to being a Spider-Man villain, like Kingpin mainly became a DD villain? I know she has ties with Shellhead, but the Maggia stuff might fit Spideys world more than Starks. Not Nefaria, though, he's too much a heavyweight... they can fit smaller scale Spidey adventures.

[Frontier]

It was... middling, is the nicest I can say about it.

I do wonder, with Masque being a major player in this, if maybe she should segue from Iron Man to being a Spider-Man villain, like Kingpin mainly became a DD villain? I know she has ties with Shellhead, but the Maggia stuff might fit Spideys world more than Starks. Not Nefaria, though, he's too much a heavyweight... they can fit smaller scale Spidey adventures.

That would require stuff like Gang War actually being received well.

As it is, she and whatever enmity she had with Spidey just felt forced.

[TheMaker1610]

Gang War could've easily been a 3-4 issue self-contained arc, and basically nothing would've changed.
The best thing that came out of this "event" were the tie-in books, which is funny because ALL of them (with the exception of the Luke Cage one) BARELY focused on the gang war itself, relegating it as a background problem.
Miles book basically could've omitted any mention or reference to the event ENTIRELLY, and NOTHING of its overall plot or story would've changed AT ALL. That's how inconsequential Gang War felt..

Also, that last Tombstone scene.. that's some gratitude, am I right?

On a semi-related note, I kind of understand why people are/were fond of JrJr art back in the day, but right now? It is just bad man, and I am tired of it.. :/

[Aura Blaize]

Absolutely mediocre. I DID enjoy the Miles and Luke tie ins, but that could be because they're written by competent writers.

Also, this drug on for entirely too long. With all the tie ins and such, it should have been half as long. And in the end, nothing really came out of it.

[Spidey_Legend]

I don't understand the point of this arc.

[Frontier]

I don't understand the point of this arc.

To sell tie-ins!

[comictimes]

Kind of like always, wouldn't you say? Crisis may be an exception.

[InfamousBG]

Mediocre event at best. Had a few good moments but the rest was nothing special.

[DanMad1977]

The battle at the end was really weird.

Since when can Spidey survive a blast from Nefaria (or who that guy was, forgot his name) in such a manner. He blasted Spider-Man in the back for 30 seconds or so, and almost nothing happened.

The fight scenes were a bit off and random, just picture after picture. When I think of John Byrnes Uncanny X-Men fight scenes, they made sense even with 10 or more players in the game.

[Lairston]

Why him? You know the original Gang War wasn’t written by him, so that’s kind of random. Is Stern even still actively writing?

The last thing I noticed he wrote was back in 2021 for an independent called Heroes Union.