"Begun the Gang War has."
Reviewing the new event titles and how we acquired Ditko's very-own Spider-Man comics.
It’s that time again… time for the annual Spider-Event and all across the Amazing Spider-Talk network, we’ll be covering-
Hi, we are Dapper Dan Gvozden and Mischievous Mark Ginocchio, co-hosts of the Amazing Spider-Talk podcast. With each newsletter we hope to give you greater access into our thoughts on the world of Spider-Man!
On the Amazing Spider-Talk Podcast we’re talking about Spider-Man’s attempts to join the Avengers and reviewing “Spidey’s First Hunt”, so read on to find out our thoughts on the kickoff to “Gang War”. But first, please subscribe to our Substack. It’s like joining our own little gang.
And, if you want to help support what we do, plus get bonus episodes of the Amazing Spider-Talk, digital artwork, prints in the mail, and early access to every episode of the show, please check out our Patreon. Putting this together takes a lot of time, energy, and funds, so we would be hugely appreciative of your support.
We’ve got our early podcast/video review of Amazing Spider-Man - Gang War: First Strike #1 already available on the platform. Check it out!
Alright, let’s dive in. In this edition, we’ll be reviewing all the latest Spidey B-titles and kickoff to “Gang War”, ranking Mark’s favorite gang war stories, telling the tale of how we got Spider-Man comics that were previously owned by the late Steve Ditko, and answering your questions!
Swarm’s B(ee)-Title Reviews
With every new edition of the Amazing Spider-Talk Substack, Dan and Mark will venture to write short reviews of all the various Spider-Man books (and major Marvel releases) that have released since the previous newsletter. Sometimes our arch-villain Swarm might chime in as well. So “bee” prepared!
Luke Cage: Gang War #1
Mark: Sweet Christmas, I don’t remember the last time I purchased a comic starring Luke Cage, but given the recent role he’s been playing in the world of Spider-Man (and the explicit “Gang War” tie-in doesn’t hurt either) I thought I’d give this a shot. Rodney Barnes and Ramon Bachs deliver a very solid story within this bizarro status quo that seems to be one of the driving forces of “Gang War” at the moment, which is the superhero vigilante act signed into law by Wilson Fisk before he was ousted as Mayor and replaced by Cage. While the “law,” which prevents superheroes from “legally” doing their job stopping crime, seems like an interesting enough conceit in the background of a book like Spider-Man, thrusting it front and center as a crucial plot point the way it is here in Cage’s book is a somewhat more challenging pill to swallow. But similar to Spider-Woman’s first issue, as well as the ASM -Gang War: First Strike one-shot, I’m having a lot of fun with this event within Cage’s comic so I’m willing to put aside some finer nit picks and roll with the punches here.
Dan: I think this is absolutely the appropriate place to follow up on the creation of the Anti-Vigilante Act, as established in the Zdarksy/Checchetto run of Daredevil. As the new mayor of New York City, Luke Cage has inherited all the political repercussions set into action by his villainous predecessor (sound familiar?). How Luke Cage handles that, especially with his background as a super-powered mercenary, is one of the best hooks I can imagine for a character entering into this “Gang War” story. As good as I think that premise is for creating compelling drama for Cage to have to deal with, I wasn’t expecting the grounded, politically compelling story that Rodney Barnes tells in this individual issue, which sees Luke Cage embracing the role of “vigilante” for the first time, costume and all. If there is a shortcoming to this tale, it’s that we haven’t seen much of Luke Cage in the political arena as the Mayor (outside of a few silly appearances in Amazing Spider-Man). That means the weight of his decision to abandon his sworn duties to instead skirt the law isn’t something we truly understand beyond what this issue tells us (and it does as good a job as could be expected).
What I wasn’t expecting was the reappearance of a major Spider-Man villain in the pages of a Luke Cage comic. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the issue and might be swayed by this review to pick it up, but I had totally forgotten that this character even had the potential to exist after their last major appearance nearly a decade ago. As this villain is almost entirely a Spider-Man foe, I’m not sure how to judge him as the presumed antagonist of this Luke Cage series, but more Spider-Man adjacent characters, Cloak and Dagger, appear by the issue’s end, promising an even stronger connection to Spidey’s world. And, really, who couldn’t do with more Cloak and Dagger? I’m still waiting for Nick Spencer to return to comics and pay off some of the story teases of his short-lived Spider-Island: Cloak and Dagger miniseries.
Spider-Woman #1
Mark: After being highly disenchanted by the previous volume of Spider-Woman, I was definitely heartened by this strong opening issue from Steve Foxe and Carola Borelli. It’s promoted by a “Gang War” tie-in, but more importantly, the comic sets up Jessica Drew’s new status quo following her disappearance from the “Web of Life” during Dan Slott’s run on adjective-less Spider-Man, as well as the disappearance of her child which was teased during the mega-sized Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #31. I still fervently believe the Dennis Hopeless/Hallum iteration of Jessica is the version that made me truly invested in the character, so returning to the stakes of parenthood driving Jessica will always be a worthwhile direction for me. Meanwhile, Foxe and Borelli’s story hits all of the necessary notes for a Spider-Woman book: the relationship with Carol Danvers; the blood feud with Hydra, and of course some worthwhile fisticuffs. Can’t we just return her to the “revamped” costume so I don’t have to look at spandex Spider-Woman every month?
After setting up a very personal Jessica Drew story, we do get the inevitable tie-in to “Gang War” when Spider-Man shows up, but with a twist of Jessica wanting to continue her feud with Diamondback and Hydra. Overall, this was more than enough for me to stay invested.
Dan: Like Mark, I’ve been very consistent and public about my adoration of Dennis Hopeless’ Spider-Woman run as one of the best Marvel series of the past several decades. Also, like Mark, I really never caught on to the stories Carla Pacheco wanted to tell in her Spider-Woman run, despite reading the entire thing. But already, I feel like it is a safe bet that writer Steve Foxe and artist Carola Borelli’s Spider-Woman is pulling much of its inspiration from the former run, what with all the elements Mark highlighted being foregrounded here. I mean, heck, there’s even a photograph on Jessica’s fridge that was taken at the party that concluded the Hopeless run of comics. That image alone was enough to sell me on the creative juices behind this comic.
It helps that the comic is good too, even if it gets a bit overstuffed in its final pages, often reading like an outline for the stories yet to come rather than a conclusion to this chapter of the story. It does feel like “Gang War” is intruding on the story that Foxe wants to tell, specifically the disappearance of Gerry Drew (who we are reassured here isn’t just retconned out of existence… just yet). Still, how it is weaved together makes sense, especially in how the book aligns Diamondback with a resurgent Hydra, Jessica’s most consistent enemy. The Hopeless run was able to launch in the midst of “Spider-Verse” and still come out on the other side, so I remain hopeful for this title to do the same. Much of that faith is buoyed by the bold lines of Carola Borelli’s iconographic art, and the playful dialogue between Jessica and Carol, as well as Armadillo. The heart is back in the pages of Spider-Woman and I’m ready to fall in love again.
Carnage #1
Mark: And lo there is another Carnage ongoing series, and unlike the past two reboots of this character/series, this iteration has far less of a “hook” that I think is going to command my attention over the long haul.
By returning the symbiote to Cletus Kassady, all this comic ultimately demonstrates is how devoid of new ideas Marvel has for Carnage. And maybe that’s going to be enough for most readers of a series like this. They want to see Carnage and Cletus, together again, hacking and slashing their way through innocent people – the bloodier the better. For me, those approaches to the Carnage mythos have always left me severely cold and detached. I just don’t know what the “why” is for me to read a story about a serial killer – this time one who is ultra-powered thanks to his recent journey through the Multiverse – who shows no remorse and has no other complex layers to explain what he does.
Pere Perez does bring an interesting noir sensibility to the visuals, but again, I just don’t know if this book is going to have enough to grab me and demand my attention once the body count keeps increasing, and Carnage/Cletus gets increasingly more insufferable.
Dan: I was incredibly disappointed in the conclusion to the previous Carnage series. I felt like we were building to some grand revelation for the character once he had amassed the power that he was seeking, a revelation that could have changed him forever and given the crazed symbiote something new to achieve. And yet, we didn’t get anything like that. The two new co-leads were dispatched and then Carnage killed the entire Venomverse in Death of the Venomverse. Was this all that Carnage was going to be from now on? Just a power-hungry killer who would repeatedly go up against other godlike symbiotes like Eddie Brock as the King in Black.
We’ve gotten that story over and over and over again. It’s exactly why so many people call Carnage a one-dimensional character that is boring to read. But then you get a book like Gerry Conway’s Carnage that embrace the monster book vibes and make Carnage a side-show in his own title and it works for awhile. The best part of “Maximum Carnage” wasn’t the mayhem, it was Peter’s conflicted feelings when confronting whether or not killing a serial killer was the ultimate “good”.
I’m not sure that this new title is going to wrestle with these questions, instead of just depicting a literal trail of blood behind Carnage, but I’m far more optimistic than Mark. The idea of Carnage trying to embrace the other half of being a god, in the 21st century, by going after a more modern interpretation is interesting. Carnage is doing it for the “likes”, baby! Get ready for dancing Carnage on TikTok, making fresh edits on CapCut, and other things that I’ve Googled about Gen Z. I’m with it. I’m hip. I’m cool.
: does the Macarena:
Anyway. It’s an intriguing idea that could use Carnage to offer insightful commentary on how we all can’t avoid watching a deadly car crash in slow motion. And, on the other end is Flash Thompson, seemingly working a dead end job and looking for his latest fix, now that alcohol isn’t doing the trick. This comic doesn’t give me enough to fully understand its core concept, but I’m intrigued enough to give it time to show me what ideas it is playing with.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #12
Mark: “Gang War” is coming, but first, we need to finish off this story of Miles teaming up with Blade and his daughter to take on some vampires. Not much has changed regarding my opinion of this storyline from the last time I touched upon it here in the Substack. In short, Spider-Man rarely works for me when he’s fighting the occult, and works even less for me when he’s teaming up with a character like Blade who is so tonally outside of his universe. With that said, I still think Cody Ziglar is doing a fantastic job distinguishing Miles as a character and as a hero so I’m happy to just dismiss the past three issues as the filler that they are, and am looking forward to the Miles/”Gang War” tie-ins coming up next issue.
Dan: My opinion, on the other hand, has completely changed. I’m not going to tout this story as “essential” or something crucial to following this run, but the inclusion of artist Partha Pratim elevated the entire affair for me. This guy came out of absolutely nowhere after having some of his art included in issue #10 of this series. But this book is as good of a try-out book as they come, with tremendously ferocious designs, electric layouts that have your eyes zipping along with the action, and manga-inspired linework that series header Federico Vincentini has become known for. Heck, I dare-say that Pratim’s layouts and panel-work are even more legible than Vincentini and, astonishingly, I had more fun reading them as a result.
Narratively, this works better as a Miles comic as well. Yes, Miles still feels like a fish out of water in his own book, but he’s quickly separated from Blade and his daughter to fight a foe that has been a big part of his ongoing run of comics: a vampirized Hightail. The stakes are raised when bystanders get pulled into the mix and it takes Miles’ bravado, guile, and stamina to win. Heck, we even get to see another new spin on Miles’ powers used in a neat way against a specific enemy power that feels absolutely fitting for Miles’ unique traits. The whole thing is capped off with a nice dialogue between Blade and daughter, an exciting tease for the “Gang War”, and a charming joke at Miles' expense. I found the whole thing fun and charming, so add another win to Cody Ziglar’s writing scorecard.
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #1
Mark: I really wasn’t certain what to expect here – meaning if this was going to be just another cash grab, but I was legitimately happy when I reached the end of this book to see Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe involved in a comic like this. This is one of those “retro” stories much in the vein of the Symbiote Spider-Man series, but I immensely enjoyed the context of having this take place in-between the main Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars series as a sort of “lost adventure.” Granted, the stakes of the book are lowered significantly due to the fact that we know Spidey an Co. get back from Battleworld in one piece, but I’m willing to ignore that small fact and just “go with it” when I get a DeFalco who seems the most “on” he’s been when writing Spider-Man in a while, and Olliffe who is maybe one of the most underrated Spider-Man artists in the character’s history.
DeFalco shows 40 years after he first started writing Spider-Man during the “Secret Wars” era of the character, that he still has a handle on Peter’s inner monologue, his moral code, and just the general voice and tone of a Spider-Man story. The key, of course, is going to be does this comic have more than nostalgia – whether it be for Secret Wars, or the two creators chiefly involved with it – to carry it successfully over the next few months.
Mark’s Weekly Top 5
Spider-Man comics have been the home to several “gang wars” over the years. It seems as if those Marvel mafiosos and crime lords just can’t get enough of fighting with each other and putting Spider-Man in the middle. In this week’s Top 5, Mark ranks his five favorite gang wars. Click on the image to see the full list on Instagram:
This Week in Spider-Man History
Call this one some recent history, but 10 years ago, Dan Slott did the unthinkable … ok, not really unthinkable, but he did something big. With the release of Superior Spider-Man #22, Slott, and artist Humberto Ramos, kicked off the “Darkest Hours” arc, which saw SpOck eventually bond to the Venom symbiote. Remember when bonding to the symbiote was a big deal?
Mark’s Comic Book Meditations
When Mark launched Chasing Amazing in 2010, the blog chronicled his “quest” to collect every issue of Amazing Spider-Man and featured a series of posts that recalled memories and meditations around specific comics he came to own. As part of this newsletter, we’re resurrecting these remembrances with some new wrinkles, and will also occasionally chronicle some other comics Mark has purchased since completing his ASM run in 2014.
Amazing Spider-Man #27: The Ditko Collection
One would think purchasing a unique, one-of-a-kind slabbed copy of Amazing Spider-Man #27 that was from the personal collection of Spidey co-creator Steve Ditko would be the highlight of the year for a collector not me – if not a highlight/upper echelon moment of my entire collection. But I guess that’s what happens when you buy a “Dikto Collection” comic and then a few weeks later buy the holy grail of all Spider-Man comics in Amazing Fantasy #15…
With all that said, after picking up my ASM #27 “Ditko Collection” comic in August, I never truly got to expound too much about it because that damn Amazing Fantasy #15 making all my dreams come true purchase interfered. Talk about first-world collector problems. Given we’re now in the midst of a Spider-Man “Gang War,” I thought revisiting the purchase of this comic – which wraps up the very first “gang war” storyline, this one between the Green Goblin and the Crime Master – was apropos.
The story of the Ditko ASM #27 started similar to many big ticket Spider-Man comics I’ve purchased over the past decade – with a text from Dapper Dan. Dan had just caught word of a special auction of comics from Steve Ditko’s personal collection. Apparently, after Ditko passed five years ago, his family, when cleaning out his office in New York City, came upon stacks of several comics from his personal collection – many of which were copies of Amazing Spider-Man, the series that Ditko is arguably most famous for. Ditko’s family had these books professionally graded and certified as such and prior to earlier this summer, held two other auctions of the Ditko Collection with the prices of some of those books reaching astronomical levels. I thought to myself, do I really want to go “all in” on these comics – all of which I had already owned because I owned a complete run of Amazing Spider-Man – and pay some kind of abstract premium because they were found in the desk of Steve Ditko?
With that information in mind, when Dan texted me about this upcoming auction, I honestly didn’t think I would get involved in something like this. But two things kept my interest: one was Dan’s passion for this auction. He REALLY wanted one of these books and was convinced that there would be less eyeballs on this auction than the previous two which provided hope that a couple of financial “normies” like us stood a chance of getting a Ditko book for a reasonable amount of cash.
The second factor was the date of the auction: August 3, which also happens to be my birthday. I’m not a terribly superstitious person, but I do recognize signs from the universe when they present themselves. And there’s just something about a unique Spider-Man comic book going up for auction on my day of birth that felt like a stars aligning kind of an event for me.
So I made a deal with myself to monitor the auction during the lead-up to August 3, and if there wasn’t a ton of crazy bidding and activity during the pre-auction, I would try and stake my claim to one of the Ditko books.
Naturally, in the weeks that followed, there was very little activity on the auction site, which only further fueled Dan’s theory that the third iteration of the Ditko Collection was going to be far more reasonable than the previous two. So the night before the auction was set to open, I had to decide which comic I was going to set my sites on. This didn’t feel like the kind of auction where I could have too many irons in the fire to be successful. I was going to have to laser lock on one or two comics max and do everything I could to make it happen.
Admittedly, my attention first went to Amazing Spider-Man #31, the first part of the famed “Master Planner” trilogy. It’s also (arguably less famously) the first appearance of Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn. But in my heart of hearts, I didn’t think this book – one of the most famous Ditko comics ever – was going to go for a reasonable price so I wanted to find something else that I think could be more attainable.
So I turned to the two Crime Master/Green Goblin issues. While not nearly as famous as the “Master Planner” arc, these two issues featured so many characters and themes that were central to Steve Ditko’s overall philosophy and Spider-Man sensibilities. In Ditko’s essays following his time at Marvel, he talked often about how hard he fought to center Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s life in a grounded “teenager’s world” and nothing demonstrates that better than a street level story of warring gangs in New York putting Spider-Man in the middle. Additionally, ASM #27, rather infamously, had the twist ending of revealing the Crime Master’s secret identity as “just a guy” that no one cared about. Given Ditko’s connections to Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, the Crime Master’s reveal was very on brand to the idea that in the “real world,” not every mystery is something dramatic and scintillating. Sometimes it is just a random guy under a mask committing crimes.
Of course, it was this plot twist that also fueled rumors that Ditko’s breakup with Spider-Man was fueled in large part to Stan Lee not having trust in his storyteller in creating a satisfying conclusion to ASM’s other long-running mystery at the time, the identity of the Green Goblin. This rumor has been disputed by various parties, including Ditko himself, many ways over, but the fan in me finds it hard to ignore that in John Romita’s first issue following Ditko’s exit, he reveals the Goblin as Norman Osborn.
So, with that context in mind, I locked in on ASM #27. Now I had to execute on actually bidding and winning the damn thing.
I’ve done some eBay auctions in the past, but nothing quite like what I was getting into here. Granted, it was still an online auction, but it was being live-streamed over video, and just hearing the auctioneer run through his routine gave me agita. On top of that, the auction went through dozens of books before it got to the Ditko Collection. It was totally a Milhouse “when are they going to get to the fireworks factory” moment for me.
But finally, we got into the Ditko Collection part of the auction and it picked up steam right away. Dan has already bid on and won his comic – a copy of ASM #20, the first appearance of the Scorpion – and I just paced around my home waiting for ASM #27 to come up on the auction block. I had set a price limit in my head for what I was willing to spend. Now I just needed to get down to brass tacks.
Of course the auction reached the upper limit of what I wanted to spend within a few bids. So with an auctioneer talking at the pace of the Micro Machines guy, I had a decision to make – could I justify this to myself, and, of course, to my wife and our budget, to go above and beyond here. For a one of a kind comic owned by the co-creator of Spider-Man. On my birthday?
You all know the answer. And fortunately, I didn’t have to go THAT much over. But when I went two bids over what I wanted to spend and the auctioneer said those magic words, “going once, going twice…” I held my breath and felt about as sick to my stomach as I’ve ever felt buying a comic book. Again, if you’ve never done an auction like this before, I don’t recommend it for the faint of heart.
So I purchased my “Ditko Collection Comic”, and ultimately, I’m really glad I did. I’m even more glad that I was able to make another purchase a few weeks later that would overshadow it, but you know that story already.
Audience Comments/Questions Answered
With every new edition of the Amazing Spider-Talk Substack, Mark and Dan will answer your submitted questions about any topic that you might be interested in. They will prioritize submissions from the Amazing Spider-Talk Patreon (sign up), but lacking any queries there they will respond to questions asked in the comments below. To get your question potentially picked, the Patreon is the best way to submit them.
Alright, let’s dive into the mailbag and answer some of the questions posed to us from Patreon!
Kevin Ewing
I'm in my late 40s and neither of my kids have any current interest in reading comics nor inheriting a collection of +15K comic books. Fingers crossed that their future spouses do! Have you thought of a long term plan for your comic book collection as you get older? (not that either of you are old!)
Mark: I resent that insinuation Kevin … that I have ever planned a thing in my life.
With that said, I’m in a similar boat as you. My son is 12 now, and while he shocked my world last year when he finally became interested in baseball out of nowhere (bless his poor heart, he’s even a Mets fan like me), there is zero indication that he is interested in comic book culture in any form or fashion. The sheer thought of selling something that was a lifelong passion to amass is really too much for me, so I guess my plan in the short-term is to wait and see if my son has a change of heart similar to baseball, and/or I hope I live long enough to see him have children who have a passion for it because their dorky grandpa is a big fan.
Dan: My son will be eighteen months old in a couple of days, so I can’t quite count him out of the game quite yet. That said, he’s become obsessed with The Iron Man: My Mighty Marvel First Book. My last name literally translates to “made from iron”, so I should have known he would betray me for Iron Man.
But, I still have an ace up my sleeve. Just wait until he realizes that George Stacy in Spidey and his Amazing Friends was designed after his father! (I presume.)
But, in the likely event that my son cares very little about my collection, I imagine that I’d want to find a good home for it. I can’t imagine selling it, though on a teacher’s salary it might be my only hope at retirement. What I’d like to do is find a young person who would love to receive and care for my comics. Some of them, like my aforementioned “Ditko Collection” book, should live in a museum, but mostly I would love a younger, private collector who can’t afford books to have them. I’m not sure how I will Golden Ticket my way to figuring out the right person (at least without turning several of them into blueberries), but perhaps the podcast will provide the right means of winnowing down the right candidate.
You hear that listeners? One of you could be the lucky recipient of all the Amazing Spider-Man Annuals! And you better believe they count!
Andy T
Favorite Romita issue?
Sub comment for Kevin Ewing: I’m interested in inheriting a collection of +15k comics.
Mark: Just as I feel Steve Ditko’s work for Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 is a “wonder of the world” (yes, Mark is praising an annual), I feel the same about John Romita Sr. and Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #2 (which I would say counts even less than an annual). Everything about that comic from a visual perspective is just absolutely stunning, as JR leverages the new format and larger pages as an exciting new playground for the eyes.
Dan: Now I feel like I should put Andy T. in my Last Will and Testament to receive my 4K Spider-Man comics. Case closed.
As to your question — I’m going to assume you mean Romita Sr. — I would be hard-pressed to come up with a better answer than Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #2, at least for all the Green Goblin transformation sequences. Those trippy things haunt my nightmares! I would love to see those brought to film alongside the Goblin-perspective sequences from Ultimate Spider-Man #25. So dang creepy!
But, I have to say my favorite Romita Sr. issue is, stick with me on this, Amazing Spider-Man #50. I’ve told my story of getting my copy of that issue signed by Romita himself, and Stan Lee, many times on the podcast, so it has a special place in my heart. But, the reason I got that issue signed was because it is probably my favorite Spider-Man story of that era. I don’t think I have to qualify why that is, it’s often listed in the Top 10 Spider-Man stories of all time by any number of publications. We even have it as the very first episode of our “Essentials” series…
But, you also got me thinking about my favorite piece of Romita Sr. artwork. It’s hard to really choose any specific piece, but I would likely point you towards the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #50 as well. However, I’ve been on a journey these past few months to consider getting a Spider-Man tattoo. My wife nixed the first choice I had (Steve Ditko’s rough drawing of Spider-Man that sits next to the title-head on the first page of Amazing Fantasy #15), so I have been looking for alternatives. I landed on an image of Spider-Man from a commission that Romita Sr. did.
I honestly don’t know who owns the commission, except that it seemed to have been offered up at Heritage Auctions in 2002, but I think it is one of the cleanest drawings of Spider-Man I’ve ever seen. Just look at the curves on those inks and the variable width of each precise line! This image is just pure sex, even if a tattoo of it almost guarantees less of it from my wife.
I honestly am a bit terrified of getting this tattooed becuase I doubt even the most talented artist could capture the elegance of Romita’s work, but maybe one day I will pull the trigger and commit to the possibility of seeing this image all day. Even better, maybe I could get it tattooed into the inside of my eyelids and drift off into sweet unending cartooning bliss…
What’s New for the Amazing Spider-Talk?
Since the previous Amazing Spider-Talk Substack we’ve seen the release of our eighth episode of Season 6 of the podcast. This time it’s all about the time that Roger Stern wrote Spider-Man into his Avengers comic. We discuss Avengers #236 and #237, two classics of the Stern era as well as our thoughts on whether or not Spidey was ready to join the Avengers in the 80s. Plus, one of the most awesome covers ever provided by artist Nick Cagnetti!
We also released our review of Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #34, the third part of “Spidey’s First Hunt”, which debuted on Patreon a couple of months ago. In the issue Spider-Man goes more evil than ever before and we give our breakdown of the story.
Plus! We reviewed two new issues of Amazing Spider-Man that are currently only available on our Patreon. But, we’ve got previews below of Mark’s various recaps of the events of those issues. First up is Mark’s hilarious recap of Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #38, the conclusion to the Ed McGuinness illustrated Rek-Rap adventure:
And, as we mentioned at the top of this newsletter, we reviewed the kick-off to “Gang War” in our review of Amazing Spider-Man - Gang War: First Strike #1. Here’s Mark’s recap of the events of that huge book:
If you dug those recaps, we hope you’ll check out the full reviews on our Patreon and help support our show and newsletter’s continued existence.
We hope you enjoyed this sixth edition of the Amazing Spider-Talk Substack and that you’ll consider subscribing for our future newsletters.
And, if you haven’t already, please subscribe to our various podcasts, comment below, and consider joining our Patreon:
Thanks for the answers to the Romita questions fellas. And thank you Dan for committing to leaving me your collection in writing. 👍