By Zack Quaintance — Sinister War #1 is a comic heavily steeped in Spider-Man’s villains, and you know what? One of the lessons in this book is that it’s hard to make a bad comic that’s brimming with Spider-Man’s villains. Although, this one does has a lot working against it. Still, I can’t quite call Sinister War #1 a bad comic, even if I’m not entirely sure I’d call it a good one, either.

Let’s start with what works in this book. Writer Nick Spencer has long excelled at writing villains, dating back to his work on Superior Foes of Spider-Man. Perhaps his best work with Spider-Man villains is played out through Venture Bros.-styled close attention to the plight of the henchmen, to the curtailed lives in which they live, and to the tricky henching logistics they face like finding the best gig, getting healthcare, and being beaten senseless by heroes. This book doesn’t go that route. Instead, it deals with the big name Spidey villains, and while Spencer’s scripting with those characters isn’t as remarkable as with the hench characters, it’s still quite strong, which makes this book feel more interesting than the past 25 or so of these series (and, trust me, we’ll get to those in the section about what doesn’t work in this comic).

The other major strength of this comic is its pacing. It’s a fast comic, brought to life by long-time Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley, and a trio of inkers — Andrew Hennessy, John Dell, and Andy Owens — with colors by Brian Reber and letters by Joe Caramagna. The book looks and feels familiar, and it’s efficient. The plot goes quick, with lots of carnage (but not actually Carnage) and some interesting rapid-fire splash pages and panels of the many villains that appear in this comic. It’s fine, it’s a light read, and a fun one taken in and of itself.

Now, onward to what doesn’t work. While this issue felt light and accessible, it stands in stark contrast to the 25-plus that have come before it. Those issues have been a real slog, slow-moving and inconsequential, and this book made me think that a big part of the reason why is that the creative team had laid out its finale and was just treading water waiting for its scheduled time to approach. There are, indeed, several plot points established in those books that seem likely to pay off here — the dull mystery surrounding Kindred, Boomerang — but I’m not sure it should have taken 25-plus comics to build all those.

The other weakness to me is that the ending — while enticing — feels very obvious. This is a story arc aimed at bringing back Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane Watson, just as the earliest parts of this run hinted. That’s great, and long overdue — and it’s all but certain to delight Spider-Man fans who have bemoaned the erasure of the marriage for two decades. But we can see it coming a mile away, separated as it is by half a dozen or so issues, and so there’s a feeling throughout this comic of let’s just get the formalities of the arc over with, especially with a new era for Amazing Spider-Man looming.

Ultimately, while this individual issue reads fine, it feels weighed down by the baggage of a bloated run that is clearly going to end up doing one major thing before ending.

Overall: Sinister War #1 is a breezy, well-paced read that marks the beginning of the end of a run that has been plodding along for 25-plus issues now. The ending of this all I’m sure will make fans happy, and I wish we could just get there already. 6.0/10

REVIEW: Sinister War #1

Sinister War #1
Writer: Nick Spener
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inkers: Andrew Hennessy, John Dell, and Andy Owens
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
DOCTOR OCTOPUS IS BACK! AND THE SINISTER WAR HAS BEGUN! Ock’s got a new Sinister Six and if you think he’s thought big in the past, think again. What Ock DOESN’T know is that the VULTURE has a sextet of his own: THE SAVAGE SIX! It’s an all-out WAR between two of the greatest villains in the Marvel Universe, and the only person they hate more than each other is SPIDER-MAN! Spidey’s in deep trouble with the toughest battle that he’s ever faced. Nick Spencer and Mark Bagley team up for this epic Spider-Man story guaranteed to shock readers everywhere!
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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.