Amazing Spider-Man #40 Review

Written by: Zeb Wells
Art by: John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna
Colors by: Marcio Menyz
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Marcio Menyz
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: December 20, 2023

Amazing Spider-Man #40 solidifies Tombstone’s place on Team Spidey to put a quick end to the Gang War. However, they’re going to have to call in some unusual reinforcements.

Is Amazing Spider-Man #40 Good?

Amazing Spider-Man #40 is dumb fun. I suppose that means this crossover event could be much worse, but as long as you don’t try to think too much about the implications of every twist and turn, you’ll have a generally good time.

When last we left Spider-Man and his Amazing friends, Team Spidey split up to quell the fighting hotspots around the city, leaving Spidey partnered up with She-Hulk. Meanwhile, Tombstone woke up from his coma to learn his daughter, Beetle, is doing more than just protecting her father’s territory.

Now, Beetle dons a creepy new suit to lead the charge in expanding her father’s territory, while Tombstone teams up with Team Spidey to end the Gang War before his daughter gets hurt. Meanwhile, Madame Masque claims leadership of Silvermane’s gang, and a new player enters the fray.

I call this issue dumb fun because the chaos of warring gangs doesn’t mean much to the new, casual, or even hardcore readers. The Tracksuit Gang is about to attack the Inner Demon Gang? Uhh, okay, sure. Unless you have a bizarrely deep knowledge of all the NYC Gangs, what they do, and their importance in New York’s balance of criminal power, it’s all noise. You might as well tell me the Balloon Makers started shooting up the headquarters of the Sallie Mae Society, and it would have just as much impact. In an effort by Wells to go big, he went wide but failed to make it deep.

What’s great about Amazing Spider-Man #40? If you want hectic action from beginning to end, this is it. Wells cranks up the pacing and doesn’t let up or give you a reason to pause. NY’s heroes are playing Gangland whack-a-mole while several gangsters make moves to secure their power in the aftermath. It feels like chaos is raging across the city.

What’s not so great about Amazing Spider-Man #40? As noted above, this issue is a lot of superficial action and energy, but very little is meaningful. You get the impression that this story would have more impact if the Gang War focused on one or two gangs instead of all of them. As it is, this issue is energetic chaos but not meaningful storytelling.

How’s the art? Romita Jr. and Hanna turn in great action and interesting panel composition, but Romita Jr’s trademark weird faces and odd anatomy proportions are in full effect, particularly on She-Hulk.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Amazing Spider-Man #40 is energetic, action-packed chaos from start to finish. Wells successfully created a scenario that feels big in scale to keep the heroes racing from one fight to the next, but the size lacks depth because we have no connection to most of the gangs or their importance in the grand scheme.