Amazing Spider-Man: New Ways to Die (Comics) | Review

The wall-crawler faces his most twisted challenge yet when writer Dan Slott (Spider-Man: Big Time, Spider-Man: Dying Wish) delivers a six-issue arc that flips Spider-Man's world upside down and forces him to question everything he believes about justice and heroism in America.

This is Norman Osborn operating at peak manipulation and control, Eddie Brock transformed into something completely unprecedented and Peter Parker caught in a nightmare where villains wear badges and heroes become fugitives hunted through the streets.

The story arrives during the Brand New Day-era, following the controversial One More Day storyline that erased Peter's marriage to Mary Jane and reset his secret identity to the public at large. While that setup deeply frustrated longtime readers, New Ways to Die uses that fresh slate to craft something genuinely unpredictable.

Artist John Romita Jr. (Avengers: Infinity Quest, Avengers: Next Avengers) returns to define Spider-Man visually for a new generation of readers discovering the character, delivering brutal action sequences that feel like getting punched through a brick wall with bone-crushing impact.

Norman Osborn arrives in New York City as head of the Thunderbolts, America's officially sanctioned superhero team composed of reformed villains operating under direct government authority with legal protection and immunity for their activities regardless of collateral damage or civilian casualties they cause during missions.

Spider-Man has been framed for a series of brutal murders across the city that he did not commit, making him a dangerous fugitive hunted by law enforcement and the Thunderbolts with zero public support backing his desperate claims of complete innocence.

The Thunderbolts roster includes Venom bonded to Mac Gargan, the psychotic assassin Bullseye, Songbird, Radioactive Man and Penance under Osborn's direct command as they close in on their target with ruthless efficiency and zero regard for collateral damage.

Meanwhile at the FEAST shelter run by Martin Li, the cancer-ridden Eddie Brock receives miraculous healing through mysterious circumstances involving Mister Negative's powers that cure his terminal condition and restore his health in ways he cannot explain or understand at all despite his best efforts to comprehend what happened.

When the Thunderbolts track Spider-Man to the FEAST shelter location, Brock reacts violently to sensing the Venom symbiote nearby, triggering a transformation that births Anti-Venom with unprecedented healing powers that can purify diseases and destroy symbiotic matter.

Anti-Venom attacks Gargan's Venom with the sole purpose of destroying every trace of the symbiote from the face of the earth forever, nearly killing both host and alien in his obsessive quest to eliminate the creature that once bonded to him and caused him unspeakable suffering and pain throughout his entire miserable existence.

Spider-Man finds himself caught between Anti-Venom's vendetta and the Thunderbolts' government-backed assault, forcing an uneasy alliance with his former enemy to survive the coordinated attack from multiple superhuman threats closing in simultaneously.

Osborn operates without his Green Goblin identity throughout most of the arc, using political manipulation and strategic brilliance to legally torment Spider-Man through bureaucratic red tape and government channels while maintaining his public persona as America's hero and the nation's protector against superhuman threats.

The mayoral election subplot runs parallel to the main story, with Randall Crowne funding Osborn's Spider-Man hunt for political gain and public approval while Menace causes deliberate chaos that complicates the race and threatens innocent lives across the city.

Bullseye finally gets unleashed during the climactic battle sequence, demonstrating exactly why he remains one of Marvel's most terrifying villains when given permission to use lethal force without consequence or restraint from his handlers and allowed to indulge his sadistic impulses and psychopathic tendencies to their fullest extent.

The arc ends with dramatic consequences for multiple characters and sets up future storylines including the American Son arc, Harry Osborn's increasing involvement with his father's schemes and the mayoral election reaching its conclusion in the Election Day storyline.

Artist John Romita Jr. returns to Spider-Man after years away, bringing a style that has evolved into something more angular and aggressive. His battered Spider-Man remains unmatched in conveying physical punishment and exhaustion, with the web-slinger looking hurt throughout this arc while cracking jokes to hide the pain.

Klaus Janson's inks add weight but occasionally feel too loose for Romita's blockier pencil work, creating visual inconsistency in certain panels. Still, the overall presentation captures the chaos and brutality of street-level superhero combat with clarity and dynamic compositions.

Dan Slott juggles an enormous cast without losing narrative focus, balancing the Thunderbolts assault, Anti-Venom's origin, the mayoral election, Peter's personal life and Norman's psychological games into a cohesive thriller that moves at breakneck speed across six issues.

The trade paperback includes a backup story by Mark Waid (Age of Apocalypse, Kingdom Come) and artist Adi Granov titled "The Fifth Stage" that explores Eddie Brock's cancer diagnosis and psychological trauma surrounding the symbiote, providing essential context for his Anti-Venom transformation that enriches the main narrative.

Amazing Spider-Man: New Ways to Die succeeds as Slott's first major solo Spider-Man arc, establishing his confident voice on the character before his eventual decade-long run that would redefine the wall-crawler for modern audiences and spawn multiple spin-off series.

The arc works best for readers willing to accept the Brand New Day status quo and move forward rather than fighting against the controversial One More Day changes that divided the fanbase so dramatically and bitterly. Slott takes that reset and builds something exciting rather than dwelling on complaints from past continuity.

Anti-Venom's introduction provides one of the arc's strongest elements, creating a healing monster whose powers directly counter both Spider-Man and Venom in ways that generate genuine tension and unpredictable fight choreography throughout the climax.

This remains essential reading for understanding Slott's confident and energetic approach to Spider-Man storytelling and sets up crucial storylines that pay off throughout his extended tenure on Amazing Spider-Man including the eventual Superior Spider-Man saga.

Amazing Spider-Man: New Ways to Die collects issues #568–573 from the monthly ongoing series. It's available in physical form at local comic-book shops, bookstores and online retailers, including trade paperback and hardcover editions. For digital readers, it's accessible through Amazon Kindle, ComiXology and Marvel Unlimited.