Writers: Nick Spencer & Ed Brisson
Artist: Mark Bagley, Dio Neves & Marcelo Ferreira
Colorists: Brian Reber & Andrew Crossley
Cover Artists: Bryan Hitch & Alex Sinclair
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
The Sinister War is nearing its end and so is Spider-Man. Going up against thirty super villains is already a tall order for the web-slinger and now Kindred throws some more villains his way. In Sinister War #4, we’ll see how much longer Spidey can last before the end.
Review:
In this issue we see Kindred turn up the pressure as he throws more villains at Spider-Man. Some of whom hardcore fans may recognize and others that casual readers probably won’t and will likely never see again after this story. Like Spidey says, some of them are deep-cuts. Nick Spencer and Ed Brisson continue to write Spidey as an exhausted hero trying to stay up while villains surround him while Kindred is ready to end it all. The way both of these characters are written helps build this sense of frustration that both of them are ready for this confrontation to end.
Now, there’s not much to the story other than Spidey trying his best to survive wave after wave of supervillains. There are some who get to stand out among the crowd and have some major attention in the comic, with only a couple that readers will likely know or care about. The irony is that with all of these supervillains there aren’t that many interesting fights or interactions between them especially those with recent bad blood. This is a major flaw for this issue but not the event.
However, the writers deliver a solid resolution to the conflict that works neatly with the proper players and pieces. I will discuss it in the Spoilers section, but it’s a smart move on the writers’ part and works well with a certain subplot started back in the previous Chameleon Conspiracy. There are also some interesting developments that occur with two in particular, but again, that deals with spoilers.
Spoilers:
So, Boomerang ends up being a casualty in the Sinister War, and he looks to be the only casualty for the moment. I say that because he goes out nobly but considering it’s Boomerang and how this arc is dancing around the issue of Mephisto and One More Day, I have my doubts that he’s either really dead or if it will stick. But we’ll see. 
The second major development is that Doctor Octopus is the one to stop the Sinister War. How? By using one of Kindred’s centipedes from a downed Sin Eater with a device from Black Ant to eliminate the centipedes in all of the supervillains’ heads. The thing about both of these developments is they’re payoff to setup for both characters in this series. For Boomerang it’s everything he’s done in his previous arcs leading up to King’s Ransom, and for Doc Ock it’s all his time in the Chameleon Conspiracy backup stories and previous issues in Amazing Spider-Man and Sinister War.
It’s also great to see Ock be the winner in this whole fight and be the one to throw a spanner in Kindred’s plans since like the doc says, “Otto Octavius is a slave to no one.” So now everything is set for the final battle between Spider-Man and Kindred.
Final Thoughts:
Sinister War #4 is the final issue in the companion series and it finishes well enough. The comic gives more of what it promised with Spidey fighting many supervillains, though this time with several villains that some readers will recognize and others that they won’t. There’s some major payoff in the comic surrounding a couple characters that Spider-Man fans and readers of Nick Spencer’s run won’t want to miss. By the end, things are setup for the final battle between Spider-Man and Kindred in Amazing Spider-Man.