Spider-Tracer: The Top Ten NYC Landmark Battles

Welcome back, Spidey fans! So, there I was, trying to figure out which Spider-Man-related character I wanted to write about for you guys this month, and then it hit me: New York City. Yes, New York City is so ingrained into to the Spidey mythos, that many would say that NYC is, itself, a character in the books. And rightfully so! The city and its many landmarks have been host to many important Spider-Man moments over the years, including some wild battles. It was this train of thought that led me to decide to spotlight some of the best NYC landmark battles in Spidey comics! My criteria was simple: The stories had to be from the main Earth-616 comics. Before we begin, you’ll notice that Ross Andru is a recurring artist throughout many of these stories, and there’s a good reason for that! Ross would actually go out and take pictures of New York City in order to use the references for his artwork. Writer Gerry Conway has recounted how he would often play to these strengths and write these locations into the comic during his run on “The Amazing Spider-Man” title. Think of this as my tribute to the late, great, often overlooked Ross Andru. I won’t be placing these landmark locations in any particular order, so just sit back and enjoy! And with that, let us begin…

 

Statue of Liberty

 

 

While the famous statue was a pivotal location in the film “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, the statue also played a big role in the final battle between Spider-Man and the Punisher against the villainous Hitman! I covered this battle more closely in my look back at the Hitman, so be sure to check that out when you’re done here (*Love a plug Bill!). Artist Ross Andru nicely renders the Statue of Liberty here, and it makes for a nice action-packed battle, as written by Len Wein! You could witness this battle for yourself, so to speak, in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #175.

 

Grant’s Tomb

 

 

I chose this battle from “Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man” #23 because it’s not a landmark one immediately thinks of when one thinks of NYC, but that doesn’t make it any less famous! Here, Spidey teams up with Moon Knight to confront Cyclone in a final battle, which I also covered in my look back at the spinning villain (*Another plug for a past Spider-Tracer article? What’s wrong with me?). Cyclone was here to rendezvous with the villainous Masked Marauder, but Spidey and Moon Knight show up before that can happen, leaving the Masked Marauder for another day. Jim Mooney provided the artwork here with a Bill Mantlo-written story.

 

Shea Stadium

 

 

Here’s a New York City landmark that no longer exists, but, due to this final battle occurring in a 1970s issue of “The Amazing Spider-Man” (#149 to be exact), as well as Marvel’s sliding timescale, it makes for a pulse-pounding final battle scene between Spidey, the Jackal, and his Spider-Clone that would later go on to rename himself Ben Reilly. And if that’s not enough, Spidey also has to save Ned Leeds from a bomb while the Gwen Stacy clone looks on. Masterfully drawn by Ross Andru, this issue would mark the end of writer Gerry Conway’s stint on the title until he returned the following decade in “Spectacular Spider-Man”. It also laid the seeds for many more Spider-Man stories to come, particularly during the infamous “Clone Saga” of the 1990s.

 

The World Trade Center

 

 

Years before tragedy struck this NYC landmark twice, Spidey teamed up with X-Force to take on the Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy in a 1990s crossover, which occurred in “X-Force” Volume 1, #3 and the adjectiveless “Spider-Man” #16. This storyline would also be writer/artist Todd McFarlane’s last with ol’ Web-Head (while Rob Liefeld handled the X-Force portion of the art). One of the reasons it’s said that Todd left Marvel to go help found Image Comics was due to censorship that occurred in this story between Juggernaut’s eye and one of Shatterstar’s swords. Ouch!

 

Brooklyn Bridge

 

 

C’mon, you knew this place had to be on the list somewhere, right?  A landmark story such as “The Death of Gwen Stacy”, which occurred in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #121, deserves a landmark location, wouldn’t you agree? Oddly enough, in the story, it originally has the bridge listed as the George Washington Bridge. While Gerry Conway wrote the story, Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr. were on art chores. The wide-open space here made for an incredible showdown between Spider-Man and his psychotic enemy, the Green Goblin. This one is a true must-read for any Spider-Man fan, and comics fans in general.

 

Radio City Music Hall

 

 

Ross Andru stuns again with this story in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #179-180 (it’s a longer story than that, but those issues feature our designated location). A three-way battle between Spider-Man, Silvermane, and the third Green Goblin, Bart Hamilton, surely stunned the onlookers. Well, it would have, if they weren’t running for their lives.

 

Madison Square Garden

 

 

Venom, Carnage, and Rock n Roll was exactly what paying Madison Square Garden customers got in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #363. Wanting to make a statement and show everyone that his chaotic way of life was the way to go, Carnage kidnapped J. Jonah Jameson and planned to kill him in front of the crowd before Venom and Spider-Man showed up to stop him. Spider-Man also decided to stop Venom as well (by attaching both him and Carnage with the PA system), who had come out of his self-imposed island-based retirement to help Spider-Man. “No respect!”, eh, Venom? Mark Bagley drew this David Michelinie-written story.

 

Coney Island

 

 

While this wasn’t Spider-Man’s first battle at Coney Island (that honor would go to an early Doc Ock fight), this one surely was memorable. Teaming up with Silver Sable and the Sandman (the latter had gone legitimate at the time), Spidey took on the Sinister Syndicate in this story by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz.

 

Rockefeller Center

 

 

Artist Ross Andru does it again in “The Amazing Spider-Man” # 169 (written by Len Wein) when he has Spider-Man stop by Rockefeller Center not for ice skating, but for a battle with the fifth Spider-Slayer and Will O’ the Wisp. The iconic statue of Prometheus even falls and incapacitates the menacing Spider-Slayer, much to J. Jonah Jameson’s disappointment.

 

Central Park

 

 

It’s fitting that Ross Andru, who drew the first story we looked at today, brings it home with the last entry on this list (written by Gerry Conway): Central Park. Spidey and the Punisher bust up Tarantula’s gang, while the South American villain tries to make good his escape through Central Park. With help from his Spider-Sense and a sound dunking in the lake, the battle is over in no time.

 

I hope you enjoyed taking this look with me at New York City and all of the many landmark locations it’s offered Spidey for big battles over the years. Again, I can’t recommend Ross Andru’s criminally underrated run on “The Amazing Spider-Man” enough, which took place for the majority of issue numbers 125-185 (there were fill-ins, here and there, partially due to Ross taking time off to draw “Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man”). The locations listed above by Mister Andru weren’t the only New York City locations he included, many of which weren’t always used for battles. Did your favorite landmark battle make the list? Either way, let me know yours in the comments section below!