Spider-Man #3 Review

Written by: Dan Slott
Art by: Mark Bagley, John Dell
Colors by: Edgar Delgado
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: Mark Bagley, Alejandro Sánchez
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: December 7, 2022

Spider-Man #3 splits the surviving Spiders into separate teams to track down a magic doodad to resurrect Jessica Walters, steal the magic dagger from Spider-Man Noir, and distract Shathra long enough to make it all work.

Is It Good?

Spider-Man #3 is loud, chaotic, action from start to finish. Depending on your tastes in comics, that may or may not be a good thing. Here’s why?
When last we left Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, they found temporary refuge in Earth-617 Beta, and transitional Earth beyond Shathra’s vision. However, their refuge is threatened when Miles Morales begins to succumb to a wasp sting. He’s able to resist because he comes from two Earths (just go with it), but he decides on a quick plan to teleport close to Loomworld to throw Shathra off the team’s scent.

Meanwhile, Morlun heads back to Earth-616 to steal Spider-Man Noir’s dagger, presuming it could be used to kill Shathra, and Spider-Man heads to an ancient Amazonian pyramid containing an artifact that could possibly resurrect Jessica Drew.

Whew! That’s a lot, and that’s where it could be a good comic or bad comic, depending on what you want. There’s plenty of action, plot threads are spinning in more directions than Spidey’s web shooters, and things are definitely happening.

However, the action is loud, chaotic, and messy. No one scene is given time to breathe and develop weight. And The combination of action and quippy dialog gives the entire comic a slapstick cartoony feel. If all you care about is non-stop Spider action, you’ll love this issue. If you want more drama and depth to your comic, this one is going to feel very superficial.

Bagley and Dell’s art is fit for purpose in this issue. Their detailed-yet-comic strippy style fits well against Slott’s slapstick, cartoonish script.

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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Final Thoughts:

Spider-Man #3 is loud, wild, crazy, and chaotic. That may or may not be a good thing, depending on your point of view. If all you want is wall-to-wall action, you’re in for a treat. Readers who want more drama and depth should look elsewhere.