REVIEW: In SPIDER’S SHADOW #3, It’s a Spider-Mess
In Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3 by Chip Zdarsky, Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth, and Joe Caramagna, with a main cover by Phil Noto, the story picks up where we left off last month… and things get messier from there as a villainous murder plot unravels.
Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3. Photo: Marvel Comics
Jonah Jameson: Threat or Menace?
If there’s one character that Zdarsky is too good at writing, it’s J. Jonah Jameson – my guess, Zdarsky himself understands exactly what it means to have his life consumed (and maybe even destroyed) by the itsy, bitsy Spider-Man!
J. Jonah Jameson: Threat or Menace? Photo: Marvel Comics
Anytime the newspaper mogul shows up in a book written by Zdarsky, you can bet that something amazing is awaiting you on the next turn of the page, and this story is no exception, especially with the introduction of Brock Ock.
Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3. Photo: Marvel Comics
As Marvel Blog True Believers are already aware, I love Jameson and his many different incarnations. But what makes J. Jonah so interesting this time around is the moral quandary he’s been placed into by this symbiote-infected Spider-Man (because this Spider-Man just can’t seem to stop killing)!
Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3. Photo: Marvel Comics
Most of the time, we know that the Daily Bugle is being extremely unfair to Spider-Man, accusing him of being a villain menace even when he’s doing his best to be the hero New York City needs.
But in this story, we know that Peter Parker has been compromised by the symbiote, so he actually is becoming a villain!
Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3. Photo: Marvel Comics
In Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3, this will make it so you don’t know whether J. Jonah is the story’s hero or villain… and if you ask me, that’s an extremely interesting perspective from which to tell a Spider-Man story!
A Glimmer of Hope
In addition to some awesome panels of the Sinister Six’s plan to apprehend this malicious Spider-Man, this issue twists the knife by giving you some hope that Peter might escape the clutches of the symbiote and get his life back on track…
Photo: Marvel Comics
But it’s only a glimmer, Marvel Blog True Believers! This is an ongoing What If…? story, and that means all continuity bets are off. This comic could conclude with Spider-Man going full Venom and murdering everyone Peter Parker cares about!
With so much at stake, you can bet we’ll be returning for issues four through six.
