Joe Kelly has a unique take on Spider-Man, which is evident with flashbacks to before Peter was in high school and a compelling drug narrative tied to the villain. Amazing Spider-Man also has the strong advantage of featuring Pepe Larraz on art, who dazzles on every page. With a life-threatening cliffhanger in issue #2, Amazing Spider-Man #3 offers a satisfying resolution to a fight and further development of an angry teen Peter Parker.
Amazing Spider-Man #3 bounces around in more ways than one. The most obvious and visually stimulating is Spider-Man dodging sharp blades while drugged. Larraz stuns with the dynamic visuals and the perfect amount of kinetic frenzy that the agility-friendly hero, like Spider-Man, can muster. The other way it bounces around is naturally placed flashbacks to Peter’s youth, rendered in blueish tones to convey a darker time for Peter emotionally. Combined, there’s a lot to unpack with great action and character work from cover to cover.
If you missed the last issue, this issue opens with Spider-Man stopping Itsy Bitsy from killing Rhino. It’s a fairly good reintroduction of the character for those who missed her first appearance. She’s also the perfect amount of crazy and, somehow, seemingly a love interest for Spider-Man. Or at least she’s interested in him. That’s exciting, since Black Cat tends to be the only villainous love interest around.
That’s gotta hurt.
Credit: Marvel
Midway through this issue, the theme of drug abuse is further explored. The angle is present, though not yet confronted, when Aunt May has to deal with Peter, who is sweating and seems strung out. It’s a relatable social aspect that could connect the superheroics to reality in a meaningful way. Although Peter is strongly against drug use, one can see it affecting him in a later scene with Norman Osborn. Throw in a sharply written and drawn flashback with Uncle Ben, and it’s clear that Peter’s deep guilt is still present in his middle school years.
Amazing Spider-Man #3 continues Joe Kelly’s emotionally grounded and stylistically ambitious take on Peter Parker, pairing kinetic, beautifully rendered action with a meaningful exploration of trauma and drug use. While not all the threads are fully developed yet, the issue succeeds in deepening the stakes, both physically and psychologically, for a younger, angrier Peter.
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