Symbiote Spider-Man #3 Review

“My dear Felicia, I don’t want to capture you! I have a job for you. And I will pay you rather well.”

As Spidey tackles Electro on Broadway, Mysterio offers Black Cat a sinister deal! Will she betray her lover to keep her secret?

WRITER: Peter David

PENCILER: Greg Land

INKER: Jay Leisten

COLORIST: Frank D’Armata

LETTERER: VC’s Joe Sabino

COVER ARTISTS: Greg Land & Frank D’Armata

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Ron Lim & Israel Silva; Alex Saviuk & Chris Sotomayor

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Danny Khazem

EDITOR: Devin Lewis

SPIDER-MAN created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: The Kingpin unknowingly interrupts Mysterio’s secret meeting with Mr. Ohnn. Ohnn gives Mysterio the lowdown on the Black Cat and how she got her powers. Interrupting a performance of Cats, Spidey fights and defeats Electro. Afterwards, Spidey meets up with Black Cat, who tells him he should reveal his identity to Aunt May. This leads to an argument and the couple part ways. Arriving back home, Felicia finds Mysterio waiting for her. He wants her to steal a piece of Spidey’s new costume or he will reveal how she got her powers to the wall-crawler. Felicia seduces and drugs Peter, then snips off a piece of the suit…with it growing back immediately! Once she leaves, the symbiote overtakes Peter and rises him out of bed.

THOUGHTS: Although a bit on the generic side, I like this cover a lot more than issue #2’s. D’Armata’s coloring really makes the images pop with a vibrancy that stands out from the prior covers. The Absolute Carnage taking over the masthead is a bit weird, though. While I’m assuming that the last page is a tie in to the upcoming crossover, I was puzzled at first since this series is firmly rooted in the past and yet the cover links it to the future. Even odder, only the print version has it. The digital is clean!

Peter David seems to be having a lot of fun on this title. This time out, he not only makes fun of the Web-Slinger’s ill-fated stint on Broadway, but the fact that soon Disney will own everything. He imbues Spidey with a sense of fun, too, singing a parody of his cartoon’s theme song as he merrily takes down Electro with a lighter and sprinkler system. It’s classic Peter David and classic Spider-Man.

Portraying a classic Spidey means showing the other side of the coin, though, and we get a great scene of Black Cat joining Spider-Man on a roof as he is “silently narrating”, or as he says, “thinking”. Felicia just blurts out that Peter should tell his aunt about his double life and Spidey doesn’t take it well, giving the standard excuses Spider-Man fans have heard for decades. Then realizing that Felicia had a conversation with May makes him defensive, leading to a small spat. It shows that Peter is so entrenched in his mindset that he can’t see another perspective well when it comes to his favorite aunt.

Land does a fantastic job in this scene conveying the characters’ emotions through body language. It’s not often that you see Felicia meek or sheepish over something, a feeling which quickly turns to an angry defensiveness and then defiance. Spidey also has his moment, too, relying on his mask’s eyes to express how he’s feeling. I love the pose Land chose as Spidey angrily swings away, thrusting his hand out to fire a web. Sometimes I miss seeing the webs come from the top of the hand instead of the wrist.

The art gets a little uncomfortable when Mysterio attacks and strangles Black Cat. I know this is a super-hero comic where violence is common place, but it feels very in-your-face the way Land depicts it. Even with Mysterio’s intent to not kill her, just test her bad luck powers, it comes off as very brutal.

It was a nice change of pace to have Mysterio not want to kidnap Black Cat to use against Spider-Man, but employ her via blackmail. It not only makes sense that Felicia would want to keep her secret given continuity, but even with her recent argument with Peter, she is still wanting to protect him. She is trapped and doesn’t come to her decision to aid Mysterio lightly.

It’s because of her choice that when Peter arrives home, her presence triggers his spider-sense. Seeing his girlfriend seduce him causes him to ignore it. It was a subtle touch having her register as a threat (just don’t call it a “Peter tingle”) It made me think of a spy novel. Even after the theft was done, I appreciated how David kept the inner conflict going with Felicia as she tried to rationalize her betrayal.

While I was a little disappointed we didn’t see the immediate aftermath of the murder of Hardrock (what did Peter think when he woke up?), this issue had a lot going for it. Land for the most part was spot on with his art, with expressive, if occasionally stiff faces. As one would expect, David delivered his signature Spider-banter and balanced the super-heroics with personal drama. The worst part about this issue was that we are past the halfway point of this limited series meaning it’s going to end soon. Symbiote Spider-Man is a blast from the past that captures the era well, setting up a feeling of danger in an untold story that has already taken place.

MY GRADE: B+

JAVI’S HUH?: How exactly does Felicia’s knockout lipstick work? Does she wear fake lips underneath? Take an antidote before she applies it? Was Peter’s Spider-Sense going off the entire time they were making out?