Miles Morales: Spider-Man #3: Trapped Like Rats

Spider-Man’s most recent encounter with Revenant ends up being less than ideal for the young wall-crawler. Now trapped below the city and unable to move, Revenant’s tale makes Miles start to question just what kind of man his father truly is.

This issue slows things down in a way that is much appreciated after the breakneck pace of the previous two outings. This volume of Miles’ story is still very much establishing its identity and while it has yet to find its groove, I feel that it is at least on the right path to finding it. Although Jefferson’s sordid past is a bit of well-tread territory at this point, this might be the first time that a ghost from Jeff’s past comes back to haunt him and his family so directly. The theme of the “sins of the father are to be laid upon the children”, but I hope there is also more that is beneath the surface.

Bryan Hill adds some much needed depth to Revenant that makes him feel a bit less two-dimensional. His grudge against Jeff makes sense, but that same vitriol doesn’t make much sense for Miles and his mother (who are both told by Revenant and Jeff respectively about what happened). It was clear from the outset that Jefferson was coerced into taking the mission, but the story tries to frame it as a failing on Jeff’s part despite him trying to get Revenant off the hook. Revenant has the potential to be more than just an arc antagonist, but that depends on how the story plays out.

Valentine De Landro’s art is better here than in previous issues as they illustrate the rest of Revenant’s backstory. THough the action is severely toned down, Nico Leon’s paneling remains high quality with some great colors by Bryan Valenza.