Radioactive Spider-Man #3: Peter Paralysis

Joe Kelly splits the narrative of Radioactive Spider-Man #3 between the present and the sadly relevant past. Aunt May’s life lessons have shaped who Peter is today more than his own parents ever did. The bond between the two of them is the driving force of issue #3, and Peter’s reluctance to let his mother figure go is the cause of even more pain. It’s very Marvel editorial: “Give this guy some more trauma stat!” But it’s just not very Spider-Man. There’s no responsibility here, no power, just acceptance of something terrible that is outside of Peter’s control.

Kev Walker’s art is messy and chaotic in a way that sells the action to the reader as more of a brawl than a great heroic moment. There’s no victory here, and the art tells you that from the start. Chris Sotomayor’s colors are a standout, as they manage to make the clash between the spiders and mutant Aunt May easy to follow even amidst detritus and energy effects that would otherwise clutter the page and slow down the action.

Altogether, the three issues of Radioactive Spider-Man have been an interesting ride, but ultimately not enough work was done to lay the groundwork for a major conclusion in its final issue. Where issue #1 set up Peter’s place in the Age of Revelation and issue #2 tried to develop the characters central to the story, the third issue failed to deliver on a believable defining thread for the story. An Aunt May-centric limited series was on the Christmas list of very few Spider-Man fans this year, and perhaps this story hits harder for them in certain scenes. But even if these are your favorite characters, Radioactive Spider-Man never goes above and beyond its few pages to tell us why we should care about a story we know is set in an irrelevant alternate future.