Spider-Man & Wolverine #5: The Dreaded Finale

After four straight months of adrenaline and impossible musculature, Spider-Man & Wolverine closes its first arc with a chaotic burst of brutal action, last-minute moral reckonings, and all the unrestrained energy that comes with Kaare Andrews at full throttle. While it’s far from a strong finale, issue #5 feels true to what this series has set out to be.

In one swing, we get the climactic villain battle, a backstory reveal complete with retroactive ties to our heroes, recycled drama with Theresa, and some good old-fashioned hero-on-hero conflict  driven largely by shaky characterization. Still, it all rushes by in the most Michael Bay of ways, the showdown between Dreadshadow and our protagonists the most chaotic display of spectacle Andrews has delivered yet. It’s a climactic, if uneven, blend of conventional and abstract paneling—messy, striking, and undeniably eye-catching. The coloring team is the unsung hero of this issue, and possibly the whole title. Their choices here are beyond inspired, utilizing a mix of Kirby dots and selective lighting that makes each character pop.

As for that mess of reveals and drama, there’s a strange sense of generic repetition throughout this issue that feels truly unexpected. Theresa Parker’s questionable parentage is dredged up yet again without any new perspective or approach, her dilemma hardly serving as a satisfying resolution to the arc’s central character conflict. Dreadshadow unloads a half-baked philosophy with a cliché “heroes should kill” motivation in tow. None of these elements have been developed with much weight leading up to this moment, and cramming them together without cohesion leaves the issue bloated rather than climactic. A clean cut focus on Peter and Logan mending their rift with the truth behind Dreadshadow being a focus of the next arc would’ve made for a smoother, more effective time with this mess.