Ultimate Spider-Man #3 gives the series energy and exuberance. The book has a playful attitude and a sense of fun fused with the danger and drama. At every turn, a twist shakes up assumptions that Spider-Man fans can start to craft, telling completely new stories with familiar characters. Read Full Review

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 reinforces the standout elements of its first two issues, synthesizing them into an excellent continuation that emphasizes the speedy pacing of the series. Hickman's writing captures the characters and their various dynamics perfectly, from Peter and May's heartwarming bonding time to the infinitely compelling banter of Ben and Jonah, and even to the slick back-and-forth between Bullseye and Green Goblin. Paired up with Checchetto's deft design work and sequential storytelling chops, reaffirms this book's place as the heir apparent to cinematic comics. Read Full Review

Ultimate Spider-Man has genuinely become my favorite monthly title that Marvel is currently putting out. I still have a million questions about this new universe, and about the ramifications of Peter not being bit by that spider as a teenager (what happened to Gwen??), but I'm not even sure I need the answers. I'm just happy to be along for this ride. Read Full Review

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 continues to the pure fun that this series has been since it launched. Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto nail all the different dynamics between the cast. The relationships, especially Peter and May Parker's father-daughter dynamic, make it easy to get lost in experiencing how the story develops with each page you turn. It all works to elevate to have the final moment between Spider-Man and Green Goblin maximize the impact Hickman and Checchetto were going for. Read Full Review

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 is another winning issue. All told the progress in the plot feels slow, yet each scene is expertly crafted and entertaining. Ultimate Spider-Man will reignite your love of Spider-Man with great art in a modern and elevated take on the character. Read Full Review

Checchetto delivers beautifully detailed and visually dynamic art throughout the issue. The imagery is thrilling and I love the action a lot. Read Full Review

I'm getting chills yet again writing this review as it's dawning on me that I'm in the middle of reading something truly special. Read Full Review

With well-timed jokes, flashy art, and fluid visual storytelling, Ultimate Spider-Man #3 continues to show the difficulty of doing good and helping people in a world that is literally undergirded by evil. The scenes with Peter and his family, former boss J. Jonah Jameson, and potential new friend Harry Osborn truly show that it takes a village to save the day and not in the cliched "Avengers assemble kind of way. Although there's hints at the Maker and larger Ultimate Universe narrative, Hickman and Checchetto keep the stakes and small and personal in this series, and it's why this book is easily one of my favorite monthly ongoing superhero comics in recent years. Read Full Review

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 is a fantastic issue really driving home the fundamentals of what's making this series work so well. It's just a solid comic that's fun and in some ways still a decent point to start reading from. It builds upon the mystery of this world but not too in the weeds yet. But, most importantly, the fun and enthusiasm of the comic and its characters spills off the page. Read Full Review

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 has its best moments when Peter Parker acts as a fantastic father to his daughter and a nephew to his uncle while he takes over the Spider-Man identity. Read Full Review

Another fun issue of Spider-Man comics, though I'd like to see a stronger focus on the unique aspects of the status quo instead of just another comic where Spider-Man fights familiar bad guys. Read Full Review

With great art, a great story, and Peter's growing Parker-nish, Spider-man is quickly becoming who he was meant to be all those years ago. PICK THIS UP! Read Full Review

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 lacks the urgency and “responsibility” that makes up the soul of a Spider-Man comic. However, what the issue lacks is adequately made up for with fantastic art, immaculate character- and world-building, and an intriguing plot. You won't be blown away by this issue, but you'll enjoy it. Read Full Review

Plot
Peter and May share Spider-Man's secret and she helps him have less threatening colors on his suit.

Ben JJ Jameson already has an office where they analyze the activities of the Green Goblin, which are hidden by the Daily Bugle, since each Green Goblin attack is directed at Wilson Fisk's businesses.

The name of Ben and JJJ's future newspaper is still unknown.

Peter begins to stake out the city to catch Green Goblin, but becomes a spectator of a battle between the ultimate version of Green Goblin vs. Bullseye. Peter helps Green Goblin stop him and both reveal his identity, Harry and Peter begin to forge a friendship under the most outlandish conditions.

This new chapter is full of emotion, action, suspense and continues to reimagine Peter in different but incredibly interesting circumstances. This comic gets better with each new chapter.

Art
It is loaded with great details that explode in your face supported by subtle and well-placed textures, which gives a raw and powerful tone to this story that shakes up and gives a realistic twist to Spider-man.

Summary
Peter Parker follows the trail of the Green Goblin, who has been attacking Wilson Fisk and no one has noticed except Ben and JJ Jameson more

Ignore the critic that gave this a 5. This and Hellblazer are the best mainstream comics going.
Can Hickman keep it up? I hope so.

+ Like • Comments (9)

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Avanvolk - Mar 27, 2024

Oddly, I read the review and the reviewer literally says nothing negative about the issue. I wonder if the 5/10 was actually supposed to be a 5/5?

motorik - Mar 27, 2024

Hey mate, I thought so too. I've emailed them to query it.

motorik - Mar 27, 2024

Success, they had amended it. However there is now a critic giving it 7.8. What did he read?

aleyuma - Mar 27, 2024 (edited)

He’s the harshest comic reviewer on the internet, his reviews usually have the lowest score out of everyone, a 7.8 from him is very positive, for him to give 9 or higher he must be really blown away like with the latest issue of Transformers.

daspidaboy - Mar 27, 2024

https://twitter.com/MrGabeHernandez?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

motorik - Mar 27, 2024

Wow, you ain't joking. What a miserable dude. On the subject of Transformers, how good has that run been eh? Nice seeing Daniel Warren Johnson getting some respect.

aleyuma - Mar 27, 2024 (edited)

i mean, he’s been getting respect since he started his career, now he’s getting fame.

Hex - Mar 27, 2024

Yeah he's always been like that. There are a few Weird Science guys that pop in here from time to time and they're all over the place in terms of taste.

ResearchReader - Mar 30, 2024

I would say he is harsh but warranted. Not sure if most of you are newer to this site, but anything above 8s use to be much rarer. Weird Science still mostly reviews with the old scale of things where 10s were mind blowing, rare occurrences. While I personally fail to be that even-keeled, I respect it and honestly think most people should be like that. A 10/10 is Kingdom Come, Civil War ect, you know, things that live on forever. Now this series might fall into that, time will tell.

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Simply lovely. It must be killing Hickman to write something that you don't need a PhD to read. Is this really all it took to make Spider-Man enjoyable again?

Four Spider-Man comics came out this week, not sure if that’s awesome or says something about Marvel (or both).

This and Miles 300 were pretty close for top dog, but I’d give the slight edge to this. An expected interaction occurs, I didn’t know how it was going to go, but I didn’t expect each of the little twists. I say again, this is the best Spider-Man book out right now. If you’re a fan, pick it up.

It’s a fresh take with just enough of that familiar Spider-Man spirit.

I literally started smiling while reading this issue. This hasn't happened before. I think this is currently my favorite series of all time right now.

Peak. The dream team strikes again.

Great brick laying work by Hickman and a very enjoyable issue from all angles. Except the final reveal which I'm all for if we get a different wrinkle on that old rivalry. Peter Parker as an older guy trying to learn to be Spider-Man was never on my list of books and from Hickman of all people but here we are. Checchetto with an absolute perfect outing on art. This must have taken a lot of time to do and I thank him and wish his hand/wrist/arm a speedy recovery. Wilson colors him beautifully as always.

I may be overrating this a little bit, but this was another issue that I really enjoyed. It's the weakest one of the series thus far for me, but that's saying a lot when I'm giving it a 9/10. Everything here is just so simple and great at the same time. Hickman does a really good job of writing Peter as extremely likable when he's in the suit and out of it. I also found the ending of this to be very intriguing and well-executed. All things considered, I did see this more as a setup issue for things to come down the line, but I still really enjoyed it.

Seeing Spidy and the Green Goblin team up and working together is one of the most epic things it has happen in the superhero's history

This just works. Every decision Hickman makes regarding the story is the right one so far and I can't be happier for that.

So trying to find something to say that hasn't already been said about this issue (its a great issue, look at those other high reviews, they are pretty accurate), I will say that I love they dad energy Peter has. Between trying to get a 'cool' costume with his daughter, to to moment with Harry 'It is cool.' he just drips the 'I am not an old man! I am still hip with the kids' dad energy. Written very well and I love this take on Peter. Please keep this up.

My monthly dose of peak.

This was so good!

Another entertaining issue in the only Spider-Man series that fans actually enjoy today. It mixes action, adventure, humor, mystery and other elements so well. And as with the previous two issues, this one leaves us eager for more. A rarity these days when we usually have that "When is this going to finally end?" feeling instead.
Juggling his secret between family who know and still don't is a very exciting thing. It leaves you wondering how the rest will act when they find out, and who he will choose to reveal it to. One I wonder about is Uncle Ben, who we finally get to know in a world where he survived and we all hope to see more of how he and Jonah build the first honest news outlet in decades.
I see how many share my skepticism of whether this great ride can last or whether Hickman will choose a path he'd prefer not caring how we feel. That's become all too common a thing in modern comics as Zeb Wells has shown since he took the reigns from Nick Spencer in Amazing. But until then I say we keep enjoying it as long as it lasts. Hopefully that will be a long time.
As always I'm looking forward to the next issue in this thrilling series.
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Very good but still too few pages for the price of the book.

Solid issue. Great art and another interesting layer to this world.

I'm giving this a "low" score not because it is flawed in some way compared to the other two but this is mostly a setup issue. Very fun, very cool but light on heavy and important dialogue and light on meaningful action. It was still amazing and leaves us and Peter in a really interesting position that I am very much looking forward to in the upcoming issues. Also, big fan of the "call-back" suits. They were fun homages with new flair and appropriate razzing.

Solid issue once again, gorgeous art but I was hoping for a more unpredictable reveal. Was pretty obvious who goblin was. Hoping we can really get things moving next issue.

This book continues to merge all of the elements together very well. We start with the family dynamic, then move to Ben and Jonah, and finally into the Spider-man portion. I have two problems with this issue. The first is that the bomb explodes in the Goblin's hand. This would have blown his hand off, no matter what kind of armor he was wearing. The second is the pairing of the two armor technologies. This would never work. Stark would have installed walls and failsafes. Aside from that, it was a very well-written issue.

My Comic Review Channel - https://youtu.be/CCvAunrX5Bk

(Cover Date: May, 2024)

Summary: May helps Pete pick out a pattern & colors for his Spidey suit. Ben & JJJ check out the office space they rented. After Pete arrives, he tells them that the Bugle is not running any stories on the Goblin. Ben says their map shows the places that the Goblin has hit, which are owned by Fisk. While on a stakeout, Spidey gets involved in a fight between the Goblin & Bullseye. Bullseye causes a crane to fall on Spidey. When Bullseye has the Goblin defeated by using his armor piercing cards, Spidey knocks him out from behind. Goblin takes the unconscious Bullseye away hooked to his glider. Goblin takes control of Spidey's suit to reveal Pete's face. Goblin then reveals his own face. The two introduce themselves to each other.
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Art: 4/5
Story: 3.5/5
Total: 7.5/10

This issue is way better than the last two. This issue makes the other two look like previews. Hickman shouldn't have waited so long to deliver this.
 
But don't get me wrong, I still feel cheated. Maybe the story is getting back on track but that doesn't change the fact that they advertised the series as "What if Peter Parker didn't get his powers until adulthood?" and presented instead a version of Spider-Man with a background so different that hardly resembles the character we know as "Peter Parker".

However, it's good that after 2 lackluster issues, the story finally seems compelling. With good editorial direction this would be gold, but sadly, that's not the case.

I stand by what I said before: The story would be much better if Tony Stark had exposed Peter to new circumstances in which he obtained the powers without him knowing. This issue proves me right.


[SPOILERS]

It is implied here that Harry Osborn, the Green Goblin, is involved with Tony Stark. If Hickman was planning on having Harry do exposition to Peter anyway, wouldn't it have been better if Peter didn't know anything at all about the origin of his powers instead of having chosen them???


Also...

"he's extremely photogenic and, to me, seems to be a much more compelling --and dare I say charming-- character. A real man of the people... Just an opinion."

WHAT? Since when does Peter flatter himself so much? "Kinda defeats the whole anonymous superhero thing", you know? It's not funny, it makes him look dumb. 

"Stakeout time. Always wanted to do one of these. Not exactly sure how but I can figure it out..."

I'm telling you. DUMB!

"...if you can't play nice, maybe you shouldn't play at all!"

Cheesy but OK, I do think that's something Spider-Man would say.

"I haven't actually caught anyone before. What should I do?

"Mister, how old are you? Sigh. The sole purpose of that line is to open the door for Harry (the true competent hero of the story as ironic as it may seem) to do more exposition.

"(...) it is cool." 

Meaning: "Duh! My costume is so cool!" "I'm so cool!" "Look at me!" "I'm a cool superhero!"
MY GOODNESS! Peter is so out of character!

Bullseye also speaks way more than he should, way too much exposition, and I don't think a psycho like him would describe himself the way he does here:
"A killer loose in the world. An actual predator in the wild."
Nah. That's more like the way another character would describe him (someone like a cop or a detective), doubtedly the way he would describe himself. Hickman should have left it at "I'm a predator" or "I'm a hunter, and you're my prey".

Mary Jane is still bland and, although there is some competent dialogue, most of the dialogue is still clumsy, and (as you can see) there are also times when Hickman tries to be funny but, in my opinion, he's not. more