Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Kaare Andrews
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artists: Kaare Andrews, Stephanie Hans, Niko Henrichon & Dan Panosian
Design: Adam Del Re
Editors: Cy Pedro Beltran, Mark Basso, Tom Brevoort, Nick Lowe & C B Cebulski
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 30, 2025
Shay Marken thinks Peter Parker’s life is a dumpster fire because he lost his parents. But when Logan drafts him for a mission, Peter discovers why Richard and Mary Parker abandoned him. The circumstances surrounding his discovery of the classified video seem fishy. But that can’t diminish Peter’s heartbreak as he watches Wolverine kill his parents.
Logan cannot assure Peter that the video is fake. People and trauma have messed with Wolverine's memory. Perhaps like the Winter Soldier, Logan had little choice in sabotaging Richard and Mary Parker's airplane. Can Peter ever work with Logan again to protect the world from villains? Or will Spider-Man and Wolverine forever be at each other’s throats? Let’s leap into Spider-Man & Wolverine #3 and see!
Story
When Peter awakens in the jungle, he wears a black and white suit. He remembers Wolverine impaling him, but feels bandages covering his claw marks. While each movement brings pain, Peter yearns to rest and collect his thoughts. Then a Tyrannosaurus Rex enters the clearing and sees Peter as his black plate special.
Wolverine takes Peter off the menu in Spider-Man & Wolverine #3. But Peter doesn't know whether to thank Wolverine or attack him. Still, enemies often form alliances when facing a mutual threat. So, Peter and Logan agree to set aside their differences to survive in the Savage Land.
Wolverine knows that whoever captured and reclothed them and bandaged Peter's wounds wants to torture them. Pitting friends against each other hurts both men emotionally. Peter recognizes the truth behind Logan's words. But that doesn't clear him of his parents' deaths.
Marc Guggenheim paints Wolverine as a haunted man. So many people have abused his trust. Peter has also endured countless heartbreaks. Yet while Logan keeps others at arm’s length, Peter continually seeks closeness, even if he cannot meet his friends’ needs. Logan cannot remember if he killed Peter’s parents. But in Spider-Man & Wolverine #3, Logan remembers enough of his recent past to prepare them for the demands of the present.
Art
In this story, where seeing may (or may not) be believing, Kaare Andrews begins with Spider-Man’s eyes opening. Yet eyes also become casualties for beasts and men. Despite Spider-Man’s distrust, Logan repeatedly offers him his hand. A flurry of arrows reminds us of Spider-Man’s hunter, while a flashing sword symbolizes Wolverine's past. An adversary in the tall grass evokes Logan as a sniper in the first issue. Weighed down by memories, emotions, and fatigue, Spider-Man deflates like a balloon in Spider-Man & Wolverine #3. But then, learning that a friend might have killed your parents can be gutting.
Brian Reber fills a smoky gray sky with a yellow orb. Pteranodon silhouettes fill the sky while dinosaurs graze or stalk their prey. The yellow moonlight threatens to blend the dinosaurs' green hide with the brown tree trunks. Yet it makes Spider-Man's black suit glow blue, and Wolverine's red belt shine. Yellow and orange erupt amid a painful memory. Yet red fills the air when a white sword threatens to cleave our heroes in half.
Travis Lanham fills white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes with black, uppercase letters. The words grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and rarely shrink. A clawed yellow box relates Logan's off-panel pronouncement in this fast-paced story filled with dialogue and Spider-Man’s thoughts. Sound effects help us hear metal clang against metal, gunfire, hand-to-hand combat, thwipping, and dinosaurs rushing toward their next meal. Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
Questions swirl through Peter’s mind as he struggles to survive in the Savage Land. While people and dinosaurs hunt him, someone pulls the strings. Peter strives to reconcile what he has learned with what he knows. But regardless of Peter's feelings, Wolverine tries to protect the son of his late friends amid the savage action in Spider-Man & Wolverine #3.
Rating 9.4/10
To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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