Spider-Man learns a lot more about himself as a hero and as a high school student in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3, written by Christos Gage, drawn by Eric Gapstur, and featuring a cover by Leonardo Romero. Peter is gonna need to get a handle on this whole double life thing if he ever hopes to finally take down The Enforcers!

Picking up right where readers left off, Spider-Man is in the thick of it with The Enforcers, a trio of thugs that have Spidey on the ropes. Unfortunately for Spidey’s reputation around Queens, the best course of action is to flee the scene and regroup. But with Spider-Man also being a high school student, regrouping is never that simple. Pete needs to navigate the halls of his new school while simultaneously wrestling with dual identities, thwarting The Enforcers’ plan, and…trying out for the football team…? Who, Pete?!

The Story Behind a Weak Fight

It’s a Viral Video. It’s Always a Viral Video.

The opening fight scene here suffers a lot of the same issues from the previous issue. It feels contrived and readers are often told the stakes as opposed to having them shown in a creative way. Spider-Man’s web shooters have been disabled by The Enforcers, and they aren’t working…until they do. Spider-Man can’t break away from the three-on-one onslaught…until he does. Peter realizes he needs to do something unexpected since these guys have studied his moves…so he spin-kicks them?

It’s a quick scene that doesn’t have a lot of time to set up these ideas and pay them off in a satisfying way, which makes what’s on the page feel like it’s checking boxes and going through the motions. Thankfully, the redeeming quality of this opening comes in the form of a bystander recording what will become a viral video. The whole thing was a setup to make Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man look like a coward and a bully.

With Great Characters, There Must Also…

…Come Great Character Development

The issue then takes this opportunity to develop Pete’s character with a lot of great scenes with the people in his life. A conversation with Nico about whether he should write about his Uncle Ben’s death in college essays — which is actually a lie meant to hide his real internal debate about using his powers to play football — goes a long way to show how Peter grapples with moral dilemmas thoughtfully. The lie also feels too specific and real to be entirely made up, which also makes the character feel that much more three-dimensional. Peter then goes on to have a similar conversation with his Aunt May, where readers learn that she is making sacrifices at work to help people because, in her eyes, that’s what’s most important. This inspires Peter and speaks to the instinct he’s had all along which made him wary of football in the first place.

Thankfully, the character growth doesn’t get in the way of having a fun football scene. Peter does end up trying out for the team and readers get to live out the fantasy of seeing Spider-Man go all out and dominate on the field. It’s a lot of fun even if it’s brief. Peter learns as he goes that his powers will never make this a fair game with normal people. It’s a great scene overall that provides a lot of smiles throughout these panels while also tying back into the main idea and themes of the issue.

Spider-Man Gets New Tech

Peter’s Superpower Is His Brain

And the fun doesn’t end there! Peter takes this newly found purpose and pours it into a redesign of his web slingers, his goggles, and his new logo. Readers get a front-row seat into Pete’s brain as he thinks through problems he was facing with the previous versions of his tech and how to implement new ideas to overcome them.

It’s always fun to see Spider-Man use his brain to overcome obstacles and, in large part, it’s because this is a critical part of what makes Peter Parker, Peter Parker. Even before the famous spider bite, even without superpowers, he was always a smart kid capable of great things.

Foundation Is Foundational

Laying Down the Groundwork Is the Best Part

At worst, this issue feels like some fun filler, but at best, it’s a step in the right direction with a lot of great character exploration and development. Even though readers are very familiar with this character, and have likely seen these beats play out before, it remains a crucial step in the storytelling. To care about the story, readers have to care about the character and this version’s depiction of him.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Release Date

January 29, 2025

Network

Disney+

Writers

Charlie Neuner

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  Hudson Thames

  Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voice)

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  Grace Song

  Nico Minoru (voice)