I’ve always wanted to read Ultimate Spider-Man, but they published this series so fast that I decided to wait and read a big chunk of issues all at once. There are now more than 120 issues out, so I think it’s time for me to start. Also, Ultimatum seems to be rebooting the whole Ultimate line, so I think it’s a good time to read all of Ultimate Marvel.
This fist Ultimate title is also the best in my opinion. This series follows a teenage Peter Parker in a modern world, mixing great high school drama and fun superhero stories.
The drama part feels really refreshing, at the center of it are Peter and MJ. Their relationship is really one of the main attractions of the book, and it feels like the best teenage relationship drama on TV. They often have long dramatic talks, which are really the emotional high points of the series.
Peter also has to deal with Aunt May, who’s obviously a woman trying to be strong for him, but has been through a lot. They often have conflicts, but they still love each other dearly. I feel bad for her, Peter has to lie to her about Spider-Man in order to protect her.
Even with all the drama, this never feels like a downer. That’s one complaint I have about Brand New Day, Peter never catches a break. But in Ultimate SM, I never feel that Peter is always down. Peter actually has a few friends, and there are fun scenes in high school, not to mention his always fun jokes/banter. For example I loved when one of his classmate figures out that he’s Spider-Man, but nobody believes him.
On the superheroing side, Peter has a lot of bad luck but it’s also clear that he’s just a kid and doesn’t always think things through before acting. He’s making a lot of mistakes, which makes total sense given his age and his lack of experience. He’s just out of his league sometimes. This is very apparent when he realizes that a lot of people know about his “secret identity”, but luckily for him this includes Nick Fury and SHIELD.
Bendis brings many of the classic Spider-Man villains together in the first few arcs, but he has the luxury of being able to plan it all from the beginning and tying many of them together into a cohesive story. I think he’s done a very good job at that, especially with Goblin/Octopus/Hammer. Even Venom is tied to his father.
Let me go briefly through each story arc of the first 39 issues. The origins story is a long version of the original Amazing Fantasy issue. But here Uncle Ben is a hippy guy, who is very understanding and cool. Aunt May is not so old, but she’s more uptight. Osborn and Otto are tied to his powers.
The second arc is about Kingpin, who was tied to Uncle Ben’s death. Spider-Man manages to turn a potential disaster into hard evidence against the Kingpin, who has to leave the country. He also gets his job as the webmaster of the Daily Bugle and starts his relationship with MJ.
The Doc Ock thread ties to Justin Hammer and industrial espionage. The end of this thread is tied also to Kraven, whose ending was surprising and funny. I like that finally Spider-Man gets some public love on live TV, but that same night Peter has the worst night with Aunt May. Also like the introduction to Gwen, it gives us one more cool supporting character.
When Norman Osborn comes back and threatens Aunt May’s life, I really thought Peter had no way out. He obviously had no idea what to do, and it’s only thanks to Fury that he came out of that situation alive.
Next arc sees Peter still in trouble with a fake Spider-Man, gets shot and Gwen’s father is dead. This ends with the shocking break up with MJ.
The last arc goes back to Peter’s father and his scientific project, which turns out to be Venom. I like how Bendis changed the origins of Venom and I like his characterization of Eddie Brock. On the surface he’s a cool guy, but if you know him better he’s really a jerk. I think Bendis went a bit too far in the last issue, when he tied what Peter’s father said in a tape recording to the present fight between Spider-Man and Venom. It just fit too well.
The art by Mark Bagley is simply perfect for this book. There’s a freshness and an innocence to the teenagers, but also a maturity and drama in the adult’s expressions. The action is fun and dynamic, but the talking scenes are just as impressive. The emotions in the characters’ faces come out very clearly.
This is definitely the most fun I’ve ever had with Spider-Man, but I wish more teenagers would read this great series. It’s not necessarily good for younger kids, but teenagers would love this. Can’t wait to read the rest.
This is the series that got me reading Marvel’s comics again. I’ve read the first 100 issues and I really like it, although I think it may have peaked with the second Goblin story. I was buying it as it came out, so there were a couple weeks where I was certain they’d killed of MJ. I assumed that she was really dead, because it seemed to me that Ultimate MJ was more like 616 Gwen than 616 MJ, and vice versa. MJ in 616 was originally a little wilder than Gwen, etc. Since the opposite is true in the Ulimate-verse, I thought Bendis had planned things out from the beginning to make the death of MJ have as much impact as the death of Gwen in 616. Of course, then the next issue came out and she turned out to be alive. Not that I’m complaining, particularly. As you say, the MJ/Peter relationship is kind of the heart of the series.