Spider-Man has always had a prominent role in my life. He was one of the very first superheroes introduced to me as a child and some of my earliest memories involve either watching the 90s Spider-Man animated series or playing with Spider-Man action figures. Growing up, I had a huge fascination with superheroes but I didn’t get into reading comic books until about 2005. Sure, I had read a few issues of J. Michael Straczynski’s “Amazing Spider-man” before then but it was “Ultimate Spider-Man” written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Mark Bagley that seriously got me into reading comics. Specifically, “Ultimate Spider-Man” issues #1-160.
BACKGROUND
In the year 2000, Marvel Comics publisher Bill Jemas enlisted the talent of Brian Michael Bendis to retell the origins of Spider-man for modern audiences. Prior to this, the 1998 Marvel title ”Spider-Man: Chapter One” had failed spectacularly at updating the origin and was panned by both readers and critics alike. However, the new “Ultimate Spider-Man” series was about to do something very different from ‘Chapter One’. “Ultimate Spider-Man” wasn’t going to retcon the history of the Marvel 616 universe but instead be set in its own universe separate from the main continuity. After the initial success of “Ultimate Spider-Man”, more characters and teams like the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the Avengers had their own ultimate counterparts and thus the Ultimate Marvel Universe was born! I might get into talking about “The Ultimates”, “Ultimate X-Men”, or “Ultimate Fantastic Four” another time but none of them stood out as well as good ‘ol “Ultimate Spider-Man” did!
THE GOOD
“Ultimate Spider-Man” was written by Brian Michael Bendis and features art by Mark Bagley. Bagley was a prolific Spider-Man artist during the 1990s and gave real credibility to this newly established re-telling of Spider-Man. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before… A teenage bookworm gets bitten by a radioactive spider during a science demonstration and suddenly develops spider abilities and through tragedy and heartbreak learns that “With great power, comes great responsibility”. Well “Ultimate Spider-Man” re-imagines and updates that origin (slightly). “Ultimate Spider-Man” makes some notable changes right off the bat when they flesh out and expand the original backstory from “Amazing Fantasy” #15 into a 7-issue arc in “Ultimate Spider-Man”. Instead of a radioactive spider it’s now a genetically engineered spider created by Norman Osborn. Instead of Aunt May and Uncle Ben being Peter’s geriatric relatives, they’re now younger and used to be hippies during the 1970s. Instead of meeting Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, and Harry Osborn in college, they all attend Midtown High together. We even get an epic showdown between Spider-man and the Green Goblin on to p of the Brooklyn Bridge. Actually, many of the elements from the Spider-Man movies were taken directly from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics (except for the organic web shooters. That’s entirely an invention of the filmmakers). As the series goes on, more divergences from the source material are made. Peter Parker is now the web designer for the Daily Bugle. Villains like Kraven the Hunter, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Hobgoblin, and Venom are all given updated origins (well updated for the early 2000s). Peter Parker even comes out to Mary Jane as Spider-Man. (In fact, throughout Peter’s tenure as Spider-Man people are always finding out that he’s Spider-Man.) I cannot emphasis how much of a teen melodrama the entire series was. Ultimate Peter and MJ’s relationship is still in my personal top 5 comic book romances of all-time. They were just the sweetest and most innocent couple in Marvel comics. However, at one point, Peter Parker and Mary Jane break up (as teenagers do) and Peter starts dating Kitty Pryde of the X-Men. That pairing was interesting at the time but the romance was short lived. The fans all knew that Peter and Mary Jane were eventually going to get back together and within a few months they did. Interpersonal relationships and dating played a big part in “Ultimate Spider-Man” but the series also dealt with heavy themes of death and loss. Early on in the series, we’re introduced to a new and rebellious re-imagining of Gwen Stacy that comes to live with Peter and Aunt May after the death of her father at the hands of a thief wearing a Spider-Man mask. Gwen and Peter living together is actually one of the reasons behind Peter and MJ’s break-up in the first place. Eventually, Gwen and MJ make peace with one another and Gwen also comes to terms with Peter’s secret identity as Spider-Man. Gwen’s character transformed from a moody outsider to being part of the family but in issue # 62 of USM she is unfortunately killed by the Ultimate version of Carnage (a creature created by Curt Connors using the blood of Peter Parker). It was a huge blow to the major cast as they had to collectively deal with the death of a classmate and close friend. Gwen Stacy’s death also touches on another major running theme of USM, the real world implications of a teenager dressing up as a superhero and fighting crime. Peter’s identity is almost never kept a secret from his most dangerous villains and that puts Peter, MJ, and all their classmates at risk. Time and time again their school campus is under siege by super villain attacks. These battles at the school serve as a kind of allegory for public school shootings and still remain relevant to this day. “Ultimate Spider-Man” set out to tell a modern interpretation of Spider-Man and it surpassed everyone’s expectations. Some of the most noteworthy story arcs for the series include: Power and Responsibility, Learning Curve, Double Trouble, Venom, Cats and Kings, Hollywood, Superstars, Ultimate Warriors, The Talk, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The New World According to Peter Parker, and The Clone Saga. YES! “Ultimate Spider-Man” has a better Clone Saga than the original continuity. You really need to check out this Clone Saga if you’re currently unimpressed with Dan Slott’s “Clone Conspiracy”. By the way, if you find yourself reading “Ultimate Spider-Man” for the first time don’t be too alarmed once you reach issue #111. Mark Bagley passes on the artist duties to Stuart Immonen and later David Lafuente and Sara Pichelli. Trust me! The art will not detract too many for the storytelling and you will live through it. Mark Bagley does return as the artist for issues # 156-160 and it is glorious! Make sure to look out for the trade paperbacks at your local comic book store or read the issues on Marvel Unlimited if they are still available.
Not everything from the Ultimate Marvel Universe was a massive success. In
fact, most of the other titles were weighing down this newly formed continuity.
The whole point of Ultimate Marvel was to be more inviting for newer readers
who didn’t want to catch up on over 40 years of continuity but, in less than
ten years, Ultimate Marvel had become a worse mess than the original Marvel
continuity. This problem stems from many factors. The overall darker and edgier
tone of the Ultimate Universe and as well as the writers and artists all competing
against each other to introduce as many ultimate versions of characters as possible
really hurt the universe over time. While some of the re-imaginings such as
Venom, Scorpion, and Spider-Man’s clones
all worked out fairly well, in my opinion, others like Omega Red,
Deadpool, Galactus, and Silver Surfer were just stinkers. “Ultimate Spider-Man”
has some low points as well but never as low as some of the things you’d see in
“The Ultimates” or “Ultimate Fantastic Four”. Eventually, Marvel decided to use
the crossover event “Ultimatum” as an instrument to clean up the Ultimate
Marvel Universe… it didn’t work! Instead, “Ultimatum” killed off almost every
single Ultimate version of the characters you knew and loved from the comic (except
you barely got to know these ultimate counterparts). Can you imagine the horror
of having to watch the Blob eat the Wasp or witness Dormammu strangling Doctor
Strange to death? How about Cyclops vaporizing Wolverine to nothingness with
his optic blasts? Yeah, that’s all in “Ultimatum”. Needless to say, “Ultimatum”
did more harm than good for the Ultimate Universe. Thankfully, the “Ultimate
Spider-Man” comics would quickly find their footing once again after “Ultimatum”
with the story arc “The New World According to Peter Parker” and the many
stories to follow. Like I said, USM may have had some low points throughout its
run but the biggest problem it faced was carrying all the baggage of the rest
of the Ultimate Universe.
THE LEGACY
From the first moment Peter suited up as Spider-Man, he’s faced personal hardships, losses, and death itself. In multiple team-ups, he’s been told by older superheroes to just give up because the risks are too high. Ultimate Nick Fury makes numerous cameo appearances in the series to talk Peter out of being Spider-Man and tells him that superhero stuff is for the 18+ crowd. However, Peter’s sense of duty and responsibility wont’ allow him to give up and he continues to carry on his mission as Spider-Man. This leads into “Ultimate Spider-Man” issue #160, where Peter Parker faces his rogues gallery for the last time. In one final showdown, Spider-Man must defend his home and his loved ones from the Green Goblin and the Sinister Six. It is a totally heart-shattering moment to see Spider-Man give his last breath in the arms of Mary Jane Watson and it’s probably one of the most effective deaths in comic book history. Remember when I listed off all those noteworthy USM story arcs? Just go ahead and add “The Death of Spider-Man” to that list. It’s the major turning point for the series. Seeing such a young superhero give his life to protect his aunt, his girlfriend, and everyone he’s ever cared about was truly an amazing end to Ultimate Peter Parker’s story. Issues 1-160 of “Ultimate Spider-Man” will always stand out to me as one of the best Spider-Man stories ever published by Marvel Comics. The crossovers with the X-Men, the Ultimates, and Fantastic Four were a delight. Peter Parker’s friendships with other young superheroes like Johnny Storm, Kitty Pryde, and Bobby Drake lead to one of the best superhero Brady Bunch families of all-time. Brian Michael Bendis and his self aware meta-humor made for some brilliant dialogue and Easter egg references (there are loads of Easter eggs during the “Hollywood” story arc that parodies the second Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie). Bendis and Bagley’s 111-issue run together still holds the record for longest consecutive comic book creative duo in history. Bendis was also the only writer for “Ultimate Spider-Man” during the title’s entire run and still writes for Miles Morales’s Spider-Man title to this day. Did I forget to mention Miles Morales? Peter Parker’s Spider-Man was eventually succeeded by the now-popular Miles Morales and although it was an extremely controversial decision at the time, whenever most people think of Ultimate Spider-Man they think of Miles Morales. Miles was so popular that he even had a crossover with the 616-continuity Spider-Man in “Spider-Men” and featured heavily in the 2014 storyline “Spiderverse”. I thoroughly enjoyed Miles Morales and his version of Spider-Man but I’m much more nostalgic for Peter Parker’s Ultimate Spider-Man. After all, it was the first series that really pulled me into the world of reading comics book. I cannot thank Brian Michael Bendis enough for this series because he has created an entirely new mythos for the Spider-Man character and any Spidey fan worth their weight in web fluid should read this remarkable series. Thank you!
THE LEGACY
From the first moment Peter suited up as Spider-Man, he’s faced personal hardships, losses, and death itself. In multiple team-ups, he’s been told by older superheroes to just give up because the risks are too high. Ultimate Nick Fury makes numerous cameo appearances in the series to talk Peter out of being Spider-Man and tells him that superhero stuff is for the 18+ crowd. However, Peter’s sense of duty and responsibility wont’ allow him to give up and he continues to carry on his mission as Spider-Man. This leads into “Ultimate Spider-Man” issue #160, where Peter Parker faces his rogues gallery for the last time. In one final showdown, Spider-Man must defend his home and his loved ones from the Green Goblin and the Sinister Six. It is a totally heart-shattering moment to see Spider-Man give his last breath in the arms of Mary Jane Watson and it’s probably one of the most effective deaths in comic book history. Remember when I listed off all those noteworthy USM story arcs? Just go ahead and add “The Death of Spider-Man” to that list. It’s the major turning point for the series. Seeing such a young superhero give his life to protect his aunt, his girlfriend, and everyone he’s ever cared about was truly an amazing end to Ultimate Peter Parker’s story. Issues 1-160 of “Ultimate Spider-Man” will always stand out to me as one of the best Spider-Man stories ever published by Marvel Comics. The crossovers with the X-Men, the Ultimates, and Fantastic Four were a delight. Peter Parker’s friendships with other young superheroes like Johnny Storm, Kitty Pryde, and Bobby Drake lead to one of the best superhero Brady Bunch families of all-time. Brian Michael Bendis and his self aware meta-humor made for some brilliant dialogue and Easter egg references (there are loads of Easter eggs during the “Hollywood” story arc that parodies the second Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie). Bendis and Bagley’s 111-issue run together still holds the record for longest consecutive comic book creative duo in history. Bendis was also the only writer for “Ultimate Spider-Man” during the title’s entire run and still writes for Miles Morales’s Spider-Man title to this day. Did I forget to mention Miles Morales? Peter Parker’s Spider-Man was eventually succeeded by the now-popular Miles Morales and although it was an extremely controversial decision at the time, whenever most people think of Ultimate Spider-Man they think of Miles Morales. Miles was so popular that he even had a crossover with the 616-continuity Spider-Man in “Spider-Men” and featured heavily in the 2014 storyline “Spiderverse”. I thoroughly enjoyed Miles Morales and his version of Spider-Man but I’m much more nostalgic for Peter Parker’s Ultimate Spider-Man. After all, it was the first series that really pulled me into the world of reading comics book. I cannot thank Brian Michael Bendis enough for this series because he has created an entirely new mythos for the Spider-Man character and any Spidey fan worth their weight in web fluid should read this remarkable series. Thank you!
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