Comic Related - If It's Comic Related, You'll Find It Here!

The Ultimate Universe was Marvel's last, best hope for continuity. It failed. Its original mission was to bring back the Marvel Universe to a simpler time, where the characters were not as convoluted and more iconic, and to reboot the universe that was bogged down in far too many loopholes and plot twists to provide fun for a modern generation of readers. The Ultimate Universe has become almost as convoluted as modern continuity, and with countless reboots and mini-series events, they seemed not to learn their lesson. As a consequence, I've gone from reading every Ultimate title, to only reading Ultimate Spider-Man. And I'm glad I still do, as this is Brian Michael Bendis' most fun book to read.

In a lot of ways, even Ultimate Spider-Man is unnecessary, because in the Brand New Day world, we have that younger, single Peter with an ever growing supporting cast. For some reason though, Ultimate Peter feels a lot more natural and less forced into awkward situations that the 616 Peter faces. Where it's really unbelievable and annoying what they're doing to the marriage in the main title, the love triangle set up in Peter's life with Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane has been pretty fantastic. The first arcs of the re-launch had me worried about all these supporting characters cluttering up a book that's primarily about Spider-Man, but with this plot line, it seems to be back to what made the Ultimate Universe sell in the first place.

This arc is introducing Ultimate Chameleon, who was set up in the prior issue with a really intriguing plot. He's discovered Peter is Spider-Man by mistake, and has set up all sort of interesting plot twists for Peter's life. The Chameleon has assumed Peter's identity and kidnapped both Peter and Jonah Jameson. A lot more happens in the issue that changes Peter's status quo and relationships in a way that I would love to see in real continuity (without retcon). The only problem with it is that it's an Ultimate Comic, and all it does is remind me of the failings of the real Marvel Universe.

Bendis does a superb job with the set up, the twists, the turns, the banter, the dialogue, everything. It really is up to par with the very beginning arcs on the original Ultimate Spider-Man title and it's got me excited for the book again. The general criticism about Bendis' voice on the characters being very monotone actually works in a book about teenagers like this, and goes pretty unnoticed. I'd say this is one of the best stories I've seen come out of Marvel in recent history. Most mid-arc issues like this are very boring as they are just setting up the climax issue, but this one kept me entertained throughout.

Originally, I wasn't sold on the art in the new Ultimate Spider-Man book. I was so used to Mark Bagley that seeing Peter and Co. drawn any other way just didn't feel right. Now that I'm about a year into the new arc, that concern is gone. The art on the new Ultimate Spider-Man blends a fun-loving cartoony feel with an almost manga style that suits Ultimate Spider-Man very well. I hope Ultimate Spider-Man doesn't drop off the sales radar and force this title away.

Overall, I'm enjoying this book more than the parent title in the real Marvel Universe. They could take a few cues from Ultimate Spider-Man (since now with BND and OMIT, their setup is nearly identical +/- a couple of years on Peter's life). This book isn't extremely deep or a ton of action sequences, but it is a lot of fun, and because of that I recommend it wholeheartedly.

8.5/10