By Brian Michael Bendis, David LaFuente, Sara Picheli, Joёlle Jones, Jamie McKelvie, Skottie Young & Chris Samnee (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-486-7
Marvel’s Ultimates sub-imprint began in 2000 with key characters and concepts retooled to bring them into line with the tastes of modern readers – a potentially discrete and fresh new market from the baby-boomers and their descendents content to stick with the universe which had sprung from the fantastic founding talents of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Stan Lee – or most likely – one unable or unwilling to deal with the five decades (seven if you include the Golden Age Timely tales retroactively co-opted into the mix) of continuity baggage that had accumulated around the originals.
Eventually this darkly nihilistic alternate universe became as continuity-constricted as its predecessor and in 2008 the cleansing event “Ultimatum†culminated in a reign of terror which apparently (this is still comics, after all) killed dozens of super-humans and millions of lesser mortals.
Although a huge seller (for modern comics at least) the saga was largely slated by the fans who bought it. The ongoing new “Ultimatum Comics†line quietly back-pedalled on its declared intentions, quietly soldiering on without “mentioning the war…â€
The key and era-ending event was a colossal wave that inundated the superhero-heavy island of Manhattan and this latest compendium (assembling issue #15 of the post-Tsunami Ultimate Comics Spider-Man series and #150-155 of the same comicbook after it reverted to its original pre wash-rinse-reset-spin-cycle numbering) continues the superhero soap opera of young survivors readjusting to their altered state.
However time is a great reconciler and now the revitalised imprint is slowly gaining ground and winning favour as this third collection of the other Wallcrawler surely attests.
Peter Parker is fifteen (but looks 12), the perennial hard-luck loser kid: a secretive yet brilliant geek just trying to get by in a world where daily education is infinitely more trouble than beating monsters and villains. Between High School and slinging fast food (Burger Frog is his only source of income since the Daily Bugle drowned) he still finds time to fight crime although his very public heroics during the crisis have made him a beloved hero of police and citizenry alike – which is the creepiest thing he has ever endured.
He lives in a big house with his Aunt May and despite his low self-esteem inexplicably has stellar lovelies such as Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson (his ex-squeeze) and others seemingly hungry for his scrawny bod. He even briefly dated mutant babe Kitty Pride: remember when not having a girlfriend was the very definition of “loser�
Many kids were made homeless after the deluge and with schools and accommodation stretched to breaking point, May Parker opened her doors to a select band of orphaned super-kids like the Human Torch, Iceman and even the troubled – and tempting – Gwen, all living anonymously in the relatively unaffected borough of Queens.
At the end of the previous volume a shapeshifting villain replaced Parker, virtually assaulting both Mary Jane and Gwen and committing crimes as Spider-Man whilst the real Peter and J. Jonah Jamison languished in captivity. During their eventual escape the ruthless publisher deduced Parker’s Arachnid identity and got shot in the head. Now with super-spy organisation S.H.I.E.L.D taking charge of the aftermath Peter finds his fate in the hands of a bunch of take-charge adults who think they know what’s best for him…
The grown-ups, including Government super-team Ultimates Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, decide to teach him how to be a proper hero, so not only does the poor kid have to untangle the mess the Chameleons made of his turbulent love-life, but Peter has to go to a “summer school†where he’s the only pupil…
Meanwhile at his regular school old enemy Bombshell – another jailbait hottie – enrols in his class, claiming she’s turning over a new leaf just as Mary Jane and Gwen face off resulting in one of them running away from home…
Meanwhile extreme burglar Black Cat and criminal mastermind Mysterio have come to an impasse regarding a piece of property previously owned by the recently murdered Kingpin. Unfortunately the Zodiac Key is an extinction-level artefact activated by thought so as they struggle for it whole chunks of New York are vaporised.
Having drawn the short-straw Iron Man is Spidey’s reluctant mentor when the disaster hits and the two supremely outclassed science-geeks are all that’s available to save the day in a crisis which could end the Earth itself…
In the aftermath Peter and once nemesis Jonah Jamison strike an unexpected deal and all Peter’s girl problems converge as Gwen, Mary Jane and Kitty Pryde attend his sixteenth birthday party. It all ends on a remarkably happy note but this volume is, after all, only a prelude…
As ever these stories are as much about the tribulations of growing up as saving the world and writer Bendis superbly blends comedy, teen angst, melodrama and frantic action in a seamless stream of clever scenes and thrilling set pieces, all superbly illustrated by David LaFuente, Sara Picheli, Joёlle Jones, Jamie McKelvie, Skottie Young & Chris Samnee to produce one of the most enjoyable takes on the wall-crawler in decades.
This series is constantly improving and always offers marvellously compelling and enjoyable costumed drama that easily overcomes its opportunistic origins. An absolute must for every fun-loving jaded superhero fan…
™ and © 2011 Marvel Entertainment LCC and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. A British edition released by Panini UK Ltd.