Customer Reviews

Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimatum

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And because, sometimes, I like to start by boring the tears out of folks, let me start with this: Marvel's Ultimate imprint, established in 2000 to draw in a new generation of comic book fans, started out as very reader-friendly. In Marvel's regular line of comic books, the featured characters have been around since the 1960s and they've all piled up a heck of an extended backstory. The Ultimate line reimagined and updated the superheroes and introduced new spins on classic storylines. This worked well for a while but guess what - continuity got all complicated again. Which means it's time to cancel the Ultimate line's most popular, not to mention its flagship, title. So ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN got the axe with issue #133. Good thing the relaunch was just around the corner.

I don't think it's really Jeph Loeb's fault, what with his getting tapped to write ULTIMATUM, the mini-series which pretty much smoked the Ultimate titles - except that I'm blaming him anyway. It's probably residual haterade I'm feeling, dating back to his crappalicious ULTIMATES 3. This trade, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN: ULTIMATUM, collects ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #3 and ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #129-133 and is the wallcrawler's tie-in to all the Ultimatum tomfoolery.

First up is the annual which has Peter and Mary Jane having a conversation about taking their relationship to the next level. Also addressed is the concern that too many people already know Spidey's secret identity. On the superhero side, the mysterious Mysterio finally debuts, and this incarnation doesn't have the fish bowl affectation, which right away makes him a much cooler evil-doer. This story features the manga-esque, cartoony-cool artwork of David Lafuente who apparently was just getting his feet wet with illustrating Ultimate Spidey.

Issue #129 centers on the just-back-from-the-dead Gwen Stacy trying to re-enroll in school. Instead she and Aunt May witness the Vice-Principal having a mini-breakdown as he rants on about how dangerous Midtown High is, what with Spider-Man being a student and mutants attending and supervillain attacks taking place on campus, blah blah blah. Johnny Storm also guest-stars and asks Peter to be his phone wing man. And then Aunt May, well, something...

#130 begins Spidey's getting caught up in the Ultimatum arc (see Ultimatum TPB - or not). What happens is that Magneto, pretty fed up with humanity, directs a massive tidal wave at Manhattan and annihilates a lot of city real state with fatalities numbering in the thousands. What I really like about Peter Parker's involvement is that we see how really insignificant his type of help is with a catastrophe of this magnitude. We see Peter frightened and panicky and feeling really, really out of his depth. He receives Charles Xavier's psychic broadcast which fingers Magneto as the culprit, but then the message cuts off, leaving Spidey even more lost at sea. All Peter can do is help as many people as he can in his immediate surrounding, and, really, his contributions count as a mere drop in the bucket. But at least we get a gratifying confession from J. Jonah Jameson who reacts to Spidey's frantic rescue efforts.

Also guest-starring the Hulk, Dr. Strange, Spider-Woman (Peter's female clone), and Daredevil (sort of). And, as if things weren't dire enough, one indirect fallout of the tidal wave is that the mystical seal of Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum is breached and demons and assorted supernatural beasties are let loose.

Off and on, we catch up to Mary Jane, Gwen, Kitty Pryde, and Kong (all of whom, along with Peter and before the wave hit, were heading out for some fun, wholesome teen shenanigans). These are good moments and present the disaster as seen from the ground level point of view of normal folks, and it makes this horrifying event hit home even closer.

There's a neat 2-paged spread of the Daily Bugle underwater with J. Jonah Jameson looking on as Spidey is outside desperately swimming with an unconscious woman held in one arm. There are other riveting, equally evocative panels in this story arc, and basically what I'm saying is that I am a big fan of artist Stuart Immonen, whose clear, simple lines I can't get enough of. I won't even bring up the fact that there doesn't seem to be enough dead bodies strewn about the place. I love the guy's art, but I guess there's another backhanded compliment in the next paragraph.

Bendis, long the master of great dialogue, opts to go without dialogue in the final issue, instead allowing Immonen to tell the story with his visuals. And maybe this conceit would've worked if Bendis hadn't done it for the final issue. As it is, I do feel a bit cheated, even though I know the new version of the Ultimate Spidey title was waiting in the wings. I'm thinking Bendis's way with words would've gone a long way to establishing that fitting sense of closure. As it is, as wonderful and evocative as Immonen's illustrations are, in this instance, he needed words to supplement the art (see, backhanded compliment).

This trade comes with an in-depth 7-paged interview with Brian Michael Bendis (well worth reading) and 2 pages of cover roughs from David Lafuente. I'm glad I found out that there was gonna be a revamped Ultimate Spidey comic book following on the heels of this one, because the nerd rage would've been off the charts if this was the way they were gonna have Ultimate Spidey go out. As it is, the way it ended, irregardless of Bendis's lack of dialogue, my appetite was actually whetted and the suspense got to me, so I couldn't wait to pick up the relaunched book. And I've read the new ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN title, and thank goodness Bendis is still at the helm, because I happen to think that this character is the one Bendis writes best (Luke Cage, coming in second). I'm still trying to come to grips with the changes he's written in (he picks up the story six months later, internal narrative time), and I'm still getting used to David Lafuente's style. And I miss Stuart Immonen. Heck, come to that, I miss Mark Bagley. Anyway, going back to this trade, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN: ULTIMATUM is a fine read, showing us young Peter Parker trying to cope as things seriously fall apart around him. He recognizes that he's woefully out of his league, but not for one moment does dude ever give up. Bendis continues to write the best, most realistically rendered, most appealing superhero around. My favorite comic book character EVER.

So this is the one story that really feels strong throughout the whole ultimatum storyline and guess who wrote it? Brian Bendis the man behind the ultimates world to begin with. The whole ultimatum thing should have been handled by Bendis and Millar. If you want to read the one gem from the terror that was ultimatum then pick up this nice conclusion to the ultimate spiderman world leading into the slightly revamped (but still awesome bendis writing) series.

Ultimatum was terrible, but Spider-Man's tie-in issues are really good. There are aspects that are hard to understand as a new reader (I'm still not sure what the story is about Spider-Woman), but Bendis basically uses these issues to let his supporting cast shine. A tidal wave destroys Manhattan, and Peter Parker's friends and family have to deal with the devastation and their own fears for his safety, and every piece works beautifully. From the funny and honest relationship conversation that Peter and MJ have just before the disaster to the silent final issue that is both unexpected and perfect from a writer with such talent for dialogue, this collection is satisfying and worth a read, especially for anyone who was disappointed by the Ultimatum event in general.

Well I guess that is not saying much since all the other Ultimatum books were weak. I really enjoyed this one though and as I have enjoyed all of the Ultimate Spider-Man's. Definilty recommend this one for any fan of the Ultimate Universe.

I know that dust cover material (other than the author bio(s)) is usually over the top. Well, in the case of this volume, they are way, way over the top. As we all know, this wasn't the end. The ending panels are classic "He's dead. Or is he?" "Jaw dropping"? Not even close. We do get to see what the "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man" world will look like: a cross between manga and cartoons. The first time I saw David LaFuente's rendition of MJ, I groaned. "Teen Titans" meets "Ultimate Spider-Man". Actually, young females suffer the most. Low foreheads abound, and in one closeup of Peter, the eyebrows are reminiscent of Groucho Marx before "You Bet Your Life".

I've never been much of a fan of Stuart Immonen's Spidey work, but after seeing LaFuente's Spidey, I'm already pining for Immonen. Being such a huge fan of Spider-Man, it's inevitable that I'll have to adjust, whether I like it or not (the first volume of "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man" has already been pre-ordered).

I just can't resist commenting about the dialog-free final issue of "Ultimate Spider-Man". Yes, Bendis picked the absolute wrong time to pull this stunt, but consider this: with no dialog, he eliminated any chance that the dialog would paint him into a corner or grossly contradict "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man". Shrewd move.

The ultimatium series is best described as " Hey cool I really like that character, oh whoops, now he's dead." If you want to see the Ultimate Universe's version of your most delighted characters crash and burn in a poorly written and paced abortion of enormous proportions, then any of the ultimatium books are for you.

To add more insult to injury, half of the Ultimatium Spider-man book is included in the March on Ultimatium collection, so nothing says fun like paying 45 bucks to get two books and then realize you really bought a book and a half at best.