Customer Reviews

Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a big Spider-Man fan for years. I guess you could call me an old-school fan, as I've really enjoyed much of what Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and John Romita did with the character and his world back in the 60s. While waiting for the latest volume of the Marvel Masterworks series to come out, I decided to pick this up on a whim. Boy, was I glad that I did. Terrific writing and tone from Bendis and great artwork from Bagley. It was a treat to see the origin and some of the characters re-imagined for a more modern feel. The few issues that I have with the main continuity's origin were addressed and, in my opinion, fixed.

If I had a complaint, it's that some of the villain redesigns didn't work for me, especially the big bad of the first story arc. This, of course, is a taste issue and may not bother you too much.

After reading this, I felt compelled to come back on to Amazon.com, review this volume (my first one, mind you), and order the next one. I don't care that I'm late to the party - Ultimate Spider-Man is spectacular. While I'd say that the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko stories are the best place to start for people who want to get into Spider-Man (check out the Marvel Masterworks series for that), this TPB certainly isn't a bad place to go either.

This volume collects Ultimate Spider-Man issues #1-13 (the first two story arcs). As a nice little bonus, the cover art to all these issues are included as well as character concept art.

I bought this collection (#1-2) quite by chance, while I was in New York on a holiday. I had been collecting only Batman and Superman trade paperbacks, and thought I would try a Spidey one. Boy, was I pleased I did!

The story revolves around a younger Peter Parker (15 years old) who is a high school student. He is friends with MJ (Gwen Stacey comes into the picture later) and works at the Bugle as a web designer, rather than a photographer (which is a nice change). There are some other differences compared to the Spacactular/Amazing Spiderman series all which make this Ultimate Spider-man series stand out.

The art work is fantastic, great colours, shades and a very modern technique without being cartoony. The story is great and the diaglogue is often very clever and funny and I loved reading it from start to finish. This collection actually inspired me to buy some more TBP in the series (#3-6, 13).

I really recommend this collection to anyone starting out or wanting a refreshing, funny and gripping storyline with awesome art.

**NO SPOILERS**
This was one of the first books i thought Brian Michael Bendis really did a great job on characterization with every single character and other fabulous things, i mean a 50 paged first issue that is just astounding. The art is just great Mark Bagley just does a fabulous job. The only complaint about this book is how very long it is, i don't mean issue wise i mean how much dialogue is in these issues with my favorite issue being 13 because you didn't expect it to come so early. But regardless I wold recommend this book to anyone.

I am a born and bred DC Comics fan. A few years back, some friends kept bugging me to try Ultimate Spider-Man and I kept blowing it off. Finally, I saw this collection of the first few books for a decent price, and it's praise is well earned.

For those that don't know, the Marvel Ultimate Universe sort of re-interprets many of it's popular properties, with Spider-Man being the longest run. Don't know a thing about Spider-Man?? This is perfect for you. Bendis does a fantastic job of updating the story of Peter Parker for this era while cramming in the reintroduction of many popular characters.

After reading this, I went out and bought Volume 2 and then proceeded to track down volumes 5-16 of the individual trades. This is one of the fastest moving series I've read and it keeps getting better.

The Ultimate Spider-man comics in this collection are 5/5. However this book is not made of typical thick graphic novel paper. The paper instead is so thin (about newspaper thickness and consistency), that by simply reading it threatens to tear at every page turn. You cannot read on your back laying down in bed because the weak thin pages will tear. I thought this was a good deal, but it's a massive rip-off. Just buy the 6 volume collections instead, this is such an inferior product it cannot be recommended.

I think that what Bendis and Bagley have done here is simply Amazing. I think series is better than all of the other spidey titles out there. this is the first year of this title and I like it better than the individual "Arcs" that are being collected.

I collect TPB and really enjoy the Ultimate Spider-man storyline. I was glad to see this come out in paperback so that I could keep my collection uniform.

The updated story is fun and I enjoy the Peter Parker/MJ relationship. The artwork is fantastic and the banter is funny. Highly recommended.

4/5 stars for lack of content from the HC edition.

Ultimate Spider-Man retells the story of Spider-Man but in today's times. Parker is no longer a photographer but a web designer/developer at the Daily Bugle. The story is a little bit different and the characters also look different. Uncle Ben has a pony-tail, yes, you heard right! The changes in the story is actually better than the original and more tightly woven. There are less random events happening and it flows better. For instance, Osborne and Otto are colleagues and they also created the radioactive spider. The artwork is not as good. I actually prefer old-style comic book art over this new glossy, polished style. There are way too many highlights in the drawings and they all look heavily airbrushed. I wouldn't even consider it art. Mary Jane looks great, but I cannot say the same for Gwen who comes later in Volume 2. Volume one is mainly origin of Spider-Man and later dukes it out with the Green Goblin but you would not recognize him at all.

The Ultimate Spider-man series is great for anyone and I highly recommend it.

It puts a modern spin and gives a rebooted origin to Spider-man which allows newcomers to break into this series with ease.

5/5

The book was in great condition when I got it.
The only problem was the extremely slow shipping. Had to wait over a month to finally get it.

This book is a must read1 If you are a big spiderman read or just loves reading comics then you have to start reading those epic books!