Customer Reviews

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 18: Ultimate Knights (v. 18)

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"Ultimate Knights" was the last story arc on "Ultimate Spider-Man" that writer Brian Michael Bendis and penciler Mark Bagley did together in establishing a new record for most consecutive issues done by a writer-artist team (the previous record had been Stan Lee and Jack Kirby doing the first 102 issues of "The Fantastic Four"). Volume 18 of these "Ultimate Spider-Man" trade paperback collections contains issues #106-110, and knowing it is the last story arc by Bendis and Bagley (inked by Drew Hennessy) together makes me think that explains why they throw so many Ultimate Marvel superheroes into the mix for this last roundup. I have to say that I thought there were too many superheroes running around in this one and that they overly complicate the end game that is the payoff here.

As the cover indicates, we start off with Daredevil, who back in "Ultimate Spider-Man Annual" #2 had warned our young hero off of trying to be a teenage superhero. Now, as his alter ego, lawyer Matt Murdock, Daredevil offers Spider-Man to be in on an opportunity to help take down Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime in New York City. That leads to a meet of a group that includes not only Daredevil but also Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Dr. Strange, and Moon Knight. The plan is to send Moon Knight, or rather Ronin, a new aspect of his fractured personality, undercover as a new hit man for the Kingpin and infiltrate the crime organization with the goal of bringing it and the Sidney Greenstreet-clone at the top of it down. The problem is that Moon Knight is so submerged in his Ronin persona then when the Kingpin order's him to capture Spider-Man, that is exactly what he does.

The high point of this story ends up being a very interesting little talk between Fisk and Peter, in which the Kingpin makes it clear that he "owns" Spider-Man in a way that young Peter Parker could never have imagined. On the one hand "Ultimate Knights" does not really have a counterpart in the original "Amazing Spider-Man," but it does resonate off of what has happened the past year with Marvel's "Civil War," where so many secret identities have been revealed. Bendis and Bagley deal with what happens to essential loners like Spider-Man and Daredevil when somebody like the Kingpin knows who they are; there is an inherent limitation in that superheroes never just go out and kill the people who know their secret identity, although convenient deaths often become a part of the equation. But not with Bendis and Bagley, who feel compelled to find a more creative way to maintain the equilibrium of their characters in a chaotic world. Besides, this one ends with a nice little ironic twist and you know how much I like irony.

Ever since "Ultimate Spider-Man" hit the century mark the problems created by those who know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man have become more prominent. Now that Aunt May knows that changes a lot of things, and the next major story arc, "To Kill a Goblin," is going to deal with what Norman Osborn intends to do about Peter being Spider-Man. On the romantic front, Kitty Pryde has left the X-Men and the Xavier Institute and enrolled at Midtown High, to the surprise of Peter and the anger of Mary Jane. However, that is all backburner stuff for now because Spider-Man has more pressing concerns. Finally, I must say that it strikes me as strange that this volume does not include issue #111, "The Talk," which was a stand-alone story and the last one drawn by Mark Bagley before Stuart Immonen took over the penciling chores on the title (actually the two took turns penciling #111). That transitional issue works better as a coda to Bagley's run on the book than as a prelude to the start of Immonen's gig.

NO SPOILERS:To be honest, the Ultimate Knights storyline throughout the course of spider-man was the most boring for me. The interaction between Spidey, Moonknight, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Shang-Chi was for the most part unexciting in previous volumes. The larger SHIELD plots and Doc Ock storylines always put those charcters to shame. However, in this volume we get a much better story out of these characters. Their indeliberate team-up was very dysfunctional, which made it extremely entertaining. Each character has a separate and important motivation, which contributes to a solid balanced whole that is the Ultimate Knights. Some characters are anti-heroes and don't always do the right thing, but you will be guessing who those people are till the end. The mystery, balance, and depth of the characters made this a fascinating read.

I didn't think Bendis had any good Spidey stories left in him, but he proved me wrong. Ultimate Knights is way better than the Moonknight storyline, in fact it may be one of the best. While previous team-ups with these characters caused me to never want to see it again, I am now wanting much much more.

.........the edition I just finished had issue 111 in it. And it rocked.

Now I need Vol 19. Lets go. Now

I never liked the OTT portrayal of Spiderman as a 15-16 year old teenager. The dialogue is always just a bit too goofy and almost campy. Here he is developing a relationship with MJ, whilst trying to breakup with Kitty Pryde and still fighting and winning against world-class baddies. It just doesn't ring true.

Naturally, the drawings are a cross between manga and mainstream, big soulful eyes etc and lots of "mie" takes as in Japanese manga to express emotions. Perhaps they can use emoticons to simplify this approach?

The plot here is a gathering of several superheroes to try to take down the Kingpin. Daredevil is the brains behind this scheme and Spiderman is the moral authority, clarifying his vigilante stance of not going for capital punishment. Shang chi is poorly depicted, Iron Fist is the stooge, and Dr Strange is a joke. What I can't understand is why, with all that talent, they introduce a 3rd rate superhero Moonknight to be the infiltrator of the Kingpin's organisation?

They might as well make this another chummy supergroup, call them the Underrators or something like that.

Given the dialogue, thought processes, it will appeal to a younger segment of the reading public.

Spidey teams up with Daredevil, Shang, Iron Fist, Moonlight, and Dr Strange to bring down Kingpin. Even Kitty Pryde lends a hand. The fight is only somewhat interesting. The most interesting part of the book is deeper insight into Moonlight's multiple personalities.