Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 7: Irresponsible (Paperback)

by Brian Michael Bendis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An all-new villain explodes on the scene, literally! But how can Spider-Man fight a new mysterious foe named Geldhoff if he can't even find a costume? And will Peter and Mary Jane finally just say what they feel?! Guest-starring the Ultimate X-Men.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785110925
• ISBN-13: 978-0785110927
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #222,844 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 7 in The Ultimate Spider-Man Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Actually, this one is more about conversations than action, December 9, 2003

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"Ultimate Spider-Man: Irresponsible," reprints issues #40-45 of "Ultimate Spider-Man." This seventh volume in the reprint series shows one of the strengths of this series, which goes back and retells the story of Spider-Man, starting Peter Parker off a bit younger, having Mary Jane around from the beginning, and taking several issues to tell each story. For the most part these stories have played off what happened the first time around, but that is not the case with "Irresponsible."

This story arc by writer Brian Michael Bendis, penciler Mark Bagley, and inker Art Thibert, finds Peter Parker with two problems. First, he and Mary Jane have broken off their relationship, which has effectively ended their friendship as well. Second, after his battle with Venon, his costume has been ruined (at least he did not lose it this time). He has jury-rigged a mask, but the eye lens keeps falling out. Then while hanging out with all the kids one night, he sees Geldoff, a foreign exchange student who makes cars explode (by looking at them). Things start going better for Peter (he makes up with MJ and she makes half a costume for him), and then he confronts Geldoff.

What I like about this story arc is that Spider-Man and Geldoff have a big argument over whether or not Geldoff is a mutant. Spider-Man thinks it is obvious but Geldoff rejects the idea. Then the X-Men show up. Actually, it would be the female members of the X-Men. Eventually they get around to action, but the most fun in this story arc are the conversations Spidey has with Geldoff and the X-Women. Given that it is interesting that issue #45, "Guilt," consists mainly of Aunt May having a session with a psychiatrist over her feelings about Peter disappearing all the time and that horrible Spider-Man person, running around in his pajamas and doing whatever he wants.

"Irresponsible" does not really make sense to me as a title for this collection of stories. For most of these issues the key factor are the conversations that Peter, Spider-Man and Aunt May have with others. Bendis gets a large portion of the credit that normal this time around, especially because he provides a nice mix of heavy conversations and comic dialogue (Kitty Pryde has a crush on Spider-Man, the first non-mutant superhero she has ever met). Even without a big name Spider-Man villain (the Kingpin shows up for the next story arc), "Irresponsible" flesh out the "Ultimate Spider-Man" characters in some interesting and fun ways.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty colorful, March 30, 2004

By	"barracudaman232" (St.Paul, MN, USA) - See all my reviews

This book was more focused on the characters themselves then the fights. Of course there was some action, but this one explains to you some things. Like way May Parker is always high strung and "pushes" Peter away. Spiderman meets the X-men, and there's some funny things that happen as result. The reason I like this comic somewhat more then Venom (the issue before this one) is because this one has INTERESTING dialogue, more tasteful then Venom. One of the things that makes Ultimate Spider-man such a good comic is the back and forth talking. Like real conversations, not one-person yalking off about how powerful they are. The relationships are complex, unlike most comics.

Another reason I liked this comic is things actually go relatively smoothly for Peter. His relationship with aunt May improves (wow!). He and M.J. are back together, and stuff. It's not all sunny-sunny, (thank you, Bendis!). I just wish there was more pow-smash stuff.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ultimate spidey= one of the best series out there, February 2, 2007

By	mark twain (ramakandraazanionipot, thai) - See all my reviews

ultimate spider-man by bendis and bagley is one of the best series out there. not as much action and non-stop bad guy fighting, but a good mix of that and a lot of peter parker being a teenager with problems (girls, bullies, being grounded, etc.) along with his spidey life.
the series is great great great. only a few minor things that could be better:
1. i don't like how nick fury comes in and tells spider-man he's going to work his whole life for him and shield. the idea of peter being...trapped in a web? haha...well it isn't too cool. superheroes need to fight the good fight because they want to, not because shield will go and take away their superpowers (as fury has threatened) if they don't comply. plus the issues where the ultimates come in aren't that great, the whole series gets hijacked by them and not a lot of spidey. imo, the ultimates are easily the worst part of the ultimate universe. beyond ultimate spider-man and the ultimate fantastic four the ultimate universe isn't too great.
2. bendis needs to cut down on the tuchas talk. seriously if parker grew up in nyc today he'd more likely speak spanglish than yanglish.
3. geldoff.