Ultimate Spider-man 1 Review (2024)
Summary: If you can’t tell by now, I’m in for the long haul. Outside of that nagging issue about Peter’s costume, this is the perfect way to start a book about a man who has almost everything he could want, but still feels lost. I desperately await issue 2!
4
How'd your life turn out?
WARNING: SPOILERS!!!!
Background – A day in the life of plain old Peter Parker.
Writing – I LOVE this book. Peter is married to MJ (which is the way it should be) and he has TWO kids, not just one, which unless I’m wrong is the first time outside of the Spider-girl Mayday Parker universe that two children have existed at the same time. Named after his father and Aunt May, they are just typical kids. But the most important thing here is that UNCLE BEN IS ALIVE!
In this world, Uncle Ben is alive while May has recently died in the terrorist attack that Tony was framed for. Uncle Ben surprisingly works at the Daily Bugle with Peter and Jonah Jameson and Peter. Jonah here is a revelation. He has a fantastic relationship with both Peter and Ben (although he still hilariously still runs through the hall screaming the Parker name at the top of his lungs). By the end of the issue both he and Ben are fired from the paper for digging too deep into the terrorist attack and decide to start their own paper.
We see that among thousands killed in the attack was also Norman Osborn. Peter and his family attend a memorial service as Harry Osborn gives a speech. An easter egg is dropped for us when the holy man running the service is none other than Matt Murdock, who may or may not be blind (he is wearing sunglasses but for all we know it could be because it’s sunny out.)
We also get to meet Wilson Fisk, who even in this new reality is still a not so nice fellow. He has a run in when his staff and he are attacked by a mysterious man in armor… on a glider. Hmmm…
The issue ends with Peter telling MJ that he needs a change, and we see that the night before the issue takes place, he is visited by a time displaced message from Tony Stark, Iron Lad. I was right in my review when I said, “The Ultimates” (not actually named that yet) time traveled. The message comes from 6 months in the future and tells Peter that 20 years ago he was robbed of his destiny. Apparently, as happy as Peter was, he always felt that something was missing. Peter is given a vial with the spider that was supposed to bite him and the issue ends him allowing himself to be bit and an outline of his Spider-man costume is seen super-imposed over him in the darkness of the rooftops.
Artwork – Apparently, I’m now going to have to talk about covers every time I talk about the Ultimate Universe because once again this cover is amazing. It evokes the first issue of Ultimate Spider-man by Brian Michael Bendis all those years ago, and yet somehow still feels fresh and new. At least in my eyes it literally felt like I was looking at a new Spider-man. Marco Checchetto’s art was so familiar, I had to look him up. It turns out he did the art for some of the Star Wars books, including Obi-Wan and Anakin, as well as a few runs of Daredevil, among others. His pencils are very sharp, with lots of small details that fill the pages with visual info eye candy.
All the praise aside, the one problem I have with this issue is that, while we don’t see Peter actually in costume, it has become apparent that the cover costume will be what he is wearing. One of the things that made Ultimate Spider-man so engaging and different was that Peter wasn’t just wearing an exact duplicate of his 616 outfit. It echoed it but looked and felt different. This costume literally looks the same as his 616 one, just with a lighter shade of blue (and that might just be the lighting used for the setting of the cover). I was hoping for a slightly different look, but ii guess you can’t be perfect.
Final Thoughts – If you can’t tell by now, I’m in for the long haul. Outside of that nagging issue about Peter’s costume, this is the perfect way to start a book about a man who has almost everything he could want, but still feels lost. It is time for peter to reclaim his destiny, and while it’s certain to not be easy, it is definitely going to be a hell of a lot of fun. I desperately await issue 2!
Now we just have to wait a month to see the next step in this new world when T’Challa takes center stage.
Final score: 4 out of 5
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover Artists: Marco Checchetto and Matthew Wilson
Genre: Superhero
Format: Monthly
Release Date: 01/10/24
About the Author
Matt Fischer Lover of all things nerdy. Reader of Comics for over 25 years. DC encyclopedia. X-Men historian. Spider-Man and Marvel lover. Indie side guy.
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