Ultimate Spider-Man V. 2 (#8-13) – Learning Curve

Brian Michael Bendis/Mark Bagely

This is another set of stories I'm vaguely familiar with, having read the issues when Marvel first experimented with posting full comics on its website. It's been quite a while since reading them, though. I'll admit that, at first, I was less than enthralled with the Kingpin storyline, even if Peter's high school and family life remained entertaining. But Bendis won me over with some pretty bold story choices and his incredible ability to balance and integrate Peter's personal life into the stories.

As mentioned, the actual Kingpin plot did start off a bit weak for me. Through a wordless scene, Peter makes a connection between the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, and his Uncle Ben's murderer, in an online search. This sets Peter on the path to investigate Fisk. But, for me, that motivation and the linkage Peter makes were just not made clear enough here. Peter embarks on this mission, and, due to the weak motivation, it starts off seeming like a way to showcase new Ultimate characters. It's not helped by the introduction of the Enforcers, introduced with an overload of Bendis' trademark banter, which can irritate on the best of days. Peter, as Spider-Man, gets some insider information on a fundraiser Fisk is holding, and decides to do even more investigating. He seems to be going to great lengths to put himself in danger, and, for me, the motivation wasn't fully there. I get that he's an impulsive kid, and he's been able to make a tenuous connection to his uncle's killer, but I don't think it was enough to justify these lengths.


The third part of this story thankfully brings a strong upswing in quality, thanks to a chilling encounter between Spider-Man and Fisk. Peter is grabbed, abused, unmasked, and tossed out a window in short order. I love that Bendis gets the unmasking over with so quickly and almost casually; it's a slap in the face to all of those stories that have used it as a cliffhanger or huge dramatic moment. The whole sequence shows that Peter is still new at this. He's gotten out of his depth and is playing with forces much greater than him. There's no holding back on this point and no attempt to glamourize Peter's exploits as a hero. From this point on, Peter has motivation to continue his pursuit of Fisk - it seems to be a mix of redemption, getting even, having his ego bruised. Bendis isn't afraid to mix Peter's superhero pain with his personal problems in the scenes directly following this. In this way, he gives both aspects of the book, and that gives this book its richness.

The rest of the story plays out in a more action-oriented way, albeit with Bendis showing Peter using his tactical intelligence to outsmart and entrap Fisk and get back into his facility. Part of the fight scenes have Peter confront Fisk's lackey, a fairly different looking version of Electro, who had briefly appeared earlier in the story. Bagely does a great job here, with a dynamic battle scene bathed in red light. But I'm almost thinking Electro's inclusion was unnecessary, particularly as the arc already has Fisk, who has been established as a ruthless opponent, willing to crush the head of an earlier dissenter. Perhaps Bendis trained me too well with the slow burn of the opening arc, but Peter facing only one Ultimitized opponent in this arc would have worked just fine. This also applies to the Shocker, who appears in the trade's opening scene as a thief Spider-Man stops, but that's all fairly harmless to the overall story.

I will say that the battle scenes, against Electro, the Enforcers, and Fisk, which take up a large part of the final two issues, never feel padded or stretched out like issue 6 and 7's Green Goblin battle. They feel more like catharsis for the pain and humiliation Peter experience and are deftly paced and presented to us. There is still danger in these scenes - getting away from Fisk, especially when on his home turf, isn't a cake walk - and it makes the fights more effective.

Throughout all of this, Bendis expertly weaves in scenes of Peter's personal life. As mentioned, the problems he faces in his personal life are put on a similar level as his superhero problems. In general, these tend to be the best elements of the book. There's strong work being done with Aunt May here. Bendis explores her relationship with Peter after Ben's death with real pain and vulnerability coming through. I also like the attempt to make her a bit younger, with a mention of having to work thrown in (as well as her overall demeanour). The Daily Bugle is properly introduced as a part of Peter's life, as he begins selling Spider-Man pictures to them, while helping Betty Brant with web design. Some of the dialogue from these characters can be over the top, but Bendis seems to settle into it and deliver some worthwhile scenes. The strongest is when Peter openly questions Jonah on why the paper has to run negative Spider-Man stories. It's these types of moments, where Bendis makes a bold character choice and sticks with it, that the book truly shines. Peter's relationship with Mary Jane continues to develop, with an aborted date subplot running through the issues. Bendis has done a good job differentiating her from her classmates, so that her attraction to Peter feels believable. Here, we also get an abrupt intro to Liz Allan, with an unexpected twist that the Spider-Man/Goblin battle at Midtown High has shaken her up. It's a persistant, almost ominous element in the story, and it's certainly an interesting addition.

The trade concludes with a single issue story, in which Peter reveals his double life to Mary Jane. For me, it was almost a showcase of how this Peter is different from the main Marvel Universe Peter. It's a bold direction for Bendis to take so early, and I like what it shows us. This Peter is a real teenager, excited, scared, and confused about his new role. It makes sense that, earlier in the trade, the first time Spider-Man gets in the way of his date with MJ, he ponders just telling her then. It's realistic that he would make such a hasty choice to end the problem. And when he tells her, it lays the foundation for him to develop a relationship built on truth. For all the fun of Peter breaking dates when duty calls, this interpretation offers the most potential for growth. The issue does feel light at times, but it's generally excellent, with dialogue and interaction between the leads that is taut and believable. The relationship is allowed to build naturally, and the friendship at the core of it is evident. There is also a funny bit with May thinking they are fooling around in Peter's room, which persists, but doesn't overwhelm, throughout the issue. Bagley conveys emotion very strongly in this issue, and the trade as a whole, with a strong use of close-ups, interlocked panels of facial expressions, and more use of bigger panels to allow his pencils to be dynamic, and not cramped.

The trade ends with a spread of Peter, who has fallen back on his bed, full of joy over both his relationship with MJ and the choice he's made to tell her he's Spider-Man. It's a beautiful image by Bagely and it demonstrates the strong, confidant voice Bendis has brought to this interpretation of the character. He's making some decisions to do things differently in this version, with a strong command of the character throughout. Outside of some plot mechanics early on, this is an excellent second collection.

Iron Man V. 3 #1– “Looking Forward” (December 1997)

Kurt Busiek (writer) Sean Chen (pencils) Eric Cannon (inker)

Synopsis: Iron makes his triumphant return from the Heroes Reborn pocket universe, foiling an armed attack on a trading company. Meanwhile, the media is abuzz over whether or not the newly-returned Tony Stark will seek to regain control of Stark Enterprises, which was sold to Fujikawa, Inc. in his absence. Tony holds a return party in his newly-purchased Stark Tower, at which the topic is also one of discussion. Tony later goes to investigate the site of a housing project run by the Maria Stark Foundation, intended for victims of the Onslaught attacks. While there, a group of mercenaries called the Death Squad attack. Tony puts on the Iron Man suit and quickly takes out each opponent, with the housing project destroyed in the process, and Tony torn over the toll of his Iron Man role. He calls a press conference the next day, announcing the formation of a new consulting company, Stark Solutions, and his decision not to pursue Stark Enterprises. He then plays a taped message from Iron Man, warning Tony and Iron Man’s enemies off, as a variety of figures react to the press conference.

Subplots: At Tony’s party, Pepper Potts dodges a comment about her husband Happy Hogan’s whereabouts; James Rhodes announces his new marine salvage company, Rhodes Recovery; The Death Squad have been hired to kill Tony, but their employer remains a secret.

The reactions to Tony’s press conference: Sunset Bain gets her employees hard at work at developing a project for Tony at her company Baintronics; MODOK gathers AIM agents to destroy Tony; Madame Masque plots against Tony, as do the Controller and the Mandarin.

Notes: This is the first issue of the third volume of Iron Man. The first ended when Iron Man (along with a large number of other Marvel heroes) sacrificed their lives to stop Onslaught at the end of that summer 1996 crossover. Volume 2 took place in the Heroes Reborn pocket universe, where the thought-dead heroes lived out alternate versions of their lives, and ran for a year. Following their return in the Heroes Reborn: The Return mini-series, Iron Man, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Captain America were all relaunched in new volumes.

Alex Ross and Allen Bujak are credited “for their armor design contributions” for Iron Man’s new suit.

In order to explain his disappearance during Heroes Reborn, Tony tells the press he was kidnapped by terrorists and forced to design weapons for them, until he was rescued when Iron Man returned. He was believed dead during his absence.

Notable guests at Tony’s party include Foggy Nelson, his mother Roselind Sharpe, Norman Osborn, Sunset Bain, Tony’s cousin Morgan Stark, Pepper, Rhodey, and Psylocke.

First appearance of the Death Squad, which includes Firefight, Rocket-Launcher, Airborne, Smokescreen, and Boobytrap. They escape at the end of the fight, after remaining silent on the name of their employer.

Stark Solutions is introduced as an all-purpose consulting company, available for any and all clients. All proceeds will go to the Maria Stark Foundation for reconstruction projects.

Thoughts: Kurt Busiek debuts what I assume will be his vision of the Tony Stark character, one characterized by benevolence, guilt over years spent wasting his money, and a desire to give back. This is an interesting direction to take the character in, but it’s a little too aggressive on that angle here. Tony spends too many pages either wallowing in his inability to make a difference or delivering a tortured monologue over the destruction of the housing project. I understand that characters need to grow, and this is a good direction for Tony to start moving in, but the break is too clean. There’s almost no aspect of the charming, brazen playboy here.

That said, this is still a strong debut issue. And I think Busiek still writes the lead character well. As Iron Man, there’s a joy to his dialogue that is refreshing. During the battle scenes, Busiek makes heavy use of narration, but it works. There’s a great effort made to show how in tune Tony is with the abilities of his armour and with his surroundings, through the armour. It makes the battle scenes much more interesting, especially when Iron Man is essentially facing two groups of boring mercenaries. But the situations Busiek is setting up are still interesting, with an unidentified employer setting enemies against Iron Man and Stark Solutions as a setup which can open a lot of story opportunities.

Sean Chen provides a fluid, simple look for Iron Man’s suit and action scenes, where he is particularly strong. Some of the figures are a bit stiff throughout, but are rounded by strong colours from Liquid! Graphics and inks from Cannon. It’s a crisp, attractive package, overall.

Ultimate Spider-Man V. 1 (#1-7) – Power and Responsibility

Brian Michael Bendis/Mark Bagely

I've decided to take the entire Ultimate Spider-Man series out from Toronto Public Library and make my way through it. I've only ever read the first three arcs, and those were from the days Marvel used to post the issues on its website. I actually quite liked it back then, but it's been many years, and my exposure to the title has been sporadic since then. The appeal of having the entire, lengthy series available to read in sequence, for free, was too much to pass up.

This first volume is largely taken up with Bendis and Bagely retelling, in a highly stretched-out format, Spider-Man's origin. This volume collects seven issues, the first five of which comprise the origin. The merits of stretching it out to this extent have been debated over the years, but, for me, those five issues were as good as it gets for superhero comics. There are so many reasons why the origin story in Amazing Fantasy#15 needed a bigger canvas, and this re-imagining of Spider-Man is the perfect opportunity to turn that one issue into a well-paced, dramatic coming of age story.

We need these extra issues, first and foremost, to get to know Peter and his world better. Bendis uses the issues to introduce us to a brainy and reclusive Peter, and slowly show how his powers draw him out of his shell. We get a full picture of Peter and his role in his world, and then watch as he changes. There's a realistic picture here of a nerdy high school student who has an opportunity to change and shove his former image and pain down his oppressors’ throats. The scenes where Peter inadvertently hurts Flash or Kong are cathartic and the recurring motif of him breaking his desk at school is another great bit; he's demonstrating his strength, but in a clumsy and embarrassing way that just makes him a further target of his bullies. The strongest element of Peter lashing out is when he turns on his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, blaming their timid natures for him being seen as a loser. It's an entirely "bratty teenager" thing to say, accompanied by him storming off, but it's such an honest moment, showing the true pain he's felt all of these years, that it really stands out. Bendis does a very good job showing what the discovery of powers would be like for someone in Peter’s position. It feels real and its given adequate space to develop as a satisfying plot thread.

The extra issues are all crucial to give readers more time to see Peter's relationship with his aunt and uncle, before the latter is killed and the familiar origin events take place. We have so rarely seen the couple interacting, and Bendis wisely de-ages them slightly, so that they seem a bit younger and more vital in their scenes. Yes, Ben's pony tail is perhaps a bit too much, but both characters seem more real because they're not Peter's impossibly old caretakers anymore. Their attempts to reach out to Peter - whether he is responding to or lashing out at them - feel real and their frustration when he pulls away is well-conveyed. Bendis wisely chooses Peter's rebellion as the impetus for Ben to deliver the "great power and responsibility" speech. It's connected to Peter's dead father, well-timed, and speaks to so much more than just Peter catching the criminal. It speaks to Peter's changing behaviour since getting his powers, and it works as an important moment for both characters. Ben's death, and the events, surrounding it, also benefit from the extra space. Not only do we really know the character, but the ability for Bendis to have several wordless scenes and extended character reactions to Ben's murder benefit this story element so much.

Bendis is also building a tapestry for Peter's world from the very beginning, which he uses the opening five issues to really flesh out. The biggest element is Norman Osborn, who is present from even before Peter gets his powers, and is indirectly responsible for that incident. Although the character’s villainy and scheming is plain as day, I still think Bendis does a good job with him and I appreciate how he and Peter's origins are linked from the beginning. The intrigue of Norman investigating Peter is a continuing thread through these issues, and actually makes for a nice change of pace from the high school scenes. They also temper some of the scenes where Peter discovers his powers, adding a sinister element. The accident where Norman gets his powers is a jarring element in the middle of Peter's journey. It's a flash of violence and a wake-up call to the greater dangers surrounding Peter.

Otto Octavius is also present, with the hint that he too is tied to the accident that give Norman his powers, Captain Stacy shows up when Ben's killer is discovered, and, most importantly, Mary Jane is present from the start. Having her for Peter through his bullying is an important way to create a relatable friend for him. Her role as a love interest is hinted at here, but she's more of a friend, and the wonderful scene where she comforts Peter after Ben's death is one of the virtues of stretching the origin out to five issues.

Honestly, the only element of the origin issues that doesn't wholly work is the familiar wrestling element. I understand that it's a key component of Spider-Man's origin, but it's initially a bit jarring. I guess I just don't buy that a group of supposedly cool teenagers would take time to go to this basement wrestling challenge. It just doesn't jive with what I think this type of teens would do with their time, or even care about. Once we get over that hump, and Peter becomes a contender, it serves its role and works just fine. It never shakes off the feeling that it's all occurring in some backroom basement. As I said, it serves its purpose, but it just wasn't re-imagined by Bendis and Bagely enough for me to really love it.

After the five stellar origin issues, this trade is capped with two issues of Spider-Man fighting with Norman, who emerges in a new, hulking, grunting Green Goblin form. I hope I'm not out of place in saying I didn't enjoy these two issues nearly as much. I understand that Bendis has to get the series moving, but this is a big change of pace from the opening arc. The focus is on Peter getting into battle with Norman. It feels like the creative team is rushing into this element of the series too quickly, but at the same time it feels dragged out. Was it necessary to stretch the battle scene out over two full issues? The trauma and immediacy of Ben's death almost feels behind the title. Obviously, the pain is not leaving the character, but it's very clear some time has passed. Again, it's obvious Bendis has to get the show moving, and I'm okay with that, but it's a bit jarring when coupled with the first five issues of this trade.

I also have no love for the Green Goblin beast. Gone is the potential for Norman to be the scheming, manipulative villain we know him for (and we see prior to this change). He's replaced by a grunting and hissing beast who is purely a physical threat for Peter. All we get out of this Norman is a well-drawn battle scene, but none of the stronger elements that Norman can bring as an opponent. I'm also not feeling Harry Osborn's character at this point. Maybe I'm ruined by the movies, which actually came out after this, but his portrayal as the too-cool guy who befriends Peter feels too formulaic. And his problem with his father seems to solely hit the expected beats and not really go anywhere interesting.

There are some good things in these two issues, however. Bendis provides us with a quick introduction to J. Jonah Jameson, Ben Urich, and the Daily Bugle staff, in a fun opening scene with potential for more exploration. There's also a great bit where we see how Peter has to plan his escape from his classmates when the Goblin attacks, so as not to arouse suspicion that Spider-Man goes to Midtown High. It fits right in to the realism that the Ultimate line goes for, and is blatantly trying to be clever, but I'll give Bendis credit that it worked.

I've yet to mention Mark Bagely's art. He certainly sets the tone for the entire series with his work here. Any time the panels open up, and there is opportunity for splash pages, big character movement, and big expressions, the art is lively and dynamic, with his signature angular style evident throughout. He also brings a youthfulness to the cast and characters. Peter looks his age, particularly in the Spider-Man costume, where there is a real feeling that a 15 year-old is in this costume and learning to use his powers. In fact, the scenes of Peter learning about his powers, which are usually wordless, are some of the trade's finest. The panels are bigger, the visual storytelling carries the scene, and Bendis usually pulls back on the dialogue, allowing Bagely to visually show Peter's enthusiasm and excitement. He also really pulls off the battle scenes with Norman, livening up a two-issue battle scene. His art can suffer a bit in the smaller panels, when too many characters are present, because his art doesn't lend itself to a cluttered look. Still, Bagely sets the youthful, visual tone of the book, and does a great job with doing it.

Overall, I was incredibly happy with this opening trade, even with my disappointments in the final two issues. Bendis took a chance with his presentation of Spider-Man's origin, and it greatly paid off. The extra space afforded to the origin created a great story. I had reservations over rushing into Peter's battle with Norman, but I'll give Bendis credit, as he's created a world and now can move forward with covering Peter's journey.