Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

Ultimate Spider-Man #155

By Zak Edwards
March 11, 2011 - 10:26

And so, after a few months of Ultimate titles sporting a “Death of Spider-Man” title above them we have finally got an issue that... delays it more.  That’s right, those looking for even a hint of what is to come in “The Death of Spider-Man” event that’s going to ‘rock’ the Ultimate Universe, you will have to look further than this latest issue of Ultimate Spider-Man.  Frustrating I know, but if you can look past the annoying advertising people, Ultimate Spider-Man remains one of the most consistent reads on the shelves today, almost to the point of frustration for a reviewer.  It becomes difficult to say anything at all about the series, the characters are solid, the dialogue is witty, quick, and Bendis at his best, and the book is (usually) drawn by artists perfectly suited for the mix of humour, action, teen melodrama, and genuine emotional strife this series manages to deliver almost every issue.  But is Peter Parker dead yet? No.  Is he going to be soon? Not sure.  But I have to say I have nothing but confidence in Bendis’ writing in this book.  You could almost say I’m excited at a change in the status quo, no matter how temporary.

As a side note, I would like to emphasize how much better the Ultimate Universe has been in the past few months.  The addition of Jason Aaron and Jonathan Hickman to the Ultimate line, with their Ultimate Captain America and Ultimate Thor mini-series respectively, has brought the whole universe back to a level of genuine excitement and straight up good storytelling.  Even Mark Millar has stepped up his game, bringing the Ultimate Avengers out of stupid battles with vampires and back into fighting their own messes.  So for those of you who have lost faith in the Ultimate Universe, check it out again, it’s worth a look.

But back to Ultimate Spider-Man.  This issue is about the status quo, or at least a
return to it.  After Ultimatum, Bendis shook things up a bit: Peter and Gwen were a couple, J. Jonah Jameson turned The Daily Bugle into a web newspaper and discovered Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Peter works at a fast food restaurant in the mall, and Johnny Storm, Gwen, and Iceman are now all living with Peter and Aunt May.  These things really made a mess Peter’s personal and superhero life in very good ways.  This issue has changed some of this back to the way things were.  Peter gets fired from his job only to have JJ call him up out of the blue to give him his old job back, with an added hefty scholarship, and Peter and MJ get back together.  Yes, the whole issue feels a little forced, especially Peter’s job change, but I think Bendis is reestablishing the status quo so whatever happens next intensifies, a move I think will be effective.  But besides these plot points, the series continues to be consistently great.  Peter and JJ’s long conversation is well written and relies completely on Bendis’ established characterizations and relationships.  Similarly, his birthday party is short but very sweet, again relying on Bendis’ ability to create believable and round characters readers can quickly identify and sympathize with.  That being said, I mourn the departure of Kong, the longtime fellow student of Peter Parker who probably underwent the most amount of character development in the least amount of space.  Kong was such a multifaceted character and seeing him move to Wisconsin (off screen!) is sad to say the least.  Otherwise, Bendis’ scripting only encourages my trust in the event to follow.

Guest artist Chris Samnee has a curious mix of modern and classic to his work.  The scenes are populated with people of our time but Samnee uses fairly heavy inking and shading, coupled with JJ’s awesome hat, to create an almost noir-ish look.  This is in no way a criticism, I loved the look.  Any artist who can take an issue that is essentially a long conversation and not turn it into a lot of talking heads that bore the reader has done a good job.  Smanee also has an effective muted approach to emotion, none of the characters step outside believability and for a scene between Peter and JJ, two characters who have a considerable amount of tension in a professional environment, this works for the advantage.  In a way, Samnee reminds me of former Ultimate Spider-Man artist Stuart Immonen and his handling of the dramatic scenes.  Samnee has done a great job for this issue, but I eagerly await the return of original series artist Mark Bagley next issue, for maybe the namesake of all the hype.

Grade: A-    Another amazing issue, but this isn’t news.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12