I forgot Ultimate Black Cat was supposed to be dead. She’s not. She’s back and she saves Peter. They make out a bit and he runs home. There’s also the fight scene at the beginning, which is rushed so Bendis can keep Hammerhead around for a while.

Let’s see, Hammerhead, Black Cat–oh, Jean DeWolfe gets a scene. And then some Ultimate Moon Knight malarkey. Aunt May, then Kingpin. Not a lot. Lots of characters, not much story. If last issue was a bridging issue, this one is Bendis turning it into a suspension bridge.

There’s a little about high school too. The issue still takes place on the day Peter walked out of class–which doesn’t seem right, but I guess it’s possible.

Oh, and Bendis loses track of Iron Fist and the Master of Kung Fu. They’re nowhere to be seen.

Bendis is really dragging things out here.

CREDITS

Warriors, Part Four; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Ultimate Jean DeWolfe is awesome and her rooftop conversation with Peter’s great–Bendis seems to realize he needs a mentor of some kind, but never keeps anyone consistently–but the issue’s sort of a waste.

Besides DeWolfe confirming the Kingpin’s read of the world is basically right and Peter should take on bad guys regardless of who informs him about them… there’s nothing going on here. Except a kung fu fight with Ultimate Iron Fist and Ultimate Master of Kung Fu versus a gang. It’s not Bagley’s fault it’s boring to read, it’s Bendis’s for giving the pair so many adversaries the art is too busy.

And then there’s another “did Peter really mess up that bad” moment before Bendis brings in Black Cat for the cliffhanger. He’s just using it as a bridge issue.

It’s not a bad issue, just a pointless one. Bendis could’ve done a lot better.

CREDITS

Warriors, Part Three; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Bendis is trying really hard this issue; I wonder if he realized how loose he’d been getting on Ultimate Spider-Man and decided to refocus his energies.

The issue opens with Peter fighting Moon Knight, which has an ominous Elektra side story and some great banter from Peter. Then there’s some Bugle stuff, then Peter goes off for his talking heads scene with Ultimate Kingpin.

After maybe the greatest moment in the comic in a while–Ultimate Elektra, master ninja assassin, chastises Spider-Man for scoping out her boobs. It’s a great moment of realism from Bendis, who’s otherwise been way too concentrated on the soap opera aspect of the series. This one moment makes Ultimate more realistic than any of his Mary Jane stuff.

The talking heads scene with Kingpin is awesome just because Bendis writes Kingpin as really smart and really evil.

It’s the best issue in ages.

CREDITS

Warriors, Part Two; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Everything goes fine in this issue until the end reveal. Ultimate Moon Knight has just about the worst costume design ever and it’s hard to make it through his one page without giggling. He looks like Marvin the Martian.

Otherwise, Bendis skips back to the beginning of his previous Mary Jane issue and follows Peter instead. It’s a nice little move, though he doesn’t announce it, which seems like déjà vu.

It’s also a Kingpin and crime story, not a Peter Parker story (not yet anyway). There’s a lot with Ultimate Kingpin being in trouble and the guys out to usurp him. Bendis handles those parts really well.

He also writes some intense stream of consciousness stuff for Peter–it’s practically a jumping on point there’s so much exposition in it–but it works. It reestablishes Peter as the comic’s lead, something Bendis has ignored lately.

Good (except Moon Knight).

CREDITS

Warriors, Part One; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

And, like he knows he needs to do something special, Bendis tries to get his groove back with a Mary Jane-centered issue. She’s dealing with Peter dumping her and meets some great older guy who Liz hooks her up with.

It’s a talking heads book at various different locations, mostly the mall and then the concert where the great older guy plays and afterwards.

It’s okay. Bendis is trying way too hard to redeem Mary Jane as a character. Kong probably even comes off better because he’s at least in character. Bendis is forcing Mary Jane to fit his narrative, which isn’t a usual problem for him.

He could have done something crazy or signifiant with this issue; instead, he’s predictable.

There’s a great moment when Mary Jane fixates on a person at the mall. It’s just there, no explanation. Only honest moment she has in the entire comic.

CREDITS

Dumped; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

There’s Nick Fury. He wasn’t watching the local news and apparently Ultimate SHIELD doesn’t care when its agents monitoring threats go missing.

It’s another all-action issue, with some expected developments towards the end.

Bendis does a bad job with everyone except Peter. Fury’s decisions are kind of dumb. He’s just here to deliver an ominous order to rid Peter of his powers, which he probably should have done sooner if he could have, right?

As for Mary Jane… Bendis seems to recognize he’s written himself into a hole. When she and Peter have their big blowout, it’s all Peter yelling and being angry and Mary Jane not talking. I had to go back and read the scene a couple times before I realized Bendis just doesn’t know what she should say to make it work.

Because it can’t work.

Bendis is careening slowly off the rails. His momentum’s gone.

CREDITS

Hobgoblin, Part Six; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Ultimate Spider-Man all action issue. Let’s see, do we have Peter’s internal dialogue going full steam? Yep. Is Mary Jane unexpectedly in danger? Yep. Is the threat lame? Yep.

First, Bendis does do a great job with the internal dialogue. Peter’s conflict over fighting Hobgoblin Harry is great. All the stuff he says? Great. But it’s ephemeral. Bendis isn’t building towards anything, just getting some words on the page in front of the fight scene. Hobgoblin’s real ugly too; not sure if Bagley’s lazy or it’s on purpose.

Mary Jane showing up is yet another wishy-washy thing Bendis is doing with her. She’s there to confront Harry, meaning she didn’t listen to Peter–who told her to stay away to stay safe.

As for Hobgoblin as a villain? He’s destroying Manhattan. Whoop-de-doo. All Ultimate villains destroy Manhattan. The heroes too.

And why’s Nick Fury M.I.A.?

CREDITS

Hobgoblin, Part Five; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Not quite a great seventy-fifth issue. It’s not bad, but Bendis is now ripping off Fight Club. He doesn’t get good mileage out of it either.

There are a couple big things this issue and not Harry always having been goblin-ready. First is Peter and May having a blow out about him going out in the middle of the night. Even though they’ve moved, Bendis hasn’t really given May any page time. She doesn’t get a lot here, but enough to reestablish herself as a force in the comic.

Then there’s the talk with Mary Jane. Yeah, Bendis is really making her out to be a twit. He’s taking away at least half her intellect, which is cheap and bad. She doesn’t even have motivation anymore; Bendis is being very wishy-washy. It hurts the comic.

The big reveal at the end–the Tyler Durden moment–is awful.

CREDITS

Hobgoblin, Part Four; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

If one believes Mary Jane’s explanations this issue–and Peter’s memory–then Bendis was laying the groundwork for the Mary Jane and Harry thing from the start.

The revelation doesn’t just hurt Peter, it hurts the reader. The reader, who knows the Osborns are bad news, who know Mary Jane is the secretly beautiful smart girl wowed with the handsome rich kid, feels the same pain Peter feels. Only the reader has been duped. Bendis can deceive Peter all he wants, it’s part of making a dramatic narrative. Deceiving the reader too? It’s a little different.

It’s calculated and cheap and incredibly affective. At this point–what with Harry setting his evil plans in motion–one has to assume Mary Jane gets into significant peril for her to become sympathetic again.

The issue hurts to read at times.

There’s also a little scene with Jeanne De Wolf towards the finish.

CREDITS

Hobgoblin, Part Three; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Eh.

Bendis delves into Harry’s return, setting him up to be a teenage supervillain. He’s rich, he’s got secrets–he now remembers all the bad stuff, thanks to a hypnotically placed phrase–and he’s probably got the Green Goblin formula.

It’s a waste of an issue though, as Bendis is showing his hand early. He’s delaying dealing with Peter and Harry; giving Harry the whole issue, but one where he’s suspicious–Bendis never gets into Harry’s mind past some nightmarish flashbacks–just primes the reader for Harry’s evil plan.

Why will Harry have an evil plan? Like father, like son? Or maybe I’m wrong and Bendis has something else planned. But he’s setting the foundation for another of the Ultimate Goblin stories. They all sort of run together and having an orange teen goblin won’t distinguish this one.

I hope I’m wrong; I hope Bendis does something interesting with Harry.

CREDITS

Hobgoblin, Part Two; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Scott Hanna; colorist, Jonathan D. Smith; letterer, Chris Eliopoulos; editors, John Barber, Nicole Wiley and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.