Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #10

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Spider-Man meets the Kingpin… and gets his butt kicked. Amusingly, of course. Bendis makes superhero defeat humiliation amusing like no one else. Whereas Lee had defeat really hit Peter hard, Bendis just lets him roll with it, learn from it. He doesn’t give up, doesn’t even think about giving up.

Finally, Aunt May is coming into the picture–five or six issues since Uncle Ben died and, since then, her appearances have been cameos–here, it’s clear she’s going to be an important part of the book.

What’s really nice also is how Bendis doesn’t go for the cheap drama. While Peter’s worried about Liz–staring at her in class for a bit–Mary doesn’t take this attention to be some kind of slight against her (maybe she will soon, I don’t remember, but she doesn’t here).

And the close, when Peter has his eureka moment in class… nice.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #9

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Ultimate Spider-Man is kind of like Death Wish. The movie, I haven’t read the book. Let me explain.

When Uncle Ben dies, Peter goes after organized crime, since he’s already got the guy who actually did it. And there’s no connection between organized crime and Uncle Ben’s murder. Peter’s just doing it because he thinks it’s bad (organized crime). It’s naive and kind of brilliant on Bendis’s part.

He’s got his….

Oh, the Death Wish thing. When Charles Bronson’s family gets killed, he doesn’t go after their killers, he goes after crime in general.

Anyway.

Bendis has Peter Parker be the narrating protagonist of the comic, but is naive. It’s lovely. He even draws attention to naivety when Kong doesn’t understand he’s upsetting Liz (I’m not saying Bendis made that move intentionally).

It’s a fine issue–reads too fast and the Enforcers appearance isn’t particularly useful–but it’s good.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #8

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So Uncle Ben’s murder doesn’t have a name? Didn’t they give him… oh, right… Anyway, I didn’t realize we were dealing with the Joker or something here. I guess it never occurred to me (in the Lee issues, the burglar exits, Bendis uses him here as a link to the Kingpin).

This issue brings Peter to the Bugle, gets him hired (not as a photographer–also, was Peter fifteen in the originals? I assumed he was sixteen or seventeen). The young age will foul up any romance with Betty Bryant; Bendis doesn’t set it up at all.

Some stuff with the schoolmates, not a lot, more stuff with Mary, again, not a lot.

It’s funny to see what Bendis does and doesn’t spend time on, what doesn’t get a page of panels recounting fifteen to thirty seconds–don’t get me wrong, Aunt May on the phone with Jonah is fantastic.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #7

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And another half issue. Probably takes about three minutes to read. It’s not like Bagley’s art is something to be examined either, so Bendis and Marvel must have been pretty darn clear about what they were doing with this format. I mean, nothing happens… the fight finishes.

Again, some interesting elements, of course. I mean, the NYPD trying to murder Spider-Man (it’s attempted murder when you try to kill someone right?) is a little shocking; unfortunately, it doesn’t appear Bendis is going to follow up on it at all.

The Peter narration returns (they’re thought balloons, why can’t the thoughts just be in balloons) and there’s a nice wrap-up to the whole issue and event. Bendis tries very hard to give the comic book a cast, which is nice, but I just wish… there was more to it.

These issues are better read without pause in between them.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #6

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Oh, man, it’s half the best issue so far. Then it stops.

How did people stand reading this comic monthly? It’s so frustrating….

Very amusing is the open at the Bugle, however, with a full Superman: The Movie homage. It immediately softens the reader, maybe so he or she doesn’t realize there isn’t a story, just half a fight scene and a couple narrative details (Spider-Man now has his webbing and Peter quits the basketball team, impressing Mary Jane).

Harry does show up again, for the first time in a while apparently (Bendis is pretty loose with the timeline details–neither Harry nor Peter took any time off school due to family tragedies?), and hints at being very disturbed.

The Goblin’s scary looking, but in a big monstrous sort of way, not an intelligent one… which is another interesting move by Bendis. The smart villain starts out really stupid.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #5

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A two minute read. I mean, I suppose Lee and Ditko did this part of the story in two or three pages, maybe less, so it’s only appropriate it should read fast….

There’s a big logic hole here. Not really for the characters, but in what Bendis is trying to present. He flashes back to Peter remembering not stopping the robber after Uncle Ben had the talk with him. But events didn’t occur in that order. The two, in the way Bendis is trying for a connection, are somewhat unconnected.

Still, it does work, though opening with the Goblin attacking the Osborn house (so we never–Ultimate or not–get to meet Harry’s mom?), distracts from the real story.

The close with Mary Jane is solid as well, establishing a much different Peter Parker than the one Lee and Ditko created.

Tastes great, I just wish it was more filling.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #4

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Bendis recovers this issue. Maybe not in terms of pacing (when am I going to get used to “decompressed” narrative again–it’s been way too long since I read mainstream ongoings), but definitely in terms of content.

He kills Uncle Ben right after the speech, right after the “great power, great responsibility” speech. Maybe more importantly, he introduces Peter’s internal dialogue (they aren’t called thought balloons, they’re present tense narration). It goes far in making Peter likable, though his racing after Mary Jane already does some of that work.

Again, problems with the Bagley talking heads, especially during Uncle Ben’s speech. The reaction shots on Peter too, they’re way too artificial, way too static. If it weren’t for the dialogue, the scene would fail.

Oh, and interesting choice on the robber… Peter’s not in costume, he, Peter Parker, is expected to be the hero in that situation, not Spider-Man.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #3

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How many pages of ads ran in these things? Because I really do not feel like I got a full issue’s worth of story.

In Ultimate, Bendis has Peter wrestling as Spider-Man to earn money to pay for Flash Thompson’s hospital bills, anonymously helping Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Bendis juxtaposes this effort with Peter getting on the high school basketball team (in Flash’s place) and winning a game.

Also included is Mary Jane asking Peter out to a geometry “thing”–but it’s a date.

Norman Osborn shoots up the super-serum with Harry in the other room–and Doctor Octopus is there. But it’s really just two pages, one without any talking.

I think I covered everything going on in the entire issue. Except it ends with Peter getting his Spider-Man costume.

It’s not really a story. Some stuff happens.

Amazing how different it reads in issues.

200

The Dead Boy Detectives (2001) #4

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As expected, the series comes to a solid, if unspectacular, conclusion. It seems like Brubaker front-loaded a little, filling the first issue with content and having to pad a little throughout the remainder.

There’s not really much memorable about the issue, storytelling wise–it’s never clearly stated why kids can see the ghosts, for example, while adults can’t. Especially since the kids in question are jaded teen runaways, who undoubtedly are more mature than, well, lots of the adults the leads pass by undetected.

Talbot’s the star here. He’s got some amazing panels, simultaneously horrific and charming. The issue has one big action sequence and he and Brubaker match up beautifully on it… Brubaker’s writing, at the standard thriller revelation moment, is very strong. What he doesn’t do in plotting, he makes up for in his excellent scenic writing.

It’s too bad Vertigo didn’t publish more Dead Boy mysteries.

The Dead Boy Detectives (2001) #3

And here’s where there’s some more connection to The Sandman series (I think, not really knowing, but they spend some time talking about people who aren’t in this book, so I assume they’re in the Sandman book).

Again, I’m not sure how Brubaker’s writing the leads. They’re so naive, even when they’re impaired, it’s hard to believe they spend a hundred years (or whatever) watching and reading detective stories. There’s a lot of sex in them–especially since one of them makes a James Bond reference at some point in the series–and Brubaker writes them asexual.

It’s kind of cute, in that same way the art’s precious, but it cuts back severely on the characters’ potentials. Having a single goal–to be detectives–and nothing going on the back burners makes them too flat. There’s no drama to them, no conflict.

Still, it’s a solid series, just not monumental.