I remember seeing someone say one day around the internet that if Spider-Man's origin from Amazing Fantasy #15 was done today, it would be several issues long rather than just over a dozen pages, so it was interesting to see that idea realised here. I know there's been a lot of discourse these days, over the years about the use of decompressed storytelling in comics, whether that's comics written by Bendis or otherwise, but I liked the way it was used here.
It can definitely be frustrating reading decompressed issues monthly, but when you can read multiple issues at a time in an omnibus format like this, it's satisfying watching events gradually unfold. Additionally, these days we've seen the Spider-Man origin a few times across the movies, but it was fun to see Bendis reimagine it before any of those, without their influence.
On that point, this feels like a good moment to discuss the theme of Ultimate Spider-Man as a reimagined Spider-Man run, in a completely new universe. There are elements that I thought were fantastic. I loved the focus on body horror in Doc Ock's new origin, that felt genuinely creepy and thrilling, and a nice way of retelling it in the modern day whilst keeping very, very true to his original character.
Then you have characters like Venom, to bring up body horror again it was fun to see Bendis capitalise on those elements of the symbiote, explore what it would actually be like in a more grounded Marvel universe. The spirit of the original stories with Eddie Brock is still there, but I liked how the backstory of him, and the origin of the symbiote was reinvented and weaved back into some threads and themes of the series (and the Ultimate universe in general) and how they relate to Peter.
That's a common theme you'll notice in this book if you read it. Like Eddie, when you have characters like Kingpin, MJ, Gwen, Harry, Norman etc that didn't appear until many issues into the original ASM run, it's really fun to see Bendis play out the idea of "what would it be like if they were there from the start?" He has all these elements available to him from the start, and he can choose to add them in here and there where he wants to.
So I've mentioned Doc Ock and Venom as examples of villains that are slightly reinvented here, but I think the Green Goblin is one that's changed significantly, and I love it. Norman feels more or less very similar, but I want to know how Bendis and Bagley came to the decision to completely reinvent the Green Goblin concept and design. If you're going to have this completely new original universe I love that they had fun with it in ways like that. If you haven't ever seen it, look it up! I think it's so epic, so awesome and perfectly monstrous, and now I think about it maybe speaks to the broader ideas of wide-screen cinematic storytelling in the Ultimate universe that gets talked lot about with The Ultimates.
Too often in these reviews I get lost talking about the story and ideas involved, taking a while to get round to the artwork, so I'll do that now before a final point I want to make. I absolutely love Bagley's artwork in this series, so far anyway. Sometimes the faces of MJ or Gwen look a bit... off, but that's only a small thing. I read Spider-Man: Life Story before this, so it was my first exposure to his artwork (although I had seen pages of it around the internet) and I can see why he is so beloved as a Spidey artist.
It's dynamic, expressive, with a very timeless and youthful, energetic feel to it (the timeless aspect being a useful element for Life Story but I digress). The Ultimate universe has a reputation for being very dark and gritty in an often grimey way, and I think Bagley (along with all the inkers and colorists involved) has a way of illustrating it to keep that grounded feel and atmosphere, but not in a necessarily "gritty" way that feels depressing and draining like a lot of 2000s art. You can still feel the excitement and acrobatic nature of his Spider-Man, the reds of his costume etc even when under anyone else this grounded atmosphere might run the risk of being drab and dull.
This leads back into my final point I wanted to make. I can't speak for other Ultimate series, or anything of this series beyond what I've read, but it's interesting to me the balance this walked between creating the very grounded new universe they wanted to establish, and making sure it was still fun. That it had that youthful, joyful energy we love about Spider-Man.
You can see the military and science themes as very strong aspects being introduced in the wider universe, but with Peter himself, whether that's his home, social, school or Spider-Man life, it feels real in a "making the character feel human and grounded" rather than "unnecessarily dark and gritty". You can feel Peter's personal struggles throughout the book. You can feel Doc Ock's pain and anguish.
I absolutely love the more slice of life aspects of comics, superhero or otherwise, so it was such a joy to see so much of a focus on Peter just as a normal teenager, struggling to balance everything etc etc. It feels like a cliché nowadays, but I love it all the same, especially since it's my first time reading it. It's so entertaining and thrilling to me when a fight scene with a supervillain feels just as dramatic and tense as relationship drama with MJ, or strife with Aunt May because he's not come home.
Finally, although some of it hasn't aged very well, mostly in terms of outdated language (something Invincible struggles with similarly in its early days), I definitely recommend diving into this series if you're interested, haven't already, and can handle some of the outdated aspects (though I'll add it's completely okay if you can't and it's not for you).
Like I said about Bagley's art itself, this series as a whole is a beloved classic for a reason.
If you want more of Joe's comic thoughts and reviews, you can find him on Twitter @JoeLovesComics and on the League of Comic Geeks also @JoeLovesComics.
You can also find his podcast on Twitter @JoeTalksComics, which you can listen to through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify, or you can click those hyperlinks directly.
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