I have so many mixed emotions about the death of Ultimate Spider-Man. I picked up issue number 160 after I read that it was indeed true that Marvel was going to knock off their kid Spider-Man seemingly for good (although in comics you never know, but this has a feel of being permanent). Truth be told, I'm very sad about this.
This one is personal for me. Ultimate Spider-Man is the title that got me back into reading comics when I was in college. I'd been at school over a year, when I walked to the local comic shop in Radford, Va. and asked the owner what was a good title for someone to read who was looking to get back into comics. The owner, an older guy, pointed to an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, which at that point had reached it's second issue. I asked the owner if he had the first issue.
"Nope," he said. "Sold out quick."
I didn't understand the process of a Spider-Man comic selling out. Especially a new series. The continuity in Spider-Man was such a jumbled up mess that I'd given up on it back in high school. But that was the point the owner of the shop was making to me. This was a fresh start, a new universe within Marvel called the "Ultimate universe" which was giving Marvel a chance to give modern updates to their classic characters. Case in point, in this "Ultimate universe" Peter Parker is a young high school kid. I liked that and decided to give it a shot, especially when I saw that it was being drawn by Mark Bagley, my favorite Spider-Man artist.
I had no idea who Brian Michael Bendis was at the time, but little did I know that I was about to start reading a series written by someone who continues to be considered one of the best writers in the business. Bendis' take on Spider-Man was new, refreshing and original with slight tributes to the many Spidey stories that had come before.
I would go on to read Ultimate Spider-Man for the next four years, never missing an issue. I eventually stopped around the 50th issue, but even when I was no longer picking up the title every month, I'd still take peaks at what was going on if I saw an issue on the stands. That was how much I cared for the character.
Bendis' take on Peter Parker in Ultimate Spider-Man is one for the ages. It may not be Marvel's real universe, but this version of Peter is one that would be required reading for anyone I was trying to introduce to Spider-Man. And that's why it sucks so much that he's gone, but he does go out with a bang, and of course, saves lives in the process.
As for the comic itself, Peter takes a bullet to the body protecting Captain America (doesn't he have a shield for these types of situations?). Wounded he must then take on a suped up Green Goblin (who in the Ultimate universe is a mutated monster, not a guy in a suit). Normon Osborn, who has escaped maximum security and turned into the Goblin is determined to bring Peter to his end. Peter, with a bullet in his side no less, makes sure that none of his loved ones are hurt as Osborn attacks.
Peter takes a truck (that Mary Jane had somehow driven into the Goblin) lifts it above his head and smashes it into the Goblin multiple times until he knocks him out. But then the truck explodes, knocking him into the air. He lands on the ground with not much life left. In the most touching scene in the issue, Peter tells his Aunt May that while he was always haunted by the fact that he could never save his uncle Ben, he's happy that he was able to save her. Those are his last words and he dies in Mary Jane's arms.
Deep. Tragic. Sad. Well done by Bendis (who I am proud to say I interviewed about Ultimate Spider-Man during my time at The Washington Post) who himself admitted he got teary eyed writing this issue. Of course it is now known that there will be a new Ultimate Spider-Man beginning in September, but Marvel isn't revealing who's behind the mask. Whoever it is, one things for certain.
They're no Peter Parker.
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