Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 4 by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A touching sequence, and also one of the best J. Jonah Jameson bits I’ve seen in FOREVER.
Ultimately (see what I did there?) this book has gotten a teensy bit tiring because the whole hero’s journey “refusal of the call” part is getting a little old.
One of the things that I liked about Peter Parker as Spider-Man is that he’s one of the few superheroes who seems to genuinely enjoy his powers and abilities. Miles Morales seems like he would be happier if he’d never had them. Which is understandable and realistic, but it neglects the joy of Spider-Man, and I think, for me, the joy is a necessary component of Spider-Man stories.
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man definitely forces readers to decide what about Spider-Man stories makes them good. I don’t think I’m making headlines by saying that the color of the character wasn’t inherently crucial to the Spider-Man vibe. But I do think, for me, that the fun is important, and this book just doesn’t see a Spider-Man having fun.
Again, totally understandable, makes sense in the context, but I’m discovering that the fun the character has and the enjoyment of an unusual life, these are the things I really love about Spider-Man stories that you don’t get with a lot of other heroes. Hulk hates he’s Hulk, Thor thinks he’s normal, Captain America is all duty and so on. He’s a duty head. But Spidey has a good time, you know, most of the time.
I don’t know if this story ever gets to the full acceptance part, but if it’s headed that way, I wouldn’t mind someone stepping on the gas a bit.