Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Ultimate Spider-man Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Bill Jemas ISBN: 0-7851-0898-X Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: March, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.61 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Collection
Comment: This is a wonderful collection of the first two Ultimate Spider-Man story arcs (collected separately as Power and Responibility and Learning Curve).
This is the Spider-Man legend updated for the 21st century. If you like the movie, you'll probably really like this approach to Spider-Man. I think fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer would also find a lot to enjoy here.
Peter Parker is a wonderfully human character. His reactions to gaining super powers aren't "perfect". He makes a lot of mistakes, but he learns and grows. This is why Spider-Man is so popular. Peter is undoubtably a hero, but he's a very human one. His heart is in the right place, but he still does mess up.
And his supporting cast is equally wonderful. Aunt May used to be a one-joke annoyance, but not here. And "Ultimate" Uncle Ben ... wow!
Brian Bendis's writing is sharp with fresh, real dialogue. And Mark Bagley's art is clean, crisp and tells the story well. I like this gawky-kid Spider-Man.
And this collection has been billed as a "DVD-style" special edition. It includes the original proposal for the series, notes, design sketches. And just so fans won't forget the classic and original Spider-Man, the hardcover volume reprints "Amazing Fantasy #15" -- the first appearance and origin of the true Spider-Man.
Rating: 5
Summary: Retelling the story of Spider-Man for the 21st Century
Comment: I started reading "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Peter Parker: Spider-Man" again when I started doing a unit on comic books for my Popular Culture class and had ignore "Ultimate Spider-Man" because it was a "new" title. Seeing that the first seven issues were collected in "Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility" I thought I would check it out and was more than pleasantly surprised. The idea here was to update Spider-Man for the 21st century, specifically by going back and starting over from the beginning, albeit with Peter Parker a bit younger, and doing so fully cognizant of where Stan Lee and Steve Ditko started off the comic book and where the character would end up in terms of super villains and future bride. There is certainly a sense in which this version is compatible with the blockbuster "Spider-Man" movie, but that is more in terms of having Mary Jane Watson there from the start than anything else. Ultimately, the point here is tighten the original Spider-Man story and give the characters some twists.
"Power and Responsibility" takes its time in developing the origin of Spider-Man. The original story by Lee and Ditko in "Amazing Fantasy" #15 was eleven pages long. Here it takes six issues to get to the same point in the character's history. Of course, since we know where things are going, we can take time to appreciate the journey. At the same time, there is a concerted effort to bring various elements more into the mix. That infamous radioactive spider is the creation of Osborn Industries, the pet project of Norman Osborn and one of his chief scientists, Dr. Otto Octavius. Osborn is extremely interested in why young Peter Parker does not die after the bite and the creation of the Green Goblin becomes a direct consequence of the fateful spider bite. In time I am sure we will see the birth of Doctor Octopus will come from this as well.
The stories here are by Bill Jemas and Brian Michael Bendis (who does the script), with pencils by Mark Bailey and inks by Art Theibert and Dan Panosian. In many ways I am reminded of when John Byrne had the responsibility of restarting Superman; there is a sense to be a bit more realistic. It is not that Peter Parker is an absolute scientific genius; it was his father who did most of the preliminary work on what would become the formula for Spider-Man's web. Once he gains his spider powers, Peter Parker does what just about any persecuted high school nerd would do; he goes out and becomes a super jock. When he starts web slinging he makes a lot of initial mistakes. I even like the way Peter snaps back at Uncle Ben and Aunt May as things start to get to him, both before and after the spider-bite. This jut increases the pathos of the tragedy that unfolds.
I like the fact that "Ultimate Spider-Man" is divorced from the two "real" Spider-Man comic books (now three with the rebirth of "The Spectacular Spider-Man"). Going back to the original stories by Lee and Ditko (later John Romita, Sr.) in either "The Essential Spider-Man" or "Marvel Masterworks" series are not going to be really helpful to younger readers of the character. It was well worthwhile for those of us who started reading "The Amazing Spider-Man" in the Sixties to go through Betty Bryant and the death of Gwen Stacy to eventually get to the day when Mary Jane confronted Peter with the fact she knew he was Spider-Man, but those are hundreds of issues to go through. Starting over again with full knowledge of where the characters are going to end up is a worthwhile approach, especially given how good of a start we see in this first collection (the next four are already out for those who want to continue the journey). I have checked out a few of the other Ultimate titles, but this so far this one is the best.
Rating: 5
Summary: This is the Start of a Real Masterpiece!
Comment: I HATE COMIX! I LOVE THIS! It does not follow the movies and it is much better that way. I have become attached to the plot so much that I have not missed and issue and if you have not thought of starting this than you are mistaken!
 |
Title: Ultimate Spider-man Vol. 3 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Marvel Comics ISBN: 0785111565 Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.99 |
 |
Title: Ultimate X-men Vol. 3 by Mark Millar, Chris Bachald, David Finch, Adam Kubert, Ray Lai, Ben Lai, Marvel Comics ISBN: 078511131X Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: January, 2004 List Price(USD): $29.99 |
 |
Title: The Ultimates by Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie ISBN: 0785109609 Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
 |
Title: New X-Men Vol. 5: Assault on Weapon Plus by Grant Morrison, Chris Bachalo, Phil Jimenez ISBN: 0785111190 Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
 |
Title: Ultimate Marvel Team-Up by Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Wagner, Phil Hester ISBN: 0785108076 Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
