Comic Book Journal

I have a feeling will be one of the most underrated comics in history, precisely because it is the beginning the Ultimate line, seen by some as the trendy, pop culture play on the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s classic work.

“What’s wrong with the our Spider-Man?” many of the older crowd asserts.

But here’s the thing: when Mary Jane (seemingly) died in a plane crash and Peter Parker retreated to brooding angst, was that your Spider-Man? Or when Spider-Man himself died in “The Other”, reborn with Tony Stark’s Iron Spidey-suit?

The truth is, the mainstream Spider-Man wasn’t always up-to-par with his own comic book legacy. In fact, many times the shake-ups themselves seem to be pale attempts to gain notoriety.

Ultimate Spider-Man didn’t need to rely on shake-up’s or creative team upsets to tell a good story, all completely voice by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley’s record-making run, which ends with one hundred and eleven issues of USM worked on together. Bagley will be co-drawing issue #111 with his successor - Stuart Immonen.

Bagley will certainly be missed on the title - though Bendis contributed much through his ear for teen dialogue and head-turning characterizations of the entire Spider-Cast - it was Mark Bagley’s artwork which sealed the collaboration in stone. If you don’t believe, pick up the first collaboration and just see if you don’t cry when Uncle Ben dies.

Though the Ultimate Spider-Man Era continues - as does the book - even with Bagley’s departure, USM, and in fact, the entire Ultimate line, remain in question. Many wonder if, quite frankly, there needs to be an Ultimate line - after Civil War, the mainstream Marvel U looks a lot more like Ultimate with its use of government-sanctioned superheroes.

Fittingly, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley were the first and the last of the original Ultimate teams to break up. Humorously, the oft-delayed (but always worth it) Ultimates book, written by Civil War architect Mark Millar and star artist Bryan Hitch, has also put out 26 issues in the span of time Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley have done 111 issues together. (Millar and Hitch have been replaced by Heroes and Fallen Son writer Jeph Leob as well as not-seen-for-a-while Battle Chasers artist Joe Mandureira).

But it doesn’t seem like parting is such sweet sorrow for Bendis or Bagley - both of them will be collaborating yet again on the second arc of Mighty Avengers.