Editor's Note: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 arrives in stores tomorrow, August 12.

"The New World According To Peter Parker"

Dave Wallace:
Charles Webb:

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Dave Wallace:

After many months of Ultimatum tie-ins (and associated delays), this week finally sees the return of Ultimate Spider-Man in its pure, unfettered form, relaunching itself with a brand new "#1" issue under the new "Ultimate Comics" brand.

Don't let the many different characters on the issue's beautiful wraparound cover mislead you: this book is still very much focused on its title character. Nowhere is this more clear than in the fantastic first page that perfectly captures the essence of Peter Parker in one succinct monologue, before moving into a hilarious opening sequence that has nothing to do with Spider-Man, but everything to do with Peter and the reasons why he's so immensely likeable as a character.

As with this week's Ultimate Comics Avengers #1, Bendis wisely avoids making too many explicit references to the events of Ultimatum, setting his story six months after the conclusion of that miniseries, in a newly-rebuilt New York. This allows him to effectively carry on where the book left off before it was pushed into a tie-in with the big crossover event, enabling Bendis's entire run on the series to feel like one contiguous piece, despite the relaunch.

Having said that, there are some significant changes to the book. Most notably, we see the effects of J. Jonah Jameson's glowing eulogy (from the two Ultimate Spider-Man: Requiem issues), which allows Bendis to experiment with a fun inversion of the usual public reaction to Spidey's activities. There's also an interesting and mildly shocking moment later on in the issue, which suggests that Peter's love life has taken a few interesting twists and turns in the six month gap between the end of Ultimatum and the start of this series. Way back in his run on Daredevil, Bendis made a good use of the "lost year" device to memorable effect, and I'm hopeful that he can create some equally intriguing new subplots here.

The only part of the book that does seem to have been forgotten about due to Ultimatum is the subplot involving Aunt May being questioned by the police over her knowledge of Peter's secret identity. I wonder if this is simply going to be glossed over, or whether Bendis plans to return to it at some point. Given the six-month gap in the timeline, I imagine that it's something that has simply been written off as a casualty of the big crossover.

This issue also sees the return of a classic Steve Ditko-created Spidey antagonist that, as far as I know, we've only seen in the Ultimate universe once before (aside from a jokey reference in one of Bendis's earlier stories). The character has received a fairly radical redesign, but there are some smart touches on his costume that subtly connect him to the original Ditko design. I look forward to learning more about him and his motivations as the series continues.

In addition to this, we also see the debut of another mysterious new super-powered character in this issue. Bendis toys with readers by giving this character a look that will be familiar to readers of regular MU books: my first thought was that it could be an ultimised version of a villain who's been giving the New Avengers a lot of grief lately, but the writer has promised that this isn't the case. All that I'll say is that anyone who wants the mystery to remain unspoiled might want to avoid the solicits for the next issue.

David Lafuente begins his tenure as regular Ultimate Spider-Man penciller here, and he proves to be as good a fit for the book as I expected. Whilst I get the impression that he's toned down some of the more exaggerated elements of his artwork for this book (there's nothing here that's quite as highly stylised as some of the images from his work on Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3, for example), it's still distinctive stuff. In particular, his bobble-headed Spider-Man design instantly allows him to make his mark on the character without deviating too far from the classic look.

Some people may feel unsure about the "manga" look, but it's really not as exaggerated and unusual as some have made out. It's a visually pleasing style, and one that never compromises the clear storytelling or the strong sense of energy that a book like this demands. For example, the convenience store ram-raiding scene gains a huge amount of its impact from Lafuente's dynamic style.

Perhaps some of the slight modifications to Lafuente's style that are apparent here have been made with an eye to consistency with the previous volume of the book. With that in mind, it's a good decision, as the look of the issue fits smoothly with what's come before in the title.

As with this week's Ultimate Comics Avengers, it's a pleasure to be able to say that this issue feels like a breath of fresh air for the Ultimate Universe, which was in danger of being damaged beyond repair by Ultimatum. There's a real feeling of Bendis continuing to move forward and break new ground with the title -- that is, until the end of the issue, which sees the return of a familiar arch-enemy from Bendis and Bagley's original run on Ultimate Spider-Man.

This character's reappearance initially made me roll my eyes, since I felt that his story had been completed in the first volume of the title, and I wasn't sure that Bendis really had anything more to say about him. However, Bendis makes his intentions for this new series clear by doing something new with the character that changes his status in the title, and paves the way for another villain to take his place. It might seem like a cheap and overly simplistic development to some (and I'm hoping that Bendis explores the cliffhanger further in future issues), but it at least suggests that the writer isn't going to be content to rest on his laurels, and is interested in continuing to take the book to new places rather than simply rehashing what has gone before.

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Charles Webb:

Plot: With the dust cleared from Ultimatum, Marvel's Ultimate U flashes forward six months into the life of teenaged Peter Parker and his supporting cast.

Comments: For all the talk about the Ultimate line of Marvel comics being light on the baggage of continuity and new reader friendly, it sure does feel like it make two conservative steps back in the direction of the 616 for every revolutionary step away.

With this relaunch, USM has lost a little freshness of the previous run and picked up some of the bad habits of other "reinterpretive" works like the new defunct Elseworlds titles at DC. Slavishly inserting slices of the "real" versions of the work to lend their own legitimacy in effect causes the resulting product to feel even more inauthentic. We loved you just the way you were, USM, with your nods to history only to the extent that they would be launching points for a young cast and a unified line (theoretically) where everything mattered. I won't go into the twists and revelations in store this issue because I don't want to deny the reader any of the meager treats on offer within.

You know what? I'm not being entirely fair. Some new characters are introduced, one exits stage left very dramatically and the voice of a vibrant Peter Parker is caught here in a way that is often lost in the mix of the 616 version of the character.

What galls is the lack of consequence to the horrible story that hijacked US-M for much of the year. Oh, some things have been teased going forward and some of the new characters will surely be blowback from the city being put underwater but in the first (and second) reading it all feels like continuity treats thrown to longtime readers at the expense of bringing something new to the table to attract virgin readers.

Why did I give this 3.5 out of 5? Why not a 2? Or a 1? Because even when he's clubbing us over the head with relationships that ended decades ago and were more interesting in the reinterpretation or giving Spidey the city's grace with a likely reversal in the very near future, it's still some of the best superhero comics on the shelves.

New artist David Lafuente picks up the pencil after the exit of Stuart Immonen. While I miss Immonen and his brief turn on the character I think Lafuente has displayed enough confidence in this initial outing to give me confidence that he's a fit. The colors are another thing altogether, not necessarily being bad, but possessing an overly-blended palette that could do with a few more darker hues and stronger emphasis on the actual lines (instead of blurring and fading them). It's not bad, just a little distracting when it doesn't have to be.

Final Word: After all the Sturm and Drang that was Ultimatum, this is the great leap forward? Perfectly serviceable but I can't wait until we get a little distance from the big event and into a fresh new groove for the book.

If you liked this review, be sure to check out more of the author’s work at Monster In Your Veins

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