Review: Ultimate Two-For-One

Ultimate Spider-Man #158
Written by Brian Bendis
Illustrated by Mark Bagley

The Sinister Six are determined to bury Spider-Man for good, and if Spider-Man can’t find Aunt May or Mary Jane, they could be going with him. “Death of Spider-Man” rages on, and the real question is, will anyone survive?

Ultimate Avengers Versus New Ultimates #4
Written by Mark Millar
Illustrated by Francis Lenil Yu

It’s super hero versus super hero in this epic battle that pits former allies against each other. When the heroes power up there’s bound to be major damage and what happens here will change the life of an Ultimate character…one way or the other!?

Ultimate Avengers versus New Ultimates! Ultimate Death of Ultimate Spider-Man! Mayhem! Madness! Explosions! Action! Death! High-octane entertainment in sequential art form!

Or, perhaps, just another day at the office.

So. Is the Ultimate vent worth the fanfare? Find out after the cut as we look at both parts to this Ultimate story. Ultimately.

The Ultimate universe holds a very special place in my heart. This isn’t a very unique story, but it’s the Ultimate universe that reminded just how specials comics can be. Held in it’s own universe, things like continuity weren’t a burden on the series or story. Everything was re-interpreted, and there were no more rules. It helped me segue back into regular comics, and if it weren’t for Ultimate Spider-Man #1, you probably wouldn’t be ready this review right now a decade or so later. At least, not from me.

So the two men who helped pioneer the Ultimate Universe into what it is today are back, and they’re killing the character who helped start it all. Well. This ought to be fun, right?

Let’s begin by looking at Ultimate Spider-Man. In this issue, we open with Peter waking up from the wreckage of a battle that left a bullet wound in him. Unfortunately for him, he can’t exactly sit around and relax. As much as he’d like to go to a hospital, the Sinister Six are on the loose – and they’re gunning for him. It becomes rather clear that while a bullet is certainly not going to be making anything easy for Peter, his death is not quite as simple as just being shot through the side. Initial fears created by the previous issue were that Bendis might try to take an easy route out in order to kill the titular hero, thus making his death noble but ultimately not powerful. As it turns out, Bendis fortunately has a lot more in store.

This issue of Spidey is essentially build-up. If last issue was the catalyst and next issue is the penultimate event that leads to this death, there is no way that this issue could be anything other than filler to get us from Point B to Point C. However, not that many filler issues are quite this good. Bendis is never more at home than he is in the Ultimate book, because this is the title that really allows him true freedom as a creator. Since the Ultimate relaunch post-Ultimatum, the book has once again returned to the quality it was so long ago, and it’s beginning to even seem a bit apropos to give Peter the boot now as opposed to during Ultimatum. So this issue, while legitimately being the filler part of the story, allows Bendis to discuss one hugely important element: Peter is a natural born hero.

Peter has been shot through the side. The first few pages of the book, he’s gasping to even think in clear sentences. He’s ready to give it all up to go to the hospital while the Ultimates and Avengers take care of the world’s problems. But as soon as his path finally crosses with the Sinister Six and he realizes what is at stake here, he webs up his injury and swings as fast as he can back to Queens to protect those that are important to him over himself. Sure, next issue will be the fight scene we are all dying to see (especially with Bagley on the title again), but the fight scene and – ultimately – the death would not be even remotely as important if Bendis didn’t remind everyone within the span of this issue that Peter is a character worthy of a hero’s death, and not just a bullet.

Having Bendis and Bagley back together for Ultimate Spider-Man is essentially a dream come true for a fan of the series. The book has managed to stay enjoyable with the relaunch, but this story is perhaps the strongest yet. Part of it is certainly the nail biting wait for whatever the finale ultimately brings, but really it’s just rather exciting to see these two creators back together at last. Bendis take on the young Peter Parker is an all time favorite, and it’s assuredly as important as the original stories from Stan and Steve. It’s Bagley’s art that really brings the book to it’s potential. While Pichelli and LaFuente made for good temporary artists, this is Bagley’s book to draw. It’s his art that really helps bring the emotion of this story full circle, and there is no other artist that could conceivably draw the book.

Truly, when it comes to the Ultimate universe, Spider-Man is performing oh-so-well due to a mixture of sheer talent and blatant nostalgia working for the title.

Then we take a look at Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates, which is Millar’s last Ultimate title “ever” while he moves to the realm of strictly-creator owned. Millar’s initial run on the Ultimates, which lasted two volumes, is widely considered by fans all over to be one of the finest offerings of the Ultimate Universe, if not the finest. The Ultimates was an excellent blend of the history of the Avengers we all knew and love with a clever update full of pop-culture references and a helping hand of modern politics. It’s no-holds-barred attitude and relevant storytelling are what made the title a must-read.

This latest chapter? Not so much.

Here’s the interesting thing about UAVNU: this title is easily some of Millar’s best work at Marvel from the past couple years. Without a doubt. The only problem is is that, try as he might, the title still does not reach the heights of entertainment that Ultimates 1 and 2 did, simply because Millar has created a rather predictable pattern for himself. The story started off with Millar once again re-using the “Nick Fury is the villain” idea from Ultimates 2, followed by having Millar once again try and shoot out some knee caps (a fact that fellow writer Joshua Mocle keeps reminding me of), and has since resulted in the “of course it’s not Nick Fury” angle, because it was – well, without spoiling anything, I’ll just say it’s rather predictable. It feels a tad bit uninspired.

What is really annoying about the title, though, is that in an event that is promoted for having massive synergy, Millar’s work with Spider-Man here does not match up with Bendis’ Spider-Man. In Ultimate Spider-Man by Bendis, Spidey wakes up in the rubble somewhat annoyed that Captain America and friends left him there to die, but he soldiers on. In this title, Captain America tends to Spider-Man, who insists “Oh, no, please – go be the hero and save the day for real. I’ll get by with this bullet wound. It’s cool.” It’s really off putting to read the two titles and see that the two writers who are supposed to be working together on this aren’t communicating to one another the story they’re both telling. Bendis’ part of the story ultimately feels more appropriate to the character, so this whole sequence of events by Millar really takes us out of the “crossover” element of the title as we learn – well, they really don’t tie in with each other that much, do they?

Obviously you could’ve always read just one or the other. The two have overlapped here as a statement to what one of the great factors of the Ultimate U was, but they head off in very different directions from here on out. Spider-Man is going to go and have his great heroic battle, and assumedly die in an incredibly noble way. The Avengers and the Ultimates? They’re going to have their show down in an issue or two thanks to the grand treachery afoot, and Spider-Man’s death – which is branded across the top of the comic – will be a footnote in the story, as even the characters shrug off the missing boy that they were all so supposedly worried about. It feels like a nice effort was made here, but the failure lays entirely in the execution.

That being said, Millar’s current story wouldn’t matter without the past three. Millar has certainly opted for a new form of storytelling as opposed to the stuff that made him famous, because stories like Kick-Ass have proven that Millar can get away with a story of this caliber. As long as something cool is happening, or someone is delivering a witty line, it’s quite literally given a pass because, well, that’s just how it is. You don’t go into a Millar book expecting a truly clever story anymore, but rather one that just entertains – and thanks to the character development from his three volumes of Ultimate Avengers (and yes, there was SOME character development in those stories), the “ultimate reveal” of this issue does feel like it has an impact. It may be a telegraphed maneuver, and it may even be an uninspired twist, but from a storytelling perspective it’s rather poignant, all things considered.

On top of that, this is as close to the glory of the Ultimates that we are ever going to get. In true Millar fashion, he actually does address some of the odd continuity things over the years, paying tribute to changes that others made while “fixing” others. Thor goes back to “speaking normally,” thanks to a nice rib from Tony, which is a particularly nice sequence for anyone else who was wondering what the heck happened between Ultimates 2 and 3. The last three volumes of Ultimate work from Millar just felt like Millar goofing off with all the toys in the toy box that were available, with the general purpose supposedly to build up to this. Now that we have this, the build up not only makes sense, but it legitimately feel like Millar is trying again, as opposed to just writing whatever works. Sometimes, you take what wins you can.

Of course, what really helps Millar in the long run is that he consistently works with artists that can really bring out the best possible in his writing. Good art will always bring up poor writing, and Millar works with some of the best in the biz. While he should be finishing Superior, Francis Lenil Yu is instead giving a dynamite performance within the pages of this title. The pencils and inks here are more frantic than some of Yu’s more noticeably clean work, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a rather sleek looking title. Yu manages to take what is ultimately a dark book and really give it a flare to it visually, illustrating the dark elements rather vibrantly, with only a panel or two looking off within the whole thing (such as Black Widow and her mysterious shadow). Yu is a creator that is worth the price of admission, and that certainly doesn’t change with this book.

So what do we have with the Ultimate Avengers fighting the New Ultimates? Some return to familiar characterization, some really off putting characterization (seriously – what was with the Punisher?), some story highs (the final page), some story lows (the few pages before the final page), and generally a very Millar-esque story that feels like both the old (great) Millar and the new (meh) Millar. It’s essentially the very definition of a hit and miss title, which is of course appropriate because that’s exactly what the bullet Punisher fired did.

As this month’s Ultimate adventure wraps up, we’re essentially left with the same thing we always had with the Ultimate Universe – a great entry from Bendis, and an alright entry from Millar. Ultimate Death Of Spider-Man has been fairly entertaining so far, and the future of the Ultimate Universe is exciting indeed, but right now all hope lies with Bendis – and that is certainly not a bad thing to rely on.

(Collective) Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy