Now that the hype has died down, and everyone knows that Ultimate Peter Parker is dead, and there is a new Ultimate Spidey, and his name is Miles Morales, lets take a look at this new title from Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis tends to be pretty expository and in this reboot he is no different. Stan Lee took 11 pages to tell the origin of Peter Parker, and Bendis so far is up to 2 issues, and we haven’t even seen Miles in costume or seems like we will see him in costume anytime soon (other than on the cover of course!)
The Good:
-Sarah Pichelli’s art is stunning, she is a stickler for detail, and the lush backgrounds and character emotions she draws are outstanding. Really excited to see where she takes her artwork as she continues to develop into one of the industries top talents.
-Growing the supporting cast with Miles friend Ganke and also fleshing out his relationship with his father. Important thing to remember when reading this book, Miles is an 8th grader. An 8th grader, Peter was at least in high school when he got his powers. It throws a whole different wrench into the storytelling, and that shows in his discussions with his friend Ganke, and also when he is discovering his powers, and the two different reactions they share.
-As far as his father, it is an interesting dynamic, his father has a big reveal, and perhaps hints at more, as Miles is starting to come to grips as a scared kid, when something happens to change his mind. The whole discussion felt like a rehash of “With Great Power, comes great responsibility.” I am intrigued as to where this familial plot is headed, if it’s familiar Uncle Ben territory and he has to move in with his Uncle Ultimate Prowler, or something else. Also, where is this mother we keep hearing about?
-The last page, and how it mirrors a last page of the original Ultimate Spider-Man series, and the two main characters very different reactions to their new found abilities.
The Bad:
-Did I mention how talky and slow the plot is? I know that from Bendis it is natural to expect it to be a wordy book, but seriously almost nothing happens. This issue could have been condensed into 5 pages. Seriously. He is going to have to kick it up a notch before everyone starts to lose interest.
-Invisibility powers? Seriously? Is he the Ultimate Spidey Chameleon? Lame.
Overall, mostly the book is good. Artwork good, story generally pretty good, but it is very slow moving. Something needs to start happening to move us into him wearing the costume, and fast. My only worry is that it’s going to be jumping too fast to make up for the pace of the first two issues.
Story: 6/10
Art: 9/10
If you like what we do, buy a digital comic book.
Thank you for your support.
