Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #9

Marvel Comics
Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #9
By Zak Edwards
April 28, 2010 - 17:59

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller(s): David Lafuente
Colourist(s): Justin Ponsor
Letterer(s): Cory Petit
Cover Artist(s): David Lafuente & Justin Ponsor
$3.99 US

It has been a while since I wrote on Ultimate Spider-Man in the new numbering and naming, despite the continual fun and excitement I have had with the series. The Ultimatum wave may have destroyed some series, but what has risen from the ashes has at least been a balanced effort. While certain series like UC Enemy and X have been garnering fairly poor reviews, Millar’s UC Avengers and Bendis’s UC Spider-Man are continually amazing. UC Spider-Man is running with a series of ideas which seem to be working very well, including the superhero hostel the Parker household has become and the anti-mutant sentiment affecting Kitty Pryde. UC Spider-Man has been one of the most consistent and approachable books on the shelves, alienated from the event crossover gimmicks of many other superhero books.

And this issue had me hooked for one simple reason: Peter Parker gets a haircut. What Bendis does, in a very metafictional way, is comments on the common criticism of penciller David Lafuente, whose Spider-Man has a perfectly circular head. Three of Peter’s ex-girlfriends: Kitty, Gwen, and Mary-Jane, pin Peter in the girl’s washroom, using a picture of the cover of the first issue of the new run of Ultimate Spider-Man as evidence of how round his head is. The scene is laugh out loud funny and continues to show how refocusing on Peter Parker, and the supporting cast that continues to shine with Bendis’s writing, is only doing this series good. In fact, the issue really puts the entire supporting cast at the forefront and promises to keep them around for a long time. The break from Mysterio is extremely entertaining and I almost don’t want to see what happens with Spider-Man in favour of his interesting life under the mask. On the subject of Spider-Man, his ‘appearance’ in this issue really feels strange and like a mandatory inclusion, but the developments of the Johnny Storm/ Jessica Drew (Peter’s clone) is promising and a fairly long time coming. However, Peter’s reaction, by going out and hero-ing, really raises a question on his strange relationship with Jessica Drew, which is bordering on disturbing. What feelings is he trying to release?

Another enjoyable inclusion is the mother-daughter team of supervillains who have taken over the position of the Shocker, who has since disappeared. The Shocker was a source of comedy, easily defeated by Spider-Man on his way to something much more important. But the foul-mouthed mother-daughter team, a re-imagining of some old villain named Bombshell, is quite funny. The issue concerning Kitty Pryde and the anti-mutant sentiment, while an over used trope at this point in the Marvel Universe, no matter which one, is still interesting enough simply because of the investment of the character. Bendis is relying on his ability to characterize supporting cast members and force the audience to invest in them. There is also a genuine concern over the expendable nature of the Ultimate characters; that what happens to Kitty maybe unexpected, something never usually seen over in the ‘real’ universe. On a final note, the appearance of Tandy Bowen really reminded me of the Ultimate-ing of characters which were fairly interesting early on in the series, seeing a future Dagger from Cloak and Dagger was cool and not exploited, something the Ultimate universe started doing later in the runs. Overall, the issue is in line with the rest of UC Spider-Man: funny, interesting, containing surprising depth, and a source of genuine fun.

David Lafuente, after drawing a very funny scene making fun of his own art, manages to draw a Spider-Man with a less circular head. At this point in his time on UC Spider-Man, Lafuente’s art runs along a line of irksome or enjoyable. The cartoonish aspects can be, at times, very annoying, with food flying all over the place. However, in issues like this, focusing on the characters out of the mask, really benefit from Lafuente’s expressive style. His panelling is amazing as well, with each page being very busy but still easy to follow. His two-page spread of Spider-Man’s heroics, with webs used to divide the panels and Peter in a fairly classic pose at the far left, is a stunning piece (and not a circular head in sight!). His energetic style works well with the opening action sequence as well. Overall, Lafuente’s art does everything it needs to with flourish, if only being a little to much at times.

Grade: A- Still as great as it was almost 150 issues ago.

Error: SERVERBUSY: Timed out waiting for a filelock