Spider-Men #1
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Aritst: Sara Pichelli
Cover: Jimmy Cheung
Ever since it was teased that Peter Parker would be meeting up with Miles Morales, fans have been on the edge of their seats. Then, when it was also announced that the creative team behind this story would be Brian Michel Bendis and Sara Pichelli, that was just the icing on the cake! Expectations are considerably high since this is the same team that brought us such a fantastic opening arc of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man that introduced the world to Miles Morales last year. Need I also add that this is the first crossover between the regular 616 Marvel Universe and Marvel’s Ultimate Universe?
Expectations of Peter and Miles wall crawling all over New York City will have to be toned down a bit due to this mainly being a set up issue for the mini-series. There is a little bit of action when Spider-Man runs into an old foe after stopping a crime, but most of this is more of an emotional build. Bendis gives us the Spidey we’ve grown accustomed to over the years with the sharp wit and great dialog. This makes the overall slow build a lot stronger, and even though we know it’s coming, the final meet up between Peter and Miles hits pretty well.
Many fans miss Pichelli’s work on Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, so it was fantastic seeing her work again. The opening two-page spread with Peter swinging above New York is one of the best scenes in the book. Her panel work during the fight with Mysterio seriously took that fight to another level, and Ponsor’s colors made everything just pop.
Even though Spider-Man has been around for fifty years, it seems as if Bendis is introducing him all over again. Maybe not a full on introduction, but he at least wants the reader comfortable with the character nonetheless. Now, the difficult part will be waiting for the next issue and seeing how this meeting between the two Spider-Men plays out. Oh, and maybe Miles will finally get webs while hanging out with Peter in this series. One can only hope!
Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
Man, 12 years! The Ultimate Universe has existed for 12 freakin’ years and this is the first time ever that Earth-616 and Earth-1610 cross over.
As expected though, I think that this mini-series is tailor made for the Ultimate Universe fans, hence the introduction of Peter as an opening act. The creative team is pure Ultimate as well.
Which is fine by me, but I’m a pure 616’er. I never got into the Ultimate Universe. The only 1610 issue I own is Ultimate Spider-Man #1, first printing. It ended up in my sub back in 2000, I checked it out, but wasn’t fond of it so I took it off my pull list, lol. Who knew it would get so popular.. I thought it just wouldn’t last. It looked like another attempt at the Mackie/Byrne Spidey reboot.
Anywho, I enjoyed Spider-Men #1 and I’m looking forward to learning more about Miles Morales. This is my first venture into The Ultimate Universe in 12 years, unless you count the Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk mini.