Matthew Fluxington: "What about Ultimate Spider-Man is unique to itself, as well as adds something to the Spider-Man mythos? I'd say nothing at all, but I'm curious what a fan of that series may consider special about that series, aside from its "him?" "yeah, him" "really?" "yeah" "cool." "you think so?" "yeah." "him." "right" Bendis dialogue and Aunt May-in-therapy solo issues."
Fair enough, Flux. While you do mock, I feel that that is part of the series charm, the dialouge and stuff like May's therapy sessions. But outside of it's contemporary feel --- the book has a very logical progression in it's stories, which is pretty unique for a mainstream title. Bendis never makes his book cynical in order for it to be contemporary (which is unique in it's own right because this is a mistake too many writers make nowadays, which also makes it unique). It's back to the basics for Spider-Man, he lives and breathes in a real world environment, and all the characters take logical steps. The villians aren't driven by world domination and good guys react like normal people to all these insane situations. Top that off with the fact that the stuff Spidey says in costume is actually funny (I'll give Straczyski props too for going that route too, but his book went downhill after awhile), the characters are likable again (something that many people have failed to do with Mary Jane), we get to see him learn all over again but in a "real world enviornment. It really does understand what makes Spider-Man work and utilizes it to it's full advantage. That's pretty unique given that all the current writers are not doing any of these things with the character. Is it unique to the 60s stuff, it is in the same way that Spidey in the 60s was unique to anything else going on at the time, Ultimate Spider-Man is more unique than any of the other existing Spider-Man title and most of the superhero comics out there. It's not canabalizing but a love letter to Stan, John, and Steve from Bagley and Bendis. Does it add to mythos --- well since it's out of the regularly continuity, sadly, no it doesn't but it does respect the mythos. Now, admitedly the first 5 issues are a rough spot because of all the exposition, but once Kingpin arrives by issue 7 the book goes into full-tilt! It's not incredibly unique because we've been on this ride before, but sure is nice to revisit it with a more contemporary feel with a writer who is able to give a strong voice to these characters again, some even for the first time. It makes Spider-Man grounded, which is something he should always be...and we love him for it. |
