Book of the Week- 6/22/11: Ultimate Spiderman #160

Ultimate Spiderman #160

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: Mark Bagley
Inker: Andrew Lanning with Mark Hennessey

Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterer: Cory Petit
Cover Art: Mark Bagley and Justin Ponsor

Assistant Editor: Sana Amanat
Editor: Mark Paniccia

Death of Spiderman: Part 5 of 5


The opening scene with Mary Jane sets the forboding tone for what is to follow.

Peter makes his literally final stand against Norman Osborn with the help of his friends and loved ones.  The battle was epic as Peter showed that at his core when the chips re down that he cared more for the safety of those he cared about than his own safety.  Even with the help of The Human Torch and Iceman  Spidey is not faring well against the Goblin.

Help arrives offering a very brief reprieve for Peter as MJ runs into Norman with a truck.  Peter is able to  have a final moment with his love before returning to face Norman.  With a surge of energy Peter manages to end the fight with Norman, but in the process he lost two things.  He lost his secret identity as he was publicly unmasked during the battle and he lost his life after ensuring the safety of those he cared about.

The scale of the conflict and the emotion seemed to have been taken almost directly from the Death of Superman, in fact you can almost see where the scrap of cape should go in the panel below.  Despite the lack of any originality and almost direct concept plagiarism, I did enjoy the issue and am curious to see what comes next in the Fallout.

Having saved Aunt May, Mary Jane, and Gwen Peter Parker closes his eyes for the last time, knowing his family and friends are safe.

Reunited with Uncle Ben, Peter finds peace. 

COMING SOON:

Marvel has announced that there will be a new Spiderman in the Ultimate Universe and someone new under the mask, but who it is we have to wait to find out, but popular rumors point towards one or more clones. 

Fear Itself: The Home Front #3

 
Speedball: Going Viral (3 of 7)

By: Christos Gage & Mike Mayhew

Color Art By: Rain Beredo

Jimmy Woo: The Age of Anxiety (3 of 4)

By: Peter Milligan & Ella Bonetti

Color Art By: John Rauch

Edited By: Rachel Pinnelas

A Moment With... The People of Paris

By: Howard Chaykin & Edgar Delgado

Cardiac: "Breakdown"

By: Ben McCool & Mike Del Mundo

The Speedball segment was very well done.  There was obvious character growth on the part of not only Robbie Baldwin but more so Mirian Sharpe, who put her grief and anger aside in order to do what was right and to help prevent others from suffering the same loss that she feels.  Robbie keeps his promise and while it does not appear as if they'll be getting together for tea anytime soon, that the hatred and blame had been put aside and the rebuilding had begun.

Jimmy Woo's story I just cannot seem to get into.  There seems to be some interesting character potential with the cast, but the story just isn't grabbing my attention and rather than skip Jimmy altogether I skimmed through the rest of it just in case something interesting happened.  It didn't.

The people of Paris bit was an interesting side note.  Though not of any story importance it does make the loss of life due to the events of Fear Itself seem more tangible as it puts a human face on the casualties.

Cardiac is a character I always kind of liked ever since he started popping up in the pages of Spiderman. He was and remains a unique character who I would like to see more of.  That being said (or written rather) I was not impressed with his story here.  It seemed like a half hearted attempt to rehash Cardiac's origin in the context of the Fear Itself story.  Unlike some other tie-in stories in Fear Itself this one feels like forced filler.

Avengers Academy #15

Writer: Christos Gage
Penciller: Tom Raney
Inkers: Scott Hanna & Andrew Hennessy
Colorist: Jeromy Cox
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover Art: Billy Tan & Leonardo Olea
Assistant Editor: John Denning
Editor: Bill Roseman




I was relieved that this issue broke the trend of big event tie-ins that have an obligatory panel reference or a reprint of a scene from the main series qualifying it as a tie-in.  This issue however went the other way entirely as the events of Fear Itself feature very prominently and do not seem forced in any way.

The emotion in the story was intense, and if you have ever gone to war or watched someone you love go off, you will completely empathize with the inner turmoil that Hank Pym and Tigra go through.   The students also have very human reactions to their situations.  Even the most arrogant of them, Stryker, has doubts until Tigra helps him face them.

The reactions of everyone involved, the fear, the doubt, the drive to do what they feel is right.  These kids are not the villains of tomorrow, they are the heroes of today.

Book Reviews for the week of 6/15/11

The issues that will be reviewed this week are:

Avengers Academy #15
Fear Itself: The Home Front #3
Batman #711
Batgirl #22
Supergirl #65
Teen Titans #96
Wonder Woman and the Furies #1
Grodd of War #1
Deadman and the Flying Graysons #1
Legion of Doom #1