Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1

Background

New York City is rebuilding after the devastation caused by the Ultimatum Wave.

Spider-man barely made it out alive and has now been touted as a hero from JJJ's change of heart towards the wall crawler. Now Peter and the gang must deal with new challenges and villains.

Story Details

We begin with Peter re-telling the events of Ultimatum and his past. He is working at a fast food restaurant because the Bugle had to lay him off due to the wave. He deals with an angry customer who accuses him of being rude. The manager gives the lady free fries to appease her and warns Peter to behave. And Mary Jane is still working for the school journalism group.

We cut to a convenience store that is being robbed by three masked men. A mysterious cloaked person stops them and quickly subdues the three. They are shown to be fast, bullet-resistant and very strong. Spider-man shows up too late, but checks in on the shopkeeper to see if he is okay. The police arrive and rather than shooting him or blaming him, they congratulate him on his work.

That night Peter arrives home to Gwen waiting for him in his room. She reveals she has been waiting for him since school was done and likes it in his room. They kiss and Peter asks if May is out, which she is, and explaining May has a 'no-hanky-panky' policy. We hear May calling for Peter as she has been home, but Gwen may not have known about that. Peter gets changed and heads downstairs. He asks if Aunt May can wash his costume and gets some food. Gwen and Pete talk about Kitty calling earlier and that she still has feelings for Pete (which Peter denies) and Peter tells Gwen Kitty has been through a lot. Just then the door bell rings and it is Johnny Storm. who is rather beaten up, he barely can talk and faints into Pete.

Meanwhile Kingpin has returned to New York because evidence against him was destroyed in the wave and with some money spread out he could return. He asks for privacy to think, but is interrupted by a mysterious man who shoots beams from his hands and throws Kingpin out the window to the streets below, apparently killing him. The final page reveals it to be Mysterio.

General Comments

This was a good first issue to explain what happened from Ultimatum to now. I am rather puzzled about the Gwen/Peter thing, but am open to seeing where these two will go. The appearance of the Ultimate Shroud is cool and I am sure Bendis has a good storyline for him. Finally nice to see Mysterio show up, I am not sure if he will be revealed to be the masked impostor who killed Gwen's father or some other character. But time will tell...

Overall Rating

Will have to hold off for future issues to see if the story will improve or if Bendis might be writing himself into a box.