Ultimate Spider-Man (Page 1 of 7)

Ultimate Spider-Man was a rather unusual beast - a successful re-telling of Spider-Man. Most similar efforts to "reboot" Spidey have failed spectacularly. Chapter One, anybody? However, due undoubtedly to the consistency and strength of the creative team, this book lasted well beyond most expectations. Set in its own "Ultimate" Universe, and matched by other "Ultimate" books (iterations of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the Avengers as well as various mini-series), this version of Spidey gathered enough popular support to survive for 133 issues.

The "Ultimate" Spider-Man has Peter Parker still in high school, and has Mary Jane as the main love interest, though other paramours appeared. The writing was fresh and modern, but without the embarrassing self-consciousness and pandering that ruined other "new Marvel" titles. The early issues are ridiculously expensive, however this book has been reprinted more times than probably any other comic book since Amazing Fantasy #15, so getting hold of a decently priced reading copy won't be any problem. If you haven't read Ultimate Spider-Man, we recommend you give it a look some time.

Long-time penciler Mark Bagley left and was replaced full time by Stuart Immonen starting with issue #112.