Scott's Take: Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1: Married With Children

Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1: Married With Children is the newest read in Ultimate Spider-Man series now set in a different Ultimate universe than the previous series with the same tagline of Ultimate Spider-Man. This read I read in unconventional way as I read the first 5 issues on Marvel Unlimited via my iPad and then read issue 6 in print from the library.

 

I really enjoyed this series. In my opinion, this is the best Spider-Man book currently out by a mile. Based on sales numbers available to the public, I am not alone in that feeling, as the read has remained in the top ten of most sales for comic books each month for several months straight. Often in the first place. It is blowing out every other Spider-Man book and there are many.

 

This volume has Peter Parker as a middle-aged father of two and is married to Mary Jane. He is happy with his job, loves his family,  and there are happy with him. But, he feels lost and that his life in not what it was supposed to be. He feels like something was taken from him. He is right.

 

There is an evil cabal who runs this Earth and changed the course of his life. Back when Petter Parker was a teen they stopped him from being bitten by the spider that would have given him his powers. So, he never became Spider-Man. By preventing the bite, one of the world’s greatest heroes was neutralized before ever becoming a threat to the cabal. Now, in the present, Tony Stark gives him the option to be bitten by the spider and finally get his powers. If he wants them.  He accepts and thus begins his new career choice as a superhero. 

 

This is Spider-Man as a revolutionary fighting against a cabal that owns the criminals, the media, the cops, the government, etc. He teams up with Harry Osborn, aka the Green Goblin ,who has his own reasons for fighting against the cabal.

 

This is a fun read. The art is excellent, Peter is written better than he has been in his own books in a long time, and the variant covers are some of the best I have seen. A lot of them depict fun family moments that are hilarious. This is how Spider-Man should be.

 

One complaint that I have read is that this volume has less action than a typical Spider-Man story as there is a big focus on dialog and some issues have no action scenes. I did not mind this since the dialog issues with no action were so well written. While it all worked for me, this might bother some readers. This is a really good read. I look forward to volume 2 whenever it comes out and whatever the title will be.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4fu8nOs

 

 

My reading came from both the Marvel Unlimited website as well as the print version of the volume from Hampton-Illinois Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024