Ultimate
Spider-Man #80
Title: Warriors: Part 2
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Scott Hanna
Plot:
Danny Rand is attending a what looks like a parole hearing
where he insists that he has learned his lesson about using his “Iron
Fist” on people. Skip to
picking up at the end of last issue.
Spider-Man and Moon Knight battle it out on a building top.
Elektra watches from a higher building, and describes the fight
to someone over a phone. When
the police begin to arrive, Spider-Man flees, but Moon Knight gets a
picture snapped of him that lands on the front page of the Daily Bugle.
J. Jonah Jameson is raving about the whole incident, deciding to
call the mysterious figure in the picture the Moon Man.
Peter, apparently not thinking nearly blows his identity by
correcting Jameson: “Moon
Knight.” Luckily Peter
covers up.
Peter worries for a while in his cubicle where
he gets a short lecture by telephone from his aunt May about skipping
class. Soon after, Peter
over hears Ben Urich talking about Wilson Fisk’s connection to the
fire the night before. We
then find Spider-Man slinging his way to Fisk’s building, only to be
greeting by Elektra. Oddly,
she invites Spider-Man into the building and leads him to Wilson Fisk
who would like to have a word with him.
Fisk explains that a man named Hammerhead is a threat to the city
now and Spider-Man must take him down.
Spider-Man knows that Fisk is just trying to trick him to helping
get rid of some competition, so Spider-Man refuses.
Fisk insists that it is the Hero’s job to do what is right, and
that he should be above such things.
Pushing a picture and address of Hammerhead on Spider-Man, Fisk
says, “Go see for yourself.” Peter
is left with a fateful decision.
Likes: What can I say, now is the time to be reading Ultimate
Spider-Man. So far so good
with this arc, and a very promising future.
Two more characters have been added to this arc, Danny Rand,
a.k.a. Iron Fist, and Elektra returns.
We’re seeing more of Spider-Man than Peter Parker now which is
great since Peter is at a point in his life where he believes that
escaping to his super hero identity is the way to get away from his
troubles. But I do like to
see more of Peter at the Daily Bugle, just for the sake of the
characters. The fight scene
with Moon Knight was brilliantly drawn.
In fact the art in the past couple of issues seems to be
improving, which I really thought
couldn’t get any better. Bendis
and Bagley are definitely at their best in this issue, and I really feel
that they are going to keep going strong.
Dislikes:
Two issues in a row now, I wouldn’t change a single thing.
Trust me, I must have read the issue ten times looking for a
flaw.
Favorite
Quote:
Spider-Man:
Hey, you make these moon things yourself, or do you order them special?
Moon
Knight: Those are mine.
Spider-Man:
Until you threw them at me. Now
they’re mine.
Rating:
5 out of 5 webs. This
is a great comic book. I
believe that this issue could change the minds of some Spider-Man fans
who have no respect for the Ultimate Universe.
Reviewed
By: Michael Heitkemper
Ultimate Spider-Man #79
Title: Warriors: Part 1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Scott Hanna
Plot:
We begin with Silvermane explaining that the Kingpin is laying low, and
that now is the time for Hammerhead to join forces with him, and take
over the Kingpin’s territory. Hammerhead
feels that he doesn’t need Silvermane, so SNAP!
So much for Ultimate Silvermane.
Cut to Peter’s classroom from last issue.
Peter is running the thought of being broke up with Mary Jane
through his head. He can’t
stand the thought of MJ moving on and finding another boyfriend so he
storms out of the room, and hits the skyscrapers for some much needed
webslinging. Next, Wilson
Fisk is informed about Silvermane’s death and begins his plans.
Then, we find that Hammerhead has employed the Enforcers.
They raid into one of the Kingpin’s
warehouses. After displaying
his power by taking a bullet to the head, Hammerhead gives the
Kingpin’s men a choice: Join me, or leave town and never come back.
After the warehouse is evacuated, Hammerhead then fires a gun at
some explosive materials, which cause the warehouse to explode.
Spider-Man arrives at the explosion too late to see Hammerhead,
but in time to see the shadow of a woman standing atop the neighboring
building. Spider-Man slings
up to investigate, only to get kicked in the face by Ultimate Moon
Knight.
Likes: Wow! A lot happened including the introduction of a lot of new Ultimate version characters. First, Silvermane was kinda..... different. But that don’t matter, because he’s dead now. I like the Ultimate version of Hammerhead. I’m glad that he’s not a wanna be 1930's gangster, but more just a real tough guy. Ultimate Moon Knight looks like he is going to be an interesting addition to the arc. And the Enforcers are back which is a plus since I feared that they had broken up in an earlier issue. There’s going to be more characters added to this arc yet, so it’s no wonder that they titled it “Warriors.” I just hope that the rest of this huge gang war is going to be as good as this issue.
Dislikes: I really can’t find anything that I don’t like about this issue except that I’ve got to wait for next issue issue to find out what happens next.
Rating: 5 out of 5 webs. This issue is everything that an Ultimate Spider-Man comic should be.
Reviewed By: Michael Heitkemper
Ultimate
Spider-Man #78
Title: Dumped
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Scott Hanna
Plot: This issue starts out with MJ
crying in a bathroom stall at school about her breakup with Peter.
Liz Allen tries to get MJ to come out.
Later, in the classroom, Peter seems to be in a very upset mood
and storms out of the class after snapping at the teacher.
Sadly that’s the last we see of Peter in this issue.
MJ and Liz are hanging out at MJ’s work place when Flash tries
to introduce Mark Raxton to MJ. Mark
is a senior who plays in a punk rock band.
Liz convinces MJ to go to see Mark’s band play.
After the concert, Liz and Kong kind of push MJ into riding home
with Mark. So they’re
parked outside of someone’s house having a conversation about what
they want to be, which leads to a kiss.
MJ pulls away quickly and explains that she loves Peter too much
and she intends to make Peter trust her again.
Mark seems to take this okay.
Likes:
I’m glad that MJ is still interested in Peter more than anyone else.
This gives me hope that in future issues, if another love
interest for Peter is introduced, MJ will be a great conflicting barrier
between Peter and his new girlfriend.
Also, I like the way that Mark Raxton was introduced.
He has desires, and a seemingly slow building jealousy of Peter.
If Mark’s jealousy were to mix with his desires, it could be
useful to create a good villain in future issues.
Dislikes:
I’ve never read the Mary Jane comic books, but I’m sure
that this issue was just like it. Not
that I think the MJ books are bad, because this issue was very good.
It’s just that this is the Ultimate Spider-Man book, and Peter
only appeared in a few panels. I
think that some of the facial expression panels could have been traded
in for more of Peter expressing his feelings too.
That way we could have seen how both MJ and Peter felt about
their break up. Maybe Bendis
is saving Peter’s grief for next issue.
Favorite
Quote: “I want the secret of this Oz Formula cracked by my
birthday.”
Rating:
3 out of 5 webs. I usually
like these in between story arc issues, but this one was just barely
okay. It was about as
enjoyable as the issue with aunt May and her shrink.
From five, minus three webs because there was no Spidey
appearance, but plus one for the laying of a foundation for a good
future story arc.
Reviewed
By: Michael Heitkemper
Ultimate
Spider-Man #77
Title: Hobgoblin: Part 6
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Scott Hanna
Plot:
Spider-Man is drawn back to make another blow to Hobgoblin (Harry), but
stops and offers help to Harry. For
a few moments, it seems that Hobgoblin is going to accept the help, but
after some persuasion from the mysterious Mr. Shaw, Hobgoblin attacks by
throwing Spider-Man into the air. Police
arrive on the scene and open fire on Hobgoblin, but their shots don’t
even harm him. Hobgoblin
fights back and apparently kills the police officers.
Not far away, Nick Fury finally discovers what is happening in
the city. Fury and some
other S.H.E.I.L.D. agents suit up in a Hulk buster unit to go fight the
Hobgoblin. When Fury arrives
on the scene, Spider-Man tries to protect Hobgoblin, by saying that
he’s just a kid and needs help. Hobgoblin
bats Spider-Man out of the way, and the S.H.E.I.L.D. agents open fire.
Hobgoblin falls and transforms back to a barely
breathing Harry. Spider-Man
tries to get answers from Fury, but Fury won’t budge.
As Fury seemingly begins to ignore him, Spider-Man gives Fury a
blow to the face. Fury
accepts the blow fairly well, and tells Spider-Man to go home.
Then Fury says, “I think it’s time for Peter Parker to say
good-bye to those spider powers.” (Hmm.)
Later, Peter arrives at MJ’s house (I think) where they talk on
the doorstep. Peter is angry
with her for not telling him about her and Harry’s relationship, and
expresses that he can’t trust her.
MJ tries to hug Peter, but he pushes her away and runs off.
Likes:
What can I say, there’s just not much to like about this issue.
All of the fight scenes were drawn very well, and I’m glad that
the Hobgoblin arc is finally over.
Dislikes:
(deep breath) First of all, I feel that there wasn’t enough closure to
the arc. Unless you read the
Previously page, where it’s explained, you can only assume that Mr.
Shaw was a figment of Harry’s imagination..
Also, how exactly did Harry gain the power to turn into
Hobgoblin? Did Norman inject
Harry with the OZ willingly, or was it a side effect from the explosion
at Norman’s lab? This
wasn’t clearly explained. I’m
also getting burned out on how long it’s taking for Peter to get over
his whining. Ever since the
Carnage arc, the issues have been a little depressing because of
Peter’s character, and since him an MJ have apparently split up again,
I don’t see his depressive state going away anytime soon.
Then again, the break up could
mean that maybe a new love interest will be introduced.
Favorite
Quote: “I want the secret of this Oz Formula cracked by my
birthday.”
Rating:
2 out of 5 webs. The
whole arc, since the first issue, seemed like it was going to build into
something big, but as it turns out it wasn’t much of anything.
I was hoping for a more devious, vengeful, master planning Harry,
kind of like Norman, rather
than one that was just sad and misguided.
Harry apparently didn’t want anything to do with being evil, or
the Hobgoblin for that matter. I
figured that since they went ahead and made Harry’s Goblin form look
similar to Norman’s, they should have made their personalities similar
too. Even though, I really
feel that the Ultimate Hobgoblin just could have been more, I still look
forward to next issue.
Ultimate
Spider-Man #76
Title:
Hobgoblin: Part 5
Writer:
Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark
Bagley
Inker: Scott
Hanna
Plot: Picking
right up from last issue, (Phew, no flashbacks in this issue) Peter’s
inside Harry’s apartment. And there he stands, in unmasked costume,
frozen in fear right before the Ultimate Hobgoblin (Harry). Hobgoblin is
more or less an orange colored Ultimate Green Goblin. Peter wbs up
Hobgoblin proclaiming in his thoughts how much he hates Norman Osborn
for what he’s done. Pulling his mask on, Peter tries to talk to
Hobgoblin, but gets no response. Hobgoblin breaks free of the webbing,
and then, the fight is on. The fight pursues as Spider-Man and Hobgoblin
burst out through a window and fall to the streets below. Hobgoblin
looks enormous as he lands on some cars in the street. Spider-Man tries
to get Hobgoblin (Harry) to power down and seemingly almost succeeds.
But then, the mysterious bald guy, from the last two issues, returns and
convinces Harry to keep fighting.
Then MJ, who was on
her way to confront Harry about what he had told her, finds Spider-man
fighting the Hobgoblin. When Hobgoblin sees MJ, he lunges for her. But
at the last second, Spider-Man shoots a web-line to Hobgoblins ankles
and swings him away. While Hobgoblin’s down, Spider-Man grabs MJ and
swings her to the top of a building and tells her that the monster is
Harry. After breaking a door down, Spider-Man tells MJ to get out of
there. Just as MJ’s about to leave, the Hobgoblin reaches the top of
the building. To protect MJ, Spider-Man lunges at Hobgoblin. Once again
the two fall from the building tops to the street. Spider-Man starts
pounding Hobgoblin in angry rage, screaming "WHY?!" Just as
Spider-Man’s about to throw another, possibly fatal, punch the
Hobgoblin mutters, "Do it... Just kill me." With that the
issue leaves you hanging. We still don’t know for sure how Harry
became the Hobgoblin. All we can do is speculate that Norman injected
Harry with the OZ back when he was having Harry hypnotized. Also, the
mysterious bald man, is he just a figment of Harry’s imagination, or
something else. Hopefully next issue will fill in the blanks.
Likes: As always, Bagley’s art is awesome. There were no flashbacks in this issue like the past four, that’s a plus, and practically the whole issue was fight scenes with just the right amount of dialogue.
Dislikes: First of all, the scene of Peter and MJ’s class room was entirely not needed, it had no purpose that I can tell, except to bring more confusion. If class was in progress at school then it must be day time right? If that’s so, then why is it dark where Spider-Man is fighting Hobgoblin? The moon is even out. This was terribly overlooked.
Favorite Quote: "Holy crap! Wh- What happened? You run out of webs?"
Rating: 4 out of 5 webs. This issue really deserves five webs because of the art and great fight panels, but the night and day problem was really a downer and kind of annoyed me. I Can’t wait to see the next issue, and I hope that Bendis explains how Harry became the Hobgoblin.
Ultimate
Spider-Man #75
Title: Hobgoblin: Part 4
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Scott Hanna
Plot: This issue picks up where issue #73 left off. Harry and Shaw enter the bunker in the ground to find a goblin layer. When Harry sees a wall of OZ formula he turns and runs. Shaw chases him and puts him to sleep with the Cellar Door technique. When Harry wakes up, he’s back at home and Shaw is there too. Shaw tries to convince Harry that Peter knows where his dad is. Shaw says that he would go to Peter himself but he can’t because he don’t exist. He’s invisible to shield and wants to keep it that way. Therefore, Harry must go to Peter. Now, back to where issue #74 left off, Peter wants to go out and see Harry but May won’t let him. Peter gets upset and yells. The next day at school, MJ and Peter have yet another fight on those bleachers. MJ tells Peter that she knows that he killed Norman Osborn, and that Harry told her. Peter flips out, telling MJ that he didn’t kill anyone. Peter runs off to straighten things out with Harry. Harry has skipped school, and Shaw isn’t happy with this. Suddenly, Spider-Man arrives and wonders who Harry is talking to, because he can’t see Shaw. Shaw orders Harry to show Spider-Man who he really is. Harry has a flashback of his father becoming the Green Goblin, then screams, “Cellar Door!” A transformation begins.
Likes: In the first panel of this issue, I love the goblin masks in the bunker. There’s the Ultimate, original, and movie green goblin masks. I also like that Shaw is just a figment of Harry’s imagination even though it‘s kind of hard to grasp with the first panels that we saw of him. Another great cliffhanger; Bendis’ story is finally going somewhere, and it looks like we‘ll get to see Ultimate Hobgoblin next issue. And as always, Bagley’s pencils are great.
Dislikes: I really liked this issue, but if I had to dislike something it would be Peter and MJ’s argument. It seemed too stretched out, but it didn’t really hurt the issue any.
Favorite Quote: MJ: “I don’t understand- why would Harry say that?” Peter: “Because he’s NUTS!!”
Rating: 4 out of 5 webs. I really wanted to give this issue five webs, but since this is part four of six, and we still haven’t seen Hobgoblin I didn’t. Other than that a great issue; there was a lot of ground covered.
Reviewed By: Michael Heitkemper
Ultimate
Spider-Man #74
Title: Hobgoblin: Part 3
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Scott Hanna
Plot: We
pick up with where issue #72 left off. Peter can’t believe that Harry
has just told him that MJ and him use to date. Harry leaves Peter and
says, “I’m going to help you, and you’re going to help me.” The
next day at school, Peter avoids talking to MJ, but MJ finally confronts
him on the roof. Dressed as Spider-Man, he expresses his anger toward MJ.
He’s told her everything, and she never told him that Harry and her
use to date. Peter tells her to stay away from Harry and regrets telling
her who he is. Later, Harry talks to MJ, and tells her that Peter killed
his father.
Meanwhile,
Spider-Man is fighting a couple of thugs and hurts one of the guy really
bad. Worried that the man is going to die, Spider-Man rushes the him to
the hospital and waits for the police to arrive. Captain Jeanne DeWolfe
arrives and tells Spider-Man that she’s not going to arrest him and
that he just needs to relax. When Peter gets home, to his new home, aunt
May is unpacking. Then, Harry calls and says, “It’s time. You help
me, I help you. Bring the costume.”
Likes: Lots of drama. Harry seems to be playing both Peter and MJ, turning them against each other, and I like it. Also, I liked it that Peter tried to turn himself into the police, it was ironic that they didn’t want him though. Best of all, this was the first issue of the arc without any flashbacks.
Dislikes: Hmm. Three issues into the arc, and still no Hobgoblin except for on the cover of last issue.
Favorite Quote: “And wash your costume... you smell like hot dogs. Girls don’t like that.”
Rating: 4 out of 5, but just barely. It would be a strong 4 almost 5 if we’d have seen at least a better Hobgoblin cameo by now.
Reviewed By: Michael Heitkemper
Ultimate
Spider-Man #73
Title: Hobgoblin: Part 2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Scott Hanna
Plot: Again, we start this issue with another flashback; one week ago. Harry is on some balcony with Nick Fury. Fury tells Harry that he’s finally going home. Fury tells Harry that his dad (Norman) is locked away but can’t tell him much more than that for security reasons. Fury also tells Harry that everything his dad owned is now his, which makes him the richest kid at school. Break to another flashback; six days ago, Harry watches Peter and MJ talking to Johnny Storm. Flashback number 3; five days ago. Harry’s in a lawyers office where Normans property is being described. Flashback number 4; four days ago. Harry’s at the factory where his dad became the Green Goblin. Harry turns down a great offer on the building and says that he wants to keep it because it’s his. Flashback number 5; three days ago, Harry’s at his home when he gets a call from an unknown caller who tells him to go outside. Harry meets the man who is a bald guy named Mr. Shaw. Mr. Shaw drives Harry to a secluded area where he tells Harry all about his dad being the Green Goblin. More convincing was needed and so Shaw used the control word that Norman had hypnotically implanted into Harry: Cellar Door. Harry suddenly remembers everything. Shaw opens a large door in the ground which revealed a bunker and said, “It was you father’s. Now it’s yours.”
Likes: The story is starting to pick up a little more intense feeling because you can almost feel Harry’s confusion. (That sounds bad, but it’s good.) Also, the cliffhanger was great.
Dislikes: Way too many flash backs, in fact the whole issue was a flashback. At least they were written in order. Also, Fury seemed too nice.
Favorite Quote: “You were being hypnotized. He said “To protect you.” He wanted you to have a normal life.” (Yeah that makes sense.)
Rating: 3 out of 5 webs. The volume was there, and the distribution was too, but the whole issue was a flashback. I think that this should have been Hobgoblin: Part 1 and last issue should have been part 2.
Ultimate
Spider-Man #72
Title: Hobgoblin: Part 1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: Scott Hanna
Plot: The arc starts with a flashback to nine months ago when Peter was bit by the spider. In this flashback, we see something that we didn’t see in issue #1. While May and Ben take Peter to the hospital over the bite, MJ and Harry Osborn discuss their relationship. Apparently, they had been seeing each other, but Harry doesn’t want anyone to know. We reach the end of the flashback to find Spider-Man fighting some unnamed super villain who wants to get his hands on some adamantium. Spider-Man wins the fight and then swings back to school just in time to find Harry Osborn returning from who knows where. Peter feels uncomfortable about Harry’s return and tells MJ to stay away from him. MJ tries to ask why, but Peter only gets in her face and starts yelling. MJ runs away. Peter goes home where aunt May is packing things because their moving. Peter goes to his basement where Harry sneaks up on him. Harry reveals that he remembers everything about his dad being the Green Goblin, and Peter being Spider-Man. Then Harry reveals his aggravation with Peter dating his girlfriend. Peter is shocked.
Likes: Hmmm. Actually not too much. As always the art is good. Also the fight panels were pretty good, and I wonder if that villain is going to play more of roll in this arc.
Dislikes: Continuity problem: Back in issue #28 (I think) Harry knew that Peter and MJ were dating and even mentioned double dating with them and Gwen. Maybe Harry’s gone nuts or something. Hopefully this will be explained. Also, why hasn’t MJ ever told Peter about her and Harry? I think that it’s out of her character to keep this from Peter.
Favorite Quote: “Okay, I gotta skeddaddle. I have another group of ungrateful easels to save across town.”
Rating: 2 out of 5 webs. Nothing too interesting happened in this issue. I’m afraid that Hobgoblin is off to a rough start which is not good, especially after the Doctor Strange issues. Hopefully next issue things will pick up.
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