Ultimate Spider-Man #28 (Final Issue) Review

“I think we have something here…”

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Dave Marquez

Colors: Justin Ponsor*

Lettering: VC’s Cory Petit

Cover: Dave Marquez and Rainier Beredo

Assistant Editor: Emily Shaw

Editor: Mark Paniccia

*The color artist from #27, Paul Mounts, is credited on the cover, but not the recap page.

Plot: The soon-to-be All-New Ultimates (minus Kitty Pryde) launch a frontal assault against Roxxon. After the teen-heroes defeat Roxxon’s brain trust, Miles accepts his destiny and Jessica starts to think about the future…

Thoughts: Back in the earlier issues of this volume, I felt like Miles was the least developed member of the new cast. That stayed true until issue #10. In issue #10 Miles is threatened by his Uncle, and lets loose his feelings. It was interesting to see an angry Spider-Man, and that idea makes a return this issue when 5/6th’s of the All-New Ultimates breaking through the window of the Roxxon skyscraper, they’re mad, and they aren’t going to take it anymore. We see Miles anger resurface when Roxxon makes a personal attack against the memory of his mother. As a reader I enjoy seeing Miles’ anger as it really distances him from Peter Parker and makes him his own character. The two Spider-Men have so many similarities that this difference keeps Miles from being predictable. In a similar way to the Superior Spider-man, we can never assume Miles will react in the same way that Peter would. Here he decides to take Roxxon on by himself and throws him out of the open window with a web-line for a bungee.

The character of Roxxon has been very underwhelming throughout this arc, and unfortunately that continues here. Spider-Man’s one on one time with Roxxon consists of the evil businessman talking in vague threats, uninterrupted, for three pages. At this point his need to constantly chat is his defining character trait, but as all he does is hint at Jefferson Davis’ (Miles dad’s) dark past, it’s not really worth the page count. He appears to be arrested shortly after this scene, so hopefully he’ll be missing from the series when it returns.

While Spider-Man listens to Roxxon’s Rant (patent pending), the remaining members of his gang take on the brain trust, and defeats them with ease. It’s great to see the future Ultimates already working together so well. All of their characters work in synchronisation, and I can see why Marvel decided to spin this concept off into it’s own series.
They each have their own personality, and play well off each other. Even the newest character, Bombshell, feels as though she has been apart of the Ultimate Universe since the beginning, and I am looking forward to seeing more interaction from this group in the future. My only hesitation would be that for two issues in a row the “Boss Battle” has ended with Cloak absorbing the enemy into his…cloak. His determined “Next!” was incredibly cool, but I worry his character is going to be used as a quick fix moving forward, and hope his powers can be used more creatively in the future. 

Once S.H.I.E.L.D shows up to contain the situation the kids part ways. Miles returns to the dorm he shares with Ganke, and the two friends reunite. The dynamic between these two characters has been unsettled ever since we jumped forward a year, so it’s good that some sense of equilibrium was restored here. Miles thanks Ganke for his support, confirms he has returned to the webs, and the two hug it out. I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy reading this relationship and I hope it can continue when the book relaunches in April. To my knowledge it is unique in Spider-Man history. Peter’s never been good at keeping male friends, and seeing Ganke encourage and be proud of his friend for being Spider-Man is one of the strengths of this series. It made the first few issues fun to read and I’m glad to see evidence of it’s return. I would also be interested to see Miles’ girlfriend, Kate, begin to be more involved, as at present she is little more than a background character.

Similarly to last issue the color artist, regardless of who it was, is on top form. The colors on each of the character’s costume really stands out, and gives them a distinct appeal as they jump together through the shattered glass. By this point my feelings on Marquez should be clear. He is the perfect artist for this book. There are a range of different characters in this issue, and all are detailed and real. Whether it’s a nameless security guard, an agent of S.H.E.I.L.D or one of our heroes, they each have their own look. None of the characters felt rushed or generic.

Grade – B: When I first read this issue back in October it was a little bit of a let down. For all we knew back then this was the last issue of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, and we did not know when we would next see Miles Morales and his supporting characters. When I came to read it again for this review it was hard to get back into that frame of mind, given what we know now. While the issue is a satisfying conclusion to Spider-Man No More, as a series final issue, it is found wanting. However as Miles’ adventures will return shortly I am able to see this for what it is, rather than what I thought it was. Spider-man No More dropped some interesting clues for the future, and I’m looking forward to seeing more from the series when it returns in April.

Unanswered questions: Miles’ father has confessed to being a petty thief in the past, but Roxxon seemed to be hinting that Jefferson was far worse than he’s let on. Who was he?