Ultimate Spider-man: Power and Responsibility

Rating:
Summary: A great restart to a living legend
Review: I always wondered why someone who was looked down upon by his peers, didn't use his new powers to just become an overnight success. That was always my biggest problem with the Spider-Man. In this book, not only was that question addressed, but it was taken to a level I wouldn't have thought of previously.

The Ultimate Spider-Man not only successfully retold the origin of the webslinger, but it managed to entertain on a very human level. It faced a lot of the problems faced by a modern teen in high school and in mourning in a real fashion.

On a technical level, I like how it addressed the near uncontrolled emergence of his powers, and how Parker had problems with his control of his prototype web-shooters.

My only complaint is a common one. The new Green Goblin is very intimidating, and formidible... I can even go without the trademark pumpkin-bombs, but his lack of intelligence bothers me. It's not the laughing, maniacial psycho I admire as a villian.

Even without the Green Goblin's smiling visage, this is still an excellent book. I'd recommend it to casual comic fans, as an easy way to meet Marvel's flagship hero. To hardcore fans... it's a fifty/fifty shot... but still worth a read

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: I am a huge Spider-man fan and despite my advanced years I still collect the book. Heck I even have a Spider-man tatoo.

That being said, this is a terrible rendition of the Spider-man franchise. I totally understand Marvels wanting to revamp the story for the 21st century and draw in new readers or to be more precise bring in more money. But they seriously dropped the ball in this effort. The reason I love Peter Parker a.k.a Spider-man so much; Was that he was different from other boys his age. It was not just his super powers that made him unique. It was that Peter was actually a GENTLEMAN!!!! He was compassionate and cared for others and was willing to put the needs of others before his own. He was the total antithesis of your typical self-centered foul mouthed teenage boy who had his middle finger in the air to the world. Unfortunetly this last description is more in line with Bendis' version of Peter Parker. In the Ultimate Spider-man Brian Micheal Bendis has turned Peter into a foul mouthed, truculent boy who is rude to his elderly Aunt and Unlce who have actually sacrificed to raise him. This is NOT the Peter Parker I spent the last 13 years admiring. Bendis is not a very good writer and he seems to think that putting in cuss words and smart alecky remarks constitutes clever writing. Further he actually thinks that he's actually making the character a realistic teenage boy. Oh really how many teenagers do you know swing from spider webs and scale walls with their bare hands? I have no problem with a story being tweaked. But tweak is not what Bendis does. He uses a hatchet where a fly swatter will do.

When I bought this book the comic book dealer wouldn't let me flip through it--I now see why. I must have gotten half way through the TPB before throwing it across the room in disgust.

I would only recommend this book to people who are unfamiliar with Spider-man. But for you long time "Web heads" out there I strongly recommend against you picking up this book. It is a true sacrilege to a hero of our time.

Rating:
Summary: ultimate spiderman tops in the last decade
Review: I am from the old school and tend to enjoy older issues where the stories had direction and in your face art. Those days seemed to have been lost forever until I read "Ultimate Spiderman". I lost interest in spiderman through all the "Clone Saga" and hadn't read anything new since. But with all the hype and talk about this new series intrigued me to try once again, and to my surprise and delight I can honestly say I haven't enjoyed this type of artwork, and story for a very long time. Worth every penny and get's better every time I read it. I can't recommend it enough!! Everyone who tells you this is a diamond in the rough is right on target. Get yours today.

Rating:
Summary: a great origin story for new spider fans
Review: I don't enjoy it as much because of lack of super villans but it still is a great read if you arent a violence junkie you know who you are. Buy this book it will mak e you collecton complete.

Rating:
Summary: Read the original origin issue-loved that, loved this more!
Review: I had older brothers, so I read most of the Marvel classic comics when I was very young (before overzealous parents made us clean up and throw them out!). Spiderman was always one of my favorite comics because I always felt that Peter Parker was just as important to the story as his superhero alterego (never felt that way about Superman or Green Lantern, et al). ... and I could identify with Peter Parker and appreciated the "realism" of how a regular kid might feel if endowed with super-human powers and abilities. Ultimate Spiderman does an incredible job of reconnecting to the original Spiderman concept, but in addition, updates it to be accessible and meaningful to today's readers. It delves deeper and more convincingly into the psyche of Peter Parker, which makes how he is as Spiderman so much more believable. Also really loved some of the updating of the supervillain connections which I'm sure will be played out in future issues. If you're a Spiderman fan of ANY age, and have at least a moderately open mind, you'll definitely enjoy this graphic novel.

Rating:
Summary: A great re-introduction to the world of comics
Review: I have been "off" comic books for well over two decades. I was passing by the magazine rack in my local grocery when I saw this collection on the bottom rack. I purchased it on impulse, and found when I started reading it, I just couldn't put it down.... What probably had prevented me from picking up a comic is the tremendous back-story that exists. Many times, the reader will need to have "kept up" with past issues to gain a full understanding and a sense of all the nuances contained in a modern comic. "Ultimate Spiderman" lifts this burden by discarding the "past" and starting fresh, re-telling the Spiderman legend beginning in the present day. This is incredible for attracting a new generation of fans, but it's also great for we old-timers who have been away for a while. I highly recommend this collection to both new and old comic fans.

Rating:
Summary: POWER, RESPONSIBILITY, AND FUN!
Review: I have been a fan of Spiderman since the early 1970s. In fact I practically grew up alongside Peter Parker. I've seen the character through plenty of ups (The Death of Gwen Stacy, Untold Tales of Spiderman) and downs (Spiderman 2099, the Howard Mackie years). So naturally, it was with great trepidation that I finally decided to read the new "take" on him that was presented in Power and Responsibility. I could not imagine the fun ride that was in store for me.

Writers Bill Jemas and Brian Michael Bendis do an unbelievable job of keeping the beloved characters and elements that fans will know and love. But, at the same time they create just enough of a twist to keep readers intrigued and guessing as to what they will experience next. A perfect example is the character of Uncle Ben who is fully developed and around long enough to establish a strong relationship between himself and Peter. Readers have plenty of time to enjoy Uncle Ben while at the same time dreading the fate that they know will unfold around him. The death of Uncle Ben is the prime motivation for the entire character of Spiderman...and yet I liked Ben so much I hoped that this time around perhaps he'd live.

The Ultimate Spiderman storyline also does a nice job of fleshing out the origin of Spiderman and his nemesis The Green Goblin (who is incredibly different). Interwoven between the characters several familiar faces also fall. I can't wait to see the Ultimate version of Doctor Octopus or to see how the character of Harry Osborn develops do to what occurs in this intial storyarc.

Finally why should you read Ultimate Spiderman: Power and Responsibility? Bottom line - IT IS FUN. You'll have a chance to see a modern take on a classic hero and to watch as he grows, experiences the troubles of being a teenager, the challenges of being a newborn superhero, and as he learns that "with great power comes great responsibility."

Rating:
Summary: Ultimate spider-man is the best!
Review: I have read spider-man comics for years and this series is definitley one of the best! the writing, the art, the inking, and the charecters all work perfectley together!
This series gets you very involved in the stories, it gets you attached to the charecters with great charecter development through out the issues.I would certainly recommend this series to any comic book fan!

Rating:
Summary: Retelling the story of Spider-Man for the 21st century
Review: I started reading "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Peter Parker: Spider-Man" again when I started doing a unit on comic books for my Popular Culture class and had ignore "Ultimate Spider-Man." Seeing that the first seven issues were collected in "Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility" I thought I would check it out and was more than pleasantly surprised. The idea here was to update Spider-Man for the 21st century, specifically by going back and starting over from the beginning, doing so fully cognizant of where Stan Lee and Steve Ditko started off the comic book and where the character would end up in terms of super villains and future bride. There is certainly a sense in which this version is compatible with the blockbuster "Spider-Man" movie, but that is more in terms of having Mary Jane Watson there from the start than anything else. Ultimately, the point here is tighten the original Spider-Man story and give the characters some twists.

"Power and Responsibility" takes its time in developing the origin of Spider-Man. The original story by Lee and Ditko in "Amazing Fantasy" #15 was eleven pages long. Here it takes six issues to get to the same point in the character's history. Of course, since we know where things are going, we can take time to appreciate the journey. At the same time, there is a concerted effort to bring various elements more into the mix. That infamous radioactive spider is the creation of Osborn Industries, the pet project of Norman Osborn and one of his chief scientists, Dr. Otto Octavius. Osborn is extremely interested in why young Peter Parker does not die after the bite and the creation of the Green Goblin becomes a direct consequence of the fateful spider bite. In time I am sure we will see the birth of Doctor Octopus will come from this as well.

The stories here are by Bill Jemas and Brian Michael Bendis (who does the script), with pencils by Mark Bailey and inks by Art Theibert and Dan Panosian. In many ways I am reminded of when John Byrne had the responsibility of restarting Superman; there is a sense to be a bit more realistic. It is not that Peter Parker is an absolute scientific genius; it was his father who did most of the preliminary work on what would become the formula for Spider-Man's web. Once he gains his spider powers, Peter Parker does what just about any persecuted high school nerd would do; he goes out and becomes a super jock. When he starts web slinging he makes a lot of initial mistakes. I even like the way Peter snaps back at Uncle Ben and Aunt May as things start to get to him, both before and after the spider-bite. This jut increases the pathos of the tragedy that unfolds.

I like the fact that "Ultimate Spider-Man" is divorced from the two "real" Spider-Man comic books. Going back to the original stories by Lee and Ditko (later John Romita, Sr.) in either "The Essential Spider-Man" or "Marvel Masterworks" series are not going to be really helpful to younger readers of the character. It was well worthwhile for those of us who started reading "The Amazing Spider-Man" in the Sixties to go through Betty Bryant and the death of Gwen Stacy to eventually get to the day when Mary Jane confronted Peter with the fact she knew he was Spider-Man, but those are hundreds of issues to go through. Starting over again with full knowledge of where the characters are going to end up is a worthwhile approach, especially given how good of a start we see in this first collection (the next three are already out for those who want to continue the journey). Besides, how can you not be happy that Aunt May is alive again? I might have to check out some of these other Ultimate titles from Marvel as well, because this one is pretty impressive.

Rating:
Summary: Retelling the story of Spider-Man for the 21st century
Review: I started reading "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Peter Parker: Spider-Man" again when I started doing a unit on comic books for my Popular Culture class and had ignore "Ultimate Spider-Man." Seeing that the first seven issues were collected in "Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility" I thought I would check it out and was more than pleasantly surprised. The idea here was to update Spider-Man for the 21st century, specifically by going back and starting over from the beginning, doing so fully cognizant of where Stan Lee and Steve Ditko started off the comic book and where the character would end up in terms of super villains and future bride. There is certainly a sense in which this version is compatible with the blockbuster "Spider-Man" movie, but that is more in terms of having Mary Jane Watson there from the start than anything else. Ultimately, the point here is tighten the original Spider-Man story and give the characters some twists.

"Power and Responsibility" takes its time in developing the origin of Spider-Man. The original story by Lee and Ditko in "Amazing Fantasy" #15 was eleven pages long. Here it takes six issues to get to the same point in the character's history. Of course, since we know where things are going, we can take time to appreciate the journey. At the same time, there is a concerted effort to bring various elements more into the mix. That infamous radioactive spider is the creation of Osborn Industries, the pet project of Norman Osborn and one of his chief scientists, Dr. Otto Octavius. Osborn is extremely interested in why young Peter Parker does not die after the bite and the creation of the Green Goblin becomes a direct consequence of the fateful spider bite. In time I am sure we will see the birth of Doctor Octopus will come from this as well.

The stories here are by Bill Jemas and Brian Michael Bendis (who does the script), with pencils by Mark Bailey and inks by Art Theibert and Dan Panosian. In many ways I am reminded of when John Byrne had the responsibility of restarting Superman; there is a sense to be a bit more realistic. It is not that Peter Parker is an absolute scientific genius; it was his father who did most of the preliminary work on what would become the formula for Spider-Man's web. Once he gains his spider powers, Peter Parker does what just about any persecuted high school nerd would do; he goes out and becomes a super jock. When he starts web slinging he makes a lot of initial mistakes. I even like the way Peter snaps back at Uncle Ben and Aunt May as things start to get to him, both before and after the spider-bite. This jut increases the pathos of the tragedy that unfolds.

I like the fact that "Ultimate Spider-Man" is divorced from the two "real" Spider-Man comic books. Going back to the original stories by Lee and Ditko (later John Romita, Sr.) in either "The Essential Spider-Man" or "Marvel Masterworks" series are not going to be really helpful to younger readers of the character. It was well worthwhile for those of us who started reading "The Amazing Spider-Man" in the Sixties to go through Betty Bryant and the death of Gwen Stacy to eventually get to the day when Mary Jane confronted Peter with the fact she knew he was Spider-Man, but those are hundreds of issues to go through. Starting over again with full knowledge of where the characters are going to end up is a worthwhile approach, especially given how good of a start we see in this first collection (the next three are already out for those who want to continue the journey). Besides, how can you not be happy that Aunt May is alive again? I might have to check out some of these other Ultimate titles from Marvel as well, because this one is pretty impressive.