The Ultimate Spider-Man

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Spider-Man Book Review
Review: "The Ultimate Spider-Man" Book Review If you are looking for a book filled with thrills, cliffhangers, action, and adventure, then "The Ultimate Spider-Man" by Stan Lee is the right book for you. Now, I know that you could be reading this and think: "Spider-Man? no way!", but it's not just an old comic book for kids. In this 336-page book, you will find 12 short episodes written in a humorous, adult-like way, so it's good for people of many ages. The book starts out with a young boy named Peter Parker who is somewhat of a dork, and he gets beaten up by bullies. Well, the story goes on and Peter hears all about Spider-man on the radio and that leads into the separate episodes of Spider-man's or Spidey (as he is called by Mr. Lee) adventures and encounters with villains such as the Vulture, Stuart (who is just more of a small problem), and Morbius.

Now, as for rating the book, I am going to have to say I give it a 4.5 out of 5. It's not a perfect book, but for me, it was really good and a lot better than I had anticipated. I have three good reasons why I give it this rating. The first is because of the description. If the book was rated merely on description, it would have a 6 out of 5 easily. Every page was filled with descriptive and interesting words and phrases. It's hard not to understand the book because the words and language lay it out for you so well. Even the introduction had me wanting to read more into the book.

The next element that I based my rating on was my how the book kept me wanting to read more. Some points in the book made me want to keep reading and I had a lot of trouble prying the book out of my hands for a minute. Then, there were other parts that seemed too boring and I didn't want to continue. The entire book is filled with dry humor and laugh to the point of crying humor. It's very mixed, and for some people that might be good, but that's not my personal favorite.

Unfortunately, there is a downfall to my rating. Even though I ended up enjoying the book, it wouldn't be my first choice. Everyone has a type of book they like to read and this wouldn't be mine. So my third reason for my rating, is my choice of reading book, or the genre of the book. The book did keep me interested, but I doubt that I would read it again, mostly because I am more into horror and mystery books and this had neither.

All in all, this was a pretty good book, and if you like adventure a monsters and fighting, then it's definitely the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty entertaining read
Review: I should start off by saying that I'm not a Spider-Man collector. It's not that I don't enjoy the series (because I do), but I just don't buy it as regularly as I do the X-books. I do know the backstory extensively, though, having purchased anthologies of the early Amazing Spider-Man issues. But with everything else, I'm essentially a blank slate where this character is concerned, and I'm open to just about all possibilities.

So, without a lot of backhistory in my mind, I found this novel quite enjoyable. These stories work because they were written to BE stories. All too often, comic book novel adaptations are usually comic books without the art, and they fail for it. But the various writers here keep their medium in mind, and work with it.

The novel starts off with the necessary retelling of Spider-Man's origin. I quite disliked this, to be honest. It smacked of "Hey, here's some stuff we forgot to tell you the first time!" The revelation that Dok Ock was performing the radiation experiment that charged the spider that gave Peter Parker his powers was not in the original version of the story, so I'm guessing this came from the Untold Tales of Spider-Man series (and I still don't like it).

There are actually a few more stories in that vein (basically, they "fill in gaps" where there were no such gaps in the original comic books). One story has Peter Parker questioning his desire to be Spider-Man after a vicious encounter with the Vulture. He takes a vacation to Atlantic City, and there, a retired superhero by the name of the Black Bee convinces him not to give up. It was inspiring and very human, but I couldn't break away from the fact that it didn't appear in the original books.

Toward the end of the novel, though, there was more room for making new stories up - especially when they're not of major superhero import, but rather of human interest. For example, the last story, "Five Minutes," involves no major villains. It only involves Spider-Man anguishing over being five minutes too late to save a suicidal man, and David powerfully conveys Peter's inner torment.

On the other hand, there's one story that I just can't get into. It's a story by Ann Nocenti; she tells about Spider-Man's investigation into an organ-smuggling ring. It's a story that needs much more development than she has room for. It seems much more like a prologue for a full novel than a self-contained story. But it's the only weak part of the novel.

In essence, the Ultimate Spider-Man is as appropriate a title as you can give to this novel. It retells his origin, explains his emotional conflicts and inner motivations, and even includes some classic battles with the Vulture and Venom for people who want solid action. It's definitely perfect for people new to Spider-Man, and long-time fans should get something out of it, too.

Rating:
Summary: Spidey Swings into Action
Review: One of the best things about the Spider-Man character that he succeeds in different media. Prose writing and novelization is just one of those. Comics, video games and an upcoming movie coming out the summer of 2002, make Spidey, the character of the most accessible of all the different comic characters.

What this book holds is a number of well written, different style, short stories that put the spotlight on Spidey and his numerous foes. Some stories, don't even have well established foes, but still hold the magic of Spidey, and at times even better without them. The different writers showcased in this anthology do best to grasp the essence of the character. The alternating Peter Parker and Spider-Man form produces a very well conceieved idea tht has forever appealed to millions of readers and fans all over the world.

The major setback in this anthology is that Spidey is a very visual character, and the fans have gotten used to seeing him swing and jump and fight his way. The emaphsis is on the word "see". Some fans would not accept the charcater in such a setting andthus forth might consider the book not their cup of tea. Another aspect of things to be seen, is that readers of prose, not comics will think that a Spidey book is childish and not what it's supposed to be. Those people deal more with charcaterization and delving of the characters' emotions and so forth. This dos not imply that the book lacks that, Spidey has always been about character and how real and of this world he really is. An excellent example of such an achievement is the excellent final story of the collection "Five Minutes" by Peter David. That story captures the magic of the Peter Parker, the man behind the mask. Anyone who has a loved one waiting for them and yearning to be with them at all times, will relate to that story.

Though I have told people that I was reading this book when I was, but I cold not actually hold it with me and walk around the university campus with it. I guess no matter how OK you might be reading a book on Spidey, people would still think that you're a kid or a geek to actually do such a thing. Should you care?? I think not. On the contrary, up till now thisis the best anthology book that have read this year, but I can't go more to say that it's the best.

Spider-Man is a winner and he always gets on top. No matter.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Collection of Short Stories
Review: This book has been sitting away for about three years and upon the release of the movie, I decided to revisit my meager collection of Spidey novels. Some of the stories in this collection are quite good while others are placed in for filler.
The story Spider-Man itself provides a new take on the origins of the web-slinger. How ironic is it that the same man who penned the novelization for the movie could put an entirely different spin on the spider bite while at the same time introduce one of our hero's most celebrated adversaries.
"Suits" was also an insightful look into the workings of another superhero from the past who decided to hang up his tights and attempt to live a normal life.
"An Evening in the Bronx with Venom" provided more details about Spidey's most mysterious villain. I did not realize that Venom had vowed to protect the innocent and only preyed on the criminal.
I think my favorite story was "Five Minutes." The reader gets an inside glimpse at the married life of Peter and Mary Jane. We see what effects peter's double life has on his relationship with his wife. Although she knew going into the marriage that her husband would ot be a normal nine-to-fiver, MJ is a normal woman with feelings and it was nice to see how her mind works. What wife of a superhero would not long to have a normal life? Firefighter and police officers can't be everywhere at once so why must Spider-Man be expected to?
All-in-all the stories in this anthology were quite enjoyable. Some of them were just too short to be memorable. But most were quite exceptinal.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Collection of Short Stories
Review: This book has been sitting away for about three years and upon the release of the movie, I decided to revisit my meager collection of Spidey novels. Some of the stories in this collection are quite good while others are placed in for filler.
The story Spider-Man itself provides a new take on the origins of the web-slinger. How ironic is it that the same man who penned the novelization for the movie could put an entirely different spin on the spider bite while at the same time introduce one of our hero's most celebrated adversaries.
"Suits" was also an insightful look into the workings of another superhero from the past who decided to hang up his tights and attempt to live a normal life.
"An Evening in the Bronx with Venom" provided more details about Spidey's most mysterious villain. I did not realize that Venom had vowed to protect the innocent and only preyed on the criminal.
I think my favorite story was "Five Minutes." The reader gets an inside glimpse at the married life of Peter and Mary Jane. We see what effects peter's double life has on his relationship with his wife. Although she knew going into the marriage that her husband would ot be a normal nine-to-fiver, MJ is a normal woman with feelings and it was nice to see how her mind works. What wife of a superhero would not long to have a normal life? Firefighter and police officers can't be everywhere at once so why must Spider-Man be expected to?
All-in-all the stories in this anthology were quite enjoyable. Some of them were just too short to be memorable. But most were quite exceptinal.

Rating:
Summary: One great story, 11 bad ones
Review: This book is not that bad, nor is it an extremely good one either, in comic speak it's a, "Good Read." In everyone else's language, "This book is horrible, and stereotyped.... With one exception."

That exception is the reason I've liked spider-man since I was five, the real reason anybody admittedly gets only single issues, we like fight scenes. And this book has one of the best, not even in the Massive-War-Against-All Dragonlance books will you find an impressive battle between two people, than in the story where Spider-Man battles the only enemy that can outfight him, outmaneuver him, and outthink him, Eddie Brock, Venom. His origin took five years, his hatred will last a lifetime, but there's still that single sense of sanity left in him, which is snapped when he sees Peter Parker, Spider-Man.

Then All Hell breaks loose.

This story truly tells how their battle would go in the real world, and man is it sweet. there are conflicts everywhere in this story, it's short, and could have been a full-fledged novel, but for what it has, you can tell there is a sense of total completion about it, an entire man's self-worth put to the test. And one man's battle with himself. A Great Story, but the other one's leave the book alone. Good thing the one story makes the others look like sunday morning comics.

Rating:
Summary: A decent read for Spider-Man fans...
Review: This is a decent read for Spider-Man fans. All the stories are varied and use a good variety of villians. None of them are anything to write home about, but are good filler on a boring day. At least the book is enjoyable.