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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
It felt much too abrupt to be a good ending. Of course, there is the continuation to find...
We finally come to the end of the Ultimate Spider-man run. Well, kind of.
This is the first time I've read The War of the Symbiotes storyline as I had given up on the singles at that point - it feels cobbled together. I played and really enjoyed the Ultimate Spider-man game it's loosely based on but it doesn't quite translate here, throwing in too many elements. I quite liked the portrayal of Ultimate Beetle, and the scenes with Eddie talking to random people has a nice punchline. But then we get the Gwen clone / Carnage monster thing that recently reappeared (and why take on the image of Gwen rather than any of the others it killed?) forcing Gwen back onto the series. I liked her previously but it just feels unnecessary. Speaking of back from the dead (and I really don't know why I'm surprised) but how did Norman return after being presumably shot in the head a few stories ago? I think my biggest problem with this arc is it doesn't feel like it has a resolution or purpose, rather a vehicle to reintroduce Gwen while having a brief fight between the symbiotes (and it really is brief).
The annual has a nice story, built up at the time as tackling the taboo of sex. Ultimately it's quite subtle and underplayed, while introducing the new big-bad. I really dislike Lafuente's art here and it worries me that he takes over regular duties after this.
And then we come to Ultimatum as told through the eyes of Spidey. I've read this before and despite that truly terrible story inflicted on us by Loeb, it isn't so bad from this perspective. I quite like how Spidey is just involved peripherally, happening to be there and having no idea what the hell is going on. Some of the scenes with Hulk are pretty good and the artwork throughout is epic. Stuart Immonen really has grown on me only for him to depart. There are a fair few inconsistencies throughout, almost certainly as a consequence of fitting into the bigger picture. What happens to Johnny? Why does Nick Fury appear one minute the become 'missing' a few pages later again?
The final two Requiem issues provide a nice coda and a touching JJJ story while we get a couple of Spidey 'flashbacks'. I think the biggest issue I have here is Bendis has been forced to write around the bigger Ultimatum event when he didn't really want to. It didn't fit with current events within the book and these flashbacks just show he has other stories he would rather be telling. And the death? Given we all know what would happen a short while later 'for real', this just seems to cheapen things for dramatic impact.
Cynical perhaps but given that the 'end' of Ultimate Spider-man isn't really the end and things shortly continue on as normal then really, most of this is a big blow up over nothing. The complete destruction of New York City aside. Effectively necessary reading by this point, just a slight blip in an otherwise consistently strong series. It's not really as bad as I've made out. On to the new Ultimate Comics Spider-man! Brand new stories for me.
This is the first time I've read The War of the Symbiotes storyline as I had given up on the singles at that point - it feels cobbled together. I played and really enjoyed the Ultimate Spider-man game it's loosely based on but it doesn't quite translate here, throwing in too many elements. I quite liked the portrayal of Ultimate Beetle, and the scenes with Eddie talking to random people has a nice punchline. But then we get the Gwen clone / Carnage monster thing that recently reappeared (and why take on the image of Gwen rather than any of the others it killed?) forcing Gwen back onto the series. I liked her previously but it just feels unnecessary. Speaking of back from the dead (and I really don't know why I'm surprised) but how did Norman return after being presumably shot in the head a few stories ago? I think my biggest problem with this arc is it doesn't feel like it has a resolution or purpose, rather a vehicle to reintroduce Gwen while having a brief fight between the symbiotes (and it really is brief).
The annual has a nice story, built up at the time as tackling the taboo of sex. Ultimately it's quite subtle and underplayed, while introducing the new big-bad. I really dislike Lafuente's art here and it worries me that he takes over regular duties after this.
And then we come to Ultimatum as told through the eyes of Spidey. I've read this before and despite that truly terrible story inflicted on us by Loeb, it isn't so bad from this perspective. I quite like how Spidey is just involved peripherally, happening to be there and having no idea what the hell is going on. Some of the scenes with Hulk are pretty good and the artwork throughout is epic. Stuart Immonen really has grown on me only for him to depart. There are a fair few inconsistencies throughout, almost certainly as a consequence of fitting into the bigger picture. What happens to Johnny? Why does Nick Fury appear one minute the become 'missing' a few pages later again?
The final two Requiem issues provide a nice coda and a touching JJJ story while we get a couple of Spidey 'flashbacks'. I think the biggest issue I have here is Bendis has been forced to write around the bigger Ultimatum event when he didn't really want to. It didn't fit with current events within the book and these flashbacks just show he has other stories he would rather be telling. And the death? Given we all know what would happen a short while later 'for real', this just seems to cheapen things for dramatic impact.
Cynical perhaps but given that the 'end' of Ultimate Spider-man isn't really the end and things shortly continue on as normal then really, most of this is a big blow up over nothing. The complete destruction of New York City aside. Effectively necessary reading by this point, just a slight blip in an otherwise consistently strong series. It's not really as bad as I've made out. On to the new Ultimate Comics Spider-man! Brand new stories for me.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
