Damn. Damn this book is so fucking good.
What's this book about?
Spider-Man. It's that simple. That's why this book works so well on so many levels. Thanks to the film, Spider-Man has jumped up in public's eye. Everyone knows who he is and this book can be given to anyone who's seen the film, which is a helluva lot of people.
Now we all know Brian Michael Bendis is a comic-book God. He writes more books than I do and they're all stellar. But there's another star at work here too. Mark Bagley.
What really has impressed me as of late is the number of times I seem to be picking up this book. I heard about this going bi-weekly months ago and never thought they'd do it. For a writer it's difficult, but it can be done. For an artist, not so easy in this day in age. Somehow, though, Mark manages to do it. And do it really really well.
Mark's Spider-Man is graceful and powerful. His angles and storytelling terrific. And the re-designs he's done for some of these characters, from the old, but vibrant Aunt May to Gwen Stacy to Rhino, have been distinct and full of life.
In #29...
We're being set up for Ultimate Venom in this issue of Spider-Man and I already like where it's going. A double of Spider-Man, in terms of both visuals and abilities, is committing acts of crime in proud daylight, feeding J. Jonah Jameson's libel hard-on for Spider-Man. To make matters worse, Mary Jane has just found out that Gwen Stacy will be staying the weekend at Peter's. Sleeping over for God's sake! As Peter is pulled between two girls, he's forced to head out after his doppelganger. Spider-Man does his best to prove he's innocent but the police end up shooting him in the shoulder. Bam. Spider-Man falls to the ground in front of the cops, bleeding.
Thanks for the hard work, guys. Now if only Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch could step up the pace and get Ultimates bi-weekly. Another great book in its own right.
