ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM UP #11
"Peter Parker's Day Off"
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Chynna Clygston-Major
Colors: Transparency Digital
Letters: Sharpefont
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Bendis and Clugston-Major deliver what is easily the strongest issue thus far of an already solid series. Bendis's ear for genuine dialogue combines wonderfully with the artist's expressive, detailed and even goofy style to create a down-to-earth story devoid of costumes, super-powers or maniacal villains.
Peter Parker and his friends participate in a time-honored high-school tradition: senior skip day. The Queens residents head into Manhattan and end up at a mall like any other. It turns out the students of Xavier's School for the Gifted, along with the enigmatic Logan, are in the city as well, and the two groups cross paths.
Clugston-Major captures the innocent yet raunchy nature of teenagers perfectly in this story, which should come as no surprise to anyone who's read her various Blue Monday stories from Oni Press. I have to admit, though, her stuff here looks even better. There's a stronger sense of (perhaps imposed) structure, and the colors add a whole new level of depth to her work. In the end, though, her greatest strength is her ability to convey the emotions of these teen characters, from the outrageous ones to the more subtle feelings.
Bendis's portrayal of Peter Parker and his friends as average teenagers continues to impress. I'm also pleased to see Kong incorporated into the group, as he has come to be one of the strongest additions the writer has made to the Spidey canon in Ultimate Spider-Man.
In the 1960s, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby delved into the topic of racism through super-powers and fisticuffs, and it ended up as an analogy that has endured and resonated with comics readers for 40 years. Here, Bendis sets aside the costumes and powers, and gets to the heart of the issue at hand just through words. There's no judgment going on here, or even the typical angst that characterized the X-Men for oh so long. No, this is just about learning about one another, and it makes for a refreshing change of pace of Marvel's mutant concept.
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