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ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #15
"Confrontations"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inks: Art Thibert
Colors: Transparency Digital
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Let's get
this out of the way: I hate the production values on this comic. The colorist
change has again been for the weaker, the new mixed-case lettering looks
amateurish and the combination highlights some of the deficiencies in Bagley's
art, which up until now had been covered by solid production. If not for that, I
wouldn't have anything bad to say about this book, because Bendis, Bagley and
Thibert continue to deliver a fresh look at Spider-Man that is funny and full of
energy, everything that a Spider-Man book should be. The development of the
characters is terrific, and the building story of Doctor Octopus gives him a
menace he hasn't had... well, possibly ever.
As with the Green Goblin
previously, the villain here is more of a subplot, building to an eventual
confrontation. It's the sort of thing that's done more in horror movies than
super-hero comics, and it works. The creative team opens with a creepy homicide
and closes with a creepy shot of Octopus advancing on another building, and the
feel is one of dread and building menace. While I read this book more for the
interaction of Peter and his peers than the super-hero stuff at this point, I
can't deny being interested to see the inevitable confrontation between Octopus
and Spider-Man.
However, it's the high school
stuff that really gets me, and Bendis does some terrific work here. Kong's
"discovery" is a great way of addressing the no-brainer question of why none of
these kids ever thought Peter might be Spider-Man, at the same time providing us
with some hilarious dialogue and action. As a side bonus, we get some further
insight into Gwen Stacy, and I confess that the badder she gets, the more I love
her. This sort of personality makes a lot of sense as rebellion against her
father, too, another classic Spider-Man supporting character that we are
reintroduced to this issue.
In addition, the issue has
another high point with the first face-to-face meeting of Spidey and Jameson.
The result made me laugh out loud, with a visual gag that is one of the best of
the series so far and a convincing step in the direction of a Jameson crusade
against Spider-Man.
What really impressed me,
though, was how smoothly the creative team moved through all of these sequences
and made them all fit. The transition between Gwen's moment with the principal
and the introduction of her father was very nice, as was the jump from outside
the Daily Bugle to inside, and Bendis is doing a convincing job of keeping all
these elements related to the central story of Doctor Octopus.
I still have my quibbles
about the look of the book. Ben Urich as young turk reporter continues to irk
me, and Octopus's brawny physique seems a bit off as well. And the lettering and
coloring is no small part of the finished package, and I don't think the current
teams are living up to the standards set by the rest of the creative team.
However, despite my problems with the book, it continues to entertain month-in
and month-out and it continues to be one of my favorite books.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
