Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1: Power and Responsibility
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Mark Bagely
Ultimate Spider-Man swings into astonishment!
Ranking: 5 stars
Ladies and Gentlemen, and teens all across America, Brian Michael Bendis is proud to present..... ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN!!!!!!!
Probably the coolest and funniest version of Spidey since the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko/John Romoltia Sr. era, Ultimate Spider-Man re-imagines our famous wall crawler for the 21st century in the new Ultimate Marvel universe! Taking classic characters and story lines from the original Marvel universe, the Ultimate universe re-imagines them from scratch and turns them into new and original versions of themselves! Take Peter Parker for example. In this continuity he is still a sophomore in high school who is friends with Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn, while at the same time getting bullied constantly by Flash Thompson and Kenny "Kong." Peter still lives with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben who are both former hippies and a little younger than their mainstream counterparts.
But Peter's life changes forever, when he is bitten by a genetically altered spider at Osborn Industries during a field trip. Soon after the accident, Peter begins to exhibit spider like abilities including a spider sense (but he doesn't know completely what it is until Vol. 2), wall crawling, and enhanced strength and agility. Peter first begins a wrestling career with his newfound powers until he is accused of robbing their payroll. After escaping the arena, he lets a lone burglar get away after robbing a deli, but a few nights later, that same burglar will have shot Uncle Ben. Peter soon catches the murderer, but he is horrified to discover that it was the same man he let escape. Regretting his own selfishness, Peter soon follows his uncle's words that "with great power, comes great responsibility," and then vows to repay it all by fighting crime as the Ultimate Spider-Man.
This catches the attention of the CEO of Osborn Industries, Norman Osborn, the man who created the wonder drug OZ, that he injected into the spider that bit Peter Parker. He then tries to recreate the accident that created Spider-Man by using the OZ drug on himself, but instead he becomes the monstrous and murderous Green Goblin! A savage hulk-like monster bent on destroying everything and everyone in his path! Attacking Spider-Man's school, Spidey must do everything he can to protect the students from the wrath of the Goblin!
This first story arc turns the original Amazing Fantasy #15, into a 7-issue story arc! A lot more time to show true character development, and the full story on the origin of the all-new, all-amazing Ultimate Spider-Man!!!
