Steve Long 
Steve swings into action to check out Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man issue #1. But did it make his spider-sense tingle?
Marvel’s beloved wall-crawler is swinging back into action. But does ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1 do enough to make our spider-sense tingle? Let’s find out.
First, let’s get caught up with what is going on. Last year, Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch released a four-part limited series titled Ultimate Invasion. A long-awaited sequel to the 2000s Ultimate Comics line. The short and skinny of Ultimate Invasion was that the Illuminati were reunited to fight off the Maker. Failing to stop him from creating a new universe, a new “Ultimate” Earth, called Earth-6160, was born.
This brings up to Ultimate Spider-Man, one of three new series that will be launching as a part of Marvel’s new Ultimate line of comics (along with Black Panther and X-Men).
MARVEL GOES ULTIMATE
I’m a big fan of Brian Michael Bendis’ iteration of Ultimate Spider-Man which ran from September 2000 to June 2011.
This time around, Jonathan Hickman takes a stab at telling us a new Spidey story. If you remember, Hickman was the “showrunner” behind the X-Men relaunch in 2019 that gave us the Krakoan Age of the mutant team. With that in mind, we know that Hickman is no stranger to taking beloved characters and spinning them into something different and interesting. With Ultimate Spider-Man #1, Mr. Hickman has done that very thing.
In this story, Peter Parker is a little older (probably in his 30s), married to Mary Jane Watson, and has two children. Oh, and more importantly, never got bitten by the radioactive spider that turned him into the titular character. Not only that but his uncle Ben is still alive and working at the Daily Bugle alongside Peter and J. Jonah Jameson. Eventually, something happens toward the end of the issue that leads us to believe that Peter will get his “missing” powers.
WEB-SLINGER HEROICS
I loved this bold new take on the web-slinger. Jonathan Hickman is working his magic again. He was the best choice to relaunch this classic hero. However, if you are looking for a lot of action in this issue, you might be disappointed. Hickman spends the entire issue establishing the characters and their dynamic with each other. He is in no hurry to jump into superheroics this early in the story. And I’m perfectly okay with that. This could very well be the most compelling Spider-Man story that I’ve read in years.
ARTWORK
The artwork by Marco Checchetto is excellent, detailed, and realistic. This makes the already engaging story visually interesting. He is going to be a welcome addition to this series. I am excited for issue #2 and the rest of the series. If you haven’t already read this, Ultimate Spider-Man is a title you are going to want to pick up at your local comic shop.
Ultimate Spider-Man #1 is published by Marvel Comics and is available to buy now.
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Steve is a fan of Star Wars, punk rock, comic books, and cats. In addition to writing for Future of the Force, he also sings for punk band Get Fired and hosts the podcast Rebel Rock Radio!
