Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto

[wyokid]

This series is starting to feel less genuine and more like a release valve. Probably going to drop it.

[Garlador]

This series is starting to feel less genuine and more like a release valve. Probably going to drop it.

Not sure what this means, but if anything I've found that my understanding and appreciation of the narrative being told has only increased and I feel it's MORE "genuine" as each new issue releases, proving its far more than just a response to jaded fans and has a strong vision behind it.

[wleakr]

This series is starting to feel less genuine and more like a release valve. Probably going to drop it.

If you've got the first 3 issues, I'd at least stick it out for the next 3 to see how the first arc ends, then make your choice from there.

There is obviously an over-arcing plot all these Ultimate books will be driving towards involving the Maker/this world. Not sure if that means a total crossover or limited series, or both, but it's coming.

I have no interest in the other Ultimate books but I'm willing to see how USM goes before we get to that point.

[phonogram12]

This series is starting to feel less genuine and more like a release valve. Probably going to drop it.

While I'm (tentatively) enjoying the book, I can absolutely see this. If it weren't for the creative team, I'd say that this book was released for no other reason to placate the fans of MJ and the marriage.

Like I said, though, I am enjoying it (probably more for the art than anything else if I'm being completely honest). I'm just still a bit skeptical.

[Frontier]

While I'm (tentatively) enjoying the book, I can absolutely see this. If it weren't for the creative team, I'd say that this book was released for no other reason to placate the fans of MJ and the marriage.

Like I said, though, I am enjoying it (probably more for the art than anything else if I'm being completely honest). I'm just still a bit skeptical.

I think it's more for fans who want a new take on Spider-Man and his mythos, like the original Ultimate, than just for fans of MJ and the marriage because I feel like the former is more relevant than the latter outside how the family dynamic defines Peter in this book.

[Garlador]

While I'm (tentatively) enjoying the book, I can absolutely see this. If it weren't for the creative team, I'd say that this book was released for no other reason to placate the fans of MJ and the marriage.

Like I said, though, I am enjoying it (probably more for the art than anything else if I'm being completely honest). I'm just still a bit skeptical.

While I have my bias and love the marriage, I really don’t see how this book currently is existing to “placate” the fans of MJ or the marriage.

MJ is in nine pages of issue 1. MJ is in only three pages of issue 2. She’s in just two pages of issue 3.

Uncle Ben is in 20 pages of issue 1. Four pages in issues 2 & 3. He’s had more exposure and plot than MJ or the marriage has in the narrative thus far.

The marriage is not the reason this book exists. It’s just the seasoning. And I much prefer it that way. Let the main plot move forward and MJ and the marriage is there as part of the foundation but not the sole reason for it to exist.

[phonogram12]

Points taken, but I think I'll have to agree to disagree at the moment. Considering all the chatter that was on these boards demanding that the marriage return (some sounding downright hostile), it's hard for me not to be a little bit cynical about the motives behind this book. I've never been of the mindset that giving the readers exactly what they want necessarily makes for good storytelling.

That said, I'm more than willing to be surprised.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

While I'm (tentatively) enjoying the book, I can absolutely see this. If it weren't for the creative team, I'd say that this book was released for no other reason to placate the fans of MJ and the marriage.

Like I said, though, I am enjoying it (probably more for the art than anything else if I'm being completely honest). I'm just still a bit skeptical.

I'm just curious, but what are your thoughts on the disenfranchised Millennial metaphor they're doing with Peter?

I find that while the marriage is the main reason the fans are buying it in the first place, those who read it seem just as interested by the book's politics as they are by the marriage.

[phonogram12]

Genuine question (I'm just curious): What are your thoughts on the politics and the disenfranchised Millennial theme the book is going for?

I find that while the marriage is the main reason the fans are buying it in the first place, those who read it seem just as interested by the book's politics as they are by the marriage.

Oh, I love politics in comics. The more the better, imho (that said, I find most comics political even when the politics aren't stated overtly).

Like I said, I am enjoying the book. I'm just less committed to making a permanent place on my pull list for it for the reasons stated above.

[Spider-Tiger]

I think this book exists because Hickman pitched a story idea that was a complete inversion of the original Ultimate series, and one that drastically subverts traditional expectations for Spider-man retellings. What Hickman did is essentially took the "ending" and made it the beginning, and that's absolutely a fresh idea.

The draw is that it's both continuity-lite and nostalgic/familiar in its use of the marriage, but also completely unpredictable. Hickman has included all of these traditionally tragic characters within Peter's immediate vicinity (Ben, Gwen, Harry, and even Peter's daughter) and yet no tragedy has struck as one would expect for Spidey's origin. There's an expectation for how things should play out based on classic story beats, but with Hickman turning the entire mythology on its head, there's really no clear indication of where the story is headed. There's a lot of immediate tension and I think that's helped suck people in.

Now, fans of the marriage and an older Peter Parker have certainly latched onto supporting this book because of the context around Amazing, and things that have been said about the marriage in the past. But I certainly don't think the plot itself is "giving the fans what they want." A plot that exists to "placate" the reader is considered bad because it is thought to lead to boring and predictable storytelling. But there's a lot of subversion in what Hickman is doing that I don't think anyone could have anticipated.

Certainly more than most recent Spider-man stories (that live and die by the status quo) and retellings that all try to re-do Ditko/Lee/Romita.

[Ursalink]

This comic is really good, but it worries me the fact of a Peter Parker that has found happiness in his life to be put at risk so suddenly.

What do you think it happened to Felicia Hardy in this reality?

[Kaitou D. Kid]

What do you think it happened to Felicia Hardy in this reality?

She'll probably show up eventually. Or, if everything is an inversion, is just a civilian.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'm just curious, but what are your thoughts on the disenfranchised Millennial metaphor they're doing with Peter?

I find that while the marriage is the main reason the fans are buying it in the first place, those who read it seem just as interested by the book's politics as they are by the marriage.

It fits with Peter's ageup. Peter's initial angst reflect high school angst and his current emptiness is common for people in their 30s and 40s who switch careers etc.

[Huntsman Spider]

I'm just curious, but what are your thoughts on the disenfranchised Millennial metaphor they're doing with Peter?

I find that while the marriage is the main reason the fans are buying it in the first place, those who read it seem just as interested by the book's politics as they are by the marriage.

Oh, I love politics in comics. The more the better, imho (that said, I find most comics political even when the politics aren't stated overtly).

Like I said, I am enjoying the book. I'm just less committed to making a permanent place on my pull list for it for the reasons stated above.

Well, yeah, as the whole point of the superhero genre, at least at its best, is to be a superpowered allegory for the nature of power and how it gets used, whether for the betterment or to the detriment of other people and the wider world. That's an inherently political theme even if you don't explicitly address or discuss it in terms of left-right-center.

It fits with Peter's ageup. Peter's initial angst reflect high school angst and his current emptiness is common for people in their 30s and 40s who switch careers etc.

Or, to piggyback off Kaitou D. Kid's analysis, people in their 30s-40s who've come to realize that they've bought into a system that doesn't give a s*** about them and only views (not to mention treats) them as cogs in the (seemingly) self-perpetuating machine that powers said system, which is where the whole "they robbed you of the future you should have had" angle originates.

[Coop]

Name on the upper left hand of the cover teasing.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #7
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art and Cover by MARCO CHECCHETTO
On Sale 7/3

Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto continue to spin the Spidey story of the decade in ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #7. The start of an all-new arc, the issue picks up after Green Goblin and Spider-Man’s intense battle with the Kingpin, where they learned they aren’t as ready to reshape the world as they hoped. Harry and Peter get to work, while Ben and Jonah work on “the truth”… And problems for their resistance arise when Tony Stark checks in on Peter!

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