So, if you didn’t already know, Miles Morales is the new Spider-Man (Ultimate Comics Spider-Man that is), and, for all of those not up-to-date with Marvel Comics Ultimate Universe, here’s a quick wrap-up; in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160, Peter Parker/Spider-Man fought the Goblin in an epic battle delivering what the Ultimate Universe version of Spider-Man was all about, that is Peter Parker/Spider-Man being the hero willing to go to any means to save the innocent and Norman Osborn finally falling over the edge of no return with his insane obsession with killing Peter Parker. In the end, no one was left standing, and, as we find out in Ultimate Spider-Man #4, Miles Morales actually witnesses the death of Peter Parker himself.
I have to say that not many writers could pass the Spider-Man baton from one character to the next without having them truly meet, but Bendis does this in spades in Ultimate Spider-Man #5. Not only does Bendis send Miles out on his initial swing through the city in a knock-off suit that is way to big for him, have him get his ass handed to him by Spider-Woman, and then delivered to the Ultimates to figure out why this scrawny kid is basically desecrating the memory of their beloved friend, he places Miles into the belly of the whale (not literally) and has Miles earn a probationary period to wear the webbed outfit of his predecessor. And, as seen at the end of the book, not only does the new suit he gets fit like a glove, but the readers are finally given Spider-Man and not just the kid named Miles that has spider-powers anymore.
As for the art, Sara Pichelli’s artwork is something worth shouting about (in a good way). Pichelli delivers some of the best body language and facial expressions in the business. I mean, the way she illustrates Miles holding the knock-off costume, it isn’t just a panel with him sneering at the idea of wearing a Halloween Spider-Man costume that looks great but how she creates the larger picture with Miles holding it awkwardly in one hand, as if actively repelled by it. Detail like that deserves to be appreciated and acknowledged.
Overall, I have to admit that Bendis does write a near perfect story. What makes this series so good, so far, is how Bendis has managed to have Peter Parker be Miles’ “Uncle Ben.” Seriously, it’s ingenious how he masterfully shifts the credo passed to Peter by his Uncle to Miles by having Miles witness Peter’s death and then sliding Gwen Stacy in to deliver the immortal line about power and responsibility to Miles.
I know many people hate the whole killing off super-heroes (and villains) thing since they eventually pop back up somewhere down the road, but it seems like the Ultimate Universe is pretty good about keeping the dead in the ground. And, killing off a character that has kept the Ultimate Universe afloat almost single handedly as Spider-Man has over the last ten years is something else all together.
But, the bottom line is this, Peter Parker is dead, died the hero that all Spider-Man readers loved him for. As for replacing him, Miles Morales is a not replacement, but a continuation of the bigger story that was never really about Peter Parker or even Spider-Man himself, but of an issue of morality. That is, Miles may the new kid in the suit swinging through these latest issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, but the real story remains the same as before when it was Peter Parker, that is… With great power comes great responsibility.
STORY BY: Brian Bendis
ART BY: Sara Pichelli
COLORS BY: Justin Ponsor
LETTERS BY: Cory Petit
COVER BY: Kaare Andrews
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics
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