Rating:  -
Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 5 Collects "Ultimate Six" and "Hollywood" and both are great stories. However I am more partial to the Hollywood story arc, just because it was that amazing.
Ultimate Six also kind of bugged me because it fell out of the story line (came before the Cats and Kings story line sorta) but i don't hold it against it. Also i had one other beef with the artist for Ultimate Six, just because he made Peter Parker look like a buck toothed retard. Although the Ultimates did look snazzy and so did the action.
But you should defiantly pick this up along with all the other USP hardcovers.
Rating:  -
Half of this books consists of the poorly drawn ultimate 6 series. I may be biased because I hate the way the ultimate 6 series was drawn/colored. The story was fine but I found the art shockingly bad. You will immediately see the difference. The ultimate 6 art ruins this book for me. You will probably want it anyway for a complete set because if you are up to vol 5 most likely you have the others. Just skip the ultimate six pages - granted its almost half the book.
Rating: -
Though the second half of the book was a little lame in my opinion, the first half was outstanding! Ultimate Six is by far the most amazing mini-series that Ultimate Spiderman has seen! It is chilling and just a lot of fun to read. Seeing the Ultimates team-up with Spidey to take on some of his greatest foes was a blast. My only complaint is that there wasn't any real cool Sandman fight-scene, but he definitely made an impact.
This is a must-buy for Spidey fans!
Rating:  -
Ultimate Spider-Man 5 is quite a departure from the previous instalments... Well, the first half at least. The first half is the collected Ultimate Six series, which is very much an Ultimates story, with a spider-man add in. While Spidey plays a pivotal role, the focus is very much on the Ultimates.
It is nice to have the diversion, I must admit, but I really didn't enjoy it as much as I have the previous stories. I like the Ultimates, but not enough to go out and buy any of the Ultimates comics or books, so I'm not sure I really wanted to buy this one. Having said that, I am quite happy to have it... Just not as happy as I have been in the past.
The artwork of Mark Bagley has a clean, almost caricature element to it. It is very easy to see what is going on, and there is a wonderful feeling of pace and movement, particularly on frames where the subject is repeated. The Ultimates artists, Trevor Hairsine and Joe Quesada have a much more realistic, gritty style. It is lovely to look at, and shows emotions very well. I just find it very hard to see what is happening. Blurring is used extensively to show movement, but this seems to make the frame hard to understand.
All in all I found the Ultimate Six story less enjoyable than previous ones, but still pretty good.
The second half of the book is a fun Spidey V Doc Ock battle, with the making of a "Spider-Man film" thrown in for good measure. It is very enjoyable, and, as with previous editions, very real in its character portrayals.
This is a big book, but it is all story, there is very little by way of extras. There is a deleted frame a sketch of Sandman. They've continued to put the covers throughout the book, which is good, but I would have liked a little more by way of extras. I have really enjoyed the discussions or commentaries on building stories that previous volumes have had.
Not a bad buy (I'd say about 3.5). The stories are good, but I'd recommend looking at the book first, before buying it. The first half is different enough that I'm sure many will not be happy with it.
Rating: -
Ultimate Spider-Man is best for its character moments, and its attempt at a realistic portrayal of adolescence (plus super-powers). It is sort of like the best Marvel TV show that was never made--their answer to the teen drama of Smallville.
The first storyline here (originally presented in the ULTIMATE SIX limited) is a pitch battle between the Ultimate Sinister Six, and the Ultimates--with hapless Spider-Man caught in the middle. The consequences seem more dire, and the conflict more serious, than years of similar stories in the mainstream Marvel Universe.
The second storyline ("Hollywood") feels like filler. I assume this story of Spider-Man and Dr. Octopus fighting at the shooting of a film about them is sort of a plug for the SPIDER-MAN 2 film. In the collection, it may not read quite as pointless and drawn out, but in the individual issues it felt like a long wait for a non-existent payoff.
Even without pacing issues, nothing much happens to advance Peter Parker's "story."
There are more rewarding Ultimate Spider-Man storylines before and after this one.
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