Rating:  -
Why is he coming back? That guy is just plain weird and crazy even before his dad became Green Goblin. So what do they do to an already weird and crazy character? Why make him into another Goblin, of course! Not really a spoiler since if you don't get all the goblins are Osbornes by now, then not sure what you're reading. But the highlights of this book is not goblins but Peter and MJ. Nuff said.
Rating:  -
This issue deals with Harry Osborne coming back into Peter's life. After he stabs his father (fighting Spidey) previously, Harry is kept away in a secret SHIELD location, getting therapy and having his blood analysed for any Globin DNA. Nick Fury eventually gives him the all clear and Harry re-enters high school which causes all sorts of problems for Peter and MJ's relationship. Harry still is seriously screwed up and is shown by a mysterious figure from his father's past, a secret bunker full of Oz formulas, Globin weaponary and other nasty stuff. Suffice to say Harry eventually transforms into Hobgoblin and dukes it out with Spidey as well as Nick Fury's SHIELD. This story really shows the ulterior motive of SHIELD and causes a lot of internal and emotional conflict for Peter. The ending is big, with Peter breaking it off with MJ, who is in this issue, is not the smartest cookie around. She ignores Peter's advice (even after being thrown off a bridge by the Green Goblin previously) to stay away from Harry. Overall, a great read!
Rating: -
The Osborn family is fruitloopy enough to fill a pallet of breakfast cereal.
Mary Jane Watson is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. When a superhero gives you personal safety advice, it is a good idea to listen.
Hobgoblin gets taken down by Nick Fury and a hulkbuster unit, which makes sense to me, because both he and the Green Goblin in the Ultimate universe look pretty much Abominationish.
Rating:  -
ultimate spider-man by bendis and bagley is one of the best series out there. not as much action and non-stop bad guy fighting, but a good mix of that and a lot of peter parker being a teenager with problems (girls, bullies, being grounded, etc.) along with his spidey life.
the series is great great great. only a few minor things that could be better:
1. i don't like how nick fury comes in and tells spider-man he's going to work his whole life for him and shield. the idea of peter being...trapped in a web? haha...well it isn't too cool. superheroes need to fight the good fight because they want to, not because shield will go and take away their superpowers (as fury has threatened) if they don't comply. plus the issues where the ultimates come in aren't that great, the whole series gets hijacked by them and not a lot of spidey. imo, the ultimates are easily the worst part of the ultimate universe. beyond ultimate spider-man and the ultimate fantastic four the ultimate universe isn't too great.
2. bendis needs to cut down on the tuchas talk. seriously if parker grew up in nyc today he'd more likely speak spanglish than yanglish.
3. geldoff.
Rating:  -
Ultimate Spider-Man was a great idea and in many ways it lives up to the hype as a whole. Unfortunately it really misses some of the essential spirit of the originals which were much more organic. The series tries to go in directions the original series wouldn't but ultimately it feels like a lot of the superficial memorable elements of the old series are pasted on top and then distorted. The old Peter Parker was never really interested in being cool. He was a nerd and he wanted to be liked, but he was busy with his own issues, he didn't try so hard to fit in. This Peter Parker is a pretty boy wannabe straight off the WB (ahem, CW I guess...). Bendis is a good storyteller but sometimes it seems like he's trying to make his mark more than tell a sincere story.
This particular edition misses the mark more than most of the series. It takes the element that the Ultimate Series missed the mark on the most (The Green Goblin) and pastes it onto the character that could have been the chance to get it right, The Hobgoblin. Gone is the mystery that was the genesis for both characters, in it's place is the same overplayed family melodrama that has misunderstood the role of the Osborns in the original Spider-Man books. The Goblins don't have that evil goblin-esque presence that was so great in both of the characters, they've been reduced to second rate Hulk like Gargoyles. And Harry Osborn, the most misunderstood character in the Marvel Universe since the 1990s, has been torn further from the core of what that character originated.
Ultimate Hobgoblin had the opportunity to get right what Ultimate Green Goblin missed, but instead it sinks deeper in the same tired interpretation of these characters we've gotten the last fifteen years. It might be surprising to a lot of readers that these interpetations were not always so universal. Both the Goblins and the Osborns deserve different interpretations. I doubt it will ever happen for them again unless they can make a break from each other.
The writing is competent, the art is good, but there are better Ultimate Stories than this and there are better Spider-Man stories than anything produced this decade.
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