Rating:  -
Still great! Some brute stuff in this one and great new twsits to the story.
Rating: -
Overall, "Ultimate Spider-Man" is my favorite Spider-Man comic book right now. It has been interesting to see how writer Brian Michael Bendis, penciler Mark Bagley, and inker Scott Hanna has altered familiar plot lines and characters, which is why I think veteran Spider-Man fans get to enjoy these stories more than newbies. "Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 6" collects issues #60-71 of the comic book, which includes the five-part "Carnage" story and its "Detention" epilogue, along with the three pairs of issues making up the "Superstars" collection of stories.
The Carnage story line combines the creation of Venom with the fate of Gwen Stacy. Already abandoned by her mother, when Captain Stacy dies Gwen moves in with Aunt May and Peter, where the troubled teenage tomboy finds a home. Gwen had recently discovered that Peter was Spider-Man and had come to terms with the fact that it was a thief, dressed as Spider-Man, who was responsible for her father's death. Meanwhile, when Spider-Man gets hurt in a fight he visits Curt Connor (a.k.a. the Lizard) for some doctoring. After Spider-Man leaves, Connor examines the web-head's blood and discovers that its DNA sequencing is amazing and might constitute a real breakthrough in genetics. Connor wants to run some experiments to see if this could lead to curing illness and fighting diseases. Peter gives his permission and two months late Carnage is born.
In the original Spider-Man comics, Carnage was created when the alien symbiote that bonded with Eddie Brock (a.k.a. Venom) left behind a "child" to bond with Brock's cellmate Cletus Kasady. But in this storyline Venom was created by the fathers of Peter Parker and Eddie Brock when they were looking for a biological cure for cancer, so there is a twist to Carnage's "identity," that makes for a nice payoff. But most of this story has to do with Carnage escaping Connor's laboratory and leaving a path of desiccated corpses as he hunts down Spider-Man. When the creature arrives at the Parker home the only one he finds there is Gwen. Unhappy endings are a major part of the Spider-Man mythos, but the story arc contained in "Carnage" is a real downer. Having Gwen's death set in high school actually makes it worse, even if there was not a romance between Peter and Gwen in this universe.
When Peter confronts Connor over what has happened Carnage shows up and has to be dealt with as well. But can Peter do what has to be done and with the death of another person that he loves, can he go on being Spider-Man? It is in this context they work in the "Spider-Man no more" element and make it resonate a lot more than before. The epilogue, "Detention," is where MJ finds out why Flash keeps making jokes about Gwen's death and Peter reveals what he really thinks about Flash and his friends. This comic book takes the idea that the characters are still in high school a lot more seriously than they did back in the Lee & Ditko glory years.
"Superstars" is unusual in that the issues do not represent one major story arc against a particular villain. Instead you have a trio of two part stories pairing up Spider-Man with other Marvel superheroes in the Ultimate universe. First up, the weirdest Ultimate Spider-Man story to date. When you see that the two issues are entitled "Even We Don't Believe This" (#66) and "Jump the Shark" (#67) those are your first clues that this story is, to put it mildly, out there. Brian Bendis the writer of the comic book even shows up, so to speak, to warn the reader that this is not a classic superhero story. The hook will either sell you or repel you: Peter Parker and Logan wake up and discover they have switched bodies. That means Wolverine's alter-ego is dealing with Aunt May, Mary Jane, and high school while Spider-man is trying not to freak out because there are claws popping out of his hands. The intent here is to be funny and I think they pull it off, mainly because the humor is character driven.
"Popular" (#68) and "Meet Me" (#69) has the other members of the Fantastic Four (who have yet to appear in public in the Ultimate universe) convincing Johnny Storm that he has to go back to high school and get his diploma while keeping his flame power a secret. It would be interesting to see which would be harder to Johnny when he enrolls at Midtown High, where Peter Parker goes to school. At a beach party at Coney Island, Johnny accidentally flames on and the payoff is that Spider-Man shows up to have a talk with the Human Torch. Having been dictated to by Nick Fury about what his life as a super-powered character will be, Spider-Man finally gets to talk with somebody in a similar situation. Unlike a previous conversation with the X-Men, this one gets a bit more personal.
"Strange" (#70-71) sets up the next major "Ultimate Spider-Man" story arc. Peter and Mary Jane's relationship is going so well they decided to treat themselves to dinner at an exclusive Manhattan restaurant. But because he goes along with "Daily Bugle" reporter Ben Urich on an assignment to interview Dr. Stephen Strange, Peter suddenly finds himself trapped in a nightmare that distorts reality. The Master of the Mystic Arts, who is no longer a stuffed shirt in the Ultimate universe, has to do most of the work in this one while Spider-Man deals with the nightmares, but there is an important development here that will be significant in the next storyline since Peter is now convinced that because she knows his secret, Mary Jane is going to end up dead. These are three totally different types of stories and make for a nice buffer between Spider-Man having to deal with Venom killing Gwen and facing Harry Osborn as the Hobgoblin in the next story arc.
Rating:  -
I think that most writers have a burnout where they just can't come up with an original story line. I suspect that this is the problem with these stories. After re-inventing Spiderman and his support cast, they ran out of steam. They re-examine the character and his opponents, give a slightly more realist approach to their creation and motivations, and turn them loose. But they're beginning to run out of "new slant on an old face" ideas. Hopefully they will begin to go in their own direction, like the other "Ultimate" story lines have gone.
Rating: -
Ultimate Spider-man 6 is another fine collection of the comic, but it felt a little weak. The Carnage story was a prequel, not the real thing (I am guessing). The thing Spidey fights is not really Carnage, as it has no real intelligence, it just kills to survive. So, while it wreaks havoc, it does not feel truly evil like some of the other villains. My guess is that the "real" Carnage will appear in the future, something the story definitely sets up.
There are some good parts in this edition, with some strong emotion and some good characterizations. The Spider-man/Wolverine story is cute, but a definite throw away. I really liked the little disclaimers at the start of the two editions that make it up.
The final story, bringing Dr. Strange into the mix, was very disappointing. Which brings me to my major criticism of the series in general: there is a lot of good character development amongst the leads (though they seem to have stalled in the growth process. Is Peter intending to stay 15 forever?), but the villains get very little air-time when they are not fighting Spider-man. Dr. Strange falls squarely into this category.
Norman Osborne, and Otto Octavius had a good treatment in their stories, showing us some of their decline into madness, but we don't get to see much of the other villains. Venom is a great example. When Eddie becomes a screaming, slathering monster, there seems to be no reason for it. Electro, Sandman, Dr. Strange, all seems to be flat.
If the comic was not so well written for the main characters, I don't think I would notice the lack of bad guy characterization (and I wouldn't be buying these books), but I do. I hope some more time can be spent in the future, really bringing the villains to life.
As for this volume, once again it is missing anything major by way of extras, and this I am really missing. I liked the stories, but there was a definite drop from the heights Volumes 1 and 4 achieved.
(3.5 stars)
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