Comic Review: Ultimate Spider-Man 13
Ultimate Spider-Man is set in an alternate universe that retells Spider-Man, from his origin onwards, but with things a bit different each time. It started as a way to get new Spider-Man fans that didn't want to deal with 40+ years of continuity. So they've gone through most of the storylines, and there was even an Ultimate Clone Saga. It was going good until the Ultimate line got its first crossover, Ultimatum. The basic story in that was that Magneto went crazy because he thought his kids were dead, so he messed with the earths magnetic field, and caused all kinds of crazy shit to happen, like flooding New York City. Point is, NYC was destroyed, and all kinds of shit was messed with. The main change in Spider-Man was that Peter, who had previously been dating Mary Jane, was now dating Gwen Stacy. That, and Johnny Storm from the Fantastic 4 and Iceman from the X-Men started living in Peter's house. This one is a bit after the big cataclysm happened.
In the last comic, Peter had been knocked out by who looked like J. Jonah Jameson, who then went on to change and take on Peter's persona. So basically, we get a whole "Chameleon has stolen Peter's life" storyline going on. Just before, Chameleon discovered that Peter was Spider-Man, and got a big ol' grin on his face.
We start with this guy testing out Peter's stuff, and calling him stupid at every opportunty. At that point he attempts webslinging.
After that bit, we cut to Peter and Jameson tied up in some warehouse. After a bit of banter, Jameson catches on to who Peter is really quickly. Which kinda makes it weird that he never noticed before. I guess he never really thought about it before? At any rate, we then cut to a bank, where somebody is holding hostages. Then the person bursts out.
We then get a little montage of his crime spree, going around, stealing stuff, money poking out of bags, all of that. He calls his associate at the warehouse, telling them how much money he got robbing banks as Spider-Man, and that they don't need Jameson anymore.
So they go into the warehouse, and we finally get a good look at... her?
That's when things get weird.
And unpleasant.
Seeing Spider-Man's recent crime spree on TV, the crew at Aunt May's house decide they need to do something.
Next issue, I assume we'll get some Human Torch and Ice Man vs. Chameleon Spider-Man. This issue was pretty good, but I still can't get over the drawing style. This guy's been drawing USM since Ultimatum, and his drawing style is a bit cartoony. Personally, I still like Bagley, but he's been on DC for a while. Bendis is still writing, so that's all good. Thing is, there are only so many times you can have the impersonating Spider-Man theme without it getting stale, and last year there was a whole Chameleon thing in ASM. Well, at least in having two there's a bit of a fresh spin on the concept. In any case, I still enjoyed it, and until next time, this is the W Defender.
