That fight that had been building up for issues finally took place last issue and left Uncle Aaron burning on the road. Miles now has to deal with the fallout from such a public fight, but it’s not just the newspapers that have their eye on the new Spider-Man, the Ultimates would like a word with him as well. Major Spoilers is here to give you a rundown of the latest issue of Ultimate Spider-Man.
Ultimate Spider-Man #13
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Marquez
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Ultimate Spider-Man: The Prowler has been harassing and blackmailing Miles for weeks in an attempt to take out the enemies he has made. Aaron and Miles set a time to settle everything once and for all, but when Miles will still have no part in Uncle Aaron’s plans, the punches start flying. After the fight moves from the rooftop down to a busy New York City street, Prowler’s suit explodes due to a malfunction leaving Aaron in a burning heap on the road.
MAYBE HE IS TOO YOUNG
One real-time year after the first appearance of youg Miles Morales in Ultimate Fallout #4, we open at Triskelion with Tony Stark and the newly returned Captatin America discussing the new Spider-Man. This is the first Cap has heard of Miles since he has been who knows where while the country has been falling apart. Captain has concerns for how young Miles is, especially in the wake of Peter’s death, which he is still trying to come to grips with. At that point a news bulletin, which comes to define the issue, fills their huge monitor that reads: “New Spider-Man: Murderer?”
Transition to Mile’s bedroom for the best sequence of issue thirteen. Miles is laying in bed when his dad walks in to deliver the news that Uncle Aaron is dead. Through the process of recieiving the news that Miles is all too aware of, he keeps flashing back to the explosion and Uncle Aaron’s charred body. Miles’ dad also tells him that everyone belives the new Spider-Man is responsible for Aaron’s death, which Miles begins to believe also. This sequence was so powerful because the dad, who hasn’t been featured much through the series, is the one to bring out the news. So with his dad already against superheroes there is no way Miles can share his secret now that he believes Spider-Man killed his brother.
When all is said and done and looked at at a whole, this issue, and really the series as a whole, is all about relationships: Miles’ ending relationship with his Uncle, the tettering bond between father and son, friendships between Miles, Ganke, and left-out roommate Judge, and the secret connection between the late Peter Parker and our new Spider-Man. All of these have been allowed to grow organically on panel and with the reader, which continually makes Ultimate Spider-Man a worthwhile read.
BALANCING LIGHT AND DARK
What has been handled extremely well in this title is the art. In a book following the coming to power story of a 13 year old if the art was presented in too rough of a manner the innocence of Miles could be lost, but the world isn’t all unicorns and rainbows so the violence and dark situations can’t be glossed over either. In the last two issues this balancing act has been handled the best that I can remember. Last issue’s fight between Aaron and Miles was dark and rightfully so. Contrast that with this issues fight with Miles’ and Batroc the Leaper, which was handled in an almost playful manner even though peoples’ lives were still at stake. But my favorite panel from Marquez by far was Miles still in bed with tears running down his face. Heart breaking.
BOTTOM LINE: DON’T SECOND GUESS IT
For the last three issues of Ultimate Spider-Man I have paused to ask myself, “Do I really want to spend the $3.99 for this?” But every time I end up deciding, “Yes”, and at the end of each issue I’m happy that I did. Every month the story of Miles Morales Is pushed farther and I’m sucked deeper into that world; it even has made me pick up other Ultimate books so I get the full United We Fall story line. If you are a fan of any of the other Spider-Man books being published you should definitely be reading this. Ultimate Spider-Man is my new favorite issue from this run and earns 4.5 out of 5 stars.
[rating: 4.5/5]
1 Comment
They did a REALLY good story with how Miles had to deal with what happened. It also did a great job with how they ended the comic. What happened is not exactly what I was expecting and worked perfectly.