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    Review: Ultimatum: Spider-Man: Requiem #2

    Stephen SchleicherBy Stephen SchleicherAugust 3, 2009Updated:August 4, 20091 Comment3 Mins Read

    spidermanreq2picon.jpg

    Is this the end of Ultimate Spider-Man?

    I don’t want to give the answer away too early in the review, because 1) I want you to click on the More link, and 2) it’s pretty tacky to talk about the end before all the other goodness is covered.

    spidermanreq2cover.jpgReaders were lead to believe that Peter Parker gave his life saving and defending the citizens of New York City, both normal and supernatural in past issues.  Over the last 10 years of our time (or about 1 year in Brian Michael Bendis’ decompressed time) Spider-Man has touched a lot of people (in a good way, honest). While his heroics usually got the bad guys all up arms, no one was more worked up, and frothing at the mouth to bring Spider-man down than J. Jonah Jameson – editor of the Daily Bugle.

    Having seen his life crash down around him, the guy lost his wife and family in the disaster, his first act after the crisis is to sit down and eulogize Spider-Man and confess to all future readers of the paper how wrong he was to besmirch the hero’s reputation.

    And it works incredibly well.

    Page after page of Jameson acting like a true editor, putting his hatred aside, admitting he was wrong, and cranking out one heck of an article that will probably earn him a Pulitzer some time down the road (providing the entire committee wasn’t wiped out in the world wide disaster).

    Set against those words are great splash pages of art featuring Spidey bringing the fight to the foe, striking dramatic poses as only Stuart Immonen and Mark Bagley could bring.    Why two artists on this issue?  There is a flashback moment – a story that we didn’t see during the Bagley run that is told through Jameson’s perspective.  It’s a nice bonus story to the event, but without J.J.’s words narrating this trip down memory lane, the Hulk vs. Spider-Man story kind of takes the reader out of the emotional tribute. That being said, it is still great to see Bagley and Bendis teaming for one final Spider-Man story.

    Compared to the Ultimatum title proper, Ultimate Spider-Man reads like a heroic adventure tale, while The Loeb series digs up a lot of unsavory moments and thoughts for the sake of being shocking.

    Here, Peter Parker goes out the hero – or he would if he were actually dead.  Come on do you really think Joe Quesada and Michael Bendis would have killed the cash cow that helped return Marvel to the top of the heap and get a new generation of comic book readers interested in Spider-Man?  As far as cool moments go, that final panel ranks up there as probably one of the best moments in comics.

    Regardless of what you think of the Ultimatum event (more on that later), Bendis worked with what he was given and delivers up a fantastic story that works.  Ultimatum: Spider-Man: Requiem is a perfect closing chapter to Ultimate Spider-Man in this incarnation. What will happen when Ultimate Comics Spider-Man kicks off?  I have no idea, but for now, Ultimatum: Spider-Man: Requiem #2 works and earns 4 out of 5 Stars.

    4stars_1.jpg

    bad guys bonus story Brian Michael Bendis daily bugle emotional tribute entire committee flashback foe heroics j jonah jameson mark bagley Memory Lane peter parker pulitzer Stuart Immonen time down trip down true editor Ultimate Spider-Man
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    Stephen Schleicher
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    Stephen Schleicher began his career writing for the Digital Media Online community of sites, including Digital Producer and Creative Mac covering all aspects of the digital content creation industry. He then moved on to consumer technology, and began the Coolness Roundup podcast. A writing fool, Stephen has freelanced for Sci-Fi Channel's Technology Blog, and Gizmodo. Still longing for the good ol' days, Stephen launched Major Spoilers in July 2006, because he is a glutton for punishment. You can follow him on Twitter @MajorSpoilers and tell him your darkest secrets...

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    1 Comment

    1. Ricco on August 4, 2009 11:17 am

      This was at least 10 times better then Ultimatum 5, I particulary liked the lack of dialogue during the rescue at the end.

      I actually yelled in the comic store: “close your eyes dimwit!” while checking Ultimatum 5, so stupid…

      Reply

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