Peter Parker and Harry Osborn team up to learn more about their suits and take down the Kingpin, but the Kingpin is gathering allies, too! Find out more in Ultimate Spider-Man #8 by Marvel Comics.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #8
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 21st, 2024
Previously in Ultimate Spider-Man: Tony Stark gave an adult Peter Parker a radioactive spider and a picotech suit to help him stop the Maker, who had systematically eliminated Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. As Peter took on the moniker “Spider-Man,” he met Harry Osborn, who became the Green Goblin. They tried to take down the Kingpin together but suffered a nasty defeat. Worse yet, Tony Stark has returned!
Ultimate Spider-Man #8 opens with Harry and Tony having a heated discussion, but Tony ultimately reveals more about the situation with the Maker and allows Harry to keep the suit. In the present, Peter is picking up a cake for his kid’s birthday. At the arcade party, J. Jonah Jameson gifts Richard Parker a book he wrote to inspire him while May Parker runs around playing games. Despite these sweet moments, the Kingpin is hard at work assembling his team. He recruits Mr. Negative, Walter Hardy’s Black Cat, Kraven, Mysterio, and the Mole Man, all intending to deal with their Spider-Man problem.
Interestingly, we’ve seen Peter Parker outside of his costume more than in it lately. This book focuses more on Peter and Harry’s personal lives and how they become heroes rather than being your traditional superhero comic. It’s an excellent concept I appreciate, but I found myself less engaged than in previous Ultimate Spider-Man stories. As we enter the birthday party scene, we get some sweet moments but lose some of the conflict that ties the story together. That is until the Kingpin starts gathering his team, which reignited my interest with the promise of conflict. In that sense, Ultimate Spider-Man #8 may have some pacing issues. The slow section where we live in the peaceful moment might last too long, but that could be more a matter of personal preference.
Despite that, this book is visually stunning. Even without dynamic action scenes, each panel is beautifully drawn and colored. When we finally see the new Sinister Six, every character looks fantastic on the page—excellent character design by the creative team for this issue.
Ultimate Spider-Man #8 might be losing some steam. The initial excitement of the story has faded, with a hyperfocus on interpersonal relationships at the expense of conflict. This is an inspired choice, and I think it will pay off in future issues by adding more weight to the decisions Peter and Harry will eventually have to make. With that in mind, Ultimate Spider-Man gets 4 out of 5 stars.
Ultimate Spider-Man #8 does a great job with interpersonal relationships but lacks the conflict to drive the plot. Dear Spoilerite,
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Ultimate Spider-Man
Christopher Rondeau is a storyteller based in Tulsa, OK. Finding himself with little work, he ended up creating a job as a Game Master full time on the internet. Chris spends most of his days reading everything he can, writing bad fiction, and watching old Digimon cartoons with his daughter. Sometimes you can find him Dungeon Mastering a podcast or streaming on twitch. Recently, he has completed his Master's degree with a focus on collaborative storytelling. Find out more at https://rondeaucreator.com