Ultimate Spider-Man #1 synopsis
Ultimate Spider-Man #3 synopsis
Ultimate Spider-Man #4 synopsis

the plot: As young Harry Osborn is attacked at home and his mother murdered by a flying monster, Peter Parker and his Aunt May deal with the loss of Ben Parker, slain by a burglar who entered the Parker's house to rob them. After hearing that the burglar is cornered in an old warehouse, Peter puts on his Spider-suit and goes after him, only to learn that the burglar that shot Uncle Ben was the thief he could have stopped earlier. Now understanding Uncle Ben's words "that with great power, comes great responsibility", Peter puts on his costume to make the world a better place, and returns home and falls into the sympathetic arms of Mary Jane.

the review: With this issue the complete origin of Spider-Man is given, and I must say kudos to the creative for crafting something that will surely last the test of time. The fact that the origin went through five issues was a great idea, and left enough time for the relationship between Peter and Uncle Ben to be displayed rather than briefly shown in one panel, as was with the original. I enjoyed this issue more than the last in terms of the artwork as well. The sketchy nature of Ultimate Spider-Man #4 vanished with this issue, and the artwork here is the best so far in the series.

With this issue it becomes apparent why Ultimate Spider-Man will last in the years to come, and why the unfortunate Chapter One won't. Chapter One, while a good idea fell short, because it was a flat retelling. It was almost a page for page reworking of the original Spider-Man issues and I don't think that's what fans wanted to see. What they actually wanted to see was the original stories left alone. Even if Ultimate Spider-Man had come out as the "revamp", fans still would have been outraged, because the original stories are good as they are. So it's not fair to say that Ultimate is better based on whether or not it was released as a Chapter One, but it is fair to say that it is a superior piece of work.

Ultimate Spider-Man works because it has taken the basic ideas behind the Spider-Man mythos and reworked them to make the story better. It doesn't matter if Harry Osborn is going to high school with Peter Parker, because in this case it makes for a more interesting story. And Ben Urich working at the Daily Bugle now, even though he was not introduced in the comics until the Frank Miller run on Daredevil? Well, if Ben was to have worked for the Bugle for so many years, it makes sense for him to show up now.

So, to finish, Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley have crafted something truely amazing, a story so different from the work of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, but so similar because of the spirit put into it. And before I go, a final pat on the back goes to the team for the clever 'Ultimate' introduction of Captain George Stacy.

Ultimate Spider-Man #5 gets a well deserved **** out of *****

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