Hickman's Brilliance a Review of: Ultimate Spider-Man Issues #18 to #24

 written by Jonathan Hickman

drawn by David Messina and Marco Checchetto

colored by Marcio Menyz

It's been challenging picking up comics in the last year or so, but of the backlog I've accumulated, easily the best issues to read have been the remainder of Jonathan Hickman's Ultimate Spider-Man, which wrapped up its first mega-arc with issue #24.

So to make a long story short, Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, and his family have survived attempts on their lives by the likes of Ultimate Kraven and Ultimate Sandman, and Peter, his son Richard and Richard's new female friend Felicia Hardy, are now ready to take the fight to the architect of all their misery, Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin), who is now allowed with Martin Li (aka Mister Negative). Will Peter and his family prevail, or will the combined might of the Kingpin and Mister Negative prove too much, even for Spider-Man and his allies like Harry Osborn, Mysterio and Otto Octavius?

This series has gotten a great deal of hype mainly for its depiction of a Peter Parker who, unlike his mainstream 616 counterpart, is happily married with two children. To my mind, that feels a little reductionist; there's a lot more to Hickman's take on Spider-Man than this. At the same time though, the character is a little hamstrung by the fact that unlike his 616 counterpart, this Spider-Man picks up his powers in his mid-thirties and basically has to take a crash course in being Spider-Man so that the story can wrap up in two years. While there are admittedly some stories that don't need retreads, it's fairly clear that this particular Spider-Man is quite distinct from his 616 counterpart in that, while he is motivated by a deep sense of responsibility, he is NOT motivated by guilt, because Uncle Ben is very much alive here, with Aunt May having died through no fault of Peter's.  It's a completely different dynamic that makes the character worth exploring, which I'm sure Hickman and Marvel plan to do now that the take on the character is an established success. 

All of that said, I don't agree with all of the narrative choices that were made, such as the notion that Peter knocked up Mary Jane and dropped out of college of be a dad, which doesn't quite feel in keeping with 616 Peter's scholastic dedication. Still, Hickman has managed the difficult task of a truly fresh take on an iconic character.  It's even better still that Marvel has let this iteration of the character grow up with his readership, keeping him relatable. 

It helps, of course, that he Hickman some truly capable artists illustrating his work, namely Marco Checchetto and David Messina.  Checchetto's considerably more experienced when it comes to drawing the webhead, but Messina holds his own whenever he takes over, and even though their art styles are visibly distinct from one another they still manage to complement each other pretty well.

I do confess that I am curious to see where Marvel takes this character next!

9/10