Ultimate Spider-Man is dead. Personally, I have some mixed feelings about it, but I have confidence in Bendis to write a great story. The imprint has seen it fair share of ups (the first few years of Ultimate Spider-Man) and downs (anything Ultimatum) like anything else in the comic world. For those who may have never tried anything out from the Ultimate Universe, here are ten great stories anyone new readers would probably enjoy.
This is probably my single favorite issue of any comic book. I love dark, brooding stories like any self-respecting comic fan, but this story was just all sorts of fun to read. Ultimate Peter Parker had just dumped MJ (and no, Mephisto wasn't involved). Peter could walk around all bummed out by this, but not Ultimate Peter Parker! The lucky rebound chick? None other than Kitty Pryde. This annual kick starts off one of the more interesting relationships in the Ultimate Universe.
The first volume of The Ultimates is a must-read for anyone, not just those interested in the Ultimate Universe. Love or leave him, Mark Millar made the Avengers the coolest kids on the block with this Authority-style take on Marvel's all-star team. This wonderfully jaded take on the Avengers helped define not just the Ultimate Universe, but influence how the regular Marvel Universe counterparts would be perceived thereafter.
As origin stories go, Spider-Man's origin is nearly as mythical and legendary as babies being sent to earth from Krypton. The seven issue origin story behind the inaugural book of the ultimate Universe hits all the notes of the classic Spider-Man origin while adding some nice twists both wise and modern. Chances are that if you haven't read this story by now, you have something against the concept of the Ultimate Universe or have an acute case of arachnophobia. Still... if you haven't given it a shot, cheap copies are bound to be out and about just waiting for a new home.
Mixed emotions about whether or not this was a necessary move, this comic sends Ultimate Peter Parker off properly. At first, I was disappointed with this issue. After a few more reads (and reading Ultimate Fallout #1), this issue grew on me. Spider-Man doesn't go down like a chump: he goes down being a hero. Feel free to skip the rest of the issues beforehand, this is where the emotional bang is at.
Cyclops appears to be down for the count. There's betrayal around every corner. Magneto is on the prowl. The X-Men have their backs against the wall. Mark Millar's last arc on Ultimate X-Men has all the ingredients for a good X-men story and it is one of his best in his entire run.
The Ultimate Universe is a great place to do big, flash-bang crossover stories that don't seem to be drowned out by a massive amount of tie-in books. Ultimate Six was one of the first miniseries to come out of the Ultimate Universe and it featured Spider-Man teaming up with the Ultimates. Like the Sinister Six in the Marvel Universe, the Ultimate Six cause Spider-Man a massive amount of grief. There's nothing groundbreaking about this story, but it is an exciting read well worth your time if you have never checked it out.
Ultimate X-Men didn't really exciting me during its first years. Fortunately for me, the second year was stellar. Issues 13-20 give readers a lot of bang for their buck. Issues 13-14 feature Rogue and Gambit. Wait! You've read that story before, haven't you? Yes, but there's a twist. And to top it all off, these two issues were written by Chuck Austen. Issue 15 features Xavier, Magneto, and Colossus talking philosophy. The remaining issues deal with a literal world tour and features the villain Proteus.
I admittedly have a soft spot for Punisher, but Marvel did an excellent job with nearly all of their Ultimate annuals. This annual focuses on Frank. Up until this point he hadn't really been a factor outside of Ultimate Team-Up. This nice, self-contained story plays well as one of Spider-Man's allies rightfully comes under the Punisher's guns. Bendis does well when toying with Peter Parker's loyalties and this is a great example of well he can do it.
This fun collection features some pretty cool stories, but the best among them is Frightful. Ultimate FF wasn't a great series, but it did introduce to us the Marvel Zombies during the previous arc, "Crossover." The Marvel Zombies were actually kind of cool before Marvel ran them into the ground. Despite the great zombie glut, this story mixes Dr. Doom with Zombies. That's the kind of juice that can make any story run.
Jeph Loeb is fairly maligned as being the man who destroyed the Ultimate Universe, both figuratively and literally. The Ultimatum storyline did irreversible damage not only to the fictional well being of the universe, but it did something to the quality of storytelling. Mention Loeb's name and fans will surely groan. However, Loeb goes a long way redeeming himself with this short and not-exactly-bimonthly miniseries. The X-Men were decimated by the end of Ultimatum. Loeb took the ball and ran with it. If this could only have been released on a consistent basis, it would have been really great. As it is, it's a nice blip on the post-Ultimatum radar that seems to finally have come to fruition under Spencer's new Ultimate X-Men series. Anyone wanting to check out Loeb's Ultimate work need look no further than this mini. Seriously, don't try to find anything else.
