Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 4: Death of Spider-Man

Well you know where you are with this one from the start. The title renders spoilers pointless; it’s the ultimate spoiler. This is a tragedy, a course of events that are inevitable. Or rather it’s the denouement of the tragedy, the ultimate and likely result of a decision. In this case it’s Peter Parker’s decision to use his Uncle Ben’s death as a motivation for battling crime. In the original Marvel universe we’ll almost certainly never see Peter Parker truly die – commercial concerns and the character’s symbolic importance to the company dictate that. But in the Ultimate universe you can make that decision. You can make death stick in a way no-one believes death is permanent in superhero books.

This means this book has show more a symbolic power, the actual slaughter of one of Marvel’s sacred cows. This combines with the nature of this Ultimate Spider-Man, that he’s still the teenager Peter Parker was conceived and initially written as. There’s little more powerful than the death of someone so young with all that potential cut off. Before he even starts, before he’s written a word of the storyline Bendis has an explosive storytelling cocktail. And, as one of the better comic writers working today, he makes the most of it. The volume begins with a relatively standard battle with Mysterio over an artefact of power belonging to the Kingpin, but they’re really not the relevant points here. More important are the ongoing elements which give extra weight to the tragedy to come – Iron Man coming along to begin superhero training and J Jonah Jameson offering Peter a job and a college scholarship. It’s the onset of adulthood, of a life beginning to find direction. Of potential beginning to flower.

The simple caption after the prologue of issue 156 tells us it’s not going to be realised. It’s a short prologue which tells us Spider-Man’s most iconic foe still lives, followed by a longer sequence of him getting the old gang, the Sinister Six together. And from there… Captain America takes Spider-Man to a graveyard and, due to being called away with Nick Fury’s black ops team goes rogue, fails to tell him what might be an important lesson about life and death and how to be a superhero. We get most of the lesson which is as heavily portentous as the symbolism of the graveyard. Spider-Man follows Cap and saves him from being shot by the Punisher by taking the bullet for him in the first place. If I’ve one criticism, a point where this doesn’t quite ring true, it’s here where Cap simply abandons Spider-Man. It might be tackled in another story but in isolation it just feels wrong. And then he finds out the Sinister Six have escaped. Due to Spider-Man’s nature and the actions of others, the rest is inevitable. Suffice to say that Bendis ensures there’s a resonance to the death that ensures the story of this Peter Parker feels like it’s come full circle, one that’s best summed up by the image of Joe Quesada’s alternative cover. For once a superhero fails to defy the odds and it’s as satisfying and emotionally draining as you’d hope.

The mantle of Spider-Man would be resurrected, partly as a response to this. But as closure to the Peter Parker incarnation of the character it’s pretty close to perfect, emphasising what makes the character a hero and the flaws that brought him low. And in doing that it’s more vital and alive than anything done with Spider-Man in a long time. show less

Okay, it's probably not really the death of Spider-Man, although the final pages certainly don't close the door on that possibility. And the storyline is actually fairly simple. As Spider-Man is receiving his first mandated training from Captain America, Cap gets word that the Green Goblin and his super-powered cronies have escaped from SHIELD, at the same time that Nick Fury's black ops team has gone rogue. Spidey follows Cap, saving his life but taking a rifle shot in the gut. When he learns that the Green Goblin is alive and free, he binds his near-mortal wound and swings home to Queens to save his loved ones from the Goblin's revenge. The fight that follows is epic, flawlessly laid out, and more emotionally powerful than the train show more scene from the second Spidey movie. I did not finish this book dry-eyed. My main quibble is to wonder why Spider-Man outed himself by showing up in his own neighborhood to take on the Goblin, without his mask. He is now outed (although my son Ben naively believes that his neighbors will keep his secret), and it will be interesting to see the aftermath of this epic battle that reinforces my contention that Peter Parker, in or out of uniform, is the best and the bravest of Marvel's characters, and with a killer sense of humor to boot. show less

Wow. These events can often be a letdown, but this is very well done. Action packed, but with plenty of good character moments, and with a killer (ha!) ending, this is a great way to end this series.

Surprised at how good this story worked for me, despite the lack of detail on what happened around the Ultimates (which is another story, I know, but then it should have been at least recapped on an insert, not left hanging).

Even so, while I disagree with the direction they went, that choice was theirs to make and they got a great story with some depth out of it.

I had heard about this story arc last year and the following arc and was very curious about Milo the new Spider-Man. It didn't feel right to begin reading about Milo without reading about Spider-Man's death. This just makes your heartbreak. Peter tries so hard to save and protect everyone and loses his own life in the process. He wasn't given nearly enough credit by Shield and the other heroes. While I'm excited about the new Spider-Man I am sorry to see Peter Parker go.

I had heard about this story arc last year and the following arc and was very curious about Milo the new Spider-Man. It didn't feel right to begin reading about Milo without reading about Spider-Man's death. This just makes your heartbreak. Peter tries so hard to save and protect everyone and loses his own life in the process. He wasn't given nearly enough credit by Shield and the other heroes. While I'm excited about the new Spider-Man I am sorry to see Peter Parker go.

I had heard about this story arc last year and the following arc and was very curious about Milo the new Spider-Man. It didn't feel right to begin reading about Milo without reading about Spider-Man's death. This just makes your heartbreak. Peter tries so hard to save and protect everyone and loses his own life in the process. He wasn't given nearly enough credit by Shield and the other heroes. While I'm excited about the new Spider-Man I am sorry to see Peter Parker go.