Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) review: Origin Arc

It's a question that often plagues new comic book readers: Where do I start?

For many beloved superheroes, their comic book runs stretch back to the '50s and '60s, and often times even earlier than that. With spin-offs, reboots, non-canonical editions and sequels galore, it can be daunting to find a nice starting point.

For Spider-Man fans, their search for a starting point may very well lead them to the 2000s series Ultimate Spider-Man. But once they find it, there's likely another question they'd face: Is it any good?

Outside of a well-recieved but not long-lived 1977 adaptation, most fans wouldn't have seen the wall-crawler on the silver screen until 2002, meaning there wasn't much to hold the series up against when it first came out. But now, between the Raimi trilogy, the Holland films and a whole Spider-verse, is it even worth stepping into the printed product?

Well, Ultimate Spider-Man is not only a masterful reboot of the original comic run, but is a wonderful starting point for Spidey fans looking to learn more about the web-slinger.

Let's start at the beginning, because it'd be way weirder to do it the other way around.

Issues one through seven, published between September 2000 and March 2001, introduce us to this version of Peter Parker, ending with a confrontation with his first villain: The Green Goblin.

One thing this series gets right immediately is we get a sense not just of who Spider-Man is, but who Peter Parker is. In fact, the goblin (who actually doesn't have a name when we see him for the first time), doesn't even make an appearance until the last page of issue four, and we don't see him fully in action until issue six.

Before that point, we're going through the classic Spider-Man origin. He's bit by a spider, starts developing his powers and has to begin to deal with the death of his uncle Ben, which Peter could've stopped had he prevented a thief from escaping.

The storytelling through those first four issues especially is wonderful. We see Peter uneasy in his world; not only in school, but at home as well. That uneasiness drives him away from the people who love him most in his life -- Aunt May, Uncle Ben and Mary Jane.

And that storytelling is aided beautifully by one of this run's biggest strengths: its art.

Mark Bagley does an amazing job using scale and shadows, as well as visual pacing, to really draw us in as readers and feel not only the size of this world, but the intricate details of the emotions the characters are feeling. Couple that with the color Art Thibert and Steve Buccellato bring to the page, and it's easy to see why Ultimate Spider-Man outpaced sales of the original Spider-Man run at the time of its publication in 2000.

It's hard to choose just one, but some personal favorites of mine are page 21 in issue four, with Peter dealing with the isolation his new powers bring, Mary Jane comforting Peter at the end of issue five, and the first look at the goblin in issue six.

Brian Michael Bendis' writing, for which he'd go on to win multiple awards, can't be overlooked either. The subtle beats of Peter getting what he thinks he wants (popularity) only for that to drive him further away from the people he truly loves and cares about, and for it all to be amplified when he gets his powers, is a fantastic setup to the motivations Peter will have through the rest of the series.

The first few issues do falter slightly in some areas. The first villain confrontation does fall a little flat, with it being unclear if Spidey has even beat the goblin. Obviously this is used to be able to bring him back later in the run, but it results in the feeling that Spider-Man didn't quite accomplish anything in his first fight.

There's also Peter's temper. While the emotional highs and lows Parker goes through do provide an interesting space to play in when he gets his new powers, the turns between high and low don't always feel natural or easy. I wouldn't go so far as to say it feels forced, but it's sometimes obvious the feeling Bendis wants you to have during a particular situation.

However, these flaws don't ultimately (ha ha) harm the opening issues too much. The art and the overall stellar storytelling more than make up for the few places the new issue trips up.

Here's one last thing the run does well: It's a perfect starting point for new readers. The series doesn't build on any previous Marvel runs, and you don't need any prior knowledge to enjoy it. Ultimate Spider-Man was developed by Bill Jemas to be a series aimed at new comic readers, and if that's the mark they want it to be judged by, it's an absolute home-run.

The seventh issue ends with the defeat of the goblin, and soon, Spider-Man sets his sights on a bigger goal. He doesn't just want to protect the people he loves, he wants to drive crime out of his city. He wants to make sure that what happened to him, the death of his Uncle Ben, never happens to anyone again. And this goal drives him straight into the hands of his next antagonist: The Kingpin.