Ultimate Spider-Man #13 SPOILERS/Discussion!

[JaggedFel]

I'm probably the only one on this board who is going to feel this way, but I didn't really care for this issue at all. The pacing seemed really awkward to me, it felt like very rigid jumps from one stage to the next as opposed to smooth transitions. This whole Uncle Aaron thing is kind of hard for me to buy too, where are all the people that thanked Miles for saving them? There was literally a bus full of people that know Miles was acting heroically but they all decide to clam up when the camera's start rolling?? I also don't believe for a second that Miles would be all over the news when Washington DC was obliterated, half the US was abandoned, and Texas had declared it's independence.

To me this felt a lot like Bendis doing as little as possible to acknowledge the greater UU so he could give a reason for us to feel bad for Miles. To me at least it had the opposite effect, I would've probably felt worse for Miles if Bendis had thrown him in the mix with everything else that is going on and then also had him dealing with the death of his uncle. Unfortunately, Miles is being kept in a little glass container so that it seems only his personal life is what matters.

Actually pretty natural people care a lot more when someone they know dies then when some random

[Havok C.]

Isn't the Triskellion and SHIELD for that matter still under Director Flumm? I may have missed something, but if he still is in charge then aren't SHIELD gunning for the Ultimates still? I thought that's the whole reason why Hawkeye, Black Widow and Falcon haven't been seen yet either.

[nosocialize100]

Looks like Miles is afraid to use his venom blast now because of what happened to his uncle. He had about three chances to use it and didn't.

I noticed that as well. A nice subtle choice by Bendis.

Definitely a meh for me. It's nice to have all the action since this book was limited in that regard but all of a sudden the pace is kicked up for no reason.

[skyvolt2000]

Only conflicting element is Iron Man's armor in the cover of Spider-Men #5. As long as he doesn't wear the movie armor within the issue what you claim will be official, otherwise, confusing as to be expected from Bendis's timeline.

I think in Tony's case it depends on which issue was drawn first and if that is the real Iron Man and not some Mysterio hologram.


And as for the book-whoever drew this issue-needs a raise! I', just now seeing the issue and the page where Miles is crying. I felt sorry for Miles in that scene.

[thwhtGuardian]

This was seriously the best issue so far, it wasn't perfect but man did it hit all the right notes with me.

I really liked the little drama Miles and Genke had with their roommate, and the talk Miles had with his dad. Those scenes were so real and they contrasted nicely with the superheroics in the story and that's really a key element for a good Spider-Man story.

On top of that the action was really good, perhaps a little drawn out but it was really light and fun(the scene with the cake made me laugh).

But the kicker?

I loved the interaction with May and Gwen, it was so natural and I hope we see more of that as the series progresses.

Oh and Captain America showing up? Definitely a nice way to end the book.

[Codah]

This issue was good. I like Miles' hesitation to use his venom-blast and the talk he had with his dad was really touching, David killed it there. I agree with the people who say the Batroc fight went on too long, it totally did. I felt like the ending was a little rushed. I figured May and Gwen would have stronger feelings about this new Spider-Man other than very little casual conversation and then handing over the web-shooters. It'll probably be expanded in the next issue so it's only a minor complaint.

[atlasjj]

I'm just glad that, after over a decade, we finally got the end of Iron Man's origin now that he has his new suit.

That made me laugh.

Anyway I liked the issue and didn't mind the fight with Batroc. And Cap does look bad in his current costume. As for the ending with Aunt May and Gwen I was not expecting that.

[Trallis]

-Miles in his room. Seeing him crying was heart breaking and it's a testament to Bendis' writing that I care so much about Miles. His conversation with Miles' dad was also really good, it felt real and you could see that, even with all his prejudices and everything, Miles' dad is a good person, he loves his son and wish they all could lead a normal life.

-Ganke: Even if he wasn't funny like in previous issues, I loved that he was there for his friend. And he wasn't pushing the subject, he let Miles talk about it when he wanted to, and that's weird, especially in 13 year olds. I liked that he told Miles that he knew that the whole murderer thing was a lie and he was willing to help him. Ganke is an awesome character and fits in his best friend role.

I agreed with everything you said, but the above two especially.

Miles crying was a moving scene for a bunch of reasons. One is obviously that only a good human being would mourn the death of someone who hurt them so bad, even died trying to kill him. The other emotion I can identify with is the feeling that you've lost someone you thought you knew, who never actually existed. The caring cool adult, role model, mentor, and helping hand that he believed in gradually became a monster and eventually tried to kill him. Anyone who's ever mourned a loss understands that. He's just mourning the loss of a great guy who never really existed.

I was thinking the same thing as you during the Ganke panels. I was saying damn he is pretty good at being Miles' best friend. I can see why Miles hangs with this guy. This issue's Ganke time was really important because it established that Ganke has probably known Miles a long time and they've been very close. I say this because he knows Miles well enough to blindly trust that Miles isn't guilty of Murder. Miles didn't even have to tell him he didn't do it. He said himself "I know you didn't do this". It's cool that Miles has a friend like Ganke. If Peter got his powers at 13, he may not have done so well. It was his love life that gave him the support system he needed in his early days. Pete didn't really have any guy friends. Miles on the other hand doesn't seem to have much interest in being a ladies man right now, so Ganke is his entire support structure.

Oh and who else felt bad for judge?

[ImmortalIronFist]

Well, I totally got suckered into buying this issue thinking it mattered to DWF, and I didn't find it that enjoyable. I thought it read way too quickly, and the moments with May, Gwen and Cap didn't really feel like they had too much emotional weight to me.

I don't really feel like anything happened...I guess part of it is the difficulty I have getting behind Miles as Spider-Man in general.

Ultimate Batroc was fun though.

[Trallis]

I'm probably the only one on this board who is going to feel this way, but I didn't really care for this issue at all. The pacing seemed really awkward to me, it felt like very rigid jumps from one stage to the next as opposed to smooth transitions. This whole Uncle Aaron thing is kind of hard for me to buy too, where are all the people that thanked Miles for saving them? There was literally a bus full of people that know Miles was acting heroically but they all decide to clam up when the camera's start rolling?? I also don't believe for a second that Miles would be all over the news when Washington DC was obliterated, half the US was abandoned, and Texas had declared it's independence.

To me this felt a lot like Bendis doing as little as possible to acknowledge the greater UU so he could give a reason for us to feel bad for Miles. To me at least it had the opposite effect, I would've probably felt worse for Miles if Bendis had thrown him in the mix with everything else that is going on and then also had him dealing with the death of his uncle. Unfortunately, Miles is being kept in a little glass container so that it seems only his personal life is what matters.

I'm not gonna say you can't not like the issue, I understand your points.. but I disagree with a little bit.

Miles getting thrown into it all wouldn't make sense. He's attending school at a school in NY. That's not where everything is really going on.. and he doesn't even know any of the mutants. He barely knows the Ultimates. We know the Ultimates wouldn't recruit Miles to go get involved with their fight because they just had a big meeting when Peter was alive to decide if he should even be allowed to be a super hero. He had already showed considerable skill by that point and was 16.

Miles is Spider-Man. He belongs in his city fighting street level crime as much as he can.

[Trallis]

Great issue. Not a fan of David's Cap, but I don't think anybody could make Cap look good in that costume.

He draws the face weird though.

[Trallis]

Fair enough, but I don't think how he gets his web shooters is part of his origin. I think his origin story stopped once people started seeing him as Spider-Man and how he gets his web shooters as part of another story.

I disagree.. kind of. The web shooters ARE a part of his origin.. it's just that his origin, when we look back on it, will include the fact that he did NOT have web shooters. Because he's Spider-Man, the question of where he gets his webs from is important. When his origin story is told, it will be mentioned that he was given them by Aunt May(At least I hope this happens).

If Cap takes them away, Tony could always take them and be like "guess what, I made these, I decide whose they are"

[Plawsky]

To me this felt a lot like Bendis doing as little as possible to acknowledge the greater UU so he could give a reason for us to feel bad for Miles. To me at least it had the opposite effect, I would've probably felt worse for Miles if Bendis had thrown him in the mix with everything else that is going on and then also had him dealing with the death of his uncle. Unfortunately, Miles is being kept in a little glass container so that it seems only his personal life is what matters.

I agree, to an extent. It's definitely not a great tie-in for DWF, but it's about as good as it could be. Bendis hasn't done enough in the first twelve issues to make it believable that Miles could help out in any significant way with the big problem. And it seems silly, as I mentioned earlier, that Cap would take time NOW, while there are Nimrods and Texas and Ti'an and no DC, to meet this new Spider-man.

But, for what it is, I think it's a good issue. It just probably would be a little better if it came after DWF.

I disagree.. kind of. The web shooters ARE a part of his origin.. it's just that his origin, when we look back on it, will include the fact that he did NOT have web shooters. Because he's Spider-Man, the question of where he gets his webs from is important. When his origin story is told, it will be mentioned that he was given them by Aunt May(At least I hope this happens).

You could say that everything that happens to a characters is a part of his origin, though. Part of Peter's origin was learning about his dad's Venom experiments and then taking care of that problem. And that was over 30 issues into the book.

[Heroid]

This is easily the best issue featuring Miles to date. It's still not going to make it to my pull list, but at least something is happening now. (I just hate that it's picking up the tone of the rest of the Ultimate U. I don't understand why they have to destroy the country every year in the UU. This level of destruction has become trite. I don't care what cities are destroyed because the cities in the UU don't matter. Marvel -- even the UU in the early days -- used to focus on trying to provide a "real world" feel for its comics. The real world doesn't get destroyed every six months. I wish they would just blow the whole freaking UU Earth to bits and have done with it. It's boring.) But I digress. This is the best issue of New Replacement Ultimate Spider-man yet. Miles still doesn't have much personality, but he's showing some gumption in this issue. And it still needs a new writer. Bendis just isn't as sharp as he used to be.

[Trallis]

You could say that everything that happens to a characters is a part of his origin, though. Part of Peter's origin was learning about his dad's Venom experiments and then taking care of that problem. And that was over 30 issues into the book.

To me it's only the things that happen early on that have a permanent effect on the character's abilities, or the way he conducts his super hero game for the rest of the history of the comic. There are origins and there are new developments. I guess it really doesn't matter what part you call the origin.. it's all part of his story.. and one thing I like about Ultimate Spider-Man is each story matters. Any time in the series a change can happen that permanently effects the character. I guess when some people say origin they mean how did he originally get powers.. but others mean how did he get where he is now