Read our review of Ultimate Spider-Man #6 from Marvel Comics, written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Marco Chechhetto.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Ultimate Spider-Man #6 Review:
In the latest issue of this title, not only does Peter Parker’s family discover his secret, but Green Goblin and Spider-Man get their butts kicked by Kingpin.
“I’ve been back and forth [on this title],” said host Alex Zalben. “I’ve generally enjoyed this but some of the issues get me, some of the don’t. This is an issue that got me because the action sequences are so good. They finally came up with a reason why Kingpin is so strong and could take down Spider-Man and Green Goblin… Plus, I just love the emotional focus of, Peter gets discovered by other members of his family… It really changes the dynamic here. This interesting mix of classic Brian Michael Bendis style decompression storytelling, where we’re slowly building up the origin of Spider-Man, but at the same time, there are so many big things that happen in this issue.”
Clarifying, Zalben added that he felt Hickman’s pacing here matches Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man, which was the first Ultimate book. But like the rest of the new line, he tweaks the format a bit.
Meanwhile, Pete LePage was intrigued by the take that Spider-Man is skirting the law, and trying to explain that to his kids. “It’s an interesting take to have him be doing bad things… The way we’re playing with the origin story to keep it fresh, because let’s face it, between the animated stuff and all the comics, we’ve seen different versions of this origin story, I would say an infinite number of times. So to have something that feels fresh and hits is really impressive at this point.”
Ultimate Spider-Man #6 Official Synopsis:
THE SHOCKING CONCLUSION OF THE ULTIMATE OPENING ARC! Spider-Man must finally confront the head honcho himself: Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin! Kingpin, as owner and operator of the Daily Bugle, has been working with the Maker’s Council to control the spread of information in their favor… Which means he’s the first domino that must be toppled to end their regime! PLUS: Mary Jane holds her own. ‘Nuff said!
