One of the things that I really like about Ultimate Spider-Man is that you never quite know what to expect with the next issue. Sadly, you can't say that about a lot of comics.
But here, writer Brian Bendis has taken advantage of the awful Ultimatum series and retooled the Ultimate Peter Parker's world into something new, different and often unexpected.
For instance, Mary Jane Watson is no longer his girlfriend, and we're starting to get some hints about what happened there. Peter is now dating Gwen Stacy, whch is handy since she's living at his house along with Aunt May and a surprising new addition - Johnny Storm. Yep, that Johnny Storm.
Mary Jane is apparently a magnet for super-heroes, and in this issue she meets the unnamed hero on the cover, who we don't know much about, including his or her name. But "Big Red" seems to have some of Peter's hard-luck hero traits - and the ability to make with the snappy repartee.
This issue only has two failings: Spidey doesn't really swing into action until the end of the comic (though the story ends with a bang), and I suddenly don't care for the way artist David Lafuente draws female faces.
I love his art in every other way - it's full of energy and fun, and he's no longer drawing Spider-Man with a football-shaped head. But the faces of Gwen (especially) and Mary Jane are so simplistic, in a manga style, that it takes you out of the story. They're cute, but the style shift is jarring.
But those are minor quibbles - as always, the Ultimate version of Spidey is fun to read, with clever dialogue, mysteries and surprises, and some serious challenges for Spider-Man to overcome.
Still the best Spidey on the stands.
Grade: B+
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