Life Lessons
Release: January 3, 2001
Cover: March 2001
$2.25
Story: Bill Jemas and Brian Michael Bendis
Script: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inks: Art Thibert
21 pages
They have lowered the price by a quarter. Maybe that will sell the comic better than the awful cover.
This concludes our look at the first 5 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man. This final issue sticks pretty closely to the last 3 pages of the original Spider-Man story. Although it does open with 3 irrelevant pages about Green Goblin.
We then get 4 pages at the crime scene, including a double-page spread.
The bulk of the issue, 9 pages, is dedicated to Spider-Man’s confrontation with the burglar. It sticks very closely to the original. Face in shadows. And the moment of revelation is almost identical. Can’t improve upon perfect.
But it does. It expands that final panel over 5 pages, and in doing so adds elements that the original story perhaps needed. This comic ends on a more triumphant note than the original. The original’s final panel is a sad walk into the distance. This has that, but then lets that lead to a moment of decision: to be better, to be a hero. The old Spider-Man stories skip this moment; it seems to happen off panel between this morose scene and Spider-Man’s next appearance.
This is one of my all-time favorite pages in the history of comics. It draws from the final panel of the original story, but adds one last panel where resolution sets in.
We then see Spider-Man being Spider-Man. Here we get the actual quote about power and responsibility. And we end the issue with a touching reunion with MJ. This comic ends very well.
One notable difference in the burglar scene from the originals is that he has no web-shooters yet. So he ties the burglar up with a rope here. Because despite adding 124 pages to the story, they’re still not done setting up the web-shooters. That wraps up in issue 6.
We’ll stop our summary there. The next 2 issues tie the threads of these 5 together and have Spider-Man battle Green Goblin. But that doesn’t have anything to do with Amazing Fantasy #15. They’re also not great comics. The next Ultimate Spider-Man story involves his battle with Kingpin, and that is great. The issue which follows that story is even better; it concerns Peter’s relationship with MJ. Perhaps we’ll visit them someday.
Rating: ★★★★★, 92/100
I want to take away some points for being derivative. But it captures the source material so well, and its additions are so extraordinary and I love it so much.
Characters:
- Harry Osborn
- Norman Osborn/Green Goblin
- Aunt May
- Uncle Ben
- The Burglar
- Peter Parker/Spider-Man
- Captain Stacy
- Mary Jane’s mother
- Mary Jane
Story notes:
- Norman kills his wife, Martha
- Uncle Ben is dead
Next: Journey Into Mystery #83
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Previous in order: Amazing Fantasy #15
