There are a bunch of different versions of Spider-Man, and that’s not even counting the ones from movie and TV. Each one seems to retain the basic elements: a young man learns to become a hero after his uncle is murdered. Ultimate Spider-Man sort of reboots and re-imagines the comics for people who haven’t been able to keep up with the hundreds of issues (thousands maybe?) from the past few decades. I'm definitely part of this intended audience.
What I love about the series is that, like the other versions of Spidey, Peter Parker is in high school when it happens. The difference is that, even after 133 issues, he’s still in high school. They haven’t made him a grown up, and the series is for the better because of it.
I really enjoyed the first two movies even though Peter is an adult by the end of the first movie. Like in the movies, the Ultimate version of Peter as an decent person that has to deal with tragic situations. No matter how much good he does, he still suffers. The comics really crank this up a notch, and although it was designed with a younger audience in mind, some of the stuff is absolutely heartbreaking.
His parents were killed.
His uncle was killed.
His best friend was killed.
His non-romantic kinda-girlfriend was killed. So was her dad.
This tortured 16 year old has to deal with all this stuff, in addition to school, his girlfriend(s), sketchy government agencies and mass-murderers that want him dead. Sometimes things get pretty dark for a mainstream comic, but there’s always hope. His dedication to doing the right thing almost never wavers no matter how hard things get. And trust me, they get difficult.
Even though this is a series about a teen kid with superhuman strength that shoots webs from his wrists and goes against villains like “Dr. Octopus” and “Venom”, I find it inspiring. Maybe that’s one of the nerdiest things I’ve ever said, but it’s true. Ultimate Spider-Man is heartbreaking, hopeful and inspiring.
Plus, he works for a newspaper. I can relate.
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