Broken Frontier

Columnist Rich Johnston recently recalled a quote from comic shop owner Brian Hibbs from around the time Ultimate Spider-Man #1 was solicited. Hibbs said:

"LONG TERM... I really really really don't think it will succeed. By the time it hits issue #50, how is it really going to be any different than the 'real' Marvel universe, RE: the accretion of history? If it makes #100, I'll eat a bug."

Hibbs probably wasn’t alone thinking that of Ultimate Spider-Man. In addition to Hibbs’ point, there were many reasons why the title might not have a long shelf life.

It was joining a number of Spider-Man books on the market. It would be easy for Ultimate to get lost in the shuffle, especially when the book was written by a novice like Brian Michael Bendis. Sure, Bendis had a buzz around his name from his work on Sam and Twitch and his Torso series—Powers had recently started—but essentially, he was an unknown taking a stab at Marvel’s flagship character.

But now, here we are six years later, and Ultimate Spider-Man is reaching its landmark 100th issue tomorrow. What is the secret of its success (and has Hibbs thought about whether he wants his bug rare, baked or fried)?

The Ultimate line in general, and Ultimate Spider-Man in particular, was created to apply a back to basics approach to their properties in order to appeal to new, continuity-averse readers. But Bendis and Bagley did not take “back to basics” to mean a rote issue by issue, story for story rehash of the Spider-Man mythos. They took it to mean boiling the character down to its essence to reconnect with whatever made Spidey so popular.

They sent the character back to high school, which makes him relatable to a wider audience. Kids in school recognize life as they know it and adults remember what that time in their lives was like. Other changes were made, notably making Peter’s first romance with Mary Jane instead of Gwen, recreating Aunt May as a younger, healthier woman and giving Peter a job creating a website for the Daily Bugle instead of taking pictures for it. But both Peter Parker and Spider-Man are beset by trials and tribulations that all of us can relate to, something other versions of the character have gotten away from.

The title was a forerunner of the deconstructed storytelling trend. For example, Peter doesn’t even appear in the Spider-Man costume until issue #4. But unlike other books employing this writing style, Bendis always used it wisely in developing the characters. Yes, the costume didn’t appear for a while, but this dedicated more time to the relationship between Uncle Ben and Peter. When Uncle Ben is killed, the loss becomes that much greater, and our empathy with Peter grows that much stronger.

   

   

And there is a lot to be said about the way Bendis, Bagley and Spider-Man all complement each other. Bendis writes one of the best Spider-Man’s ever. And his work on the title is better than his work elsewhere. Bagley draws a great Spider-Man and the character is where Bagley made his name. And Bagley is great at drawing the talking parts of the series, of which there are a lot, so that they are vibrant and never boring. And if it wasn’t for this quality in Bendis’ scripts, we might not have seen the level of Bagley’s artistry.

The next milestone on the book will be #103, which is not, as Marvel will have you believe, when they break the record for the longest consecutive run by a creative team on a Marvel Comic. They will break the record for longest run on a superhero comic published by Marvel proper, beating Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s 102 issue run on Fantastic Four. However, Marvel’s Epic line published 120 issues of Groo the Wanderer, and each and every one of those was written by Mark Evanier and drawn by Sergio Aragonés. Bendis and Bagley won’t beat that record, because Bagley is leaving Ultimate Spider-Man after issue #110.

Also out this week:

• Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man: Speaking of Stan Lee and Spider-Man, we come to this issue, part of a series of specials celebrating the 65th Anniversary of Stan’s employment by Marvel. Back in 1941, Marvel was known as Timely and Stanley Lieber was a young man who probably had no idea what he was getting into or the impact he would eventually have on the comic medium.

There have been some legal squabbles between “The Man” and Marvel over the last several years. But it is nice that the company he made famous would choose to honor him in such a way. If it wasn’t for Stan—and Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko and many others—there might not even be a Marvel Comics today, or at least not like the one we’ve come to know. Enjoy your tribute, Stan!

• Sock Monkey: The “Inches” Incident #1: Uncle Gabby is back! For some of you, this exclamation means nothing. But for those in the know, it means Tony Millionaire’s wild and wacky creation is back on comic store shelves. And those in the know are probably pretty happy about it.

Uncle Gabby is the name of the titular sock monkey who goes on a series of adventures with his friend, a stuffed bird named Mr. Crow. As you can imagine, any book whose cast consists of stuffed animals will be filled with quirky stories and its fair share of humor. The Sock Monkey series is good enough in these areas that it won an Eisner Award in 2001 for Best Humor Publication. Give the book a chance if you have a few extra dollars to spend.

• American Way #8: The John Ridley/George Jeanty series which examines what would have happened if an African-American hero existed in the early 1960’s comes to the end with this issue. The title tackled the controversial subject of racism, institutional and real world, head on. It showed us that the Golden Days of John F. Kennedy’s Camelot wasn’t sunshine and roses for all the Americans living at that time.

Ridley, an African-American himself, is yet another author who comes to us from the world of Hollywood (he wrote the screenplays for U-Turn, Three Kings and Undercover Brother). He has created a complex and intriguing story that is worth catching in trade paperback if you missed it in pamphlet form. And he managed to do it while keeping to a monthly schedule, something unheard of in stories by people whose comic writing career is a side job. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing more of his writing in comics in the future. 

• Daredevil #89: This issue marks the start of “The Devil Takes a Ride,” Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark’s second arc on the book. I have been truly impressed with the work of Ed Brubaker on this title. He was faced with the ominous task of following the very successful Brian Michael Bendis run on the series, as well as the unenviable task of having your main character in prison.

Brubaker accepted the challenge and created a taut thriller and one heck of a thrill ride. I’m sure some fans were asking “Brian Michael who?” after the end of the last storyline.
I look forward to the continuation of Brubaker’s run on the book. It doesn’t always happen that a new creative team is just as good as the one they’re replacing. Lucky for Daredevil, it happened this time. 

• Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #12: It’s baaaaack! Sure, Halloween is over a month away, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy Bongo’s yearly Halloween treat a little bit early.

Every year, the company gives us tales of horror set in the Simpson universe and done by some of the best creators in comics. This year is no different, as three Eisner Award-winning creators leave their mark on our favorite yellow cartoon family.

Humor legend Kyle Baker (The Cowboy Wally Show, Plastic Man) shows us a fairy tale given a macabre twist by Bart himself. “Strangers in Paradise” creator Terry Moore offers us a tale of Noah’s Ark by way of Homer. And The Goon’s Eric Powell supplies a chilling tale of vengeance featuring Groundskeeper Willie. 

I love the Simpsons and I respect the work of these creators. So this will be an issue I will be sure pick up.  

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William Gatevackes is a professional writer living in Mamaroneck, NY with his wife Jennifer and writes periodic comic reviews for PopMatters. He also writes title descriptions for Human Computing’s Comicbase collection management software. He has no problem with the Simpson Halloween issue coming out in September because one month is just enough time to start promoting the next Holiday. Setting up Christmas displays in September, however, is still just a bit too much.