Comic Vine News

28 Comments

Favorite Comic Runs: Brian Michael Bendis' NEW AVENGERS or ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN?

Which Bendis run had the better debut storyline? Come cast your vote and speak your mind!

Brian Michael Bendis has earned quite a resume at Marvel. He's been a big part of universe altering events, tackled numerous team books and even has an iconic run with Daredevil. However, this week, we want to reflect on his debut story in 2005's NEW AVENGERS and 2000's ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN. One is an all-new team with a comedic and adventurous story. The other's a completely new take on a story we all know and adore (well, most of us adore). If you absolutely had to pick one, would you side with NEW AVENGERS' Breakout or ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN's Power and Responsibility? Think it through then head to the poll (the link is below -- seriously, you can't miss it) and vote. If you want to go the extra mile, you're more than encouraged to share your full thoughts with us. Why did you pick one story over the other? Did the art play a role in your vote? Get your elaboration on!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

No Caption Provided

Voting is open until Friday morning (ET). That's plenty of time to think it through or even reread these two books, right? Once you've cast your vote, please be sure to jump into the comments and explain why a certain option on the poll earned your support. Make it awesome enough and we might highlight in Friday's update. Oh, and here's a very basic protip: if you think the poll isn't going the way it should, rallying support and making positive posts instead of just complaining will be way more effective in potentially changing the poll's outcome. Lastly, everyone say "you're awesome" to Comic Viner billy_batson. BB was the first person to correctly identify Friday's teaser for this match-up.

Friday's article will include:

  • The poll's results.
  • A "Viner Post of the Week" made for each selection.
  • Thoughts from the staff.
  • Other work we recommend by the writer.
  • A tease for next week's writer.

Feel free to make future title suggestions in the comments below or via Gregg's Twitter page.

28 Comments

Avatar image for captain13
Captain13

4814

Forum Posts

1020

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 3

Both titles have a lot of heart and have given me quite a few laughs. I have to go with Ultimate Spider-man because it's such a good character piece for both Peter and Miles. You see real development in both characters. I do love Bendis's earlier work on New Avengers though. It was a fun book with a lot of cool superhero ideas--like what he did with the prison break out and Secret War and all that. The initial team had a great mix of personalities.

It's just cool that so much of Bendis's work is being mined for live action stuff. It's not hard to see why.

Avatar image for kidchipotle
kidchipotle

15770

Forum Posts

229

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

I really enjoy(ed) both runs by Bendis. He tends to get a lot of flak but I think he's genuine with his writing as he likes to somewhat fiddle with the status quo. New Avengers (vol. 1) was a nice fresh take because it really was NEW, it gave us team members like Spider-Man and Wolverine whom were massive game changers; two characters who could be argued to be Marvels flagship character finally gaining full membership to Marvel's flagship team. On top of that you had Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, and Sentry joining the team for a new taste as well as long time members Captain America and Iron Man. It was a great change and really fun. Lots of action with tons of humor. But then there's Ultimate Spider-Man (vol. 1) and that's a story, and series, that will always have a place in my heart. Ultimate Spider-Man with Miles Morales is great but Ultimate Spider-Man with Peter Parker was something really special and when you read that first volume you knew it. Bendis, in my opinion, wrote one of the most perfect portrayals of a young teenage Spider-Man and Peter Parker. His characterization of Peter, Aunt May, Mary Jane, and Gwen Stacy (whom I think is in volume one?) are spot on in a way he makes them so human, you really think you're reading into the lives of real people and not just some comic book. He also makes Norman so scary and so menacing, that you nearly get scared of him yourself. If it weren't for Bendis's USM, I would have never started collecting Marvel books because it left me wanting more.

Avatar image for liveforever
LiveForever

397

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

New Avengers. Breakout was AWESOME. Like a dream Avengers team. I'd say Ultimate Spider-Man had the better run overall, as the second half of Bendis' New Avengers dropped off a cliff. But as far as a debut story, it's got to be New Avengers.

Avatar image for cloakx14
Cloakx14

9136

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Ultimate Spider-man.

Avatar image for Elbarto17
PunyParker

15726

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 45

User Lists: 15

Edited By PunyParker

It's just cool that so much of Bendis's work is being mined for live action stuff. It's not hard to see why.

Exacly.We're already hearing rumours about a New Avengers film after Avengers 3 (which won't have Spider-Man and Logan apparently and won't be the same at all....) and the Amazing Spider-Man films are practically the Ultimate version of the character.

Avatar image for Elbarto17
PunyParker

15726

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 45

User Lists: 15

I really enjoy(ed) both runs by Bendis. He tends to get a lot of flak but I think he's genuine with his writing as he likes to somewhat fiddle with the status quo. New Avengers (vol. 1) was a nice fresh take because it really was NEW, it gave us team members like Spider-Man and Wolverine whom were massive game changers; two characters who could be argued to be Marvels flagship character finally gaining full membership to Marvel's flagship team. On top of that you had Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, and Sentry joining the team for a new taste as well as long time members Captain America and Iron Man. It was a great change and really fun. Lots of action with tons of humor. But then there's Ultimate Spider-Man (vol. 1) and that's a story, and series, that will always have a place in my heart. Ultimate Spider-Man with Miles Morales is great but Ultimate Spider-Man with Peter Parker was something really special and when you read that first volume you knew it. Bendis, in my opinion, wrote one of the most perfect portrayals of a young teenage Spider-Man and Peter Parker. His characterization of Peter, Aunt May, Mary Jane, and Gwen Stacy (whom I think is in volume one?) are spot on in a way he makes them so human, you really think you're reading into the lives of real people and not just some comic book. He also makes Norman so scary and so menacing, that you nearly get scared of him yourself. If it weren't for Bendis's USM, I would have never started collecting Marvel books because it left me wanting more.

  1. Of cource Gwen is in Vol.1
  2. He accually wrote a scarrier Norman than the Dark Avengers Norman......and it was awesome!.
Avatar image for e1000
E1000

138

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By E1000

Never read Ultimate... The end of Bendis' run of Avengers was a big let down for me, but everything until Secret Invasion was awesome !! Probably the best stuffs I've read.

Avatar image for Elbarto17
PunyParker

15726

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 45

User Lists: 15

Edited By PunyParker

@e1000 said:

Never read Ultimate... The end of Bendis' run of Avengers was a big let down for me, but everything until Secret Invasion was awesome !! Probably the best stuffs I've read.

If you like Spider-Man,or if you WANT to get into Spider-man check it out.

Avatar image for jmlg
JMLG

135

Forum Posts

804

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

really enjoyed New Avengers run, my favorite Avengers roster by far.. never did give Ultimate a shot and i definitely dont plan to either

Avatar image for maddpanda531
Maddpanda531

1635

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Oh geez, this is a tough one. I absolutely loved both series. These are the comics that got me into comics in the first place, so they both hold a very dear place in my heart. To this day, Bendis stands out as one of my favorite writers. He loves what he does and it really shows in his work.

Having said my two cents, I think I'm going to have to go with Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis' take on Peter Parker really resonated with me because he was a character that I could relate to and his stories even helped me through some tough times. Definately my favorite of the two, and probably one if my favorite comic book runs of all time.

Avatar image for cheesesticks
CheeseSticks

2867

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Ultimate Spider-Man is far better. The pacing on New Avengers was horrible, just like every Bendis book recently.

Avatar image for Elbarto17
PunyParker

15726

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 45

User Lists: 15

Having said my two cents, I think I'm going to have to go with Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis' take on Peter Parker really resonated with me because he was a character that I could relate to and his stories even helped me through some tough times. Definately my favorite of the two, and probably one if my favorite comic book runs of all time.

Thank you!

Avatar image for arcgospell
ArcGospell

21

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Ultimate Spider-Man no question.

Avatar image for binski
Binski

681

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Ultimate Spiderman I like Hickmans New Avengers better personally.

Avatar image for the_titan_lord
The_Titan_Lord

9508

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Ultimate Spiderman.

Avatar image for jaken7
JakeN7

15180

Forum Posts

608

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

The one that made his career or the one that defined it? I literally have both of these omnibuses......however, I haven't actually gone through either of them yet. They're so BIG!

Avatar image for andy_117
andy_117

92

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By andy_117

You know, I've read a lot from Bendis, but neither of these. How upsetting.

Avatar image for fullmetaladam
fullmetaladam

60

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By fullmetaladam

Having bought the paperbacks of both series I have to say I enjoyed Ultimate Spider-man (Peter Parker era, didn't read Miles Morales) quite a bit more. A lot of New Avengers arcs (Civil War, Secret Invasion) were not individual to the book having taken place throughout the 616. Hell, there was also Mighty Avengers and then Dark Avengers that you had to read before you got the whole story of the Avengers side of these arcs. Ultimate Spider-man only occasionally criss crossed with Ultimate X-men (which I also collected to completion) and also cleverly rewrote a lot of key Spider-man lore. Notably the origin of Venom and the clone sage (each were pretty much sewn up in a paperback each, not years like the original). Plus in a certain issue of Ultimate Spider-man (I forget which) my favourite band of all time was mentioned The Ramones, who actually sang a version of the original Spider-man cartoon theme. Being a fan of the 90's Spider-man cartoon first and then reading Ultimate Spider-man has really made me into a bit of a Webhead though to be honest I'm still an X-men fan at heart (also the 90's cartoon) Spider-man is my one of my favourite solo Marvel "heroes" Looking forward to getting all the Superior Spider-man paperbacks as where I live don't sell single issues and then reading about the return behind the mask of Peter Parker. Superior is the jumping in point I think I need as it seems like a new start. I definitely can't go back 700 plus issues as then I'd have to get rid of my Ultimate Spider-man and Ultimate X-men and I sure as hell ain't doing that.

Avatar image for midgard2
midgard2

64

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By midgard2

Hands down New Avengers because I'm tired off the PR push of homosexuality on people which Ultimate Spider-Man has done.

Avatar image for hawkguy
Hawkguy

625

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Hawkguy

Was his DD run not chosen because it would win by a landslide? :P

I never read the entire Ult. Spider-man, but I did read a good chunk of it when I was younger, as well as everything involving Miles Morales, so I'm going to go with that. I did enjoy his New Avengers run but it just didn't stick with me too much.

Avatar image for urliq
Urliq

31

Forum Posts

2

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Wow. This one is actually a pretty easy pick. While his New Avengers run was fantastic, the Ultimate Spider-Man is the reason I started reading comics. I was a teen and on a family vacation when we went into Barnes & Noble one night. I saw a large hardcover book with Spider-Man on it. It was Ultimate Spider-Man Collection (Barnes & Noble exclusive) that contained issues #1-39 & 1/2. I luckily was able to convince my parents to buy it for me. I was hooked the second I started reading. The art was gorgeous, and the story was so well written, I just couldn't put it down. I ended up reading til the sun came up and finished reading it by the next day. Ever since then I've been an avid comic reader, I'm really glad such a great comic run was my introduction to comics.

Avatar image for k4tzm4n
k4tzm4n

41857

Forum Posts

9127

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 1

k4tzm4n  Moderator

One more day to vote. Please spread the word and all that.