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Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #4 - What Would Peter Do?

3

Miles Morales learns the ins and outs of being Spider-Man, and not necessarily by swinging from webs.

The Good

Bendis does a good job of introducing us to Morales' extended universe; there's a lot of establishment going on here, and as you'll see below, it's good and bad.

I like the personalities of Miles' supporting cast, even if they're a little shallow for my liking here. Miles' best friend reminds me of Billy Batson's friend in SHAZAM/SUPERMAN FIRST THUNDER: I will be surprised if he remains alive for the next fifteen issues.

The Bad

I'm not sure if I'm reading this "correctly", but haven't we seen over half of these events in this issue before?

I feel like a large amount of this story is being told in flashbacks, or at least as part of a "catching up" movement to what we already know. I mean, we see Peter's "last stand", Peter's funeral and a lot of other stuff that's been written about in ULTIMATE FALLOUT and numerous other books. It just feels cheap to go over so much re-treading when we're ready and waiting for Miles Morales to take the centre stage.

If you want to replace Peter Parker (and have all the publicity that comes with it), let the reader move on. To still be reading about the death of Peter Parker months after it happens just makes me want to yell "Get on with it, already!"

The Verdict

Sadly, since Spider-Man is part of a much larger universe, this heel-dragging is necessary; you can't just throw Miles out into the world without some kind of context, and this issue was meant to provide it. The Uncle Ben credo gets passed on to a new hero, the Daily Bugle gets another Spider-Man to harass, and Miles gets the satisfaction of trying on a new "super-suit" for the first time.

I just feel the balance is off: there's still too much Peter and not enough Miles. Eventually, Marvel is going to have to let us paddle off from the safety of the dock and let us take the plunge into the new universe of Miles Morales; keep us "safe" too long, and we're eventually going to lose interest in exploring.

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