Was tempted to buy this today...very, VERY tempted...

I'm skeptical they did bring gwen back

I just finished reading #160, and for some reason, this is the first comic in quite some time to strike a nerve with me...but in a good way. This is the first time I've read a comic where someone died, and my first thought was not, when will he be revived? I know I won't be surprised if he does come back, this is a comic book we're talking about, and everyone who dies comes back at some point (even if it does take 50 years...) but this death had more of an impact on me. 
When I was 11, I went to my first comic convention / show, which was much smaller than they are now, and for one reason or another, I'd picked up the Dark Phoenix Saga Trade. It was one of my first real experiences with a comic outside of Archie or the odd GI Joe. I was enthralled. This book was spectacular. When I reached the end, and Jean Grey died, I couldn't believe it. About a year later, I spent a month in the hospital. My cousin brought me some comics to help kill the time...Uncanny X-Men 225-227, The Fall of the Mutants. That was it...I was hooked. By the time I quit collecting in 1994 (comics were silly at 18...) I had amassed quite the collection. I'd seen the return of Jean Grey. I had seen the death (and return) of Superman, Bruce Wayne was no longer Batman (Knightquest had just started) and even the X-Men had "died" and returned. The stigma that no one ever "dies" in comics had proven itself quite true. At the end of the year, I'd sold off my entire collection (comics weren't "cool" when I was 18). It's 15 years later, and for one reason or another, I was drawn back into comics. I got ahold of some Unlimited X-Men books and LOVED the new portrayal of the characters. I loved it so much, I've managed to every single issue from the Ultimate Universe, even Ultimate FF, and I HATED FF when I was younger. Yes, its still a comic, but I found the Ultimate universe to be a little more "permanent." When something happened, it tended to stay that way. Wolverine is dead...seriously, if anyone else was going to be brought back, it was Wolverine (Ultimate X doesn't count...only 4 issues? Image comics wasn't this bad back when I quit...but I digress.) When I first say Marvel marketing the "death" of Spiderman in the Ultimate universe, I was drawn right back into 1993 and the death of Superman. Was this another gimmick? Probably...but I bought them all anyway. So here I am, reading the final act. We all knew how this was going to end...but for some reason, I felt a little...sad. Peter Parker, after 160 issues, finally seemed, content. Gwen, Mary Jane...and most importantly, Aunt May were safe. There was nothing left to do. After all the characters I've seen die and come back, I don't feel like the Ultimate PP will be back anytime soon. The entire Ultimate Spiderman run has been, my favorite by any writer, and I was a huge Clarement fan back in the day (I still love my X-Men...) and this one issue made me reflect on my comic history, right back to that hospital bed in 1988. Ok...I'm done.

Comic books confuse me. Why the hell do you guys think it's ok to spoil something as huge as this before the dam comic even comes out? The front dam page of this site is giant spoiler for comics. Why would anyone want to come to this site when half the time the top news story headline is a giant spoiler for the stories you are trying to read?

No one is immune to the comic book 'death gimmick' it would seem.

After all the awesome build up, the arc and character goes out with a whimper. 
 
After all the stuff parker has been through a truck explosion does him in.  Although I should mention, I am not convinced he "actually" died (molecule copy anyone). 
 
I am pretty disappointed in Marvel, they have the regular universe character that has for the most part been a HOT MESS since Stan Lee jumped off, yet they kill a character who maybe the most iconic character to a generation. 
 
There's being different for the right reasons and then there's being different for no reason.  I think this falls into the latter category. 
 
To me this is proof positive Marvel is asleep at the wheel when it comes to managing their characters and continuity.   
 
Oh well, I wonder if the twist in all this will come with Issue one or in the next ult book.  As petty as it sound I am likely dropping all of my Marvel subscription titles with the exception of Herc, and New Mutants till Abnett & Lanning move on.

maybe this is just me being out of loop on this but why did they 86 him?

Does anyone truly care? I mean it's a comic death so he will be back in six months tops.

im not keen on having someone taking up the sipderman mantle 

Still better than Thor getting raped by Hela

It was a sad ending

I must be a huge dork (which im proud of) cuz i got chills when i saw the picture of Peter and uncle Ben.

He'll stay dead how long?

@Timandm:

Yeah but the death of ULTIMATE Spiderman hit me pretty hard.

@Timandm:

Yeah but the death of ULTIMATE Spiderman hit me pretty hard.

@Timandm:

I agree. Part of me wishes that when a good character dies in a heroic and meaningful way... that they just stay dead.

I don't care about Spider-man... He's just a costume. It's Peter's journey that has always grabbed me and kept me reading. That's why I hate that there is going to be a new spider-man in the coming months. Whomever takes up the mantle will be inferior simply because they only have half the ingredients for a great character... Or worse, he'll be a cheap copy of the original which totally negates the purpose of killing Peter off to begin with. Now, some will say, what if he is an awesome, entertaining and engaging character on the level of Peter Parker? To that I say, then why waste him as a Spider-man replacement. Create something new! God knows that comics could use something new. 
 
I just want to express my disappointment that just as Peter was reaching a point in his career where he was becoming the hero he was always meant to be they killed him. I suppose it's sort of poetic, but it leaves me with one less  book to read each month. :(

I had grown up with the Ultimate Universe and ever since I had found out about it, I liked it. It's the fact that I like it that a lot of the changes since Ultimatum have been painful and have begun to alienate me from the line. Originally the purpose of the Ultimate Universe had been to create a universe not weighed down by 50+ years of continuity but ever since Ultimatum happened, that seems to have changed to being different just for the sake of being different. It seems that any time that a change has happened lately, it has been some kind of negative change rather than a positive one. It'd be great if Ultimate Marvel actually got their own type of Heroic Age, some end to the darkness that was brought about from Ultimatum.
 
I honestly don't see why Ultimate Marvel keeps on killing off its A listers only to replace them issues later with someone whose powers are so similar that they may as well be a clone. Thus far we've got Jimmy, Derek, Teddy, Red Wasp and now a New Spider-Man. I read comics to be able to read stories about my favorite characters not people who've been put there to replace them as I never find a replacement to be as good as the original.
 
But since this is about Spider-Man, I'll talk about him as well. In spite of the fact that I hate to see the Ultimate friendly neighborhood Spider-Man go, I hate even more that they're so fast to replace him. It feels kinda insulting to his name that he's died and about 2 months later, there's someone else running around calling themselves Spider-Man. Seems to me to show just how well Peter was respected, that he could just be replaced quickly should anything happen to him. Even more so, I don't understand why they're trying something again that had proven not to work before in having someone take the place of Peter as Spider-Man. Here's hoping that this is one of the rare deaths in the Ultimate Universe that isn't permanent because I'd hate for the Ultimate Spider-Man comic to die from people not taking well to the new Spider-Man.

@waruikumo said:

After all the awesome build up, the arc and character goes out with a whimper. After all the stuff parker has been through a truck explosion does him in. Although I should mention, I am not convinced he "actually" died (molecule copy anyone). I am pretty disappointed in Marvel, they have the regular universe character that has for the most part been a HOT MESS since Stan Lee jumped off, yet they kill a character who maybe the most iconic character to a generation. There's being different for the right reasons and then there's being different for no reason. I think this falls into the latter category. To me this is proof positive Marvel is asleep at the wheel when it comes to managing their characters and continuity. Oh well, I wonder if the twist in all this will come with Issue one or in the next ult book. As petty as it sound I am likely dropping all of my Marvel subscription titles with the exception of Herc, and New Mutants till Abnett & Lanning move on.

Dude, Spidey got shot, and he was bleeding out while he fought Sinister 6-1, then he fought super-charged Osborn, and then a truck blew up in his face. You are saying that he should of survived that? His healing factor isn't on the bar with Wolverine you know.

You know, I would act really, really butthurt over this, but seeing him with Uncle Ben . . . hard for me to say anything bad about that.

@Narok24: I can agree with that and also the panel with Spidey, Wolverine and Cyclops having a party in heaven was pretty funny. Anyway apparently they might be bringing back Peter (could be the Scorpion clone though and not the original) as Spider-man. Marvel released a teaser poster entitled Spider-Men with both Peters and Miles Spider-man icon on it. So we'll soon see what that brings.