Carnage
Ultimate Spider-Man #63 was the first ultimate comic I ever bought, and the first ongoing comic that I kept buying in single issues. Years prior I had heard about Ultimate Spider-Man at its launch and how it was going to be important, and then I kept hearing things about it. How it was all drawn by one guy. How it was all written by one guy. And so one day I walked into a book store and purchased it, right in time for the death of Ultimate Gwen Stacy.
I still remember the intensity of of Peter's anguish and confusion, how unfairly Gwen was cut down so early, and Curt Connor's guilt at his mistakes. The intensity of Mark Bagley's art and the quality of Bendis' writing sold the series to me. I then acquired a subscription and started buying every available trade paperback for every ultimate comic I could afford. And I was rewarded with some of the best stories I could hope for.
The Ultimate Carnage arc builds on most of the previous material for the series, and Carnage's design is brilliant. He's less like the red and black skeleton with knives of the 616 design, and more like a shambling pyre or a melted spider-man. The intensity of its design makes it live up to its name. There's a particularly nice panel where Curt Connors could almost be contrasted with Peter's dad, underlying how Curt betrayed his paternal mentor role to Peter. It would end up being close to a midpoint to the original series and is a highlight. One of the last issues famously was just about Peter in detention, lamenting Breakfast Club-style over Gwen's death with his other classmates.
