[Comic Book Review] Spider-Men by Brian Michael Bendis (2012)
Plot Synopsis: Peter Parker accidentally stumbled upon arch-nemesis Mysterio's lair and discovered that the villain was manipulating a dimensional portal. Spider-Man and Mysterio struggled and the wall-crawler was accidentally transported to another universe -- one with a Spider-Man all its own!
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Sara Pichelli
Colors: Justin Ponsor
Letters: Cory Petit
Review: by Anthony
Let me first say that I am a massive Spider-Man fan, and at the time this crossover even was announced I had just finished reading all of Ultimate Spider-Man, 160 issues of greatness that ended with the emotional roller coaster of "The Death of Spider-Man" which left me wondering how the Ultimate Marvel Universe could go on without Peter Parker. Then, the first news broke of a crossover between the main Marvel Earth-616 Universe and the Ultimate Marvel Earth-1610, letting grown up Peter Parker visit this new and strange world where Gwen Stacey is still alive and his secret identity is common knowledge. I was super excited to read this.
What I Liked:
The story. I loved this story, and I don’t mean the good guys vs. the bad guy plot. I mean everything that came from Peter Parker visiting a world where everybody saw him die.
The emotions created when Earth-616 Peter Parker visited Earth-1610 Aunt May and Gwen Stacey is the high point of this crossover series in my opinion.
Bendis’s writing, accompanied by Pichelli’s art, really brings out the raw emotion of when Peter first discovers that in this world he’s dead and the scene when he shows up at Aunt May’s door…get your tissues ready.
The overall art in this book was top notch, and some of the variant covers for the issues are just fantastic.
Bendis’s writing of Ultimate Nick Fury is here, reminding me that this Samuel L. Jackson Nick Fury isn’t the Earth-616 Nick Fury but totally should be because he’s just so cool.
Also, there are some treats dropped along the way for fans of both Earth-616 Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man: mentions from when Peter Parker worked for Tony Stark in Earth-616 to when Wolverine and Peter Parker switched bodies for a brief time in the Ultimate Universe.
What I Didn’t Like:
This was only a 5 issue series. The length of this series was a problem not only because I just wanted more of this crossover with Peter Parker interacting with Miles Morales in the Ultimate Universe but also because the short series made the plot feel rushed and left more to be desired and explored.
This could easily have been 8 or 10 issues, with Peter teaching Miles things he’s learned over the years, such as balancing his personal life with being a Super-hero and protecting his secret identity.
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Average Comic Book Fan
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Spider-Man Comic Book Fan
Summary
This was a great story, albeit short, to assist in the reboot of the Ultimate Spider-Man series, a way to see the aftermath of the “Death of Spider-Man” from a completely new perspective, and just a great Spider-Man story with double the Spider-Men.
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