Danny's Bookshelf: Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1: Married With Children

Whenever you're doing a whole new universe regarding established characters, there's always going to be some degree of trepidation, both from the audience and the creative forces behind it. Well it be done right? Or not?

Well, as this collection of the first few issues of this brand new Ultimate Spider-Man has shown, all the fears can be laid to rest.

For those who haven't read Ultimate Invasion, here's the story so far: An evil variant of Reed Richards calling himself The Maker has gone ahead and interfered with the origins of many of the Marvel heroes in an alternate universe, with Peter Parker chief among them. The reason? So as to make sure they don't get in the way of his plans. As a result, Peter grows up with a pretty idyllic childhood and later adulthood. However, things don't end up bad for him, for not only does he still have his Uncle Ben, but he still is able to meet and marry Mary Jane and have two kids, May "Mayday" and Richard Parker. Plus he works at The Daily Bugle alongside his uncle, and J. Jonah Jameson to boot.

Glad to see a Peter Parker that isn't a teenager.

When we first meet Peter in this brave new Ultimate Universe we find him going through the motions that most adults do when they start to approach middle age. However, you can find that he does have it very well - something Peter is aware of, with two amazing kids, and a spectacular wife in Mary-Jane. But already you can see seeds that set the stage for the series, starting with Mayday looking at a strange looking sphere, and Peter feeling off.

Cutting to the Daily Bugle scenes you find that while J. Jonah Jameson is still the cantankerous guy that he is, this version does show his compassion far more than most other interpretations. To the point where he offers his tie to help Peter be more presentable, as well as the two agreeing to look after Uncle Ben more, because while Ben is every bit "...the toughest sonovagun I ever met" according to Jameson, the latter has gotten to know the former well enough to know when things bother him.

While it does give you a sense of a "day-in-the-life", you can start to see that not all is at seems, for it turns out that Wilson Fisk himself is running the Bugle, and already is implementing things that neither Ben nor Jonah agree with. While Robbie Robertson chooses to stay on until he is able to retire, Ben and Jonah are about a hair's breadth away from walking, which they eventually do.

With Peter and his family they are currently attending a funeral remembering those who died as a result of an incident that seems to have Tony Stark as the culprit. What was really surprising was that the priest was none other than Matt Murdock himself, and one of the speakers is Harry Osborn, who is more than a little angry at the loss of his parents and seems to blame Stark for it.

Later on, as Peter and Mary Jane are talking, Peter admits that he has been feeling like something is missing, and he can't tell what it is. At first Mary Jane wonders if this changes things between them, and Peter confidently says it won't, to which Mary Jane tells him what only she can say.

"Go get 'em, tiger." -Mary Jane Watson-Parker

Then we get a flashback a few days before and it turns out that the globe was part of a package sent to Peter with several things, first being a holographic message from Tony Stark, specifically the Iron Lad version who tells Peter everything that is going on, and that years ago a group of people had essentially stolen Peter's destiny from him, along with many others, and as a result are the ones running the world as it is. However, Stark was able to create a stealth suit called a pico-tech suit and procure a radioactive spider for Peter.

"These people stole your future. These people robbed you of your destiny. The question is, do you want it back?" -Tony Stark/Iron Lad

Now that's a splash page.

With nothing else except maybe a leap of faith, Peter allows the spider to bite him, and the legend begins again.

Fast forward a few weeks later we get to see Peter learning how to be Spider-Man, and it's both entertaining and hilarious to see him come to terms with this newfound power, and obviously it isn't going to be learned overnight.

After coming home from an attempt to stop a crook going sideways, May sees her dad in the suit, about to freak out since she doesn't recognize him, until Peter unmasks and reveals his face to his daughter, setting her mind somewhat at ease but still not liking the look of the suit, and noting her dad smells bad, which is more than funny.

So once again Peter goes out as Spider-Man and runs into the same guy he tried to stop before, and much like before he still gets his butt kicked. However, when he comes home, wondering if he's even cut out for this sort of thing he finds a cute drawing by May on the fridge and decides to give it one more try.

Later he and Mayday experiment with new looks for the suit, which works well once Peter realizes it can change it's aesthetics on command, and finally they both arrive at a look that seems quite amazing and spectacular, so to speak.

Meanwhile, Jonah and Ben finally strike out on their own and manage to buy an office for their new venture in the journalism business and when Peter goes to visit them he discovers that there is a new guy in town wearing a green suit waging a personal war on Wilson Fisk. Peter suits up and tries to do a stakeout which turns out to be more boring than its worth, until an explosion catches his attention and we finally get to see what can only be this universe's version of The Green Goblin chasing after what seems to be Bullseye. The former tries to get the upper hand but to little avail, and even when Spider-Man shows up it still seems to be in Bullseye's favor...until Goblin manages to get the assassin's attention long enough for Spidey to knock him out.

Although Goblin is grateful, he does somehow manage to hack into Peter's suit, revealing his face, to which the Goblin removes his helmet, revealing his own face to be that of Harry Osborn.

Later the two go on what is pretty much a double-date of sorts with their respective wives, with Harry and Peter being able to talk about what's going on in this brave new world and how it has affected their lives in ways none of them knew until some time back. Turns out that while Peter found all this out via the package Stark gave him, Harry learned of this when his father's company took control of Stark Industries, and all the armored suits as a result.

Now realizing that Stark had not only been framed, but that the circumstances of how Oscorp was given to Harry and his wife Gwen has given the former a new purpose in life: to stop the ones that are ruling the world and get justice for his late father. Harry even encourages Peter to go for it as well, especially if Parker's destiny was stolen from him early on.

So after trying to interrogate Bullseye for information via Harry, our Amazing/Spectacular duo try to have a go at confronting one of the key players controlling the city: Wilson Fisk. And as one can imagine, it's a confrontation that doesn't go well for Spidey or Goblin. And it makes sense because Peter does not have the experience that his Earth-616 version has, and Harry also has not been using the armored suit as long as 616 Tony has, so needless to say the duo have to retreat, and Peter manages to get home to his wife and kids, who are all naturally shocked by his injuries.

Not wanting to keep his web-slinging activities a secret anymore Peter tells Mary-Jane everything, and while she still expresses concern, she is also intrigued by the fact that Peter does look more buffer than before - something she had already taken notice of earlier thanks to the spider bite - and while Peter hasn't yet come up with a hero handle, Mary-Jane comes to the rescue by christening him the name we all know and love.

"Isn't is obvious? You're Spider-Man." -Mary Jane Parker

And so the legend begins anew!

So what to make of this first volume? Well, to say that is an amazing story would be a little bit of an understatement. The fact that it reintroduces Marvel's flagship character in a whole new way yet still stays true to everything that Spider-Man is is a delicate balance, but when done right can be incredible.

While Peter's destiny may have been delayed and he also lost his Aunt, he still ended up marrying Mary Jane and has a family with her, his Uncle Ben is still alive and even J. Jonah Jameson is quite chill (The family dynamic is what really hooks me in). Despite all this, Peter feels like something is still missing in his life and he can't quite place what...until the hologram of Tony Stark gives him the answer and more.

Having Harry in the picture is also great because while he and Peter didn't meet early on in college like they did in 616, or be teenage friends like in universe-1610 (the original Ultimate Universe), they do strike up a friendship once they learn the other's secret identity, and especially once it's clear that folks like Fisk are running a world that has been turned upside down and inside out. Even though neither Peter nor Harry yet know about the Maker being the one who has messed with their lives, both ultimately make the decision to do something about it. And while Peter spends most of this volume trying to go it alone, he realizes in the end that it's better for his family to be in the know. Plus he gets a chance to be what he was meant to be, albeit years later than expected. And given his dynamic with Harry it looks as though he won't be alone in his crime-fighting endeavor. And that is a testament to Jonathan Hickman's writing as well as artist Marco Checchetto for really fleshing out the story the way they did.

But how long will Peter and Harry's friendship/partnership hold? And what other challenges await our web-wonder as time goes by?

Well, only one way to find out. And that's to keep reading these issues! And if you yourself haven't been, do so. While there is quite a bit of catching up to do as of this post, this is a fantastic reintroduction to a classic character and in a way that feels new yet familiar.