Comic Book Review: Ultimate Spider-Man #94

Bendis has consistently made Ultimate Spider-Man one of the most fun titles to read each and every month. No, it is never going to be anything like Brubaker’s Daredevil or Captain America. It is what it is. Just a fun title with good entertaining storylines.

Creative Team
Writer: Brain Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: John Dell w/Mark McKenna

Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Total Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue starts with Professor X being reveals as Deadpool. The battle comes to a halt as the X-Men are rightfully confused. Spider-Man trusts his spider sense and slugs Professor X. Spider-Man explains that it is just Deadpool mimicking Professor X like he did the other X-Men a couple of issue ago when Deadpool captured all of them. With that we re-commence our braaaaawwl!

We cut to Mojo talking with Professor X who is chained up and wearing a collar that prevents him from using his powers. Mojo is forcing Professor X to watch his beloved X-Men getting destroyed a la Clockwork Orange.

We shift back to the brawl where the Reavers and Deadpool are re-grouping for another attack. Deadpool blasts Spider-Man which sends Kitty into a battle frenzy. The X-Men start taking out Reavers all over the place. Spider-Man re-joins the fight and opens up a can on Deadpool. Spider-Man unmasks Deadpool again, but this time we see Deadpool’s real face. He is hideously disfigured and has some type of clear Plexiglas head covering that must be what allows him to mimic other people’s faces. Kitty phases through Deadpool causing his cyborg parts to go haywire and he blows up in a large explosion.

With Deadpool and the Reavers out of the way, the X-Men and Spider-Man smash into the show’s broadcast studio and shut everything down. Professor X then frees himself and dispenses some nasty payback on Mojo. The X-Men and Spider-Man leave the island victoriously. As their plane is flying through the air, we see Deadpool still smoking from the explosion watching the plane leave.

Kitty takes Peter back to his house. Peter decides that since he has been missing for over a day that he has to tell Aunt May everything. Kitty decides to go in with him for moral support. They go in the house, but Aunt May isn’t anywhere to be found. Peter plays a message on the answering machine. It is Aunt May. Her date is going so well that she has decided to spend the night at her date’s home. (Vavavooom! You go Aunt May! You little minx!) End of issue.

Comments

The Good:
Bendis always writes a great young Spider-Man and this issue is no different. Bendis supplies us with plenty of trademark Spider-Man quips and entertaining dialogue. Probably the one thing that I enjoy the most of Spider-Man is the dialogue. It is always crisp, funny and has a nice natural flow.

I liked that we saw the nasty side of Professor X. I like it even more that what he did to Mojo happened off panel. All we could hear was Mojo’s scream. The fact that Bendis doesn’t tell us what Professor X did to Mojo leaves it all up to our imagination. And that makes it nastier.

I enjoyed the ending. Bendis does a great job getting the reader to feel that same sense of impending doom that Peter feels about telling Aunt May his secret. It reminds me of when I was a teenager and was about to get busted and had to face my parents. Well done. Plus, I like that Aunt May is finally getting some action! She is too often written as this old frail patron saint. It is nice to see the human side of May! And the reaction of Kitty and Peter was great! Funny stuff.

The Bad:
I’m just not a fan of Mark Bagley’s artwork. His art just looks too generic and not particularly interesting or exciting. If this title had stronger art then it be even more enjoyable to read.

While I have enjoyed Bendis on Ultimate Spider-Man, this 4 issue storyline just wasn’t that impressive. Ultimate Spider-Man #94 was nothing great. Not much really happened. The fight between the Reavers and the X-Men and Spider-Man was too drawn out and very repetitious. Even the big ending of the last issue just turned out to be a cheap ruse by Deadpool. Other than Aunt May getting some, this was a very uneventful issue. This entire 4 issue story arc has been pretty disappointing in that it didn’t really do anything, progress any of the characters or introduce anything new and interesting.

This story arc pretty much reader like filler. It is obvious that Bendis has just mailed in the past 4 issues while he concentrates all of his writing efforts on the Avengers and Civil War storyline. Hopefully, once the Civil War is over, Bendis will return his attention back to Ultimate Spider-Man.