Ultimate Spider-Man Omnibus, Vol. 2 (2024)

This series is so amazing I can’t actually do it justice here. I have such a good time reading this I just love everything about it. This book had a sinister six story, black cat and kingpin story, introduction of carnage and more, can’t wait to read the next one!

“I keep putting the costume on, don’t I? I keep putting my life in danger to help other people, and I swear to God I really have no idea why, I really don’t.”

The second volume of Bendis’s character revamp on Spider-Man is just as solid as the first, with constant payoff to things built up over the course of several issues, pacing that puts the 60s to shame and changes that work and feel fresh yet familiar, he somehow finds the balance.
This balance is also achieved greatly in the Peter personal life and swinging action of Spider-Man, and man dose Peter get put through the hurt. Aunt May has some nice characterisation and the school life with MJ & Gwen Stacy is also pushed forward, with the question of why put the suit on in the first place.

Villains this time around make a return with some new takes on old, Black cat has one of the fastest paced reads in the book, Carnage has never felt so shock horror, and the ultimate six feels like a blockbuster event…speaking of blockbuster, Bendis even goes meta with some nods to the Sam Rami films of the time. We also take to the greater ultimates universe with appearances from FF, the X-Men and the ultimates themselves.

Ultimate Spider-Man still holds for me and even with some issue’s falling into filler category (the last six definitely) it still remains a solid breakneck speed reading experience, sure it has date but for me it’s that golden period of Spider-Man…in my opinion of course.

If you ever want to feel like things will get better when they seem like they can't, give Bendis' USM a shot.

Spider-Man and Daredevil are my two favourite Marvel characters.
Pete is the embodiment of youthful optimism and unflinching belief in people.
Matt is the embodiment of jaded pessimism and constant struggles of belief.
But both carry on in the face of immense and recurring pain. Pain that comes in their personal lives, their professional lives and their superhero lives. The tones of their books are so different, and yet so similar thematically.
It still amazes me that Bendis can nail the tone of both.
He was writing Daredevil (arguably my favourite run in comics) at the same time as this period of his Spidey run, and I felt some of Matt's pain seeping into the pages here. But he never loses sight of Pete's light-hearted tone, even when it takes a backseat.
He also perfectly explores the core theme of every great Spider-Man story. Our belief in people, our capacity for helping others, and a courageous belief in second chances for those who do wrong. With a sense of humour too.
Marvel were for once wise to give Bendis so much free reign to tell his story, develop every single character (seriously, Aunt May, Gwen, MJ, even J. Jonah Jameson are all magnificent characters) and give him the time to do it. He wrote this series for 18 years, and it shows with its emotional depth. Some issues are told from May's perspective entirely and don't feature Peter/Spidey at all. And this is not uncommon for many side characters. There is a healthy split of Peter Parker's personal life and his superheroing. He is dependent on the people around him just as much as they are dependent on him. And this always comes to the fore with the pain they all suffer throughout this story.

My only criticism for this volume is the bit of inevitable sidetrack team up with the alternate universe Avengers (Ultimates) but it was still fun.

So glad I'm going back to read it all in order from the start this time with these omnibus editions.

8/10

I love spidaman

Irresponsible (#40-45). A pretty low-key volumes of USM. It's got a great expanding relationship among Peter, Mary, and Gwen. And it's got an interesting look into May's life. The story of a pseudo-mutant gone bad doesn't hold up to the rest until the X-Men join in, and then that becomes pretty delightful too. Not one of the most amazing volumes of USM, but interesting [4/5].

Ultimate Six (USM #46 + Ultimate Six #1-7). This was one of the first big Ultimate team-ups, and so it was great to see the Ultimates and Spider-Man together. Except it turns out they're barely on-screen at the same time, and when they are it's largely elided. Nonetheless, we get the Ultimates' view of the Spider-verse: what SHIELD has been doing with Spider-Man's villains and how Fury sees them as the first steps in a genetic war. That's all a pretty cool meeting of the worlds.

But Bendis has never been at his best in the big team books. He needs a personal point-of-view to excel, and we lose that here. Worse, the series bloated to be much too large, so it's pretty slow-moving. So, interesting-not-interesting I'd have to say. [3/5]

Cats & Kings (#47-53). A nice return of USM to its strength. Part of that strength, it turns out, is the Kingpin. Though it's a little frustrating to see him back without any repercussions, that's part of the plotline. The other part is the introduction of yet another love interest: Felicia Hardy (though she's a little old for Peter!). This Ultimate version is nicely focused on a familial story. All around, lots of good material, in large part because Fisk is back [4+/5].

Hollywood (#54-59). The Spider-Man movie and the return of Doc Ock, which together form a desperate fight of the sort we've gotten used to in USM. However, the true heart of this volume is all about Gwen and how she deals with her father's death and what she finds out. It's perhaps a bit over the top, but it makes me love this version of Gwen even more [4/5].

Carnage (#60-65). In retrospect, it's a bit hard to know what to make of this volume. In its original run, the central character death that occurs here was shocking. It just wasn't the sort of thing done in comics at the time (though one could say the character was doomed from the start). It was shocking and emotional and that's all well-portrayed. But in retrospect, it's hard not to look at this as a classic 'fridging: a female character killed (without much respect to her ongoing plot) with the purpose of eliciting an emotional response from the main (male) character. Which is exactly what happens here, as we move immediately on to "Spider-Man No More". So, it's shocking and lazy both. A pretty good read still? Yeah. But it's a little harder to respect from the other side of the run [4/5].

Superstars (#66-71). Three team-ups that would really have fit better in Ultimate Team-Up (and there's a reason that series isn't making it into the omnibuses!).

First up a Wolverine and Spider-Man body switch that would be hilarious if it weren't presented right on the heels of the tragic Carnage.

Second a Johnny Storm team-up that's really the best of the batch because it uses the High as its foundation and treats Johnny like a person.

Third a really horrible Dr. Strange team-up that's boring before we even get to the never-ending nightmare sequence. Its only redeeming quality: it's the only arc to treat the Carnage arc like it just happened.

Overall, a disappointment, especially as the end of Omnibus V2 with no V3 in sight currently [3/5].

They really took a dog’s age getting this second omnibus out! Another great mixture of typical Parker luck intertwined with super heroic shenanigans. Bendis has a proper handle on the soap opera elements that make Spidey work and he blends it into the slightly divergent Ultimate universe timeline.

Fortunately for me, the subsequent volumes have been released or are to be released shortly!

This Ultimate Spider-Man Omnibus is 984 pages and covers issues 40-71, and the Ultimate Six miniseries issues 1-7. This whole run is incredible and really expands the Ultimate Marvel Universe! It introduces so many new characters and is a blast to read! I highly recommend this book!

Good God this series is phenomenal.

La force de Bendis est vraiment dans ces petit* moments où deux personnages s'ouvrent l'un à l'autre. Même quand c'est pour se faire du mal. Tant dans ces cases silencieuses que dans ces dialogues.

Dans le lot, il y a un One-shot. Tante May chez le psy. Elle y parle de ses deuils, de ses doutes, de sa culpabilité. Ce sont 22 pages de pure talent. 22 pages de monologue tellement, mais tellement plus intéressants que ces scènes d'actions (pas trop nombreuses), ou que cet humour qui ne fonctionne pas (avec moi en tout cas). Si vous avez un comic à lire du Ultimate Universe, lisez celui-là.

Si vous avez un ami, convaincu que les comics (et à plus forte raison les comics de superhéros) sont du divertissem*nt, pas de l'art, faites leur lire ça

Bref, le Volume 2 se concentre beaucoup plus sur les points forts de Bendis en tant qu'artiste que sur ces points faibles. Il y a bien quelques fillers, mais pas trop. (Et bon, quand on se rend au comic #71, il faut bien s'y attendre.)

Dernier mot : je vais me répéter. Je l'avais dit pour le volume 1, et pour Ultimate Team Up. Mais Bendis fait vraiment une fixation étrange sur l'hom*osexualité. On arrive ici à 4 ans de comics de Ultimate Spider-Man, et on n'a encore aucun personnage hom*osexuel. Mais on ne passe 4 comics sans avoir quelqu'un qui fait un faux coming out et quelqu'un qui menace un autre de répandre la rumeur qu'il est gay. Toujours en comic relief.

First time reader of this material but I can see why this was a defining run on the character. This was a ton of fun. All the familiar Spider-Man tropes are here, and Bendis' take on them is very entertaining and engaging. The Ultimate Aunt May, who Bendis based on his mother apparently, is not a helpless old lady but a strong independent woman who knows what she wants. The pacing of these stories is near perfect and Bagley - even though his faces can be a bit rough sometimes - kills it on action scenes.

This was coming out during the release of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie in 2002 and Bendis goes meta when he references the movie in the comic, which was fun, with cameos by Raimi and producer Avi Arad.

The Ultimate Six miniseries is included, which reads like a summer blockbuster movie and it was one of the highlights of this collection for me.

This is reading so fast!

Liek I said on my review of the first volume. Reading these issues collected for the first time in omnibus format. Instead of split up between three deluxe hardcovers. It still got that flow of a read and just like that, you´ve finnished of reading another spectacualr spider-man-arc.

I really enjoyed with what they did with Carnage in this rendition. Each time I re-read it I forget some of the details and it just hooked me once again re-reading it.

Bagley´s artwork is for me one of the ebst and I can´t wait for his Amazing Spider-man Omnibus that was announced to be released!

I’m just using these omnibuses to keep track since i’m getting through all of ultimate spider-man right now. This stuff is good it ain’t the masterpiece of storytelling though those first 40 issues are. Still some fun here but this other than carnage it’s good but not great. And nothin to complain about it’s a strong 7 for most of the run anyway this is just where it gets into its groove and out of masterpiece mode
7/10

Overall it is better than the first Omnibus as Bendis finds his groove and gives us a really good an fun Spiderman.
The quality does drop witht the last 6 issues which are really subpar compared to the rest of the Omnibus...

I love Mr. spider-man

It was really great

I like how Peter Parker is an angsty little sh*t sometimes but it absolutely makes sense. If I was going through the troubles he went through, I would also be upset.

I finished this book in 2 days, this was a great read. I'm really enjoying ultimate Spider-Man and excited to dive into the 3rd vol of Bendis' run.