Ultimate Spider-Man #200
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Dave Marquez, David Lafuente, Sara Pichelli, Mark Brooks, and Mark Bagley
Colors by Justin Ponsor
Published by Marvel Comics
Fourteen years ago, Marvel hired an indie crime comics writer named Brian Michael Bendis to reimagine Spider-Man for the 21st century. Eleven years later, he killed off Peter Parker and replaced him with a completely new character as Spider-Man. After the events of Cataclysm, some fans may have decided to stop reading books in the Ultimate Universe. However, Ultimate Spider-Man #200 may persuade them to stick around. It’s a very simple comic. The whole plot is Aunt May throwing a party for Peter Parker’s various friends and allies in celebration of his life. The beginning of the issue has a lot of Bendis banter and a few awkward moments along with plenty of hugs and a few tears. When the “party” starts to die down, the waterworks begin again as various characters wonder what Peter Parker would have ended up doing if he lived. Their thoughts are illustrated perfectly by Bendis’ words and a series of two page spreads by every artist, who has drawn an Ultimate Spider-Man comic. Regular penciler Dave Marquez turns in very clean artwork and handles the issue’s large cast very well giving each character different facial expressions to show their feelings about each other and Peter Parker.
Brian Michael Bendis has been writing some of these characters for fourteen years, and it shows. Each character gets a showcase moment and has a distinct voice. Ultimate Mary-Jane Watson continues to be her intelligent, articulate self that is still in love with Peter. And Aunt May. Poor Aunt May. You just want to give her a hug. (And she gets a lot of them.) However, her dry sarcasm is intact from previous volumes of Ultimate Spider-Man. Even minor players like Spider-Woman and Bombshell get a little time in the spotlight as Bendis shows how much of an inspiration Peter Parker still is to these heroes and people. He even lets Dave Marquez do the heavy lifting in the final pages telling the story through his art and letting the characters do something special in Peter’s memory before going their various ways. Bendis’ dialogue combined with the various artists’ work encapsulate how great a hero and man Peter Parker was while also tearfully hinting at his potential as both a superhero and human being.
Dave Marquez has done solid work on Ultimate Spider-Man up to this point, but he turns a story that could have been cheesy melodrama into something poignant and memorable. He breathes life into the characters with their pencils giving each one a unique look and shape while enhancing Bendis’ snappy dialogue with his facial work. Marquez provides many of the punchlines to Bendis’ jokes and provides insights into relationships, like covering Kitty Pryde and Kong’s reunion hug in shadows. But the real highlight of the issue is the aforementioned two page spreads by Marquez, David Lafuente, Mark Brooks, Sara Pichelli, and of course, Ultimate Spider-Man co-creator Mark Bagley. Bagley’s spread show the serious and silly side of Peter Parker and encapsulate his and Bendis’ work on Ultimate Spider-Man. Pichelli’s spread shows the similarities and differences between Peter and Miles Morales mixing humor and angst. Lafuente’s spread speaks to me personally, for reasons. In conclusion, Ultimate Spider-Man #200 is a wonderful look at the character of Peter Parker through the eyes of his friends and family as well as a celebration of Bendis’ fourteen year tenure on the book. It also sows the seed for Ultimate Spider-Man and the Ultimate Universe’s future between the laughs, hugs, tears, and memories.