Marvel gave us this teaser image of Miles Morales presumably walking away from his life as Spider-Man in Ultimate Spider-Man #23, out in May.
My first instinct when I saw this was obviously recognition. A hardcore Marvel fan knows this image is an homage to the classic Romita shot from The Amazing Spider-Man #50. My next instinct was, “isn’t this supposed to be the book where they do the things differently than they already did?” That was the whole point of the Ultimate books. I’m sure the story will be different, and that this image is a nod to Marvel’s past, but frankly, I’ve gotten pretty tired of nods to Marvel’s past. That might be because I’m an old crank who’s been hanging around the comic shop for too long (It is definitely that), but when you have an imaginative mind like Bendis and a great artist like Marquez, I can’t help but hanker for something new instead of something familiar. I also know that I’ve been hanging around comics long enough to understand that I’m pretty much alone in that regard, and comic fans eat that stuff up with a spoon. But that doesn’t mean that too much of it is healthy.
I have soapboxed! Just like Stan Lee did!
I’m sure the book will be good. It usually is. That’s the important thing.
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i don’t know how the rest of the community feels, but i really like Miles as Ultimate Spidey. Wasn’t crazy bout it at first (probably just the usual gut reaction), but I stuck with the book. and it’s a lot of fun. looking forward to seeing why he quits.
I agree. I love Miles as Spider-man and hope that this story line goes well. I’m a bit wary of them using a time skip because of what that will do to the continuity of the other Ultimate books. I will always follow this series though. An amazing book.
I’m with you, Josh. Marvel does the homage thing a bit too much. It’s almost a concrete metaphor for the industry in general. Push it in new directions, but don’t push it too hard. This is comics, after all.
yeah i’m with you guys as well. There is a line between ‘homage’ and “going back to the well cause you’re out of ideas” and this feels a lot like the latter.
I agree its a sad metaphor for the industry. Everyone talks about new ideas…just as long as they remind us of the all the old proven ones.
The whole point of the Ultimate line was a new and modern twist on classic stories. Bendis has done this successfully many, many times so far in the Ultimate Universe. Personally I think he’s earned a bit of trust from readers in the way he’s taken tired tropes and stories from the 616 and reinvented them completely.
There’s also no mention of the time jump that Ult Spider-man is taking in this issue, which is a big departure from the issue referenced here.
Could you explain the time jump?
A time jump would make no sense, as it’d then be out of alignment with the other Ultimate books, which all take place concurrent with one another.
I just want them to stop with the goofy character poses and worthless bars on the covers.
I hope this is just a teaser image and not the actual cover for the exact same reasons Josh stated above
Ditto. So sick of this homage. At LEAST it’s not the Justice League International cover though.
Agreed.
Not that they’d do that in a Marvel book.
Now the Elektra stab? Never again.
I will admit to having a soft spot for the JLI cover. But that’s also because I’ve got a soft spot for the JLI.
OK three possible ideas have come to mind for me
1. Peter Parker is going to be resurrected while someone close to Miles probably his Father will die at Venom’s hands at the end of the Venom arc so Miles will give up being Spider-Man so Peter can return as the one true Spider-Man
2. This is the Ultimate version of the Spider-Man No More arc and Miles will eventually return to his role after a lot of soul searching and realizing it’s his responsibility to protect the citizens of New York and New York it’s self
3. Marvel are teasing the fans with a misleading teaser.
Now I love Miles as Spider-Man but I would love to see Peter return and I’d also like to know what Regular Marvel Universe Peter saw when he researched Miles Morales at the end of Spider-Men #5
I have an urge to regurgitate some “house of ideas” joke, but who am I kidding, I’m gonna read the hell outa that.
Miles is the only Spidey book I read, but I’m not opposed to him having, on occasion, a similar experience as Peter. Not to mention Sara and Marquez might be the best one two punch in comics.
If Miles really does quit the hero game, I’d say he would be the smartest person in the Ultimate Universe.
I love this book, and if it ended with Miles walking away from it all, I’d love that ending.
They would have to rank him before Reed in intelligence at that point.
I like the character of Miles but Im starting to get bored with the stories so far.
While they’ve done the nods more often than I realized until recently, when the art is good, they’re really cool and I think it’s important to remind a generation of readers who don’t appreciate what it took all these years, what’s classic and who, what, when, where, how and why they paves the way for what is out there now.
*paved
Why can neither Peter nor Miles put something in the bin properly?? They just leave it hanging out of the top, lazy and untidy if you ask me.
Just bring back Peter already!!
They will never bring Peter back. He’s dead. Bendis made that clear when it happened. Peter is dead for good. There is no way for him to come back.
They also said that ultimate Spidey and 616 Spidey would never meet either….