You know what I love? Comics. You know what I really love? THIS comic. In a month that has been over-run by the New 52 over at DC, it’s a nice change of pace to be excited for a Marvel comic.

I have received more then my share of snarkitude for championing change in super-hero comics, but finally, here it is. At least..it’s a start! If you fear change, this isn’t for you. And that’s ok. There is a really fun Spider-Island story that you can enjoy over in the 616, filled with the characters you know and love. And granted, this one has a familiar face or two as well, but for the most part, we’re spending our time with The Morales’, a family that I’m really enjoying.

I love that this story starts the same way that the original Ult Spidey started: in a lab. I love the reference to the lottery in this issue. Here, Miles is the winner of not one, but two lotteries. The number 42 shows up in both of these instances, non-surprisingly (See also: Hitchhiker’s Guide) The Morales family have applied for and are attending a drawing to see if their son can get into The Brooklyn Visions Academy. He is randomly chosen from a list of over 700 applicants. This lottery evokes the same feeling I get for how Brian Michael Bendis chose the next Spider-Man. It’s as if Bendis had his finger hovering over hundreds of different families in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, closed his eyes and picked a family at random to be the new main family for his series, then decided to just write how that could have happened. It’s as if he is saying Spider-Man is supposed to be the “everyman” of comics, so let’s make that more literal. This isn’t a kid who also just happens to be a genius level intellect, who can conveniently create web-shooters for himself, and spider-tracer technology. Let’s see what would happen if one of us regular citizens got the bite.

So far, I like this kid. I like that he actually seems like a 13 year old boy. I’ve seen these kids walk in and out of my shop. Sure, there are the obnoxious kids that come in and cause a ruckus, but there’s also the reserved, quiet kids that just need to break out of their shell. That spend most of their time being talked AT by adults, rather than talked TO. This is Miles, at least in this first issue. He even has some of Peter Parker’s inherent guilt. When he wins the school lottery, instead of mooning everyone, his first concern is all the other kids who DIDN’T win. He’s not without his faults though, as he immediately goes to get away from his parents by hanging out with his disowned Uncle Aaron, who’s clearly considered to be a bad influence. That’s all I’m really going to say about the actual events of this book though. I’d like you to enjoy it as it unfolds.

I will say that watching it unfold as penciled by the insanely talented Sara Pichelli is a glorious experience. She is already on my list of favorite pencilers and is only getting better. Her facial expressions convey emotions even on a subtle level, she isn’t afraid of nicely detailed establishing shots, and her figures are natural and expressive. Oh, I should also mention that I love the new redesign of the costume as well. Snazzy get-up, that. The colors by Justin Ponsor are beautifully executed as well. His shading is soft but effective and I really like the way he does his highlights on various skin-tones. Very nice work here.

I feel like this has been a love-fest, and I almost wish I had something negative to say, but dammit, it’s pretty pretty awesome.

Oh, wait! knew there must be something I didn’t like about this experience. I don’t know if Quesada’s little brother works for a plastic bag company or something, but Marvel: knock it the hell off with the poly-bagged issues. This isn’t the mid-90’s. Seriously. Knock it off.

JD admits to having been mildly racist in the past. But really, was there anyone that didn’t, at one time, call Jim Carrey “The WHITE guy from In Living Color”?? JD can be found hosting the PopTards Podcast, drawing a weekly webcomic, discussing movies, comics and other flimflam over at www.poptardsgo.com, graphically designing/illustrating/inking for a living, and Booking his Face off at http://www.facebook.com/jaydotdeedot. Follow his twitter @poptardsgo.