The solicitation for this issue cries "leave your cynicism at the door."  That's hard to do when the entirity of the Ultimate Universe has been gearing up for this event for months, pushing it in adds throughout the Marvel line, and creating a mini-series (Ulimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates) to support the moment of Spider-Man's death.  All of that feels pretty cynical to me.

There is little wrong with the story itself.  In fact, a lot of beats work very well.  Ultimate Peter Parker and his supporting cast are so completely in Brian Michael Bendis' wheelhouse that it seems sometimes that Bendis is at a table in the back of Aunt May's house transcribing the dialogue, not composing it on his own.  The Sinister Six are written with varied and complex motivations and I am hooked to find out what they do next, especially as the object of Norman's most intense hatred seems to have been kacked before Osborn had a chance to do it himself.  I doubt that will calm him down much.

Mark Bagley, after mixed results at DC on Justice League, is back where he belongs.  He has such a great feel for these characters and, even if his art isn't quite as nuanced as David LaFuerte and Sara Pichelli, it certainly feels right to have him back at this moment.  Yes, Bagley has returned just in time to... kill the main character?

That's where this goes of the rails for me, though perhaps I should trust Bendis to prove this is another intriguing turn for what has all but consistently been an intriguing book: we're witnessing the last moments of a great character.  The question for me is why?

There is a difference between writing a character, like Peter Parker, who is so Job-like that his life never has any hope of truly being happy, and killing him off.  The former to me is more interesting.  The latter is, well, cynical.