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Ultimate Spider-Man (2024)
Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 2: The Paper
Collects Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #7-12.
Spider-Man faces the Sinister Six! After their intense battle with the Kingpin, Green Goblin and Spider-Man both know they aren't as ready to reshape the world as they hoped. Harry and Peter get to work, while Ben and Jonah search for "the truth" - and problems for their resistance arise when the Ultimates return! But they're not the only team in town: The Kingpin has gathered six sinister super villains to deal with his masked-vigilante problem! But who, exactly, are the Ultimate Sinister Six? You won't possibly guess them all - but would you believe that Parker luck, one of them is the Black Cat! Meanwhile, Green Goblin joins forces with…Doc Ock?! And with Tony Stark back, Peter must also explore his new suit's limitations.
Spider-Man faces the Sinister Six! After their intense battle with the Kingpin, Green Goblin and Spider-Man both know they aren't as ready to reshape the world as they hoped. Harry and Peter get to work, while Ben and Jonah search for "the truth" - and problems for their resistance arise when the Ultimates return! But they're not the only team in town: The Kingpin has gathered six sinister super villains to deal with his masked-vigilante problem! But who, exactly, are the Ultimate Sinister Six? You won't possibly guess them all - but would you believe that Parker luck, one of them is the Black Cat! Meanwhile, Green Goblin joins forces with…Doc Ock?! And with Tony Stark back, Peter must also explore his new suit's limitations.
152 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2025
51 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Hickman
1,217Ìýbooks1,905ÌýfollowersJonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 19, 2025
From the first volume of Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s Ultimate Spider-Man, which covered the first six issues, this is instantly the most exciting Spider-Man comic that Marvel is publishing, especially compared to the recent runs of Amazing Spider-Man, which have not been great. As much as longtime fans have wanted an older Peter Parker that is married to Mary Jane Watson, that is not the only appeal of Ultimate Spider-Man, which successfully reinvents the Spidey mythos into an unpredictable ongoing narrative whilst coinciding with the rest of this new Ultimate Universe.
Picking up where the previous volume left off, Peter Parker and Harry Osborn realise they aren't as ready to reshape the world as they hoped, following their intense battle with the Kingpin. While Spidey and Green Goblin continue to fight for the deception that rules New York, they get a surprise visit from Iron Lad of the Ultimates.
While there is a greater connection with the larger Ultimate Universe as Iron Lad features as a key character in an issue here, acknowledging that Peter and Harry’s suits are based on Stark/Stane designs, the series doesn’t detract from being a Spider-Man story that continues to make clever changes. With the introduction of Doctor Octavius, he tinkers with the suits to give them its onboard A.I., which may sound closer to Iron Man, but actually puts a new twist on Peter talking with himself his 616 counterpart. As for Harry Osborn, he chooses the voice of his late father Norman for his A.I., showing that he is still scarred by this tragedy, as well as a possible dark path, which is always the Osborn curse.
In response to the retaliation of costumed vigilantes in New York, Wilson Fisk is determined to resolve the situation without the help from the Maker’s Council, which again is a nice detraction in order to maintain its status as a Spider-Man story. The big selling point of this volume is this universe’s Sinister Six, which comprises of Fisk, Black Cat, Kraven the Hunter, Mister Negative, Mole Man and Mysterio. While there isn’t some brawl featuring all of the Sinister Six, which is usually the case with most Sinister Six stories, Fisk is planning to make a game of it out of their conflict with Spidey and Goblin. There is at least one fight sequence where Spidey and Goblin fight one of the Sinister Six, Walter Hardy/Black Cat, which is well-drawn as one would expect from Checchetto, as well as creating some friction between Peter and Harry when it comes to being a hero.
As much as it is fun seeing Peter still grasping in being a hero for New Yotk, the book doesn’t negate the supporting cast, including Mary Jane who stands out as the voice of reason for a number of characters, in that she does support her husband’s masked persona, but she asks him when she should be worried. She also expresses that concern over Ben Parker and J. Jonah Jameson, both have their own buddy subplot as they launch "The Paper" including their investigation into the different crimes being stopped by Spider-Man and Green Goblin, with the hope of taking down Fisk.
With the impressive work from Marco Checchetto and guest artist David Messina who draws two issues, the book isn’t that fixated on being action-packed, despite the growing conflict. No doubt the story moves at a slow pace, which may frustrate some readers, but there is a lot of room for character development. The best sequences from this volume are the family gatherings from Peter’s daughter May’s birthday party in issue #8 and the Christmas family dinner in #12, which are about touching interactions. Whether it is the brief scenes between Jameson and Peter’s son Richard, or the feud between MJ and her sister Gayle, family plays a huge part and like any family there are always issues, but hopefully there is a positive outcome.
For as much as positivity that this series can throw, you know Hickman and Checchetto are setting the stage for something dark to happen with an end twist that once again puts a new spin on aspects from the Spidey mythos. I said it before and I’ll say it again, Ultimate Spider-Man is the most exciting thing to happen to the web-slinger in a long time.
Picking up where the previous volume left off, Peter Parker and Harry Osborn realise they aren't as ready to reshape the world as they hoped, following their intense battle with the Kingpin. While Spidey and Green Goblin continue to fight for the deception that rules New York, they get a surprise visit from Iron Lad of the Ultimates.
While there is a greater connection with the larger Ultimate Universe as Iron Lad features as a key character in an issue here, acknowledging that Peter and Harry’s suits are based on Stark/Stane designs, the series doesn’t detract from being a Spider-Man story that continues to make clever changes. With the introduction of Doctor Octavius, he tinkers with the suits to give them its onboard A.I., which may sound closer to Iron Man, but actually puts a new twist on Peter talking with himself his 616 counterpart. As for Harry Osborn, he chooses the voice of his late father Norman for his A.I., showing that he is still scarred by this tragedy, as well as a possible dark path, which is always the Osborn curse.
In response to the retaliation of costumed vigilantes in New York, Wilson Fisk is determined to resolve the situation without the help from the Maker’s Council, which again is a nice detraction in order to maintain its status as a Spider-Man story. The big selling point of this volume is this universe’s Sinister Six, which comprises of Fisk, Black Cat, Kraven the Hunter, Mister Negative, Mole Man and Mysterio. While there isn’t some brawl featuring all of the Sinister Six, which is usually the case with most Sinister Six stories, Fisk is planning to make a game of it out of their conflict with Spidey and Goblin. There is at least one fight sequence where Spidey and Goblin fight one of the Sinister Six, Walter Hardy/Black Cat, which is well-drawn as one would expect from Checchetto, as well as creating some friction between Peter and Harry when it comes to being a hero.
As much as it is fun seeing Peter still grasping in being a hero for New Yotk, the book doesn’t negate the supporting cast, including Mary Jane who stands out as the voice of reason for a number of characters, in that she does support her husband’s masked persona, but she asks him when she should be worried. She also expresses that concern over Ben Parker and J. Jonah Jameson, both have their own buddy subplot as they launch "The Paper" including their investigation into the different crimes being stopped by Spider-Man and Green Goblin, with the hope of taking down Fisk.
With the impressive work from Marco Checchetto and guest artist David Messina who draws two issues, the book isn’t that fixated on being action-packed, despite the growing conflict. No doubt the story moves at a slow pace, which may frustrate some readers, but there is a lot of room for character development. The best sequences from this volume are the family gatherings from Peter’s daughter May’s birthday party in issue #8 and the Christmas family dinner in #12, which are about touching interactions. Whether it is the brief scenes between Jameson and Peter’s son Richard, or the feud between MJ and her sister Gayle, family plays a huge part and like any family there are always issues, but hopefully there is a positive outcome.
For as much as positivity that this series can throw, you know Hickman and Checchetto are setting the stage for something dark to happen with an end twist that once again puts a new spin on aspects from the Spidey mythos. I said it before and I’ll say it again, Ultimate Spider-Man is the most exciting thing to happen to the web-slinger in a long time.
December 19, 2024
GOD I love this book. Jonathan Hickman (and Checchetto, when he’s actually on it) are so good at crafting this version of Spider-Man. It’s the one series I pull every month that makes me want to read the next issue IMMEDIATELY.
I said it about the first volume and I’ll say it again for this one: if you’ve never read a Spider-Man story before and want to get into modern comics, there is no better place to start than this run. It’s beautifully drawn, convincingly written, and compellingly plotted.
Kraven’s Last Hunt 2.0 next! Can’t wait.
I said it about the first volume and I’ll say it again for this one: if you’ve never read a Spider-Man story before and want to get into modern comics, there is no better place to start than this run. It’s beautifully drawn, convincingly written, and compellingly plotted.
Kraven’s Last Hunt 2.0 next! Can’t wait.
March 19, 2025
3.6 stars
March 24, 2025
It feels like this book is moving really fast and really slow at the same time, somehow. Each issue jumps forward a month, since we're doing the whole 'fast track till the Maker returns' thing that they're doing in Ultimates, so things happen but it feels like the aftermath takes a while to turn up. And then we get the Sinister Six and the Black Cat, neither of which get much to do, so we're covering a lot of ground and yet also kinda standing still?
It's all still compelling, don't get me wrong. There are two issues here that are basically just people talking, Ben & Jonah while they try to track down the truth about Stane/Stark and the Christmas issue at the end of the volume that's mostly just Mary Jane and her sister, and these are easily the standouts. It's just an odd pacing thing that I don't think happened in the previous volume, or didn't feel as prevalent.
Artwork's still fab though - Checchetto's always a joy, and David Messina's fill-ins feel like the old Kevin Maguire talking heads with various expressions issues.
Still great, but a niggling feeling of oddness creeping in.
It's all still compelling, don't get me wrong. There are two issues here that are basically just people talking, Ben & Jonah while they try to track down the truth about Stane/Stark and the Christmas issue at the end of the volume that's mostly just Mary Jane and her sister, and these are easily the standouts. It's just an odd pacing thing that I don't think happened in the previous volume, or didn't feel as prevalent.
Artwork's still fab though - Checchetto's always a joy, and David Messina's fill-ins feel like the old Kevin Maguire talking heads with various expressions issues.
Still great, but a niggling feeling of oddness creeping in.
December 23, 2024
The beautiful thing about this book is it isn't really doing anything super groundbreaking or innovative, but it's picking it's exact spots when to really give you that left hook or exciting debut.
While a lot of this book is the learning curve of Peter realizing he might be in deeper than he thought, he's still somewhat in control. While his family's reaction to his identity doesn't inspire a lot of drama, the external pressure is mounting. While there is a lot of talking heads/moving from point A to B here, the needle drop at the end, and the potential of a second year excites me.
While a lot of this book is the learning curve of Peter realizing he might be in deeper than he thought, he's still somewhat in control. While his family's reaction to his identity doesn't inspire a lot of drama, the external pressure is mounting. While there is a lot of talking heads/moving from point A to B here, the needle drop at the end, and the potential of a second year excites me.
January 2, 2025
You can take my rating with a grain of salt, because I am this book's exact target audience, and it's a joy for me each time I read it.
January 19, 2025
ben x jonah old man yaoi and i'm so serious
(read in single issues)
(read in single issues)
December 31, 2024
“Ultimate Spider-Man� continues its unmitigated awesomeness with Volume 2, wrapping up what was, by all accounts, a terrific debut year. Jonathan Hickman and artist Marco Checchetto continue to demonstrate, issue after issue, that they just plain “get� Spider-Man: while the Ultimate Universe itself is certainly its own unique beast, complete with variations to well-known characters and storylines, the Spider-Man/Peter Parker that is presented here is the perfect balance of “new� and “old,� providing readers with a take that feels different, yet is still well-honed to the elements that make us want to keep reading Spider-Man comics, even 60+ years after his initial debut.
Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about this, and going into 2025, “Ultimate Spider-Man� remains the comic book series that I’m most psyched to keep following month after month. If you’re not reading it yet, definitely jump on � it’s only 2 volumes in.
Trust me - you’ll be so glad you did.
Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about this, and going into 2025, “Ultimate Spider-Man� remains the comic book series that I’m most psyched to keep following month after month. If you’re not reading it yet, definitely jump on � it’s only 2 volumes in.
Trust me - you’ll be so glad you did.
January 3, 2025
Still the best part of this Ultimate Universe so far. The story remains interesting despite moving a very slow pace, but I see that it’s all about the change next volume.
March 29, 2025
I enjoy this series, but I feel there is a lot of focus on people conversing and not really progressing very far.
The medium obviously isn’t constrained to just being exclusively action-oriented, however it would be nice to balance the action with the conversations. Or potentially having the character development occur through the actions instead of everything needing to be spoken out loud often in long drawn out discussions between two people. The concept of show don’t tell is definitely being delivered in the inverse here.
Since this series started, there has been an entire issue devoted to a discussion had over dinner, an entire issue built around Ben and Jonah interviewing people, and an entire issues devoted to a discussion in the kitchen in the lead up to Christmas. I am all for bottle-centric issues, however the frequency in which they have happened in this series makes it feel like it’s more padding than progression in order to ensure we can have a “six issue narrative� for a trade paperback.
This harks back to the Brian Michael Bendis era of Marvel storytelling - which was fun, at first, until it became repetitive: start a story, build a story, bottle-centric discussion issue, tease climax, move back in the story to retell an element of the story from someone else’s perspective, climax, then a epilogue issue where extensive conversations about the climax happen (often in a single room or rooftop).
I’m sticking around to continue reading the series, but I’d rather a story that delivers what is suggested by their respective covers: no actual Sinister Six confrontation, just members taking their individual shots at Spidey and Harry. No actual fight between Spidey and new Iron Man, just a conversation in a warehouse between the two. No Spidey vs Felicia Hardy confrontation - don’t even cross paths in the issue. I know covers can often be misleading (and yes I know the old saying don’t judge a book by its cover) however empty promises do lead to a less engaged reader�
The medium obviously isn’t constrained to just being exclusively action-oriented, however it would be nice to balance the action with the conversations. Or potentially having the character development occur through the actions instead of everything needing to be spoken out loud often in long drawn out discussions between two people. The concept of show don’t tell is definitely being delivered in the inverse here.
Since this series started, there has been an entire issue devoted to a discussion had over dinner, an entire issue built around Ben and Jonah interviewing people, and an entire issues devoted to a discussion in the kitchen in the lead up to Christmas. I am all for bottle-centric issues, however the frequency in which they have happened in this series makes it feel like it’s more padding than progression in order to ensure we can have a “six issue narrative� for a trade paperback.
This harks back to the Brian Michael Bendis era of Marvel storytelling - which was fun, at first, until it became repetitive: start a story, build a story, bottle-centric discussion issue, tease climax, move back in the story to retell an element of the story from someone else’s perspective, climax, then a epilogue issue where extensive conversations about the climax happen (often in a single room or rooftop).
I’m sticking around to continue reading the series, but I’d rather a story that delivers what is suggested by their respective covers: no actual Sinister Six confrontation, just members taking their individual shots at Spidey and Harry. No actual fight between Spidey and new Iron Man, just a conversation in a warehouse between the two. No Spidey vs Felicia Hardy confrontation - don’t even cross paths in the issue. I know covers can often be misleading (and yes I know the old saying don’t judge a book by its cover) however empty promises do lead to a less engaged reader�
December 28, 2024
Leave it to Hickman to do banger after banger and this was another great volume expanding on Peter and his family and we get to see more about his sits and origins and his friendship with Harry and the return of Iron man and I like their convos and they tease the return of Maker here and I love how they're building to it and you maybe also get glimpses of Dr Octopus and Venom and I am interested to see how that face-off will go!
There is that aspect with the new S6 and I love how its described and it makes so much sense and makes them more interesting than their 616 counterparts and you can clearly see that Hickman has thought about it and planned it very well and if that wasn't enough there is the thing with Ben and Jonah and I love their bromance and their new paper and what they have been doing and them exploring the dark secrets of this new reality and well their talks with Peter are so good.
I love the focus on MJ and her relationship with Peter and those human moments and convos between her and Pete really make me love them more and then there is the last issue with her sister and mother and her strained relationship with them but how it resolves is so awesomely written.. one of the best interaction issues I have read and it will feel weird how it doesn't have much of Pete but THAT TWIST OMG!
The next arc is gonna be super exciting! I so love this series and its easily my favorite ongoing comic series of 2024!!
There is that aspect with the new S6 and I love how its described and it makes so much sense and makes them more interesting than their 616 counterparts and you can clearly see that Hickman has thought about it and planned it very well and if that wasn't enough there is the thing with Ben and Jonah and I love their bromance and their new paper and what they have been doing and them exploring the dark secrets of this new reality and well their talks with Peter are so good.
I love the focus on MJ and her relationship with Peter and those human moments and convos between her and Pete really make me love them more and then there is the last issue with her sister and mother and her strained relationship with them but how it resolves is so awesomely written.. one of the best interaction issues I have read and it will feel weird how it doesn't have much of Pete but THAT TWIST OMG!
The next arc is gonna be super exciting! I so love this series and its easily my favorite ongoing comic series of 2024!!
January 5, 2025
Este es el tipo de historia que quiero que tenga el spider-man/peter del universo 616, casado con Mj y con hijos, que el tÃo Ben este vivo me parece un buen plus, al fina se podrá conocer como habrÃa sido él y su manera de actuar con un Peter mas adulto y con el secreto de la identidad secreta de Peter.
Me gusta como Hickman este construyendo toda la historia del Peter de este nuevo universo aunque me preocupa el hecho que The Maker regresa en menos de doce números y el comic se esta tomando su tiempo para contar su historia, lo cual puede ser bueno y malo al mismo tiempo.
Las nuevas versiones de los villanos me están gustando y me encantó la aparición del Sr negativo y como jugo un papel importante en las ultimas páginas del comic, Peter no es Peter gracias a él, tremendo plot twist que hicieron y nunca me imaginé que eso pudiera pasar.
Me gusta como Hickman este construyendo toda la historia del Peter de este nuevo universo aunque me preocupa el hecho que The Maker regresa en menos de doce números y el comic se esta tomando su tiempo para contar su historia, lo cual puede ser bueno y malo al mismo tiempo.
Las nuevas versiones de los villanos me están gustando y me encantó la aparición del Sr negativo y como jugo un papel importante en las ultimas páginas del comic, Peter no es Peter gracias a él, tremendo plot twist que hicieron y nunca me imaginé que eso pudiera pasar.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 18, 2025This series started strong in its premise, but it’s really starting to lose me.
I was intrigued of what Peter would be like without having been Spider-Man until he was a full on adult.
Turns out…he’s the exact same. No different of a person at all. There is also really no training or figuring things out to be Spider-Man. He just gets the powers and is now just the same Peter.
There is really no interesting angle to this anymore. The Sinister Six inclusion is not that good. There are incredibly long moments (even an entire issue) of Ben and JJ releasing an expose on Kingpin, only for it to not come up again so far, and many issues have passed since that happened.
Overall, I’m just sitting here wondering what the point is of this series if, aside from the initial premise of a mid-forties Peter getting his powers and having kids, really isn’t doing anything interesting.
I was intrigued of what Peter would be like without having been Spider-Man until he was a full on adult.
Turns out…he’s the exact same. No different of a person at all. There is also really no training or figuring things out to be Spider-Man. He just gets the powers and is now just the same Peter.
There is really no interesting angle to this anymore. The Sinister Six inclusion is not that good. There are incredibly long moments (even an entire issue) of Ben and JJ releasing an expose on Kingpin, only for it to not come up again so far, and many issues have passed since that happened.
Overall, I’m just sitting here wondering what the point is of this series if, aside from the initial premise of a mid-forties Peter getting his powers and having kids, really isn’t doing anything interesting.
April 3, 2025
What a great f*cking cliffhanger.
While the first year of this book has clearly been setting up for the darker year that’s to come in volumes 3 and 4, we’re now really picking up steam with this volume and fixing issues that I had in the, still decent, first volume. The book finally evolved its journalistic commentary and gave an entire issue to Jonah and Ben to explore their dynamic and skill on the job. There’s much more interesting interpersonal conflicts explored, such as MJ worrying about Peter, Harry and Peter starting to clash in moral beliefs, MJ’s family being� awful, and Harry and Peter having to confront the safety of keeping their identities secret. The action even gets kicked up a notch with Peter getting to face two members of the sinister six. Chechetto still is just such a spectacular artist on the book.
And again, what a great f*cking cliffhanger. I’m excited to see what Year Two of the book has in store.
While the first year of this book has clearly been setting up for the darker year that’s to come in volumes 3 and 4, we’re now really picking up steam with this volume and fixing issues that I had in the, still decent, first volume. The book finally evolved its journalistic commentary and gave an entire issue to Jonah and Ben to explore their dynamic and skill on the job. There’s much more interesting interpersonal conflicts explored, such as MJ worrying about Peter, Harry and Peter starting to clash in moral beliefs, MJ’s family being� awful, and Harry and Peter having to confront the safety of keeping their identities secret. The action even gets kicked up a notch with Peter getting to face two members of the sinister six. Chechetto still is just such a spectacular artist on the book.
And again, what a great f*cking cliffhanger. I’m excited to see what Year Two of the book has in store.
February 5, 2025
Continued greatness.
This book continues with its fantastic character writing and excellent build up, concluding with a brilliant cliffhanger at the end of issue 12.
Peter and his supporting cast all have great focus and relationships and we really start to get into the meat of things with the new Sinister Six.
Can’t wait to see where this run continues to go.
This book continues with its fantastic character writing and excellent build up, concluding with a brilliant cliffhanger at the end of issue 12.
Peter and his supporting cast all have great focus and relationships and we really start to get into the meat of things with the new Sinister Six.
Can’t wait to see where this run continues to go.
February 9, 2025
while USM continues to be one that i look forward to every month, this story arc was a bit of nothing special. every issue felt like “filler� as we have ended this arc with the same information we started with. i like that USM is a slow burn, though, and i’m glad we get to spend more focus on the characters and their dynamics,
December 30, 2024
i may have been a bit tough on the first six issues but i also feel like these six issues just worked better. it felt more clearly like an ensemble here, and had a lot of interesting things going on. my easiest comic book read
February 2, 2025
Maybe I'm too lenient with my score because I've been out of the comics game for awhile and I'm just happy to be reading them again but hot damn this first year of Ultimate Spider-Man was absolutely fantastic!
March 11, 2025
A strong follow up to the excellent first volume. Hickman continues to set a lot of things in motion that will no doubt pay off, but currently it feels like the story is wading in the weeds a bit.
The Christmas issue was a highlight for sure.
3/5
The Christmas issue was a highlight for sure.
3/5
December 23, 2024
Read as individual comics, ratings below:
#7= 3.5 stars
#8= 3.5 stars
#9= 4 stars
#10= 3.5 stars
#11= 5 stars
#12= 3.5 stars
Overall rating of 4 stars
#7= 3.5 stars
#8= 3.5 stars
#9= 4 stars
#10= 3.5 stars
#11= 5 stars
#12= 3.5 stars
Overall rating of 4 stars
December 24, 2024
Very good super hero comics. Hickman has been in a bit of a slump lately, in my opinion, but this series remains stellar.
January 21, 2025
Shaping up to be a great Spider-Man tale. Let Hickman cook.
February 7, 2025
Siento que la historia no avanza nada, pero está bien escrita
February 9, 2025
Let's go!! This series continues to fire on all cylinders. I cannot wait for more!
February 22, 2025
not bad
7/10
7/10
March 2, 2025
3.5/5
March 21, 2025
Absolutely going from strength to strength with this series. Trade waiting on this one is absolutely killer but it’s sure worth the wait.
March 25, 2025
Putting Felicia on the cover is extremely deceptive, she appears in ~1 panel.
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