Ultimate Spiderman Issue 02 is named ‘Growing Pains’. This issue continues with the origin story of our beloved Spiderman. Just so you know, the origin story keeps going on till Issue 05. So, enjoy. I loved the origin story because it covered Peter’s painful moments dealing with teenage problems every 15-year-old faces, whether it’s bullying, fitting in school, being misunderstood by parents, or finding your identity in the world. This Comic Book is for diehard Spiderman Fans. Everyone knows Spiderman’s origin story already, but neither of the movies, cartoons, or animated series’ have done justice to the origin story like Ultimate Spiderman does.
Before I begin with Issue 02, the one thing I mentioned was missing in Issue 01 was incorporated in Issue 02. Peter’s thought process. In Issue 02 we can read how Peter talks with himself in his mind. This is brilliant. This is important because the audience wants to know what goes on in the minds of our characters and not just his actions and how the story unfolds. I’m guessing this is the same feedback the Writer must have received after publishing the first Issue. I can’t believe I picked up on it. I am kinda proud of myself for noticing it.
Now let’s talk about Issue 02. In this issue, Peter begins to stand up for himself. After realizing that his body and senses have been enhanced due to the Spider bite, Peter is not afraid of the bullies in school anymore. In one instance, Flash is making a move on Maryjane and invading her personal space. Peter notices this and quickly protects Maryjane from Flash by hitting him with a basketball. This was an amazing scene. No one saw this coming. And, as expected Flash picks a fight with Peter after school hours, you know how bullies have fragile impatient egos and resort to violence when their superiority is challenged. Now Peter tries to avoid the fight but ends up breaking Flash’s fist while defending himself. This tells us exactly how strong Spiderman’s punches are. No wonder he can do these amazing feats and is able to swing across town and carry and throw heavy objects with ease.
Now this incident with Flash again lands Peter in trouble. Flash’s parents threaten to sue Peter’s uncle and aunt if they don’t pay the 2500 dollar Hospital Bill. Peter’s Uncle and Aunt are shocked by Peter’s violent behavior in school and scold him. And like any normal teenager, Peter feels he is being blamed for no fault of his own. He feels no one understands what he is going through in school every day. And honestly speaking it was Flash’s mistake, but who cares about the truth in the real world when people can blame others with false accusations and lies, right?!
Peter runs away for a while after this argument and blows off steam by testing his strength and acrobatic skills in an abandoned warehouse. I wish the Writer had incorporated some more thought bubbles in this section, but this was again missing like the one in Issue 01. As far as I’ve observed Comic Book panels without any dialogues are not as engaging for Adult Audiences. Children on the other hand love pictures and can read an entire book only through pictures.
One last thing. I remember talking about Peter’s hairstyle in the last review. For once, Peter’s hairstyle is very cool. Perhaps they made it so to make sure he is likable to the audience. But what bothered me a little was Flash Thompson’s dorky hairstyle. I’m guessing he was shown to be a dumb jock. Someone who thought he was attractive because he was big and on the School Basketball Team, but in reality unlikeable and unattractive. In the Spiderman 2002 movie, Flash was shown to be, well, good-looking. He was dumb too but most definitely a hunk. I preferred the hunk look for Flash to the silly hairstyle he was given in the comic book. Anyway, these are some of the parts worth mentioning in the second Issue. To enjoy it thoroughly, go read the comic book yourself. I am enjoying the Ultimate Spiderman Saga a lot. I like the continuous storyline that takes me through the journey of Spiderman’s life. I don’t enjoy short stories that end with each comic book. That’s another reason I love most anime. They have a continuous storyline that keeps going on. I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as I did.
