Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 14: Warriors

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) (Collected Editions)

by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Mark Bagley, Scott Hanna (Illustrator)

The Gang War to end all Gang Wars begins The Kingpin is in retreat - and that kind of a power vacuum won't last long. It's about to be filled by a figure of unabashed dread in the underworld: Hammerhead Plus: the Ultimate debut of several Marvel characters, including Moon Knight And Spidey thinks he's had trouble before... but nothing has ever made him declare "Peter Parker" no more.

Collecting: Ultimate Spider-Man 79-85

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Spider Man, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun lmao as we get to see Pete team up with other heroes as they fight Hammer head and I love the way Bendis brings Moon Knight and Iron fist into it and also Black cat and Spidey vs Elektra gotta be one of the best fights easily lol and the way he is setting up Kingpin with that ending twist as a future big villain is fascinating and it just shows how good the series is. Plus I love the stuff with MJ and Aunt may too and the troubles in Peters life on both end is just fascinating. Plus the art by Bagley continues to be great!!

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get the feeling that, when these stories were being written, Ultimate Spider-Man was one of, if not the best-selling book in the Ultimate line, and possibly one of the best sellers for Marvel. Because why else would you be using the book to introduce so many characters to the Marvel Universe in such a short period of time? I give Bendis credit for not making this book be so much about Moon Knight or Iron Fist, though it certainly seems like these issues were supposed to be springboards for the characters.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fourteen volumes in and this comic has still got it in spades. Here Spidey teams up with a bevvy of Street-Level heroes and costumed crackpots as he struggles to choose between two evils and his ongoing flirtation with Black Cat ends in a spectacularly unexpected manner.

It also served up this Laugh Out Loud moment for me (I have low standards, I know)

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m bummed this is my last print of Ultimate Spiderman. This was the best of the three I’ve read, keeping it’s humorous slant but staying interesting with the shifting power plays and struggles in the city. Hammerhead has deemed to take over the city while Kingpin is forced to lay low, but all bad guys recruit their own help. Peter is in the outs with Mary Jane while (with humor) fending off the advances of the Black Cat (which I’ve fallen in love with through these stories.) Enigma on the Kingpin’s side and The Moon Night on his own side make a few appearances, all enjoyed. There’s a minor twist at the end that especially made me want to continue reading. The art is colorful and catchy, but sometimes the panels layout grows confusing.

[Frédéric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Messy incoherent succession of brawls with costumes popping out of nowhere for whatever dumb reason (Iron Fist? Moon Knight? Elektra? Black cat? Shang Chi (whoever the fuck is this guy)? Batman? Nah, not Batman, he’s DC, you dummy!) which made me want to check if it didn’t do any brain damage.

Only the final twist is worth something but so many issues of dumb crap to get there isn’t worth it.

Same artist, same lousy art.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

80 issues in and still a great series. It hasn't really dipped in quality yet. One of the best comic book runs.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pretty fun.
It's basically an arc of 'Ultimate Marvel Team Up', ending in a brawl that goes on for around two issues. It makes up for the previous arc. One thing that did bother me though is how Moon Knight, Elektra and Hammerhead all get fatally wounded, but just end up in 'comas'. Sure, when you get stabbed in the chest and then thrown out of the window, if you survived that you probably would be in a coma. But Bendis tries to pass this off for two characters, presumably 3 (it's never actually mentioned what happened to Elektra).

It also ends with three big and changing reveals for Peter. One of which also makes me laugh: Black Cat is chasing after Spider-man for the entire arc, and when she finally de-masks him - she throws up. Harsh, but funny. Poor Pete.

[Stormy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Spider-Man comic in this one
Lots of new characters introduced, and some fun with the Black Cat. And some more of the Kingpin crime they come to it nearly every couple of issues they keep then comics going and keep them interesting Spider-Man faces off a collection of villians defeated in previous  comics while Peter attempts to cut himself off from all of his friends in an attempt to protect them and Mary Jane is still hung up on Peter Parker and she wants to prove herself to him prove that she can be the girl he needs

[Hannah Call · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.5/5

[Shane Stanis · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Ultimate Year #14

Read for a bash all the action figures together arc with Spidey, Kingpin, Hammerhead, the Enforcers, Black Cat, Electra, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Moon Knigt, and anyone I forgot in the melee.

[Daryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume, we meet the Ultimate versions of Moon Knight, Iron Fist, and Shang-Chi (although the latter appeared earlier in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up). None of them is as interesting as their regular Marvel U counterparts, although to be fair, their backstories are barely hinted at here, and none of them gets much to do in this story. Ultimate Hammerhead is slightly more believable than his Marvel Universe self (although no origin is given, only briefly hinted at), and the gang war with the Kingpin he gets involved in here reflects his initial appearance in the Marvel U (one of my very earliest Amazing Spider-man comics). This trade is much more action-oriented than most of the previous ones, and less of Peter’s personal life is shown, yet somehow it makes the trade all the more readable. There are two outstanding bits in this volume: Spidey goes to see the Kingpin, and they end up having a seven-page conversation while sharing pizza. And in the midst of a giant fight scene with many of the (super) heroes, villains, mob guys, with guns blazing and swords flashing, Spidey webs everybody up, and grabs a cell phone from someone’s pocket and calls the police to come to the scene. I laughed out loud. There’s a nice, surprising plot twist in the final pages, too. This might be my favorite volume since #5.

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume finally hits all the right notes. The volumes revolving around new characters have gotten extremely fatiguing. This time, instead, we have a gang war, a huge cast of costumed characters, and an interesting moral dilemma for Peter. The scene where Peter bursts in to find the room full of a huge cast of characters, the deciding-of-who-is-on-which-side, and the fight and resolution that follow are the best part of this series so far. Just when I was about to get up, the series finally hit the sweet spot: lighthearted (and at times downright funny), some angst without being whiny, nice dialogue, and a plot that actually makes some sort of sense.

[Edward Cheer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one very cluttered story. It's so dense; there's so much going on! I'm not kidding, these comics probably have the most sub-plots yet, in this series. If it were a little more simplified, like in "Double Trouble", that would've been better. However the story of Peter and Cat builds to a very satisfying, and humorous ending.

[Jack Herbert Christal Gattanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter's troubles (or should we say just Spider-Man's?) continue as he doesnt back away from his break-up to Mary Jane - those scenes between those two is where Bendis keeps the emotional core so strong and harrowing it hurts - and has to contend with not only the Kingpin being in his way, but another goon-who-is-also-mutant(ish) named Hammerhead who, as bad luck would have it, Fisk wants Spider-Man to take down for him, AND the Black Cat, who may have a crush on the friendly neighborhood Spider-fella, and... Theres school too?! The problems just never end for Peter.

This is quality wise as consistent as it has been throughout the series: the humor is sharp and clever and occasionally, you know, on the level for teens involving things like raging hormones, but Bendis works well within that realm too (as in, how Parker is clearly attracted to Black Cat, what young man wouldn't be, but uh... Problems come of this, especially in the final moments of issue 85). It's also of a piece how (briefly) he sees Elektra. I also enjoyed seeing how Moon Knight (also called "Moonman" by Jameson because it's funnier) since, frankly, I haven't read much of that comic and don't know about his backstory, so there was enough here I could get the gist and roll with it. A little less assured is how Bendis works in Danny Rand as Iron Fist, which doesn't detract things completely, but it is noticeable that these scenes and moments with him just don't shine or hit the mark as well. Maybe though I'm not much of an Iron Fist fan anyway, so Im not one to ask about his character and how well or poorly it translates.

But what I keep reading this series for is what counts, and I feel such conflicted things for Peter at this stage: my softer emotional side says "no no just be with Mary Jane, you can protect her and be in love with her and all that jazz" while my logic side is like "yeah, no, you're doing the right thing." And all the while, it... Unfolds with psychological complexity and deep emotions.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new crime boss has emerged out of Fisk's waning criminal empire - Hammerhead. Opposing the rise of Hammerhead are new vigilantes in town, including Moon Knight, Shang-Chi and Iron Fist, all of whom have their own approach towards the criminal elements of the city. Spidey is called into a parley with Fisk who prompts the Wallcrawler to take down Hammerhead once and for all. Spidey fears he's being used by Fisk for his own devices, but sees no alternative as Hammerhead's operations continue to grow exceedingly violent.

This volume is quite a lot of fun as we see Spidey clashes with Moon Knight over their respective heroic methods, whilst also attempting to sidestep around his recent breakup with MJ (again). Black Cat comes into the picture to entice Pete in a very different way, though Bendis and Bagley thankfully recognize how weird it would be for the much older Black Cat to really want to seduce a high school aged boy. The best sequence here is the fight where Shang-Chi and Iron Fist take down a group of Hammerhead's men, and Bagley really goes all out here. Other great story beats here include Spidey's working partnership with police captain Jeanne De Wolfe and Elektra's involvement in Fisk's operations. Bagley even pays Elektra creator Frank Miller a great homage in one sequence that made this volume for me.

My main criticism is the weird portrayal of Moon Knight here who is mostly posited as crazy rather than truly functional. As a fan of the character, I do like the psychological aspect to him, but Bendis has never truly managed to make him compelling, both here in the Ultimate Universe rendition or in his own 616 continuity.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another good but far from great entry.

Another collected edition where new characters are rushed in asap (iron fist, Moon Knight and Shang Chi in this one) so they are given a rushed/paper thin intro and thus aren't really all that compelling. They are, of course, side characters to Spidey, but still.

Felicia is back (the ending with her and Peter alone almost made this 4 stars for me) as is Elektra and we see Hammerhead but it's a whistle stop of everything.

Personal wise Peter is having issues being Peter and is seemingly running away from that side of his life, it will come to a head soon I would imagine.

As an aside I'm really disappointed with the continuing portrayal of MJ. Both Felicia and Gwen would have been more interesting love interests as this version of MJ is just portrayed as dozy girlfriend. Loveable and pretty and supporting her man whilst being thick as mince. It's doing a great character a disservice and giving her some page time to shine/develop a little more would be a worthwhile investment.

[Henry Blackwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kingpin storyline has been my least favourite ongoing arc in Ultimate Spider-Man but the addition of Black Cat makes such an Interesting spin of it all, I love their dynamic and would love to see how it continues.

As for the Hammerhead, Moon Knight, Elektra & Kingpin side of it.. ehhh I still don’t think Bendis can write very believable (organised) crime stuff. I know he started with Power but that was apparently detective stuff not organised crime like this.

Like one of the things that stuck out to me was that Hammerhead was supposed to be an untouchable guy buy the next frame after that’s explained he’s literally shooting guns in Chinatown in broad daylight? I know it’s a comic but cmon.

I loved what was revealed at the end though with that Kingpin arc, that was a really really nice slow burn that’s been foreshadowed for a few trades now. That’s one of the things I’m loving about this whole run.

[Fellipe Moscardini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great arc! Some fans complain about Bendis’s version of Moon Knight (some saying that it completely ruined the character), but I thought it was ok. I don’t know much about the character (I love his costume, though) and I thought that his role in the arc was cool, albeit a little too short.
Peter Parker is still awesome as always and his break up with Mary Jane didn’t feel like having a huge impact in his life. The annual (not added to this compilation) was one of the best single issues I’ve read so far! Once again, the little moments are what makes Ultimate Spider-Man so great.
All and all, it was nice to see Black Cat and Elektra again, but it was more of the same. There were some great fights and some interesting moments. The ending was unexpected and the arc ended pretty well. Very solid arc! 4/5 stars

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing 14 volumes in that this series still is such high quality.

This time Hammerhead is making a move on Kingpin since the big guy can't do much do to being in the public eye too much. This leaves Spider-Man trying to stop Hammerhead but also not wanting to help Kingpin. On top of that this introduces Moon Knight as well as Iron Fist and Shang-Chi. So we have a lot of characters coming into the fold on top of Black Cat and Elecktra returning.

It's a wild adventure with some funny as hell moments of Spidy faces off against everyone. Awesome fights, fun quips, and Peter at the breaking point of losing his mind and maybe even a place to stay. I love the ending to this. My only negative is how mean he is to Mary Jane sometimes. But Teenagers are dumb.

A 4 out of 5.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This arc is about two things: a gang war for Kingpin's assets while he's on public trial, and Peter Parker being a horny teenager. The superhero gang war featuring Black Cat, Elektra, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, and Moon Knight is kind of fun but a lot of busy fights that dont do anything. The Peter Parker stuff is awful. He's running out of school and Aunt May lectures him about it... which has been happening since the second volume. He's being a shitty boyfriend (ex-boyfriend) to MJ. He's ogling Elektra and Black Cat with several jokes about their cleavage.

This is like reading a Michael Bay movie or something. Big action, big explosions, big boobs, little substance.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty creative way to bring in a surprising number of street-level heroes into the mix of things all within the Spider-Man title. The Ultimates universe has felt largely empty for the bulk of its run with its main characters limited to those that had standalone titles (sort of like how the 2099 books had such a limited roster). This book took the training wheels off and gave us the return of Black Cat, the rise of Hammerhead, and the introduction of Ultimate versions of Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, and Moon Knight in one story arc. They didn't necessarily get as much character development time (especially Shang-Chi) but it's still a fun read.

[Hasan Yazgül · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is really fun. It's got so many fun characters. It's got a lot of funny moments, and that constantly sad and angry Peter isn't here.

I love the return of Black Cat and Kingpin. I love the scene where Spider-Man eats pizza with Kingpin. I like how Jean DeWolf is handled so far as well. That twist is pretty interesting.

Seeing so many street level characters in one book is just really fun as well. It leads to more action, and more action is always good in this book because Mark Bagley's art is always on point when it comes to action scenes.

Peter decides to be Spider-Man so much more often in this volume, and that leads to a lot of interesting things. I really liked this element. I'd say this is one of the best volumes of the run so far.

[Sam Whale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun if messy read. The focus on Peter now single and still depressed allowing being Spider-Man to consume all his time is an interesting place.to take the character after the last few books. Using him being Spidey full time to have team ups with Moon Knight, Shang Chi, Iron Fist and Black Cat, while fighting The Kingpin Elektra and Hammerhead is really cool, and while the writing isn't as strong as either of the previous Kingpin story arcs it still makes for a good read overall, especially with how action packed it is.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warriors (79-85). Some of Bendis' best arcs are the Mafia-related ones, in this case The Kingpin and Hammerhead. Here we get not only the gritty mob war story but also a great re/intro of so many street-level heroes: Shang Chi, Iron First, Moon Knight, and Black Cat. They're used well, and Bendis scripts a hilariously chaotic fight with EVERYONE which is a great finale to the story. Except we then get a shocker finale that's exactly the sort of surprise that Bendis often offers in stories of this kind. And thank goodness, the MJ/Peter drama from V13 is sidelined.

[Logan Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10:
A LOT goes on in this collection, and I think that’s a bit of a con to my enjoyment of it. They bring back Iron Fist and introduced both Moon Knight and Shang-Chi for what ultimately ends up being a nothing sandwich. Sure, seeing them with recurring characters from this run like Spider-Man, Black Cat, Elektra, and Hammerhead was interesting, they weren’t ever there for a purpose.

The reveal at the end of this collection revolving around Kingpin is something big and drastic that I’ve been waiting for! Can’t wait to see how that plays out!

[Kieran Westphal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book best when the word balloons decided to cool it and let the art do the talking. Never let it be said that Brian Michael Bendis skimps on word count.

Ultimate Peter has always felt irksome to me, and there are some moments here where I was wishing I was reading a book with the more mature and charismatic (and frankly less misogynistic... at least nowadays) Peter of the main continuity. Despite that, there are some moments here that really shine.

[Greg Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A step up from the last volume. Lots of fun, if rushed and unexplored, cameos. The fights are a little confusing, pages of fists flying and faces getting punched and little cohesion throughout, unless you want to spend minutes and minutes looking at Bagley's artwork, which is always wonderful, but I still struggle to visualize the fight going down. Otherwise, it's not the exciting epic tales of the beginning, but it's better than the teenage dramas prior.

[Bryan Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt like this story had somewhat been done already in earlier volumes. So it wasn’t overly original.
There were tons of characters, which has its moments, but none of the new ones were given proper time to develop. Also, the conclusion of the fight had a lot of false conclusions (can’t say more without spoilers).
The reveal just before the last page was very interesting and looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

[Matt Goldberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know Marvel thinks its best thing is crossovers, but what if it’s not? Like you’re throwing in characters like Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, and Moon Knight, and maybe they’re great in their own books, but this is Spider-Man. He doesn’t really know them, and almost all we see of them is fighting stuff. There’s a reason the Black Cat stuff works so much better, and that’s because she’s part of Spider-Man’s world. Those characters have a relationship. Crossovers turn heroes into randos.

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit worried that these slightly older comics would fall a bit flat after reading so much new stuff, but NOT AT ALL! I’m glad my return to the Ultimate U was with Spidey. They manage to pack in well known characters while giving them all a distinct purpose. My passion to read the Ultimates is back.
Annual #1: this annual is so good, like a tried and true fanfic, but it’s Marvel themselves!