Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 5

Ultimate Spider-Man (Collected Editions) #9-10

by Brian Michael Bendis

The Green Goblin. Doctor Octopus. Electro. Kraven the Hunter. Sandman. Five of Spider-Man's deadliest foes have banded together as an unstoppable force of evil Will the combined forces of Spider-Man and the Ultimates be enough to stop these criminal masterminds before their reign of terror spreads across the world? And who will be named as the final member of the "Sinister Six"? Plus: A major movie studio is making a summer blockbuster about Spider-Man, and the Ultimate Wall-Crawler swings by the set to give the producers a piece of his mind. But someone else is even hotter about being in the film than Spidey: Doctor Octopus, who just may shut the production down if he doesn't get final edit As the cameras roll, the real wall-crawler and Doc Ock go head-to-head behind the scenes

Collecting: Ultimate Spider-Man 54-59, Ultimate Six 1-7

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

352 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2004

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

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fifth book in this 'Ultimate Collection' starts with an Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimates and SHIELD team-up in Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 9: Ultimate Six, in which, despite facing the combined might of the wonderful created Ultimate versions of the Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman, Electro and Kraven is all about making noise and not about constructive storytelling, although the dialogue isn't too bad; the real gem is Thor's disdain for it all.

The second half of this book collects Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 10: Hollywood, which sees a Spider-Man movie being filmed in New York and film location interventions of Mysterio, and Doc Octopus. And whilst this is all happening, someone close to Peter Parker finds out one of his biggest secrets. Great to see Mark Bagley back with the Ultimate style art returning, but the story felt like all filler. 7 out of 12 Three Star read overall.

2022 read; 2017 read; 2011 read

[Rory Wilding · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no denying that Spider-Man has the best rogues gallery in all of Marvel Comics as there are continuing new stories about villains such as the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus that were conceived back in the early years of the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko run. One of the greatest Spidey Stories in comics history, The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 from the original run introduced us to the Sinister Six, a group of supervillains who were previously defeated by the wall-crawler and are bent on revenge.

Over the decades, there have been various incarnations of this iconic group – with the potential of a cinematic debut in the near future – but in the hands of Brian Michael Bendis during his Ultimate Spider-Man run, he puts a new spin on the Sinister Six. Beginning this volume with the seven-issue limited series Ultimate Six, five of Spider-Man's villains – Norman Osborn (Green Goblin), Flint Marko (the Sandman), Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus), Electro and Kraven the Hunter – escape from a maximum-security S.H.I.E.L.D. superhuman prison and determine to go to war against General Nick Fury, whilst Osborn has plans to recruit Peter Parker into being the sixth member in their group.

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, things aren’t always what they seem, especially if you're a frequent reader of the mainstream Marvel Universe. During the initial issues of this arc, Spider-Man doesn't have much of a presence and it's really about the interaction of the villains as they slowly form an alliance, whilst Fury and the Ultimates are trying to solve the situation. Given Mark Millar's major contribution to this universe with The Ultimates, which brought an "adult" sensibility to the Avengers (which was not to everyone's tastes) Bendis takes cue from Millar by playing up the lack of cooperation from the American government and providing spectacle featuring superpowered figures who are less about colourful spandex and more about grim bloodshed.

Given Spidey's eventual participation, it doesn't read like Ultimate Spider-Man as Bendis is exploring the other things than our youthful hero, despite there is a continuing discussion from #46 about illegal genetic mutation that applies to the villains here as well as Spidey. It also doesn't help that Trevor Hairsine doing his best Bryan Hitch impression where his grim and rough art works best in the big action as oppose to the small drama. Although the very end of the arc sets up a new dynamic towards a classic Spider-Man character, this mini-event didn’t bring out the best in Bendis.

When we get back into the Ultimate Spider-Man title where things are bright, optimistic and under the illustrations by Mark Bagley, Bendis goes a bit meta in the story arc "Hollywood". When Aunt May leaves the house for a trip away, Peter discovers there will be an official Spider-Man movie coming out which angers Peter, whilst Doctor Octopus once again escapes from prison and seeking revenge against Peter. It is here Bendis has a lot of fun as Spidey interrupts the film set where he encounters director Sam Raimi, producer Avi Arad and actor Tobey Maguire (the three principal figures from the original Spider-Man film trilogy) and showing a slightly cynical side of the Hollywood business amidst Spidey's other battle against Doc Ock, who gets to shine and he expresses his hatred towards Peter despite sharing some similarities.

Fortunately, Bendis and Bagley save the best for last as much like #13, #59 is all about personal revelations as oppose to superhero-ing and how the troubling relationships between Peter, Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy has a friendly resolution. This issue alone is enough to redeem this flawed volume as again the real strength of Ultimate Spider-Man is Brian Michael Bendis' attention to the street-based intimacy of his characters.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He might have spider-hearing.
Seriously, "spider-hearing?"
Or something.
Well, I don't have spider-hearing. But I do listen. And I'm hearing your little conniving comments. And they're pissing me off!"

[maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

the ultimate six were a slower read for me, but still a good story. i’m excited to get back into the main storyline!

2.5 stars

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

About half of this collection is the Ultimate Sinister Six miniseries. It fits well enough here, because it is essentially Spider-Man's story. The Ultimates do play a fairly big part here, more than I would have liked. The most interesting part by far is the interaction between Peter and Norman Osborn. Great stuff. The reset button got hit so hard that I think they left a dent, but I'm ok with that.

The actual Spider-Man issues were focused on production of a Spider-Man movie. Of course Peter isn't going to get anything good out of the movie. But even more irritated than him is Doc Ock, considering that his ex-wife sold the rights to her version of his story for a large sum of money. It's a fun story, and it has some of the "real" moments that are essentially the trademark of Ultimate Spider-Man.

[Brandon Forsyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's not a lot of Spider-Man in this Spider-Man collection, but there are some good Tobey Maguire jokes!

[elliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

that scene where they destroyed doctor octopus’s arms and when he screamed in agony,, man. i hate that guy but i would be lying if i said i didnt feel bad in that part

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what Sony ruined two Spiderman movies for? 🤥

[Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure I have told this story in other reviews, but I'm not sure which one, so I'll relay it again, because it is germane to this review. When I was a kid, one of my first comics was Marvel Tales which did reprints of old Amazing Spider-Man issues in the days before trade collections of particular comics existed. I remember clearly that the issue reprinted in that first Marvel Tales I read was the first appearance of the Scorpion from Amazing Spider-Man #20. Of course, if memory serves, I had already been watching the various Spider-Man based cartoons before I started reading comic books, and so may have been familiar with the Spider-Man rogues gallery before reading that issue of Marvel Tales. But what I can tell you is that one Spider-Man rogue I was never a fan of was Dr. Octopus.

I don't know why Otto Octavius rubbed me the wrong way. I think that maybe I thought his power was dumb, being a bunch of mechanical arms that for whatever reason obeyed his commands. Also, for whatever reason Lee and Ditko had decided to make Otto without the arms kind of a dumpy overweight guy. I was used to villains being hulked out muscle men (like the heroes they opposed) so to see one who looked like a normal dude was anathema to me. So for most of my comics reading life, I just didn't like Doc Ock, because he wasn't as cool as the Green Goblin (or the Hobgoblin, who was the big bad in most of the Spider-Man titles at the time.) Then in 2004, everything changed.

That was the year that Spider-Man 2 came out, starring Tobey Maguire as the title character and Alfred Molina as Octavius. And it was a revelation. Given that director Sam Raimi was tasked with giving Octopus motion on the big screen, Doc Ock became so much more than I ever expected he could be and in doing so became my favorite Spider-Man villain. This was later cemented by Dan Slott's brilliant Superior Spider-Man, in which Otto ended up taking over Peter's body and in so doing, became Spider-Man. So to me, Dr. Octopus is the greatest of all the Spider-Man rogues.

Why bring this up? Because if you're like me, you are going to love Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection, Book 5. This volume contains the Ultimate Six miniseries of which Otto is one of the "Six", this being the Ultimate Universe implementation of the "Sinister Six." The main adversary of this mini-series is another classic Spider-Man adversary, the Green Goblin, but since in the Ultimate Universe the Goblin and Doc Ock's origins are intertwined, he also plays a large part in the miniseries, which is essentially the Sinister Six vs. the Ultimates. The second story arc in this book takes place after the events of Ultimate Six and mainly focus on Otto, as a particularly bad decision on the part of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. leads to another rampage from Dr. Octopus. In addition, a hinted subplot concerning one of the Spider-Man supporting cast finally comes to bear, causing even more trouble for Peter.

After reading this collection, I realize that Brian Michael Bendis essentially made it so that he would always have a job in comics, since his work on Ultimate Spider-Man is pretty damned good. I realize that I have only really read this book and Ultimate X-Men to date but with Spider-Man, Bendis was able to navigate the choppy waters of forging a new path for Spider-Man while staying somewhat faithful to Lee and Ditko's original premise that The Amazing Spider-Man was actually a book about Peter Parker--a guy who just happened to also be Spider-Man while also modernizing the story so that contemporary readers didn't think it was lame. Five volumes in, mission accomplished.

[Richard]

The Ultimate Spider-man series has been consistently great until this installment. This book isn't terrible but it definitely is a step-down from the quality of the previous volumes. Creator Brian Michael Bendis puts a new spin on Spider-man's Sinister Six as the Spidey villains to date: Dr. Octupus, Electro, Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, and the Green Goblin decide to break out of prison and hunt down Spidey. The glaring issue with this first story is how little of a focus it gives to Spider-man. It's definitely more of an Ultimates story and probably should be treated as such. I've always thought that the Ultimates (and the Avengers as a whole) are somewhat boring and I kept wishing throughout that the focus be placed back on Peter Parker.

But when the focus does get back to Peter's life in the final "Hollywood" arc, it doesn't get much better. It's still a bit of meta fun as Peter crashes the set of a movie being made about Spider-man and tangles with Sam Raimi and Tobey MacGuire before rumbling again with Doc Ock. Surprising twists promise more interesting things to come!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read ultimate spider-man on and off since it started. I wasn’t collecting comics when Ultimate Six originally came out and I’ve always wanted to read it. I don’t know why I hadn’t picked it up till now. The story was awesome! The other issues from the regular ultimate spider-man series were okay, but not as amazing. Still a great read and the art was fun.

[Josh Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. The Ultimate Six storyline brings out the worst in Bendis' pacing, where it's all set up with very little payoff, especially with such a cool idea. The Hollywood arc is better paced and the meta narrative of the movie set works well. Then the final issue with Gwen is truly lovely and heartfelt.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's this real tone split in the Ultimate Universe. The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four are for more "mature" readers than their original titles.

But Ultimate Spider-man is really more for kids/young adults.

Here, the tone is the wrong tone. It gets kind of dark and violent when that's not the book's strength.

[aCupcakeBlonde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read the beginning of this collection in another collection. But the Doc Oc story was interesting, especially the incredible turn to make a movie of Spider-Man and using the metta idea of having Sam Remi direct and Tobey Maguire be Spuder-Man. Hilarious!

[Jase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice they added Ultimate Six series with this book. The Doc escapes with Electro, Sandman, Hammerhead and others and take on SHIELD and Nick Fury. Insane breach and some trickery on Peter fighting the wrong side.

[Shauna Kostur · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it just me or did the movie arc low-key foreshadow Miles Morales?

[Nate Deprey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A step up from the disappointment of book 4 but no where near the high highs this series hit early on.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 3 out of 5]

Częstotliwość pojawiania się kolejnych oponentów i sojuszników każe stwierdzić, że to całkiem fajna seria na start przygody ze Spider-Manem czy w ogóle Marvelem

[Marcin Wichowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5🌟⭐️🕷️
Za to jak się kończy ten tom nawet przymknę oko że podczas tomu zmienia się rysownik i bohaterowie są przez chwile nie dobrospiznsnia

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this Ultimate Spider-man collection is mostly about the "Ultimate Six" (or...Five). It should be an interesting departure from the typical high-schooler scenes in the series, but it never really gets off the ground. By this point in the series, of course, we're used to the conceit that everyone in the world talks like Bendis, but when you have five supervillains conspiring together, it would be nice to be able to differentiate them by their idiomatic speech patterns. Bagley's art doesn't help. When Sandman is introduced (the second time he's appeared in the Ultimate series, but this is the first major introduction--though with almost no backstory shown yet), we find that he looks--surprise--basically like all the other adult males in the series. Yes, made of sand; but with that Bagley hairstyle and face that make him almost indistinguishable from a few others in the Ultimate villains group. Thank goodness Doc Ock wears glasses and combs his hair forward, or I wouldn't be able to pick him out of a line-up either. Kraven returns, and is now apparently his original Russian self, rather than the Aussie crocodile hunter that he was the last time we saw him. Electro is here, and is as nondescript as you can imagine. Having previously set him up as little more than Kingpin's henchman, he doesn't make a lot of sense on his own. He seems as surprised as the reader is to find that he's in a story without Kingpin. There is an attempt at an X-files-like intrigue with SHIELD agents trying to cover up after the villains, but it doesn't come off well at all.

More disappointing than nondescript supervillains and juvenille dialogue, however, is the fact that there is no real story going on. The villains escape (of course), but what are they planning? Nothing much, it seems. Norman wants to capture Spider-man and turn him to evil, and the other villains want freedom and money, which Norman promises (would you trust this guy?). All they manage to do once they escape is try to ransom the President of the United States. They demand 100 million dollars, but...why? Is there some plan they need that amount for, or did they just make up the number to see if they could really get it? There's no indication of what they'll do with the money once they get it, and no hint of a bigger plan than just small-time thug kinds of activities. That's a shame, for a group of the greatest villains ever. One assumes they're capable of something more.

The second half of this volume is mostly about Doctor Octopus, and that is a good thing. Bendis isn't able to write anything very deep for him, but Bagley is really, really good at drawing Doc Ock scenes. There are some beautiful pages throughout this story, with the gorgeous coloring that I love about this series. The artwork almost makes up for the absolute stupidity of Aunt May leaving Peter and Gwen at home alone together for days. What is wrong with this woman? And the ending, where Peter is getting in truly serious trouble, is quite interesting. What would happen if someone kidnaps Spider-man and he ends up somewhere that's nearly impossible to return from? He gets out of it relatively easily, but his moment of realization about where he is and what it means for getting home is really terrifying.

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read as always. Spider man is funny and as always I adore Mark Bagley's art work. The expressions on Peter and his two female friends in moments of happiness always warm my heart. It's also at the end of this book that Gwen Stacy FINALLY figures out Peter is spider mam, which removes a lot of tension of her blaming spider-man for killing her dad. And all of the stuff with the Ultimates was amazing. And although for the first half of the book it felt more like I was reading an Ultimates comic that had Spider-man in it, I was okay with that because I adore the Ultimates.

Now for the critiques. I wish they hadn't used Doc-Oc as a villian two stories in a row (although they did kind of make for it by FINALLY destroying his arms in the end). It really would have been nice to have a little more space between these two stories.... I'm sure they could have filled the time with someone, ANYONE else.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The further adventures of Ultimate Spider-Man continue with a flashback kicking into the limited Ultimate Six collection. It's dark though not as important as I recall it being at the time, seemingly over before it's begun. Nice artwork though.

Then we return to another Spidey/Doc Ock showdown with more than a little humour as the pair get involved in the Hollywood production of a Spider-Man movie directed by Sam Rami and starring Tobey Maguire. There are a bunch of in jokes and some nice touches with a great fight sequence ending in an unsuspected direction. On top of that there are some nice character moments with Pete and Gwen, setting up the events in the next collection. Just as thing's start looking happy...

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half is good, but pretty standard fare. The second is a bit of a weirder look at the entertainment spin we put on everything, even serious matters. That it comes in the form of a superhero comic is just fun.

[Harrison Delahunty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ultimate Six issues are pretty rough. They have a couple moments of fun, but are mostly pretty dour and wordy, and very little focus is on Peter himself.

All of the regular issues, though, are solid to great, with a really satisfying conclusion to a particular arc at the end.

[Ernest · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the Ultimate Six story was good, I didn't like the art. Peter looks different. The Hollywood story was fun, the tie-in to Sam Raimi's movie version is pretty clever.

[Kai C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading these way too fast but I can't help it.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.