Ultimate Fallout #4(of 6?):
Summary: We get started with lame-o Spidey villain the Kangaroo trying to shake down some chump for money. Before he can damage the guy too badly somebody in an Ultimate Spider-Man costume arrives to attack the Kangaroo. Kangaroo and many of the bystanders are kind of disgusted that somebody was masquerading as the dead hero, but fake Ultimate Spidey manages to defeat the Kangaroo using a spider-sense, agility and super-strength, all hallmarks of Ultimate Spidey. After that, he hops onto a building and realizes that wearing the Spider-Man costume could possibly be misconstrued as a sign of disrespect. With that, fake Ultimate Spidey pulls off his mask revealing... somebody I don't know... The second story deals with Reed Richards, who has apparently gone insane in the Ultimate Universe. Ultimate Reed manages to return from the Negative Zone and starts up an evil version of the Future Foundation. Finally, Valerie Cooper is trying to warn the government that some reporters had discovered that the US had been responsible for the creation of mutants.
Thoughts: Okay, so the new Ultimate Spider-Man is a minority. Let's get that out in the open right away, because that's all anybody is going to be talking about. Do I care? Not really. Do I think it's going to be successful for Marvel? No. No I don't. It's a proven fact that people don't like it when you change the identity of a big name comic book character(Batman with Azrael and Spider-Man with Ben Reilly come to mind), so I'd have to say this idea is doomed to fail, and that's too bad. I think Marvel would have been better served to give the new Ultimate Spider-Man a different name(Ultimate Scarlet Spider would have worked for me), but taking a beloved character like Peter Parker, and changing him out is a big mistake. It's always a good thing to try to get minority characters more mainstream attention, but you CAN'T change Spider-Man into a minority kid. Not unless you want it to fail. It's only going to serve to piss some people off and alienate fans, not bring in new ones. Sure, I'll be picking up the new Ultimate Spidey series, but I wonder how many other fans won't be now... So while this was a nice idea in theory, it was done terribly, and with the wrong character. Spidey is too iconic to change that radically. Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Peter Parker, these are the big three in comics. Fooling around with them is going to bring in some major backlash. Like I said, it's a nice idea, but it was done with the wrong character. So there's my piece on the situation. I'm sure people will have plenty of opinions on the matter, but remember, that's just my opinion, don't crucify me for it... Besides that, the Reed story bugged me since it looks like Jonathan Hickman is simply borrowing his Future Foundation junk from the mainstream Marvel U and bringing it into the Ultimate Universe, except with an evil Reed leading the way. Since I'm not a fan of the mainstream Future Foundation, I can't imagine I'd want to read about an Ultimate version...
Score: 7 out of 10.
Fan reaction to this should be interesting...
rumor around the internet water cooler is they will also make him gay witch (i dont have anything agenst but stil) will minorinze him even moore
ReplyDeleteand i think the whole black thing totaly came about from the rumors from a while black that a black actor was gonna play him in the uncoming spiderman movie
That's the first I'd heard about the gay thing actually, Movieartman. But then again, I didn't even realize the new Spidey was going to be a minority until I read this comic, so I'm usually out of the loop! I guess I could see it, there are plenty of white male gay characters around(Wiccan, Apollo, Midnighter, Hulkling, Tim Drake??), a few white gay female characters(Batwoman, Question, Scandal Savage, Knockout), but off the top of my head, I can't come up with a single gay black male character... So that's definitely an empty spot that needs filling.
ReplyDeleteWAIT WHAT...... tim drakes gay?
ReplyDeleteHA! No, it's never been confirmed, it's one of those things that people who have read Batman/Robin comics for the past 10 years or so are always joking/debating about. So many of Tim's actions, his repulsion/shock to most girls kissing him, his obsession with Superboy, if ever there was a comic character in the closet, it's Tim! But I doubt DC would EVER have the nerve to come right out and say that! But yeah, there are loads of fans that think Tim is definitely gay or bi, myself included.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I don't and probably won't read ultimate spider-man. I am intrigued by the idea of him being of black and hispanic origin. It adds diversity to the ultimate U and it also fits in with our cultured times in my opinion. I personally kind of like the idea of him being the new spidey, really because we already have good ol nerdy web slingin' pete in the 616. However, making him gay would be a HUGE mistake in my opinion. I feel like by making such a main character a minority that marvel is opening up to fans of different minorities. I can just hear some of these fans saying things like "wait a minute... we get a black spider-man and he is gay?". I feel like marvel will not only lose fans of this miles morales character, but will alienate them from wanting to read anything about him in any ultimate book. That is just my opinion and I'm really not sure how the fans will/would react but i have a feeling it would be something like that.
ReplyDelete-My question (seeing as how i don't read ultimate spidey) is how did he get the powers/suit? did it explain any of that or is it going to be told through a story arc of some sort. Good review as always.
-P.S. in the 616 everyone is becoming spider-man!! haha
I'm actually of two mindsets with the possible gay reveal, Cap... Like you said, I think it'll piss off a lot of fans, but then there were fans who were pissed off about Hulkling/Wiccan's relationship in Young Avengers, which always baffled me, so you'll always get those conservative fringe fans who get angry about the smallest things... Then again, if Marvel is bombarded with tons of fans who are already whining about the new Ultimate Spidey, even though he's been in a grand total of one third of a comic, maybe they'll just say screw it and make him gay as well, you know, throw caution to the wind and try everything to see if any of it sticks. For me, I don't really care what they make him, I was already planning on picking up the new Ult Spidey series after reading Ult Fallout #1, and nothing is gonna change that now. I will say, there is a part of me that would love to see Marvel turn the new Ult Spidey gay just to see how pissed off the fanbase would get. With Marvel being far and away #1 in sales, they can pull stuff like that and not have to worry too much about repercussions.
ReplyDeleteI have NO idea how this new kid got his spider-powers... They didn't reveal it in Ult Fallout #4, and I wasn't reading the end of Ult Spidey, so I don't know if he ever showed up there. But so far as I know, it'll get revealed down the road... Probably...
I know what you mean with throwing caution to the wind. I was talking less of the conservative fringe fans and more of the minority fans though. I feel like marvel could bring in many new readers of different ethnic backgrounds with the new spidey and i feel as though to add another spin on the character could hurt that crowd. Who knows like you said I am intrigued by it and probably still wont read ult spidey as ive only read like 5 issues total, but if he shows up in the ultimates i will be very interested!
ReplyDelete-Looking forward to your ultimate fall out reviews though, mostly because i've heard cap isnt going to be on the team for the relaunch? yet he's on the cover i think.. hmmm
-Anyway looking forward to hearing about gates of gotham (i hear it had a few tand-ins and it showed this week.) hapyp reading man!
"and more of the minority fans though. I feel like marvel could bring in many new readers of different ethnic backgrounds with the new spidey and i feel as though to add another spin on the character could hurt that crowd."
ReplyDeleteSee, that's a great point, and something I didn't really think about. I guess I can see how doing TOO much to this new character could wind up alienating the new audience Marvel is trying to sell to. But then, that's the thing too... I honestly don't know the answer, because I've been an avid comic reader since I was 10 years old, but will a minority Spider-Man REALLY bring in a whole new audience? I'm kind of dubious on that... I mean will loads of minority readers, who haven't collected and/or followed Marvel comics suddenly jump on board now? I'm not sure. I will say this though, business-wise, this was a genius move by Marvel because it TOTALLY cuts into DC's hype for their September reboot. I can't claim to know what the masterminds at Marvel were thinking, but putting out Ultimate Spidey #1 in September, which will undoubtedly bring them some media attention seems like a pretty savvy move...
I hadn't heard that about Captain America... That's interesting, because like you, I HAVE seen him on the cover with Thor and Iron Man...
Hmm, that doesn't make me really excited to read Gates... :P
No, Tim Drake was never gay. I've read many comics with him in them & he was as straight as a die (love that word ...DIE!). The whole rumour comes from slash ficers who'd ship anything with anyone, sooo...
ReplyDeleteAnyway , on the New U spidey:
Well they have a new guy in the duds , good for them ! U peter had his ending thus we have a new U spiderman. It’s logical growth , so it’s good as long as the former had an epic death which is the only thing I can ask with a character’s death….who cares if this new guy is blatino or gay as long as he's heroic? I still say Tunisian Spidey would be friggin awesome HAHA!
Other than that well MY final spidey story was that Clone Saga mini series, that was the Perfect send off for him & Ben…
I'll give you my spidey timeline one of these days because if the BFQ can fuck up the Spiderman for his wretched satan dealing self insert, I can make my own canon for a married Spidey , alive Ben Reilly & Thunderbolt Venom Brock.
Thus not looking forward that one…Not much a fan of Uspidey or Bendis…Sorry…
Anyway Happy Ramadhan manOh & before I forget , I want to give Nate in my fics a different approach in looks & a new twist inpowers , I know how to resurrect him, as for keeping him around well he can turn normal ( flesh & blood for 2 hours ) but most of the time he is ethereal, since he fused with the antiman once I'll finish the pic I'll tell you
I've read the entire Robin/Red Robin series(that's about 200 issues!), as well the full Young Justice and Teen Titans runs, plus a ton of Batman comics from the 90's-2000's, and I've got to say, if Tim ISN'T in the closet, I don't know what character is! Just look at his history with women, and then look at the way he reacted when Spoiler, his father and Superboy died pretty much one after the other. The person he tried to bring back to life? His true love, Superboy. Not his old man, and not Spoiler, but SB. It wasn't THAT obvious before Johns started Teen Titans, as Tim wasn't obsessed with Superboy in Young Justice, but read those issues of Teen Titans and the issues of Robin prior to the end of the series and yeah, there's nobody and nothing that can convince me otherwise! And I'm not a fanfic guy, you can read those Robin/Teen Titans comics and there's really only one logical conclusion!
ReplyDeleteI'm actually interested in your new look for Nate, because I've got to say, he really does need a new look... The Shaman look, while unique, can be kind of off-putting to some comic fans...
Johns titans is a tantamount of blasphemy to me sir!
ReplyDelete& about the SB stuff, Johns wtote him that way because he was sad he couldn't write Kon-El for a time, so he used Tim as a mouthpiece for that crap. You really expect Geoff Johns to care about Steph or Tim's dad? No!
Well written Tim (By Dixon, Dini or PAD F.I.) always stroke me as being about the ladies.
I hope the Nate Spotlight won't disappoint you.
I hear ya, but unfortunately, in the current DCU, Johns word is law, no matter what. Even still, during the early portions of the Robin series when Dixon was in charge of the direction, Tim always seemed extremely ill at ease with the ladies. Any picture you find of him being hugged or kissed by some woman and he usually seems uncomfortable or like he's trying to escape... Even before Johns, Tim seemed like the poster child for an in the closet character.
ReplyDeleteThis is a GREAT post! I hope you not mind. I published an excerpt on the site and linked back to your own blog for people to read the full version. Thanks for your advice.
ReplyDelete