THROWBACK THURSDAY: Ultimate Spider-Man #1: An Iconic Opener

There are a million things to say about this issue. To start, the characters. To put it simply, they are subverted and updated brilliantly. Take Mary Jane, for instance. Instead of her being the more outgoing one, she is replaced with a more shy personality. What makes this work so well is the change in the original comics. In the original Spider-Man comics, it centered not just on crime fighting but also on romance. Mary Jane was the more outgoing person compared to Peter, and she showed up much later in the comics and stood out for her outgoing nature and personality. The issue was that her personality lacked depth and didn’t stand out compared to someone like Gwen Stacy, who shared a similar outgoing personality. Another way to describe her personality would be shallow. Here, she is more of a shy character who would hang out with Peter and stands out amongst the characters as a clear subversion of the original and a brilliant one for many reasons. Firstly, even if she is more shy, she is still social in many ways. A way to describe it would be a modern and interesting updating of the original comics characters in a brilliant and, in my opinion, much better way. In a sense, that’s how I would describe Ultimate Spider-Man #1 and the series itself. Subversive and genius.

Another core element of this comic that is so brilliant is that it was hip for its time. This wasn’t your parents Spider-Man, and that’s incredible. From the tone to the paneling, this comic has the attitude of being fun and not afraid to do new things that might upset older fans. On its own, that is what makes it so incredible. It’s a product of its time and of innovation, and looking back, it succeeds as more than just a great issue; Ultimate Spider-Man #1 succeeds as a masterpiece in Marvel Comics history.

Which leads me to why this comic is so impactful. It impacted how Spider-Man comics could be written. Before Thai comics, there definitely were subversive Spider-Man comics; take Kraven’s Last Hunt as a reminder, but Spider-Man’s backstory is one element not affected much in the sense that it’s simply a kid who gets bit by a spider, then they get superpowers, and then becomes Spider-Man. Well, it’s not so simple here. Instead of Peter just becoming Spider-Man, there is a bit of an issue. Osborn finds out Peter is Spider-Man right after he gets bitten and tries to kill him. This pretty much takes away the thought that has remained with Spier-Man of nobody knowing his identity unless, in some instances, down the road. And this is the first issue. While that may be annoying to fans, that doesn’t ruin this comic since, on its own, it works for this comic and what it is going for. It’s not trying to be the original comic, which is why it’s so great. It’s telling an amazing, relatable, high school story that brings Spider-Man back to a new generation. In that, it succeeds fully.

The art here is exquisite and beyond words. I mean, have you seen the cover art? No, really, have you? The art here explodes with such a strong sense of detail and realism, but with more animated designs that pop with flair and style. A whole book could and likely will be written on the art here since it screams with so much brilliance it seems almost in stone. Even more, the coloring here of the characters and the detail are amazing. Each character looks 3D-animated, thanks to the drawings, but more importantly, thanks to the coloring and shading, which are some of the best in comics ever. Honestly, there needs to be a class in college teaching this issue alone and how it illustrates some of the art in comics.

Now, let me discuss the designs, since they are a true highlight here. The character designs are so well-designed that they seem to have inspired a generation already. Each character wears outfits that fit the times and have designs that scream 2000’s like no other comic, and it works so well in getting you hooked.

Though, to describe why this all really works so well would be to describe how each design works in terms of choreography and action. Since the action here, in this single issue alone, speaks volumes about the power of artist Mark Bagely. The character designs, when they are in an action scene, instead of looking choppy and stiff, explode with a sense of flair and style that makes it feel cinematic. Take, for instance, a scene where Osborn’s people try to run over Peter, and there is this panel where he jumps into the air and you see three versions of him jump over the car. While this is a normal thing to see in a comic for an action scene, it’s how detailed the designs are, how each version of him jumping is designed, and the detail. In a way, what makes Ultimate Spider-Man #1 so genius is that it understands not just amazing action through beautiful and hyper-realistic yet hyper-animated designs, but also the amazing ways it pops and represents the time it was made and holds up so well over twenty years later. It, to put it simply, opened the flood gates for a lot of twenty-first-century comics. You can see in so many comics today little traces of Ultimate Spider-Man #1. Though those traces say a thousand more words than the impact of it, I can say it here.