ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP #12

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Friday, February 08, 2002

As a Spider-fan from way back, I always have a special fondness for those stories that brought the arachnid adventurer and the Master of the Mystic Arts together. There was something about their joint efforts (no pot jokes, please) that created an extra air of excitement beyond that of, say, a Spidey/Torch or Spidey/Daredevil team-up. Perhaps it was because Doctor Strange's purview was the realm of the magical, the mystical, the surreal - all the energies and elements in the universe that were as far from the gritty, down-to-Earth streets of New York City as you could get. Peter Parker was a normal guy, more or less, and not the sort of hero who felt at home battling cosmic powers beyond time and space or wrestling with extra-dimensional demons. He was more likely to be trading punches with Hammerhead in the alleys of the city or webbing up a thug who had just tried to nab a lady's purse. They were heroes for different worlds, different universes, and though they both fought to protect the innocent and see justice prevail, they were hardly the sort to cooperate on a regular basis. Hence the anticipation when Spider-Man found himself in Stephen Strange's territory.

Bendis has already proven himself time and time again to be the Spider-Man fan's Spider-Man writer (or one of them, since there seem to be so many these days, like J. Michael Straczynski, Paul Jenkins...but why quibble), and his work on the ULTIMATE version of the character has taken the hero back to his roots and stripped him of the rigors of continuity. This younger, fresher Spider-Man now encounters a slightly different Doctor Strange for the very first time in this new story arc, and their meeting is sure to recall all those wonderful old team-ups of yore. Well, truth to tell, there is no actual meeting just yet. And the Sorcerer Supreme that the young Spidey is about to meet is not the Stephen Strange we know, or even a reasonable facsimile-it's his son!

I won't ruin it by explaining, because Bendis does such a nice job of recounting the classic Strange origin and then giving it a devilish twist that levels the age playing field for the sorcerer and the spider. There's a demented mystic seeking an artifact of power, and it looks like he'll be using Spider-Man to collect it from a certain magically protected house. Surely the wall-crawler won't succumb to this arcane...oh wait, he has already. To be continued. Damn!

Ted McKeever's art may take some getting used to, but in its own rough-hewn way it recalls the early days when the original Doctor Strange's adventures were illustrated by the one and only Steve Ditko, another man who knew how to render the surreal with a rubbery, distorted line. This issue is a joy to behold and read, and it's only the beginning...

ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP

Grade: A

Issue: No. 12

Author(s): Brian Michael Bendis, Ted McKeever

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $2.25