ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #25

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Thursday, August 08, 2002

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING: There's simply no easy way to review this watershed issue of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN without discussing the last few pages, so if you don't want to know the events of this installment, STOP READING NOW!



All right then. We've waxed eloquent about Bendis many times now, and there's no doubt that after some reticence on my part, I've embraced his take on the Spider-Man mythos in the "Ultimate" Universe and grown to appreciate its reimagining of the familiar into something new, exciting, and just as potent. But I never would have imagined - never dreamed in a million years - that Bendis was as clever and as devilish as he's turned out to be now. Assuming there is no reset button in sight - and given his track record as a creator with considerable integrity, I've no reason to think there will be - then this issue will go down in history as one of the most tragic moments in the life of any Spider-Man, diluted only by the fact that some of us know we've been here before...sort of.

Considering how important Mary Jane has become, not only to 'classic' continuity but the new "Ultimate" and movie versions as well, it came as no surprise that even when the film toyed with old-time fans by playing out the events of the tragic Gwen Stacy storyline with Mary Jane in place of the doomed blonde, she was saved by Spidey. After all, Gwen was the one who died - always will be. Mary Jane is untouchable.

Read this issue and see if you still believe that.

The "Ultimate" Green Goblin, back to wreak havoc and more unhinged than ever before, borrows a trick from his 'classic' counterpart and nabs Parker's girlfriend Mary, taking her to a high vantage point and staging a frightening confrontation with the unnerved wall-crawler. This time, however, it's Mary Jane who plummets from the top of that bridge, and a slightly younger but no less dedicated web-spinner who dives after her, snagging her leg with webbing and snatching her from the icy grave below.

Wait a minute, didn't her neck...? No, this is Mary Jane, not Gwen. Bendis can play with the Gwen motif, but surely he wouldn't...?

I've long since passed the point when most comic book stories could still affect me on a gut level, but after reading the last few pages of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #25 and looking at that all-too-familiar and just as devastating final image, I was left literally breathless.

What will happen now in the life of this different but equally cursed Spider-Man? How will he cope with this tragedy? Will he find solace in the arms of the "Ultimate" Gwen Stacy? Will he ever learn that perhaps he himself is responsible for Mary's death thanks to that last "snap" of webbing? Or will Mary somehow survive, rendering this issue's conclusion as little more than a stunt?

No matter what awaits us, I dare you to miss ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #26.


Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at
feedback@cinescape.com.