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 (From Marvel.com.)
Recently I wrote an article about the failings of Marvel.com's on-line venues. Among the complaints I had was the fact Marvel was using its online archives to emphasize new comics or new storylines without following up on it. At the time, it was an accurate portrayal of what Marvel had for on-line comics.
Things have changed in the twenty days since that review.
T Campbell commented in his blog a couple weeks ago how Marvel's selection was growing. At the time I disagreed, feeling that while they were posting more comics, it was still in an attempt to attract people to purchasing a new series. I feel that Marvel could be doing something far better than just advertising new comics; by offering trade paperbacks and graphic novels with compilations of comics, it increases the regions where sales are available, increases readership, and gets more people interested.
As of May 8th, 2006, Marvel added three sequential Uncanny X-Men comics, #416 to #418. While the storyline therein is not complete, it allows fans to read several stories one after the other. In addition, there are other X-Men storylines that is being shown sequentially, rather than offering a beginning and nothing more. There is also the Last Hero Standing series, of which issues #1 to #3 are offered.
Finally, they even included Ultimate Spider-Man #1 as part of the online venue. Considering that the Ultimate comics are some of the best that Marvel has to offer, by including these comics online, it seems likely that people who've not read the Ultimate comics before now may start doing so.
The interface still needs serious work. If Marvel created an exclusively online comic using the same artistic tools the Brudlos Bros. use in Alpha Shade, then the "Smart Panels" system Marvel's been using to enlarge text in the comics might work better without pixilating the artwork. And there are other flaws still to be found in Marvel.com's online approach.
But this is a good start.
Robert A. Howard
 (From Marvel Comic's Ultimate Spider-Man Annual (print comic). Clicking on image will do nothing. And apologies for the lack of additional graphics, my scanner needs me to find its driver software before it'll work.)
Okay. I'm going to do something a little different today, seeing as nothing is really standing out and insisting I review it today. You see, back in the early 1990s I got into comic books. I think I might have spent over $5,000 in comic books before it finally got old and I realized that not only were the comics becoming more expensive, but the stories were declining in quality. After I dropped out of the market, there were a few comics I still read; Colleen Doran's A Distant Soil (which is a superb series and I highly recommend it), Jeff Smith's Bone (also a superb comic, though the early comics are far superior to the later ones), and Ultimate Spiderman.
I rather enjoyed the Ultimate books. I felt they were imaginative and well-written. Further, it started the series in a way that allowed people to start reading early on and get hooked on them. I'd not be surprised if USM ended up being a bigger seller than the regular Spiderman books. But then one day they ruined it for me and killed the new incarnation of Gwen Stacy with an inadequate plotline with a "villain" that shouldn't have been in the Ultimate series (and indeed was far more interesting and enjoyable in the regular Spiderman comics). I stopped reading USM at that point. When I caught it, I'd read the Ultimates comic, but Marvel had once again managed to drive me off.
Still, one of the things that Marvel did right with the Ultimate series of comics is that they started putting out graphic novels compiling back issues. This allowed Marvel to sell their Ultimate comics (and eventually other comics as well) in bookstores such as Barnes and Nobles. It was there that I came across the Ultimate Annals book. So I skimmed through it. The Fantastic Four story was mediocre at best, and the X-Men story only interested me a little, but the Ultimates Annual was quite well written and interested me.
It was the Ultimate Spiderman annual that sold it to me, however. In it, Kitty Pryde (who had apparently been dating Iceman in Ultimate X-Men) was moping over a recent breakup with Bobby Drake. The story paralleled between Kitty and Peter, with both feeling left out. Both were outsiders in their own universe; Peter in his high school, Kitty in Xavier's School. So Kitty decided to give Peter Parker, whom she knew was Spiderman in a previous encounter, a phone call.
While I've not seen much of the Ultimate X-Men storyline, apparently Kitty has a bit of a crush on Spiderman. If you think of it, in the Ultimate universe he's one of the most visible heroes around. The X-Men tend to be somewhat secretive and try to remain out of the limelight (due to the general populace's dislike toward mutants), and the Ultimates are military rather than vigilantes. It's Spiderman who people see swinging through the skyline in NYC on a daily basis and saving lives. Indeed, he was pretty much the first hero to actively appear in the Ultimates universe since the end of World War II and Captain America's disappearance.
What's more, Peter and Mary Jane had broken up. Her life kept being endangered. MJ didn't understand why Peter had to keep his identity as Spiderman a secret. She kept taking risks that almost resulted in her being killed more than once. Despite his attraction for MJ and how he felt for her, he broke up with her for her own good. In a way it was for his own good as well. If a villain used MJ as a distraction, it could cost Peter his life. It was better to keep MJ out of that world entirely.
A phone call leads to Kitty and Peter getting together. This wasn't as heroes, but just two teens going out together, two teens who found themselves attracted to each other. One of the things that tend to be true about comic book heroes and heroines is that they're attractive. Kitty and Peter definitely fit this bill.
Kitty managed to learn why Peter had broken up with MJ, and in a rather poignant moment asked "But what if... they had, I don't know, mutant powers and could take care of themselves?" With that said, Kitty freaked and fled, trying to regain her composure while Peter looked around wondering if he should leave or not. It's one of those quaint and amusing moments that happens between teenagers all the time; the girl or guy says something, realizes they said something too revealing, and they flee, trying to escape an embarrassing situation.
She returns before Peter leaves, and he agrees with her. It's an excellent point. He wasn't freaked by what she said. They banter back and forth, Kitty apologizing and Peter calming her down... and just when it looks like they're going to kiss, there's an explosion several blocks away. Naturally. And Peter wants to check it out, without her, to keep Kitty safe. It takes Kitty putting her hand through his chest (as she can turn immaterial, like a ghost) saying "I can't get hurt" before he relents and they swing off together (him in costume, her not in one) to the crime scene, where they defeat the villain together.
In a move that shows Ms. Pryde has a good future in store for herself as a public relations manager, she even gets the crowd of onlookers to applaud Spiderman (seeing that normally people buy the bad media the Daily Bugle gives Spidey), and they swing off together to exchange e-mail addresses and kiss goodnight.
The general consensus, of course, is that they're going to continue dating. Peter's found a girl who he doesn't have to worry about getting hurt. She's managed to hook up with a cute guy that she's been crushing on for quite some time. The only real problem is that they both have lousy schedules; weekends are about their only hope.
And damn, but they make an adorable couple.
Naturally, it's doomed to fail. This is Marvel we're talking about. Peter Parker is not allowed to find happiness. Parker's happiness is a vile horrid poison to be avoided at all costs because angst and unhappiness is far more "interesting" than a hero who's well-adjusted and has friends and loved ones who support him. Hell, they killed Gwen Stacy, right when she was getting interesting, just for the shock value and to hurt Peter. Gwen was his friend. She'd accepted him as Spiderman. She was happy that Peter and MJ were dating. Heck, she was friends with MJ! And in keeping with tradition and history, they just erased her from the equation. "Tradition" states that MJ and Peter end up together. Peter and Kitty have about as much a chance of finding happiness together as did Spiderman and the Black Cat back in the original series. Oh, it'll last for a few issues, maybe a dozen or so, but something will break them up, and it'll probably be the girl dumping Peter to add to his misery.
This is a shame, because there is chemistry between these two characters. For that matter, this is the Ultimate universe, not the Marvel universe. Things do not have to match between the two. Peter has MJ in the regular Spiderman comics. Why not let the Ultimate version of Peter Parker find happiness with someone else, someone better suited for him?
Things won't necessarily be happy between Kitty and Peter. How will Aunt May react to her little boy dating a "vile mutant"? Sure, this version of Aunt May has proven a far stronger and more interesting character than the Aunt May of the regular Spiderman books (to the point my friends call her the "Martha Stewart version of Aunt May"), but that's not to say she'll like her boy dating a mutant. Especially as she likes MJ. Likewise, the other X-Men might be a little leery about Kitty dating an outsider, someone who's not even a mutant. Prejudice works both ways.
There is much potential to be found in the pairing between Kitty and Peter. The stories involving them can get quite interesting, and can help create a tighter bond between the Ultimate Spiderman and Ultimate X-Men comics, encouraging fans of either series to start reading the other.
Fortunately, one thing that drives stories is fan mail. If fans tell Marvel that they like this pairing, that they want Kitty and Peter to be dating, via letters and e-mail, then it's more likely they'll remain a couple.
Ultimate Spiderman interested and intrigued fans because of how it was different in many ways from the original series. Letting these two heroes date helps emphasize those differences, and will draw in new fans that would otherwise ignore the comics. Only through change does the world of print comics stand a chance of survival with the advent of on-line comics.
Robert A. Howard
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