Ultimate Spider-Man (story arcs)

Featured here are the story arcs for the comic book series "Ultimate Spider-Man" created by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Mark Bagley.

Power and Responsibility (#1-7)

This arc retells the classic origin story in a modernized setting, additionally bringing in Mary-Jane Watson as Peter’s first love interest and tying Spider-Man’s and Dr. Octopus’ origin directly to Norman Osborn. Peter learns that “with great power comes great responsibility”, dedicates his life to fighting crime and fights his first great villain, the Green Goblin.

Learning Curve (#8-13)

Peter gets a job at the “Daily Bugle” and learns that the burglar who killed Uncle Ben had ties to the Kingpin. Peter fights against his henchmen, the Enforcers and Electro, and suffers an embarrassing defeat. Peter learns that he can only beat those villains by being smarter than them and vanquishes them in a spectacular battle royale. At the end, Peter reveals his identity to Mary-Jane and hooks up with her.

Double Trouble (#14-21)

Weeks after the fateful explosion, Dr. Otto Octavius wakes up and finds out that his mechanical arms have fused to his body. He goes on a killing spree, swearing to kill his superior Justin Hammer. At the same time, reality show host Kraven comes to the USA to hunt down Spider-Man. In the showdown, Peter first disposes of Doc Ock and then Kraven and is celebrated as a hero. But when Peter comes home, Aunt May grounds him for coming home late.

Legacy (#22-26)

Norman Osborn is back, trying to blackmail Peter into working for him. Help comes from an unexpected ally, Nick Fury of SHIELD. But then Osborn turns into the Green Goblin, abducts Mary-Jane and forces Peter to fight the most brutal fight he has ever been in. At the end, Fury shocks Peter by telling that he will draft Peter into SHIELD by force when he is an adult.

Public Scrutiny (#28-32)

A Spider-Man copycat burglar terrorizes the public. Trying to fight this menace, Peter is shot by the police and narrowly manages to escape. Unexpected help comes from the Wasp who heals his wound. When the burglar kills George Stacy, Peter tracks him down and brutally knocks him out. At the end, MJ cries that she cannot cope with Peter being Spider-Man anymore and breaks up with him.

Venom (#33-39)

Traumatized by MJ’s departure, Peter remembers his childhood friend Eddie Brock and meets him. Eddie reveals that their late fathers worked on a healing balm called Venom. Peter accidentally touches the balm and is transformed into a black, near-invincible Super-Spider-Man. But Venom causes Peter to become a psychotic, and he can just break free before being entirely possessed by it. Peter reveals his identity to Eddie and pleas to him to destroy Venom. But Eddie uses the balm on himself, becomes a black spider monster and has an all-out fight against Peter. In the end, Eddie/ Venom is gunned down by the police and dissolves. Peter is overwhelmed by grief and pleas to Nick Fury to take away his powers. But Fury brings Peter to accept his powers as a gift, not as a curse, and Peter moves on.

Irresponsible (#40-45)

Peter, Gwen and MJ attend a party which is abruptly ended when a super-powered guest called Geldoff psionically destroys cars. In the chaos, Peter saves MJ and re-wins her love. Then he tracks down Geldoff and is attacked by him, but then the X-Men step in and save the day. In the end, Aunt May visits a psychiatrist to come to terms with her life.

Cats & Kings (#47-53)

Kingpin has bribed enough judges to triumphantly return to the NY public. J. Jonah Jameson even endorses a candidate with obvious ties to Fisk. Peter wants to “visit” JJJ and sees the Enforcers threatening Jameson. Peter defeats the thugs and a thankful JJJ writes a headline even Fisk cannot run away from. Then, the Black Cat steals an artifact from Kingpin and starts flirting with Spider-Man. Peter discovers her identity and visits her just in time to see Kingpin and Elektra threatening her. Peter tries to rescue Felicia, but Elektra impales the Black Cat with her sai. She seemingly falls to her death, but no corpse is found.

Ultimate Six (USM #46 & Ultimate Six #1-7)

See Ultimate Six wikipedia entry

Hollywood (#54-59)

Hollywood plans to screen a Spider-Man movie. Peter Parker is quite angry about this and appears on set. But then Doctor Octopus breaks free, defeats Spider-Man in front of the whole movie cast and abducts him to Brazil. Peter defeats Doc Ock and flees back to Queens. Gwen Stacy finds out Peter’s secret identity and threatens to kill Peter, but comes to her senses and vows to keep the secret. The movie becomes a smash hit.

This arc was obviously written as an appetizer for the upcoming film “Spider-Man 2” which featured Dr. Octopus as the main villain. The comic featured male lead Tobey Maguire, producer Sam Raimi and Marvel-movie head Avi Arad in cameo roles.
Carnage (#60-65)

Seeing his academic existence at risk, Dr. Curt Conners asks Peter to give him a sample of his tissue. He cultivates a sample with high regenerative features, but is unaware that it is growing into a humanoid monster. It escapes from its test tube and begins to kill people to feed on their life force. After Carnage murders Gwen Stacy, a traumatized Peter mercy-kills the monster and is ready to give up Spider-Man for good.
Superstars (#66-71)

This arc features three short stories. In the first one, Wolverine and Peter mysteriously wake up in each other’s bodies and try to find out who did this to them. The second story features Johnny Storm from the Ultimate Fantastic Four, who enters Peter’s school and has difficulties accepting his super powers. Finally, Peter has an encounter with Dr. Strange in which he gets mixed up in a spell and is plunged into a horrific world based on his nightmares.

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