Hollywood

I happened to find that the plot for this volume worked pretty well. I disagree with some reviews that say it was unoriginal, because I believe quite the opposite. The movie ties in some real life people like Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire, but it doesn't avert us from the comic. I still felt in the same New York, even though real-life people were introduced. Bendis continues to be one of my favorite writers, because he can any plot in the world interesting and dramatic. Doc Ock had his third appearance in this book, but I really found new sides of the character. I didn't just see the same old mechanical legs again. We also felt that he was more menacing and dangerous during his latest visit. I was a little scared for Spidey. All of this along with the shocking secret at the end makes this series totally solid from vol.1-vol.10. I am very happy with the direction Bendis has taken this. And I plan to buy more volumes after this first time. I would say we came a long way, but really Bendis has taken me a long way. And I have enjoyed the whole ride thus far.

I just finished this last night. I've been reading the whole series of Ultimate Spider-Man trades and I was amazed at how good this one was. Honestly, this is a very good series. But everything comes to a boil in this book. Bagley's art takes a big jump forward here. Not that there was anything wrong with his art in the previous books, but his work here is downright cinematic. And it's not just the big battles with Doctor Octopus or the movie being made about Spider-Man without his consent. Those are thrilling. The real joy in this book is the way Bendis and Bagley handle Peter Parker's home life. In the Ultimate Universe, Aunt May Parker is a smart, dynamic and compassionate woman. She's so much better than regular-Marvel Aunt May! The warmth she shows to a young orphaned girl is epically beautiful. Scenes with three teenagers hanging out and talking become dynamic and exciting in the hands of Misters Bagley and Bendis. Talking should not be exciting in comics. This book breaks the rules. I highly recommend this book. Start with the first volume and watch these character grow and blossom. I just hope volume 11 and beyond are this good!

ultimate spider-man by bendis and bagley is one of the best series out there. not as much action and non-stop bad guy fighting, but a good mix of that and a lot of peter parker being a teenager with problems (girls, bullies, being grounded, etc.) along with his spidey life. the series is great great great. only a few minor things that could be better: 1. i don't like how nick fury comes in and tells spider-man he's going to work his whole life for him and shield. the idea of peter being...trapped in a web? haha...well it isn't too cool. superheroes need to fight the good fight because they want to, not because shield will go and take away their superpowers (as fury has threatened) if they don't comply. plus the issues where the ultimates come in aren't that great, the whole series gets hijacked by them and not a lot of spidey. imo, the ultimates are easily the worst part of the ultimate universe. beyond ultimate spider-man and the ultimate fantastic four the ultimate universe isn't too great. 2. bendis needs to cut down on the tuchas talk. seriously if parker grew up in nyc today he'd more likely speak spanglish than yanglish. 3. geldoff.

More great work from Bendis and Bagley! This storyline is filled with many comic moments, as well as serious knock-down, drag-out fights between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus. The Ultimate version of Doc Ock is no pushover, and he has left quite the body count in his wake since the time of his origin and subsequent appearances in this title. Doctor Otto Octavius considers his life to be completely and utterly ruined and blames everything on Spider-Man. So, he murderous madman has only one goal in life now: a dead or suffering Spider-Man. Spider-Man has always known Doc Ock is dangerous, but by the end of the book, he's taking the guy completely serious. No time for witty banter, as he's fighting for his life and is hurting bad. What makes this story even more realistic, though, is how Peter worries that he won't make it home to his Aunt May. Not only will he probably not be home "on time," but he wonders if he'll make it home at all. Very good writing, in my opinion. This story also features a major revelation for one of the supporting characters at the end of the book, as well as some closure on the problem of Doc Ock. This book sets the stage well for more development between Peter and Gwen Stacy, which I look forward to. Well worth the time and money, I found this TPB to be very enjoyable!

In anticipation of the summer release of the "Spider-Man 2" movie it seemed like every one of the Spider-Man titles put out by Marvel comics did a Doctor Octopus storyline, with a few Doc Ock mini-series thrown into the mix as well. For "Ultimate Spider-Man," the series that has updated the wall crawler for the 21st century by going back to the beginning and focusing on a 16-year-old Peter Parker living next door to Mary Jane Watson, that mean the six-issues of the "Hollywood" story arc (issues #54-59). This is the one Doc Ock storyline Marvel offered that up in the summer of 2004 that tackled the idea of Hollywood making a movie about Spider-Man. It is not that Spider-Man ends up in Hollywood, but rather than Hollywood brings the magic of movie making to New York City and Spider-Man's home turf. Aunt May is out of town leaving Peter and Gwen Stacy alone and there is a story on the news about a Spider-Man film about to be made in Hollywood, starring Tobey Maguire and telling the story of a nobody/loser who grabs the world's imagination when he puts on a mask. The kids at school are all excited about trying to get parts as extras in the film while Peter can only tell MJ "I live in Hell." Spider-Man goes down to the movie set in NYC to chastise the actor and director for doing this (although he admits "Evil Dead 2" was cool, in a nod to Sam Rammi). Then Doctor Octopus breaks out of jail; it seems he has heard about the movie as well. Brian Michael Bendis (story), Mark Bagley (pencils), and Art Thibert (inks) have more going on behind the cameras than they do in front in this six-part story. At school Kong is excited to get a part in the movie but Gwen cannot get past the fact that as far as she is concerned Spider-Man killed her father and Peter is unable to tell her anything different. When Doctor Octopus attacks the movie set Spider-Man has to deal with the insult added to injury because he has to save the actors and crews from the super villain. But the attack was just a reason to bring out Doc Ock's true target, which is Spider-Man himself, and our hero gets to go someplace he has never been before. Ultimately, the most important thing here is that Spider-Man defeat Doctor Octopus and get home before Aunt May comes back from her trip, because our hero is more worried about being grounded by his aunt than being pounded to pulp by a super villain (which is quite reasonable given what we know about Aunt May's disciplinary inclinations). But there is something even worse in store for our hero beyond that point and the best part of "Hollywood" is the last part, which is pretty much a coda to the big fight. While this one does not end with a bang and the whimper definitely belongs to Doctor Octopus (the Nick Fury of the Ultimate universe is a pretty smart guy who does what needs to be done), it is strongly grounded in the characters. Granted, the action takes a back seat to the character dynamics, but I did not mind it this time around.