Well, boy, was I wrong.
Lets first do a little history lesson on the two Spider-Men.
Peter Parker of Earth 616 is the Peter that we all know and love. Bitten by a radioactive spider, gets awesome powers, Uncle Ben dies, fights crime in spandex. You get the idea. He's the character that for the last 50 years has spanned comic books, television, and movies. He's you're original, and favorite, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
However, in the early 2000's writer Brian Michael Bendis was assigned to create a new comic book, set in a completely alternate reality, that brought Peter Parker back to high school and reformulated the Spider-Man mythos for a modern era. What came of that idea was Ultimate Spider-Man, and guess what, it was totally awesome. Bendis not only created a whole new way to look at the wall-crawler, but also reworked just how superhero stories were done. Long over-arching story lines, more realistic and believable heroes and villains, and wonderfully done character development. It was truly the new benchmark.
Then they fucking killed him.
Yeah, they did. And not in the he'll-come-back-in-like-two-issues kind of dead, but dead. Dead dead.
Since in the Ultimate Marvel Universe dead really means dead Peter Parker of 1610 really made the ultimate sacrifice (pun intended). While trying to save Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, and Mary-Jane Watson from the murderous and oh so insane Norman Osborn, Peter Parker laid down his life.
The aftermath was beautiful and tragic in a way only Brian Michael Bendis could do, and it rocked the Ultimate Universe to its very core.
Luck, of course, would have it that another kid, Miles Morales, also gained super cool spider powers and now takes up the mantle as Spider-Man in order to bring even more honor to his legacy.
Get all that? Good. Moving on.
Now in Spider-Men the alive and kicking Peter Parker finds himself transported by Mysterio into the Ultimate Universe where he runs into Miles Morales. Now, as the limited series unfolds, Peter begins to learn more about his counterpart and the sacrifices he made. As they try to find out just what brought Peter over they also begin to chip away at all the tragedy from both sides of the dimensional rift.
What makes issue #4 so spectacular is that after 3 issues as beating around the bush we finally see Peter interact with the still grief stricken Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, and Mary-Jane.
These conversations, while weird on paper, are beautifully written. The concept, while great in previous issues, really begins to pay off here. These aren't easy discussions to have, and for much of the issue these characters don't quite know how to handle seeing loved ones from beyond the grave. They have so much to say but also so much to hide. While Bendis does skirt away from the more destructive realizations, these panels really hit home. He certainly has readers in eager anticipation to see how he will finish up this arc, and how potentially, these characters could interact once again.
Sara Pichelli also lends fantastic artwork to the series as a whole. Bendis went on record saying that he would not do Spider-Men without Pichelli to accompany him, and it turns out he made the right choice. This book relies heavily on the smaller character driven moments, and Pichelli certainly knowns how to deliever. She makes the characters endearing and heart-wrenchingly real while still making them very much animated comic-book entities. Her actions sequences aren't too shabby either, however they are certainly not the highlight.
Now, if you aren't familiar with Ultimate Spider-Man and the legacy Bendis created, then this book isn't going to make a whole lot of sense to you. But, also, on the flip-side, what the hell is wrong with you? Go out and buy some of the trade paperbacks of Bendis's work right this minute. You'll be glad you did.
Then, of course, read Spider-Men, because it's rad.
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