Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 5

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (2011)

by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez (Illustrator), Sara Pichelli (Cover Art)

Bombshell is back, and young heroes are debuting all across the city - including Cloak & Dagger and Ultimate Power Pack! But can Miles continue on being Spider-Man after everything that's happened, or will tragedy force him to quit? Cloak & Dagger try to bring Miles back into the super hero fold, but when Miles comes face-to-face with the evil of Roxxon, he makes his final decision. Roxxon created Venom, and because of Venom, Miles' mother died. Now Miles will unleash hell. But will even Cloak, Dagger, Bombshell and Spider-Woman be enough to help him take Roxxon down? The first chapter in the Miles Morales saga ends with a bang as Miles discovers one of the big secrets of his origin!

Collects Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #23-28.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Spider Man, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2013

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ramifications of Venom's attack in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 5 flow into this volume, as Miles looks to be done with being Spider-Man; a year later - with young powered heroes popping up all over the city, will Miles be drawn back in?

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Ultimate Cloak and Dagger debut, and alongside some old friends, they all realise that Roxxon has to go down! This book, with its first non-Caucasian Spidey is buzzing along nicely. A strong Three Star 7.5 out of 12.

2022 read; 2017 read; 2014 read

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the ending to the last book was abrupt - this book opens with the words “One Year Later”!!

As you can tell from the homage cover to John Romita’s iconic art, Miles has given up being Spidey. His family is completely ruined - the price of being a superhero is just too high. But, dammit, the world needs Spider-Man and everyone from his bestie Ganke to Spider-Woman Jessica Drew is out to convince Miles to put the web-shooters back on and start saving people again!

Volume 5 is another triffic addition to Brian Bendis’ gob-smackingly superb Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man run. I felt really bad for Miles’ loss and, though him putting the mask back on was inevitable, seeing him build up to that point by talking it out with the people in his life was very compelling.

Still more impressive was how Bendis was able to make me care about second-stringers I’ve never cared about like Cloak and Dagger! Their backstory was engaging and, off the back of this, I’d deffo read a title of their own.

David Marquez’s art is as slick and stunning as ever and I like that Miles looks taller, having gone through a further full year of puberty. Katie Bishop (in another world, the once and future Hawkeye) as his girlfriend was cute and it was amusing her thinking Ganke is secretly in love with him when they were just fighting about Miles hanging up his threads.

Taskmaster is the Big Bad of this book and the Ultimate version of this character is hella formidable. That said, the prevalence of generic superhero fighting was a bit of a dull and disappointing fallback for Bendis. And, while Bendis’ writing for the most part is first-rate, having Roxxon extensively monologue at the end to conveniently tie everything together made for a rushed, contrived and unsatisfying finale.

Still, I enjoyed this fifth book as much as I have the others in this outstanding series - Miles Morales fans won’t be disappointed with this one! Dang, Bendis really did his best Marvel work with this character, eh?

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Strange World of Superheroes

Yep, when Bendis gets into character, he gets into character. I mean, everybody knows this guy can write dialogue, and that’s because he understands character psychology and how it finds expression in speech patterns and body language. To my mind, that’s what Bendis is all about as a writer, and when he is on a title that allows him to fully apply those strengths – a title such as Alias – he is pretty much unstoppable.

To be sure, it's the kind of talent that is often overshadowed by Marvel’s inevitable and all-consuming “events”… see the noisy but disappointing third volume of this series. For the most part, though, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man works because it allows Bendis to shine. Take the first issue of this final volume, for example: down-to-earth, insightful, sad, funny, sweet, magical. Traumatized by his mother's violent death, Miles still refuses to be Spider-Man, giving Bendis a chance to focus on the small and personal things he knows so well. Over the following issues, though, this teenage world is juxtaposed with an updated Cloak and Dagger origin story - can't go too many pages without any superheroics, I guess.

Well, and then Miles finally puts the mask back on, of course. As far as superheroics are concerned, I appreciated the effort that went into making them accessible and relevant by grounding them in urgent contemporary topics such as genetic engineering and corporate greed rather than in decades of fictional continuity... though, quite honestly, I still couldn't care less about the actual fighting itself, that stuff just isn't for me.

This has been my first departure into the strange world of ongoing superhero titles in quite some time, and I am happy to report that there appear to be no major health repercussions as yet. In fact, I had a good time and am now pumped for 2016 (it’s a new year’s resolution – yeee…) to explore a few more of all those superhero titles that have been passing me by left and right over the years. To tell the truth, I have already been exploring some of your fascinating little lists and reviews… yes, yours, my dear GR friends... and I have come away with a few rather, well, let’s just say promising and… how shall I put it… interesting, I guess… hehe… I mean… hehehe… in a perfectly harmless way, of course… hehe… interesting ideas, I mean... mwehehe… whehehe… perfectly harmless… ideas… MWAHAHAHAHAhahahaha….!!!

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miles Morales has been out of the super hero game for a year when Spider-Woman shows up, trying to bring him back in. Meanwhile, teen heroes Cloak and Dagger are after Roxxon oil in a big way...

I enjoyed the super hero action in this book, even if I didn't care for Cloak and Dagger that much. The Ultimate version of Taskmaster was much more fearsome than the main universe's version. Bombshell was more interesting than either Cloak or Dagger to me.

The partnership between Miles and Spider-Woman was my favorite part of the book. The super hero action was pretty spectacular. Miles continues to prove himself worthy of the Spider-mantle.

My only gripe with this series is the pace. It's agonizingly slow and there's way too much talking. Bendis writes good dialogue but he doesn't have to write so much of it. After more minimalist comics like Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon and Moon Knight, Vol. 1: From the Dead, I feel like I'm working my ass off. I respect what Bendis has done but I'd prefer someone not as long-winded to chronicle Miles' adventures at some point. Three out of five stars.

[Terence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following Venom's attack at the hospital that ultimately lead to Miles Morales' mothers death, Miles decided he was done being Spider-Man.
 

One year has passed and while Ganke and others are giving Miles time to grieve they are ready for him to be Spider-Man again.
 
 
Miles is adamant that he's done being Spider-Man and that his great responsibility is to his father and himself.

After encounters with Cloak and Dagger, two young people who were experimented on for their super powers, and Jessica Drew confessing her biggest secret, Miles is ready to fight to protect people again.
 

I have to say the author did a splendid job making Miles a strong Spider-Man yet making him distinct as an individual and as Spider-Man. I'm always impressed how strong of a story can be pressed into a handful of speech bubbles and thought boxes. Miles is an easy person to root for and it was good to see his friends didn't give up on him when he needed them most.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a year since the last issue and Miles is still no longer Spider-Man. After what happened to his mom, he just can't do it anymore. Enter everyone who knows about him coming around to talk him into picking up the mask again. Along the way is the Ultimate version of Cloak and Dagger and their origin is way better than the "Just Say No" version from the 80's. We get a big teamup to fight Taskmaster and Roxxon. It's all terrific stuff. This leads into the new and terrible Ultimates series of the time too. That thing was awful.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

After what happened last volume, Miles has given up being Spider-man and we see how people in his life are trying to convince him to go back to being the hero and the drama with Ganke and then with Jess is so well done and then finally we see what propels him to be the hero again and the origins of Cloak and Dagger and to an extent Bombshell and the big story with them fighting Taskmaster and Roxxon, like the head of it and I love the battle and Miles totally accepting the identity and emerging as the new ultimate..

Its so epic and I love it.. the classic story of "Spider-man no more" is really well done here and Bendis makes that concept his own and informs Miles character in such a way and continues his growing chemistry with his cast-mates so well and I love the focus on Jess here and her evolution too! Plus the new Ultimates maybe and how it leads into Cataclysm!

Its really well done and one of my fav reads of the years, I highly recommend it!!

[˗ˏˋ janet ˊˎ˗ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE MILES MORALES SO MUCH THAT IS MY BABY

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A year after his mother's death, Miles seems to have given up being Spider-Man permanently. Isn't that a superhero rite of passage, to hang up the cape after some sort of trauma? In Miles's case, it's a totally understandable reaction. He didn't cause her death, but his mother would probably still be alive if he hadn't been bitten by that spider. And he knows just how little his father thinks of superheroes in general. And when he eventually (inevitably) decided to put the mask back on, his decision makes sense, too. That's been one of the Bendis's strengths on the Ultimate Spider-Man books, his ability to make his characters believable.

But the major villain here... I don't know. It felt like it was all resolved just a little bit too neatly. After pages upon pages of being told that Roxxon is too big to go down, he does exactly that, as easily as you like. There might be more planned for him later, but right now it feels like a bit of a letdown. A lot of setup for little payoff. I did like how Miles handled the situation, though.

It looks like Ultimate Spider-Man is still the book of choice to introduce new characters to the Ultimate universe. This time, it's a new version of Cloak and Dagger. I know next to nothing about these characters, so I really have nothing to compare the new versions against. That said, I liked the way Bendis handled their storyline. They're great characters, and I hope we'll see more of them.

Aside from a slightly anticlimactic ending, I really enjoyed this collection. But it looks like there's yet another major event coming right after the last issue in this collection, so who knows what, if anything, will develop from what happened here.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.


This was a really fun series. My only issue with the later volumes is that I just don't care about the new heros, no matter how hard I try. I think I'll pick up Miles' next series, but we'll see.

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often hear a statement that, used negatively or positively, talks of Brian Michael Bendis as being a comic book writer that "writes for the trades" i.e. trade paperbacks i.e. what I am reviewing right now in these volumes that collect comic books. Comic books are usually published monthly and regular titles are collected after a certain number (usually 5 or 6) have been published. That leaves a creative team three ways of writing for a title. They can do a neat self-contained story in a particular comicbook with a meta-narrative as background; it can be a serialized story that unfolds over the several months with the whole complete story being collected whole only in the trade paperbacks (this is Bendis' option). Or you could be Jonathan Hickman. Now anyone familiar with late 19th to early 20th century writers knows that Bendis is not unique in how he tells his stories, but it does mean that you cannot be impatient when dealing with him. I am saying all this because in a genre so fueled toward action pacing as superhero comics, if you are going to do a story arc that deals with loss, mourning, resentment, and depression and finding reason in the thing that has destroyed your world...it better be good.

I can say with relief that this story is good. This book ends the first series featuring Miles Morales and it also was a very interesting look at how a teenager in an absurd situation (I mean that in the most Albert Camus way possible) has to learn how to come to terms with the totality of what his life will be like and not live with the illusions of what he wanted it to be.

[Roxana Chirilă · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behold! This is the end of the series! The Ultimate Comics Spider-Man with Miles Morales has ended - although, between us, you should know it started somewhere else again and I'll have to dive deep into the Marvel black hole to figure out where.

Charts would be useful, but also confusing. There is a continuity to this. But where? How? Who knows. It's called "The Marvel Universe" because you marvel at it and not one hundred researchers can really tell you how it fits together.

Anyway. Good ending.

After his mother's death, Miles Morales swore off being Spider-Man so that people he loves no longer end up as collateral victims in the fight against evil. Except that's probably not the right choice.

(It's mentioned that Captain America is still President of the United States in this one, and I'll be damned if I understand why.)

When he's with his dad at a Chinese restaurant where Gwen Stacy is being a waitress, a battle ensues between three superpowered people just outside: the duo Cloak and Dagger and the exploding and thus appropriately-named Bombshell.

After Miles is running away like a common person and Gwen gets pissed off at him for good reason, it turns out all the superpowered people mentioned above are there because of eeeevil experiments done on them by an eeeeevil dude in charge of an eeeevil corporation. So Spider-Man, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) and the other three go off to face all the eeeevil dude and his clique of evil science. They win.

Not bad. Not overly good, but my star rating is based on what it's not as well as on what it is: it's not a crossover event where you have no idea what you're doing; it's not the endless dreary misery of the initial run of Spider-Gwen; it's not confusing as heck. It's decent storytelling. Points for that.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the insanely highly rated last volume I didn't expect this one to live up to it, and it didn't, but it's still very solid.

Basically Miles is dealing with not wanting to be Spider-Man anymore. It's a hard road to be a hero, and sometimes loss is too much. And while he's trying to live his best life with his dad, things aren't going well mentally. Soon he also meets some new "heroes" that need some guidance and help as well.

The stuff with Gwen speaking to miles and the whole arc of Spider-Woman is really well done. I also really liked the cloak and dagger story even if it felt it needed more time to breath. Bombshell is interesting enough, and Taskmaster is still a POS in this universe, so that means a ton of fun. This doesn't go for big stakes, but it highlights Miles and other grounded heroes and helps flush out the ultimate universe more.

A 4 out of 5.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

eam-up! We got ourselves an awesome team-up!

But first: Miles off the webs for a year, getting his feet and a little love life under him. Which is good, considering the shit he went through last year. I mean, Bendis sure knows which strings to pull and how hard - then tugs a little harder. Just to make sure we're still in.

Once the supes show up, this book gets all sinister and fun all at the same time. Cloak and Dagger get an updated origin (one that makes a tad more sense than "don't do drugs" garbage from Nancy Reagan), we see the corporate strings being played, and Spider-Woman finally comes clean with Miles.

So that once we get to meet Ultimate Taskmaster, the fight scenes are pretty spectacular.

I'm a pretty big fan of the re-imagined supes in Ultimate Marvel U. Thor as an environmental hippie/mental case, Venom as a science experiment, Spider-Woman a clone, Reed Richards as a boy genius/butthurt lunatic... There's lots of fun every time an Ultimate version of a Marvel character shows up. I like finding out what's different about them, and what stuff the creators have tossed and kept. I'm an alternaverse kinda guy (as long as it's not Claremont chatting his way through a paper-thin plot).

Must be why I'm loving Hickman's universes-colliding storyline and am so stoked to see 616 and Ultimate U merge.

Anyhoo, did I mention I liked Ultimate Taskmaster? Wait til you see how they changed this dude's threat potential.

And the climactic confrontation? Spoiler alert: Totally satisfying. Can't wait to see where this goes next.

[What's In A Name · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulous ending to the series.

In typical Marvel fashion, they introduced too many characters in the last issue. But surprisingly, they didn't make the character arcs checkboxes to be ticked off. A good amount of attention was paid to the individuals and no panels were wasted as fillers. There's very little to complain about this one.

Spider-woman, who was shrouded in some inexplicable mystery, had a really good arc and a powerful story to mark the mask she wears.

The art is one of the best ones I have ever seen.

[Soph · Rating 5 out of 5]

And just like that Miles Morales’ first run as Spider-Man draws to a close. This series may have had its ups and downs for me, but overall I’ve adored the characterisation of Miles, the time and care taken to explore his motivations, his family and his road to becoming Spider-Man, as well as the supporting cast of characters.

This final volume was a personal favourite of mine - something that really resonates about Bendis’ writing style is how he doesn’t constantly push action, instead giving his characters space to breathe and grow and change. This married perfectly with the plot of this volume - after an unthinkable personal blow, Miles decides to give up the Spider-Man moniker and return to a normal life for a year, despite pleading from friends and allies.

I’m really glad that this arc was rushed and Miles wasn’t immediately reinstated as Spider-Man, instead taking the time to explore his grief, conflicted feelings and the weight of the responsibility thrust upon a 14 year old child. The conclusion to this particular story element felt earnt, natural and satisfying, and I really did enjoy the payoff.

This volume also features a classic superhero team up, reintroducing us to Jessica Drew and establishing new heroes including Bombshell and Cloak & Dagger. Immediately I felt drawn to and invested in these characters, and cannot wait to see them take down more bad guys.

I’m so glad I decided to join Miles on his journey and I’m excited to see where it goes next!

[Colona Public Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Miles, he is my favorite spider man. I really like in that they allow him to get mad at things and use that anger in a favorable way in battle without ever loosing control. I've seen that a few times through this and different issue with him. I think that is really cool thing they have with him. Anyway, I felt like several heroes and his friend pressured him to be a hero he didn't want to be for the moment. Like, it has been a year since His mother's death. No doubt she was proud of him...whatever he chose to do because he's her son! Duh, he's such a great kid even without powers! I think the only person who even tried to understand Miles was Aunt May. He was going through a hard time and I think people really didn't give him enough time to grieve and be a normal kid for a while. Miles goes through so much emotional things the poor kid. I think this is all wrapped up now and this whole series was super great but this volume was pretty likable.

Also, I like Cloak and Dagger in a different issue and was excited to see them but they're like 2x younger than I thought they were suppose to be. I was thinking late college students but instead they are in high school? Plus, Dagger didn't even seem remotely likable in really anyway...She was first seen complaining to manger, seems to be waited on hand and foot, and she told cloak that no way could he see his family or tell anyone. (That should be a big conversation) But to be fair I've really only read them a couple times so there could be some things I'm missing out on with them. ~Ashley

[Charlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This rounds up to a five. The year he takes off, the doubt and the unwillingness to resume the role, the just-enough-backstory on Cloak and Dagger...these are the touches that make this series great. The quiet scenes in this read as well as the action scenes, and both are well done.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spider-Woman and Cloak & Dagger help bring Miles Morales back to the mantle of Spider-Man (in the Ultimate universe) and battle the evil Roxxon corporation "brain trust" of several villainous scientists recognizable from other Marvel titles.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Miles, it wouldn't be Spider-man if everything was easy for you.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been a while since I read vol. 4, but the story picked up easily and pulled me right back in.

[Jeremy Szal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the entire series. I held back from devouring all five volumes all in one, and managed to make them last a year. This is what comic-book storytelling should be.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. I enjoyed this, although I feel like the whole 'Spider-man no more' thing kinda wrapped up pretty quickly... I love Jessica Drew though, and it was cool to see Miles team up with some other heroes.

[Yuiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

[hania · Rating 4 out of 5]

jestem wielką fanką artysty odpowiedzialnego za tą serię 😩🩷

[Jesús · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool way to end the series. It doesn’t feel like an actual ending but more like the ending of the origin story of Miles Morales.

[pavi 🪷 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars ⭐️

the team up between spider-man, spider woman, bombshell, & cloak and dagger was soo good and so much fun! i can't wait to read more, so happy miles is back in the suit

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good restart but yeah...look another tie-in to ANOTHER event...

I really liked the end of the last arc and the decisions leading up to this 'Spider-Man No More' arc, the emotions were real and the stakes were real. So, how is Bendis and Co. going to put Miles back into the suit?

World: The art is good, the action is still a bit static for my taste but the art is great when it comes to the quiet moments and the facial expressions. The art is really good at doing those emotional moments and to me, those are more important than just action scenes. The world building here is also strong with the Roxxon angle and the kids, it's clever and presented slowly giving just enough of the world for the reader to get into the story. Good stuff!

Story: On an emotional level it was great, the time Miles spends out of the suit and talking to be people and debating about his future is gold, that's the best part about this story. The pacing is good, with the personal and the bigger arc unfolding well. I did find that once the action started the the character development stop and I started caring less. I don't know, maybe I just find the story much more interesting when he's out of the suit. There is a lot of character development this arc and I love it, so I found the Roxxon stuff kinda just meh. I am unhappy with the next story being a event tie-in again, but man...after the last one we are at it again...

Characters: This is the heart of this arc and the series. Miles is great, his decision to not be Spider-Man makes sense and his decisions feel real, as do the opinions of his friends and family. The journey he goes through to step back into the suit makes sense and the push from all angles was written very well. Gwen being there was great as was Spider-Woman giving both characters a whole bunch of character development and also assisting in Miles development also. It hit emotionally and it was written very well. Bombshell, Cloak and Dagger are interesting characters, but we did not really get a whole lot of them in terms of development, Cloak and Dagger get a bit more, but I'm excited to see where they go with this young team. Overall strong and if this part is strong the book is good.

I liked it, it was not as good as the last arc but it was still fun, the delay of Miles getting back into the suit was good and the grander arc is interesting although I still like the quieter moments. Shame that we now have to jump right into ANOTHER event...zzz...

Onward to the next book!

[Peter Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one definitely brings Spider-Man into the more complete Ultimate Universe. We've got some team-up characters going here. Cloak and Dagger are kinda interesting, but they didn't have a lot to do. Jessica Drew, Spider-Agent of SHIELD was fine, but how many clubs do you have to be in? Clone club, Spidey Club, SHIELD Club. Then there was 'Splosion Lady or whatever she was called. She did 'Splosions.

Of course, a team-up of heroes means we also had a bad guy team-up. You got your blonde lady who can fly or something, you've got Douche Sinister, who looks like Mister Sinister's a-hole son, some old guy who could Hulk out like that old man in that video game...you know, the one they had at Pizza Hut. What system was that game on? Pizza Hut.

[10 minutes of Googling...]

FATAL FURY!

Anyway, a bunch of stuff happened, but not a lot of it felt super significant. This book felt to me like a transition between the series' start and a new direction, which was cool, but overall didn't give me a ton of goings on in this volume. But we DID at least get some Spider-Man being Spider-Man, which seemed like a win to me.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is about as good as it gets. I love this title and Bendis brings his A game to this collection, which picks things up a year after the accidental death of Miles' mother and his decision to stop being Spider-Man. Some of the best material here is the quiet scenes, the moments between Miles and his dad, between Gwen Stacy and surrogate mother May Parker, between Miles and roommate/best friend Ganke. There are some great action sequences as well, and the introduction of Ultimate Cloak and Dagger and Bombshell. Miles is older and more mature than the kid he used to be and the process by which he finds his way back into the Spider-Man costume provided him by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jessica Drew (aka Spider-Woman) is one of the most satisfying sequences I've read recently. Artist David Marquez contributes some of the best artwork this title has ever seen. Top-notch stuff!