A little less than ten years ago Marvel released a drastic relaunch of one of their core characters. In hopes of modernizing and making the character more accessible to a new generation. They chose a controversial creator who they hoped would jump start the book and make it a success again. This book was called... SPIDER-MAN: CHAPTER ONE.
And it sucked. Sucked balls. John Byrne who had one time revitalized one of the greatest franchises of all time (Superman), dropped the ball. Big time. Chapter One while indeed retold the origin of Peter Parker and his transformation into Spidey, it failed miserably to become modern and connect with audiences. John Byrne then pushing 50 was just unable to make Spider-Man a relate able teenager again. The book suffered from poor art and stories that start in one issue only to be resolved next issue half way through, and then starting a new story through the second half of that issue. Issue 12 shipped October 1999. And Spider-Man's main titles continued to flounder.Well oddly enough, less than a year later Marvel tried again. And got it right.
Again they started the Spider-Man universe again, this time selecting Spider-Man alum artist Mark Bagley on the art chores and choosing an odd selection for a writer. Then independent comic writer Brian Michael Bendis. Being only 32 at the time Bendis was much more adept at connecting to the modern comic reader. His trademark dialogue and fresh feel, made what many thought was going to be flop like Chapter One before it, an "Ultimate" success .(sorry for the pun)
Ultimate Spider-Man took place out of normal Marvel continuity and placed it in a new universe that had a 15 year old Peter Parker, and took an almost Simpsons-esque approach in that as issues passed and time passed Peter remained un-aged. Giving the character a more timeless feel.
In the first issue: "Powerless", Bendis took a 15 page origin story and managed to stretch it out to not just the first issue, but the for 7 issues. In fact Peter doesn't appear in costume in the first issue, he doesn't realize he has powers until the last page, and most importantly Uncle Ben LIVES. (Well for now at least)
Issue 1 opens in Oscorp laboratories where familiar Spidey nemesis Norman Osborn relays the myth of Arachne while holding (while wearing gloves mind you) the spider that will eventually turn Peter into a hero. He is interrupted by a phone call from his lawyer who is calling on behalf of a mystery man (who will apparently be revealed soon in the upcoming Ultimate Origins mini-series) who is asking how testing at the lab is progressing. Looking around the lab one can't help but laugh at the where other test animals are being kept and how close we could have come to having Cat-Man, or Frog-Man or even Dung Beetle-Man.
Issue 1 also fleshes out Uncle Ben to a more viable character. Making him a bit hippy-ish and showing the tenderness of the character and his relationship with Peter makes the shock of his eventual death all the more powerful.
Over the issue Peter is shown as an outsider in high school who's only friend is Harry Osborn. Harry seems at first a bit of a fairweather friend as he is the cool kid who is part of the basketball team who everyone respects and admires, and seemingly on hanging with Peter so Peter can do his homework for him. Honestly though I think Harry hangs around with Peter more for the fact that Peter is honest and genuine and doesn't throw up any false pretenses. Also the environment that Peter lives is polar opposite of Harry's home, where Norman is abusive and beligerent and his mother is nowhere to be seen (my guess having a drinking problem).
Peter's class goes on a field trip to Oscorp where he is inevitably bitten. Peter freaks out flinging the spider onto Mary Jane who knocks it off and is stepped on by new character Kenny "Kong" McFarlane. Who 1: is one of my favorite characters in the book and 2: did something that they should have done in the movie. He killed the freaking spider. That always pissed me off about the movie. The spider crawled away and was never seen again. The spider could have gone on and bit like 80 more people... sorry... just a plot hole that always bugged me. (god... sorry about the other pun)
The issue continues on with Peter having his Spidey-sense tingle for the first time, but quickly passing out afterwards. A blood sample is taken but is stolen Norman's right hand man Shaw. They discover that Peter is dying, the spider venom and Oz formula is slowly killing him, setting the scene for one of the classic origin scenes where Peter is almost run down by a car, this though driven by Shaw who was sent by Osborn to take him out. But when Peter jumps the car Osborn shouts to Shaw that Peter is to be studied, to find the effects of the Oz.
Issue 1 closes with Peter in his room crawling up the wall for the first time and closing with the simple line: "Whoa-- cool."
By extending the origin beyond the original 15 pages, and making Peter seem like an actual and relatable teen, Bendis and Bagley manage to craft arguably the best re-telling and re-imagining of a character. And issue 1 leads the series off to a great start.
