Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Sara Pichelli
Colours: Justin Ponsor
Cover: Kaare Andrews
I was thoroughly looking forward to this issue and I’m pleased to say that it doesn’t disappoint. The series successfully continues its slow yet interesting development of Miles Morales.
The cover art of this issue ok, although I’m not a massive fan of this ultra-realistic depiction of Spider-Man. It’s very similar to the issue #1 cover and that is probably why I’m not blown away by it. I think that the use of perspective and depth is much more impressive than Spider-Man himself. I look forward to another artist taking over the reins from Kaare Andrews.
The story itself within this issue is really good. I like that Bendis is taking his time to introduce Miles and his family and friends slowly and properly, as this allows us to become comfortable with Miles before he starts all the superhero stuff. The worst thing Bendis could have done in my opinion would have been to have started the series with Miles already as Spider-Man because it could have badly alienated those readers who loved and were devoted to Peter Parker as Spider-Man and so have turned them off completely. Instead by taking the story back to before Peter had died and showing that Miles had gained his powers at this point it in a way enables Miles to stand as a character in his own right, which can only be a good thing. I really enjoyed the plot within this issue and the points for thought that it brought up. Such as, how is Miles going to cope and be able to deal with firstly the issue of being a mutant within New York City, as he says himself ‘a mutant drowned this city. You do not get to be a mutant in New York City!!’. Secondly, Miles will have to contend with the issue that the public and fellow superheroes are probably not going to like him swinging around the city as Spider-Man, especially as Peter Parker was eventually seen as such a hero of the city. It is going to be fascinating to see how he deals with these big problems at such a young age.
The art in this issue is again fantastic, but with Pichelli at the helm this is becoming less surprising. The way she draws her characters is amazing and I think she has become my favourite artist. She is consistently great and I can only hope that she will be doing this series for many years to come.
Overall I think that was a good second issue, it continues to slowly but surely introduce Miles to the world and separate him from the world of Peter Parker.
Issue Rating 9/10
If you are interested in reading my review of issue #1 then it can be found here http://mycomicbookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/utimate-comics-spider-man-1-review/
read/RANT! 
Nice. I was hoping for time to do an Ultimates round-up (maybe after X-Men #2 drops), because I’ve been fairly impressed with all four titles and especially the way they are managing shared continuity.
That said, Spidey has been the best of these titles and it has the weakest ties to the broader continuity.
I commented elsewhere that Bendis’ dialogue, especially in this issue and its predecessor, is absolutely top-notch. I can’t wait to read #3.
Thanks for the reply ikeebear, I totally agree Ultimate Spider-man has always been consistently brilliant! Now with Pichelli on board I think it can only get better.
Dude I like your perception on the introduction of Miles and his family, but I do disagree that Peter is dead. I am not hoping… I actually think he did not die and we are inline to have a duo of Spidermans for the title.
I was annoyed by the cover too, the first thing I thought when I popped it out of my box at the shop was oh dear, they are going to draw this like Kingdom Come.
Nice review, glad you like it, IMO Ultimate SPidey has been the Spiderman comic to read since Vol 1 issue 1 and it continues to prove so.
Thanks for the reply Obi, regarding whether Peter died or not, that’s fair enough. Although I have to wonder who they buried?! Glad to see i’m not the only one not liking Andrew’s cover art, I can’t wait for someone else to take over.