WAIT! stop, before you go, i am certain this looks long but i only ask you to read this first and second paragraph. you don't have to read everything else, the third is just about why i have been avoiding this series and the fourth is why iv been avoiding the Ultimate universe all together for so long. those two are completely optional and i know i have a tendency to ramble on, but i do feel its important to talk about and give context for why iv been doing so for so long but again its not totally necessary, just my opinions.
ever sense the start of the Civil War II event i have been a little hesitant to pay it any kind of attention and in truth the recent chain of events have left me kind of sour on several Marvel titles. so i decided to take a little break and wait for this event to be over, and get caught up on some DC stuff iv been meaning to check out but never got the opportunity to do so, like Blackest Night (which is a good story, unless you're a fan of Hawkman and in particular Hawkgirl like me, in which case DONT READ IT!!!! it's like One More Day but for the Hawks, yeesh). and now that i have caught up, more or less, im getting the Marvel itch but that stupid event isn't over yet, and i do miss Spider-Man quite a bit so i thought id ask if it's worth checking out? i know it got pretty good reviews initially but still haven't ever touched it.
okay, now for the ramble, here's why i never touched Ultimate Spider-Man. it really comes down to this problem iv had with Spider-Man in general, this notion that he's still a young man. im tired of that, im absolutely sick of it, the guy has to be at least 30 years old by now, if not older, and yet he's still treated like a kid, still acts like a kid. Marvel properties outside of comics haven't helped that notion either, first it was the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies which did things decently with starting with Peter in high school then graduating shortly after. then the Marc Webb Amazing Spider-Man where again he's in high school and graduated in the second movie. now in the MCU with Civil War once again he's a teenager in high school, more of a teenager than McGuire and Garfield were admittedly, but still it just feels like retreading old ground to me. and in the comics, well i have to admit i stopped reading all things Spider-Man after One More Day unless the story is about someone else, i havent touched Superior Spider-Man or Spider-Island or whatever, but he was still being written as a kid even before OMD, as a matter of fact i don't think he ever has been written like he's an adult. its just exhausting at this point, i want to see Peter Parker the adult, married to Mary Jane, and because im a Spider-Girl fan, the two of them have a daughter named May that they're raising, that's the Spider-Man story i want to read. sadly it seems like that's not the direction that they want to take, so i have just stopped reading Spider-Man stories. now the reason for why am i taking an interest in the Ultimate version of Spidey, who is a teenager when i clearly don't like that is simply, well, i miss reading about the character. Spider-Man for a long time was always my favorite superhero and sense iv given up on him and the people of his universe for the last, what? 10 years now? i have grown to miss reading stories involving the character. i would like to read some Spider-Man again, just not the main Marvel 616 version, AKA the Forever Young Spider-Man.
getting back to the Ultimate universe, the reason iv been avoiding that is a lot more simple, there seems to be this ongoing notion that super hero comics need to be more REALISTIC and i just don't understand why. in a world of super powered heroes, aliens, gods, advanced sciences to frankly sometimes ridiculous degrees, and completely outlandish events, who cares how practical the outfits are? or how the government will respond to superheroes? or when certain real world events take place in this universe? (this is part of the reasoning why i hated the first Civil War event). im not asking for things to be too fantastical like it was in the silver age or something, but i dont read escapist fiction to experience more of the real world. thats admittedly just my opinion, im sure others might not see things this way but its how i feel. the Ultimate universe is really when this notion for more realism took off it seemed, to me anyway, and i just don't understand the need for it. its a completely unreal universe, embrace the insanity and creativity of it, that's what makes them so much fun. so yeah that's why i avoided it all together for the most part, that and the costumes are terrible in my opinion, no one looks good in that universe, did you see Ultimate Ironman? or Ultimate X-Men? why militarize superheroes? ugh. i don't know if ill ever give the rest of the Ultimate universe a fair shot, but for right now Spider-Man has peaked my interest.