Despite the flak I throw at Age of
Ultron, I am still a huge fan of Brian Michael Bendis. While I am
behind on the Ultimate Spider Man (USM) series by a few issues and I
am loving Dan Slott's run on Superior Spider Man (SSM), I find that
USM is the best Spider Man story out there. I said it.
I am biased. Sara Pichelli's Miles
Morales looks like my middle son (her pencils are amazing by the
way). Morales attends a charter school like my younger two children.
Morales' Uncle Aaron, who he believes he kills, reminds me of a
particular uncle I have and my children have. We are Afro Latino like
Miles Morales. So this Spider Man speaks to me. So not only is Bendis
my favorite writer, it feels like he is writing to me.
However, if you want to discuss
intersectionality, USM is where you need to be. In issue 2, the
Morales family attends a lottery for the charter school Miles hopes
to attend. This sounds familiar for many parents throughout
economically deprived communities throughout the United States. Here
we see Morales' moral compass as he is emotionally torn when he wins
a slot for the coveted charter school and he watches other children
cry when their name is not called as a lottery winner.
While Bendis kept the moral compass
debate central to the story, Morales is definitely different. His
parents are alive as well as his Uncle Aaron/The Prowler. The
relationship between Morales, his father, and Uncle Aaron is fragile.
While Uncle Aaron maintains his criminal career, Morales' father gave
it up years ago and keeps it under wraps. Even Morales does not know
what his father used to do or what made him give up that lifestyle.
He is told to stay away from his Uncle Aaron which he disobeys. It's
clear that Morales loves his Uncle Aaron dearly. His uncle also keeps
his criminal career and history secret from Morales.
The twist is the entire story is that
Morales becomes Spider Man due to Aaron's criminal acts. He steals a
bioengineered spider that bites Morales. Aaron realizes Morales'
powers earlier and decides to convince his nephew to help him take
over the criminal underground. When Morales initially refuses, Aaron
threatens to tell his father who is vocally anti mutant. While I
don't think Morale's father would get a heart attack, Morales is only
12 and assumes that his father would disown him like any 12 year old
child. Morales however refuses Aaron's offer and chooses to avoid his
uncle. Eventually there is a showdown that ends in Aaron's death.
While it was completely accidental, Morales accepts full blame. On
top of the that, the media has also laid blame on Spider Man. This is
the turning point in Morale's young life where he realizes that being
Spider man is not a game.
I think when Bendis throws Steve Rogers
into the mix, we see Morales really step up his game. During the
Divided We Fall Ultimate Universe crossover, Morales joins the
Ultimates and even saves Rogers' life again. This is seen on national
television and throws folks behind Morales. He begins to see that
doing the right thing does pay off.
While I think Bendis is going too fast
with Morales and his powers (even though the Spider sting is
something Morales is working on), he has done a good job of
developing the characters around Morales' life. As usual Bendis
really sets things up with his build up. Currently, they are going
throgh the Venom storyline and the fight scenes are exquisite. While
Dan Slott is doing a great job on Superior Spider Man, USM remains
the best Spidey title out there.
No comments:
Post a Comment