The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel's flagship book forever, hasn't been that good in a very, very long time. When you read the old, classic issues, there's an evolution of Peter Parker taking place and the soap opera bildungsroman story makes all the superhero drama meaningful. That ended a long time ago, when Marvel decided to deep-freeze Parker in amber and never age, never have kids, never evolve besides maybe changing his employment for a bit. Thankfully, a new Ultimate Spider-Man came out in 2024, and writer Jonathan Hickman decided to showcase what The Amazing Spider-Man could be if it actually evolved. Peter Parker is married to Mary Jane and has two kids. He's still Spider-Man and there's still the Green Goblin and The Kingpin and everything is similar, but it also feels revitalized and fresh and thus exciting to read. A Spider-Man comic...in 2024...is actually a great read! Who knew? Hickman, of course, is something of a master at revitalization. The X-Men books were fairly forgettable until he introduced the epic "Krakatoa" storyline that changed the game and made the book worth reading again. And while Hickman has always kind of been a hit-or-miss writer and often his stories have sometimes been too overly confusing, he really put out some excellent books in 2024. Besides Ultimate Spider-Man, he finished writing his 8 issue G.O.D.S. comic book that was wild and a lot of fun. He co-wrote an entertaining Dr. Doom one-shot. And he also, shockingly, made Aliens vs. Avengers a great book. Surely, in the hands of most writers, that would have been just a stupid book with Captain America and The Hulk fighting Aliens on a spaceship while cracking jokes or something. But Hickman made the book...gulp...interesting. A book featuring Aliens and The Avengers is serious, thought provoking and good. Only a good writer can even attempt to pull that one off. & Jonathan Hickman did.
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