Prepare to get hit right in the feels, people. Writer Brian Michael Bendis introduces us to Cloak and Dagger this issue, then immediately makes them the most likable characters ever…then also immediately breaks your heart. All of Bendis’ skills as a storyteller and character creator are on display this issue as he updates Cloak and Dagger’s origins, turning them into some of the most sympathetic heroes ever. I feel for them. Heaven help Cloak and Dagger.

Ultimate Spider-Man #24

Bendis still writes a pretty good Spider-Man. But this is Cloak and Dagger’s issue, and we’re all the better for it.

Comic Rating: 4.5/5 – Very Good!

This issue is told almost exclusively in flashback, presenting the tragic origin of Cloak and Dagger. The origin is very well done, and in only a matter of pages, Bendis creates two very real, very amazing people. The actual superheroic origin is tied a little too awkwardly to the rest of the Ultimate Universe, but not in a distracting way. Bendis comes up with an acceptable way to give superpowers to Tandy Bowen and Ty Johnson. But seriously, the powers are only secondary. These two are most definitely people first, superheroes second, which I love. But it also makes the superhero scenes a little weird. This issue doesn’t contain the transition between the origin story and how the pair wound up fighting Bombshell outside a Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn, so there’s a bit of a disconnect between the issue’s two storylines.

Basically, I’m just not sure how Cloak and Dagger go from their tragic origin to trying to playing crimefighter. But I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.

Miles barely appears in the issue, but he has some strong scenes as he continues to deny his responsibility as Spider-Man. Gwen Stacy gives him a piece of her mind, and both come off well in this issue. I think Bendis is doing an OK job building up Miles’ return as Spider-Man. Part of me is worried that he’ll waste it on someone as minor as Bombshell, but if Bendis somehow connects the tragedy of Cloak and Dagger into Miles’ return to heroism, he’ll have pulled off a masterstroke!

Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!

We open one year ago at the Westwood Mall in Queens, where Tandy Bowen is having a little trouble in the food court. The dweebs at one of the burger joints can’t seem to get her order right. Help arrives in the form of Assistant Manager Ty Johnson.

In Hollywood, this is called a ‘Meet Cute’

Six months later and Ty and Tandy are going to her prom together. She never thought she’d ever been in such a position, going to prom in a limo, looking gorgeous, and with an amazingly wonderful boyfriend on her arm. It’s picture perfect. And feel free to click the following page to enlarge and read it all. The scene is small but fantastic. This is Bendis at his best.

Click to Enlargenate

Four pages of comic and Bendis creates two amazing, personal and very real characters. The man is brilliant.

Of course, this is where the heartbreak comes in. That flash of light in the last panel is an out-of-control driver, whose delivery truck crashes into their limo, and both Ty and Tandy are left comatose. See what I said about heart-breaking? But it gets worse, as  you’ll soon see.

First up, though, is the superhero fight scene at the restaurant that started last issue. Bombshell won’t go down without a fight, and her explosive powers start destroying the restaurant, with Miles, his dad, Gwen and the owner still inside. Gwen starts whispering to Miles about sneaking away to become Spider-Man, but Miles just wants her to shut up and mind her own business – though he just thinks all of that to himself, he doesn’t tell her. Miles hasn’t been in any sort of superhero trouble in a year, but all of a sudden three of them show up out of nowhere. He doesn’t need his dad finding out about his powers, especially now that he’s not even Spider-Man anymore.

Bombshell mocks Dagger for a bit before Cloak comes up from behind, sucking her into his Dark Dimension. Dagger gets worried and tells Cloak to let her go – but Bombshell saves herself, blowing Cloak open.

Do kids still say, ‘Boom goes the dynamite’?

We flash back to three months ago, with Ty and Tandy still comatose. They’re visited in the hospital by Nathaniel Essex, Layla Miller, Samuel Sterns and Arnim Zola III. Comic fans will recognize those names, but I doubt these Ultimate versions have anything to do with their normal comic book counterparts. I’m fairly certain all of these characters have shown up in either Ultimates or Ultimate X-Men, so Bendis isn’t introducing them for the first time in this issue. I think he’s just grabbing some evil scientist-type characters from the Ultimate Universe and using them for his purposes. It works, but it’s annoying to have to fall back on them. The rest of the Ultimate Universe is in shambles compared to the majesty of Ultimate Spider-Man, at least as far as I’m concerned. It sullies this book to have these characters show up.

At any rate, all we need to know is that they’re evil scientists who are working for Roxxon to create superhumans, and through some shady practices and the exchange of a lot of money, they’ve taken custody of Tandy and Ty for human experimentation. Their families are going to be told that the pair were accidentally cremated by the hospital staff.

See what I said about heart-breaking?

Back in the present, the fight continues between Dagger and Bombshell, while Miles and the other civilians escape out the back. Gwen tries again to get Miles to help out, but he looks her right in the eye and tells her that he’s not Spider-Man anymore.

What did five fingers say to Spider-Man’s face?

Gwen yells at him about the sacrifices that her father and Peter Parker made, and how once you’re down, you’re supposed to get back up. But Miles just leaves with his dad.

In the fight, Cloak grabs Bombshell again, and this time he’s able to hold her to keep her from exploding. Dagger steps up to Cloak, wondering what’s happened to them. She says Bombshell won’t talk, but Cloak says she has to. Dagger says she’s not sure she’ll ever get used to this, and wonders why it even happened to them. Cloak tells her that he’s working on it.

Flashback to three days ago, and Tandy and Ty are strapped to lab benches and hooked up to all manner of machinery. Roxxon himself has come by to view their progress. The scientists tell him that he was wasting his time trying to recreate the failures of Norman Osborn and the symbiote. Instead, they think they’ve tapped into a kind of dark dimension, which they believe a human body can bond with. The talk is all very technical…but then suddenly Ty and Tandy wake up! And something is very wrong!

Not a very good prom photo

Ultimate Cloak and Dagger are fantastic characters so far. Their origin is quite tragic, and the skill with which Bendis builds their characters before their accident makes them compelling and interesting in only a few pages. I’m dying to read more about their lives, especially the first moments after they were awake and fully aware of themselves again. I’m dying to know how and why they decided to become crimefighters, or if that’s even what they’re doing at all. We don’t yet know why they were chasing Bombshell. Tandy and Ty were simply adorable together in those first four pages, and I want to see more of their story.

I also can’t wait for Miles to suit up and interact with them. I don’t think he’s made any superhero friends since become Spider-Man. Sure he’s worked with the Ultimates, and Spider-Woman is kind of a mentor, but it’d be neat if he had some actual friends, you know? Like how Peter Parker has Prowler, Black Cat and Human Torch in the normal Marvel Universe. I want to see Miles joining forces with Cloak and Dagger (and Bombshell too, because she’s awesome) and forming their own little superhero clique. Is that too much to ask?

Also, the art by David Marquez continues to be incredible. I’m willing to say he’s even better than Sara Pichelli, even if that might be blasphemy.