The latest issue of Ultimate Spider-Man is pretty much perfect. It’s an absolute gem of an issue, propelling the story of Miles Morales forward in fun and rewarding ways, while adding more depth to his supporting cast. Depth that I have felt was severely lacking. Writer Brian Michael Bendis is crafting a delightful saga, and the art of Chris Samnee – which I didn’t like last issue – is no longer a hindrance. He’s not Sara Pichelli, but who is?

Ultimate Spider-Man #7

But with all that said, I can’t bring myself to give this issue a perfect score.

Comic rating: 4/5: Good!

It’s as close to great as a comic book can get, but there is nothing in Ultimate Spider-Man #7 that rises to greatness. It’s missing that magical spark, that je ne sais quoi that would truly make it sparkle. Instead, it’s just a perfectly fine issue of the Miles Morales saga. It’s got humor, it’s got action, it’s got a fun look at a new hero trying out his powers and it’s got a fantastic cliffhanger. But for me as a reviewer, a comic needs that special something extra to get a perfect 5 out of 5. I’m just not seeing it yet.

But still, fantastic issue. Join me for further review and synopsis after the jump!

Last issue, I was upset at the change in artists from Pichelli to Samnee. Pichelli’s work in the first 5 issues was brilliant. Her pencils were wonderfully detailed and were capable of showing a wide range of emotions, especially in the face of the very quiet, very thoughtful protagonist. Samnee’s pencils are more cartoony and have a sort of ‘smudged’ look about them. Now that I’m used to them, they’re not so bad.

But Samnee is no Pichelli.

We open with a masturbation joke.

MOM!! This is private time!

Or more accurately, Miles is using the video of the old Spider-Man that his buddy gave him to practice some moves in his bedroom. Miles’ mom barges in to ask him about dinner, and Miles makes up the excuse that he was just working out. It’s a wonderfully awkward moment, with Miles wondering how Peter Parker managed to balance family and Spider-Man.

Later, Miles sits down to dinner with his mom and dad. I’m still not sure if we know their names, but it’s a great scene. Bendis needs to spend a lot more time fleshing out Miles’ family. Heck, he needs to do a lot more with the entire supporting cast. The best part of the Peter Parker series was his interactions with his classmates and home life with Aunt May. Miles isn’t Peter, but Bendis still needs to flesh out Miles’ personal and social lives.

As it stands, it’s a great dinner scene with Miles’ mom and dad taking opposite sides on the topic of a new Spider-Man.

Not hard to decide which parent is cooler

There’s one misstep though: Miles’ dad references Ultimatum, when Magneto flooded New York City and “millions of people died”. For those who don’t know, Ultimatum was a mini-series set in the Ultimate Universe a few years ago. It was designed to shake things up, and it did at that. The father speaks the truth. But it was also universally reviled. Not to mention having absolutely nothing to do with Miles Morales.

So mentioning Ultimatum and the murder of “millions” of people is like a sore thumb sticking out in an otherwise normal story. I realize that Ultimate Spider-Man takes place in the same universe as Ultimate X-Men and Ultimates, but whatever insanity is taking place in those lesser titles should not interfere with Bendis’ much more grounded and much better tale of Miles Morales.

Fortunately the mother gets in a good line about Peter Parker being a hero who wanted to help people, and who the whole city mourned.

Score one for Spider-Man.

Awww, yeah!!

The discussion inspires Miles to head out into the city as Spider-Man to try out some of his powers. His inner monologue is back, worrying about how his dad hates Spider-Man, and how the inside of his mask is starting to smell. He wonders if Peter Parker had to deal with that, and how Peter dealt with family. He also wonders how he’s supposed to wash the costume without anybody noticing. Basically the young superhero has got a lot on his mind.

First and foremost is testing his powers. How high can he jump? How much can he lift? How do his wall-crawling abilities work? To test, Miles climbs to the top of a very tall building. But he had no idea how windy it would be.

Wall-crawling is quite dangerous

The scene is adorable. Miles is still just starting out, so there is no way he’d be a master of his spider-powers just yet. Miles’ worry and his struggles are fun to read. As is the scene where he climbs onto a balcony and knocks on the glass door of a random person – and that person faints before helping Miles. The poor boy is cold and shivering and just wants to be let inside!

But then there’s a huge ‘splosion across town!

Jumping before thinking, Miles leaps off the side of the very tall building. Remember, he doesn’t have web-shooters, and he has no idea what he’s doing. Essentially he’s now just falling. So he freaks out, closes his eyes and just holds out his hands – and safely latches onto a water tower on the next building over. He survived the jump, and now it’s hero time!

Somebody cue the theme song

Miles starts cruising across the rooftops, getting rather excited at how fast he can move. He gets closer and closer, finding a destroyed lot with people fleeing all around. Is it terrorists? Miles gets a twinge on his spider-sense, and starts to figure out that it’s an early warning to danger. Which he figures out just in time to avoid a car flying towards him.

Then the villain is revealed!

Guess whose name got plucked outta the hat!

Omega Red? Really? That’s the best you could come up with Bendis? Sigh.

Anyway, it’s interlude time! We pay a visit to the Ultimate Tinkerer, a real gadget wizard who designs mechanical devices for super-villains. The Tinkerer, in turn, gets a visit from Ultimate Prowler, who looks totally badass!

Hobie Brown he ain’t

OK, how did Uncle Aaron get out of the Mexican prison so quickly after last issue? I’m all confused on this timeline. Last issue I was led to believe that Miles went home on weekends from his charter school. And his mother mentioned in this issue that he was about to go back to school. So either this is a different weekend from last issue some unknown amount of time later, or Uncle Aaron is magic.

Probably the former…

So Prowler’s pretty tough when he’s got a gun pointed at Tinkerer, and the to argue about that shock-suit that Prowler tried and failed to use last issue. Tinkerer explains that it was only supposed to be used once, so it worked fine. Then Prowler brings up the new Spider-Man in the news, and he wants Tinkerer to do for him what he did for Spider-Man. Tinkerer says that the new Spider-Man is not his work, and explains that maybe it was one of Osborn’s genetically engineered spiders that gave the new Spider-Man his powers, like it did for the last Spider-Man.

This gets Prowler thinking about the heist he pulled on Oscorp in issue #1, and the #42 spider that snuck away in his bag…the same spider that bit Miles! Did we ever see what happened to that spider after it bit the boy? It happened in Uncle Aaron’s apartment, after all. Prowler starts putting the pieces together and then takes Tinkerer out of the picture.

So much for the Tinkerer

Cut back to Spider-Man’s fight with Omega Red. It’s a pretty typical fight, which Bendis uses to explore just how different Miles is from Peter Parker. Miles tries to be funny, but he’s just not as witty or clever as Peter was. Though Miles’ comments are still riling Omega Red. Mostly Miles is a silent fighter, keeping his thoughts to himself.

The two smash back and forth in the ruins that Omega Red created. He’s a poor choice for a villain. Omega Red in the normal Marvel Universe is pretty bad news, with a lot of history with Wolverine. But Ultimate Omega Red is just some mediocre, street-level super-thug that Bendis has been using as a Spidey foe for awhile. He’s got no depth and nothing interesting about him at all. So having him as Miles’ opponent just isn’t very exciting.

Ganke could probably defeat Ultimate Omega Red.

And sure enough, after only a few pages, Miles delivers his shock-grasp thingy to take down Omega Red.

Hooray! He’s not a loser!

Not 10 minutes later, Miles is back at school telling the whole story to Ganke. Only 10 minutes? Anyway, Ganke is excited to hear about yet another awesome Spider-Man adventure. They chatter a bit more about Miles’ powers until they get a rude surprise.

Poop just got real

Now that’s an exciting cliffhanger. Up until now, Miles has pretty much had it easy as Spider-Man. Kangaroo? Omega Red? Electro? Sure he’s had some trouble, but all of the villains have been pushovers so far. Miles has beaten them with ease. And we all know that Peter Parker has been in some true brawls before. So it’s time Miles got a taste of that kind of pain. Being a superhero isn’t all fun and games.

And Prowler just might be the one to deliver the punishment.

No doubt he’s going to be a skilled fighter, able to hold his own against Spidey. Plus he knows Miles’ secret, so Prowler is going to be a physical and emotional challenge. Brilliant move on Bendis’ part to have Uncle Aaron figure it out. The two of them fighting while their true identities were a secret would have been dumb and overplayed. This will be much juicier and more meaningful. I bet we’re going to find out that Uncle Aaron encountered that #42 spider after it bit Miles and gave him his powers.

So here’s hoping next issue has that magic I’m looking for!