It’s like we never left. Sure, Galactus the Devourer of Worlds tried to eat the Ultimate Universe in one sitting, leaving New Jersey a wasteland. But that’s not going to stop Spider-Man from worrying about his girlfriend or struggling with clones. That’s just the way of the world. And the new issue of Ultimate Spider-Man continues the way of the world as if that Galactus storyline never even happened – I’ve already forgotten what it was called. The event still gets a little bit of lip service in the new issue, but more than anything, the adventures of Miles Morales continue unabated this issue, and I’m more than happy for that.

Ultimate Spider-Man #2

Marvel may have gone to all the trouble of relaunching Ultimate Spider-Man with a new title and a new #1, but writer Brian Michael Bendis clearly didn’t care, to our benefit.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

The big surprise at the end of last issue was that Peter Parker had mysteriously returned! So Miles has definitely got his hands full with this issue, because resurrections are not part of the normal course of business in the Ultimate Universe. Where did he come from? What does he want? How many more issues before we find out? Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #2 is very much just a chapter in an ongoing story. All the the various plot threads that Bendis is currently playing with move forward, but without any real twists or revelations, at least not yet.

Still, not every issue needs to be read on the edge of your seat. We don’t always need a big surprise or a mind-blowing moment to make an issue good. Bendis instead delivers another solid outing easily supported on the shoulders of Miles Morales and his entertaining supporting cast. As always, the new Ultimate Spider-Man is a quality comic, and while bigger, more interesting events are surely around the corner, this is still a solid issue.

We open with a few wordless pages about Norman Osborn returning to Osborn Industries and working on his super-villain science in his secret lab. So he’s still out there, as if we needed a reminder.

Then we immediately cut to the Morales residence, where Miles is still freaking out over finding Peter Parker alive and well and going through his stuff.

I still hate that haircut on Peter

When Miles finally starts speaking, he’s full of questions. How is Peter alive? Where has he been? Has he told Aunt May? Does this have anything to do with the Peter Parker he met from another dimension in Spider-Men? But this Peter Parker is pretty standoffish about the whole thing. He doesn’t want to talk about where he came from. He hasn’t told Aunt May because he doesn’t want to trouble her. And he has no idea about other dimensions. All he wants is for Miles to get off his back and return his web-shooters. Peter tells Miles that he never asked for the kid to carry on his mantle; he just wants his stuff back.

Peter Parker is a jerk!

Their differing opinions eventually lead to a fight, wherein Peter pretty much just knocks Miles out cold and takes the web-shooters.

Miles wakes up some time later, his mind still reeling from what happened, before realizing that this Peter Parker is probably a clone. It’s all he can think about as he heads out into the city.

Elsewhere, those two thieves who look nothing like Spider-Man attack a freighter in the harbor, intent on stealing something on board from Latveria. Why everybody thinks they’re Spider-Man is anyone’s guess. They don’t look like Spider-Man, they don’t use any sort of webs, it’s ridiculous. But with this Latverian connection, they’re probably connected to the Ultimate Beetle. And they really do look like Beetle too.

Yes you do, don’t deny it

Also elsewhere, Miles eventually heads to Ganke’s house, where they have a very important conversation about Peter Parker and Spider-Man right on Ganke’s front stoop. They couldn’t have gone inside to get a bit more privacy? The two bounce ideas back and forth about what the return of Peter Parker might mean. Ganke points out that a giant purple god tried to eat the Earth last week, so maybe they don’t know everywhere this is to know about the afterlife and whether or not people can come back from the dead. But Miles is insistent that this new Peter Parker is a clone, and he fills Ganke in on the fact that Spider-Woman is a clone of Peter Parker, so there’s already a precedence for this.

Why do you think Mary Jane married him?

But Spider-Woman isn’t answering her phone.

The two start discussing who they can tell – from Aunt May (who wasn’t home) to Gwen Stacy – when Miles’ girlfriend Katie shows up.

The two boys immediately clam up, and Katie can tell something is wrong. Miles takes a deep breath and tells her that there’s something important she needs to know…

But the issue ends before Miles tells her anything. So maybe next issue will be the big moment where Katie Bishop finds out the truth.

The problem is that we barely know Katie Bishop. She hasn’t been around much and Miles has had a lot more going on in his life over the past few issues. When Peter Parker revealed his big secret to Mary Jane in that now-legendary issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, Mary Jane was a rich and compelling character, with strong ties to both Peter and the series as a whole. But Katie is little more than the girlfriend Bendis surprised us with when this series jumped forward a year. She hasn’t had a lot to do, and while it’s nice that Miles has a girlfriend, her character really only amounts to ‘girlfriend’.

But maybe that’s the point. As Mary Jane warned Miles in the last issue, he shouldn’t tell Katie unless he’s absolutely sure she’s someone special. Maybe this is all going to blow up in this face! Now that would be entertaining!

The second issue of Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man is pretty much business as usual, with Bendis keeping the stories flowing with his usual skill. Artist David Marquez remains an absolutely stellar member of the creative team, and really, there probably isn’t a better team out there in comics these days than Bendis and Marquez. They are producing a very good, quality comic that really gets into the head of Spider-Man, even if Peter Parker isn’t the main character.