Category Archives: Spider-Man
Forgotten Characters: Ultimate Scorpion
Whatever happened to the Ultimate Scorpion?
All of the other survivors of the Ultimate Clone Saga are still around, but for some reason the Ultimate Scorpion was bottled up by Nick Fury and has never been seen again. Is writer Brian Michael Bendis holding him like an Ace up his sleeve? Considering Peter Parker is now dead, a surviving male clone might be able to fill a pretty cool role.
Clones? Peter Parker, dead? Nick Fury? What the heck am I talking about?
This guy!
Now that's one snappy dresser
Who is he?
Meet the Ultimate Scorpion, a character who last appeared with a pretty ominous cliffhanger in a very popular comic book, but has never been seen or heard from again. He’s got all of the powers of Spider-Man (I think), along with a badass scorpion tail grafted onto his spine. Too bad he’s a little crazy. Other aspects of that clone story are still around and have very prominent roles. But for some reason, Ultimate Scorpion has been completely forgotten. Why is that? I want to know! The Scorpion is one of my favorite Spider-Man villains of all time, and his Ultimate counterpart was pretty badass, with a lot of potential. So whatever happened to the guy?
First, maybe I should explain a few concepts after the jump.
Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #5
Now this is more like it! We get some awesome Spider-Man action as Miles Morales finally, officially becomes the new Spider-Man. He’s got to pass through Spider-Woman, Nick Fury and Electro to do it, but Miles kicks ass with flying colors. And he’s funny, too! That’s almost a prerequisite for both Spider-Man and writer Brian Michael Bendis, but here it’s delightful. Miles isn’t Peter Parker, but it’s great to see that Spider-Man will still be witty.
Ultimate Spider-Man #5
If only the Ultimate Universe wasn’t such a crappy place these days.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
If Marvel sticks with the tradition of having 6-issue story arcs, then this was the penultimate chapter of Miles Morales’ origin story. Which means we’ve got one more issue to go to wrap this thing up in a bow. I wonder what’s going to happen. Is Miles going to get his own super-villain? Maybe we’ll finally see his parents again. Or maybe he’ll hang out with Aunt May for some reason. Either way, this was a good issue, it’s good to see Miles in his own costume and I’m definitely ready to see this young man spread his webs and fly.
Though I’d probably still make the better Spider-Man. Spoilers after the jump.
Amazing Spider-Man Looks Amazing
I have good news for all Spider-Man video game fans. Based on the trailers that debuted for the Amazing Spider-Man movie tie-in game this weekend, it looks like everyone’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is going back to his sandbox, open world web-swinging style! The past two Spidey games, Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time, back-tracked to more focused, straight-forward, confined swinging. The last game, which I didn’t play, apparently even stuck players indoors. Lame!
Everybody knows that the best Spider-Man video game ever was Spider-Man 2, the game that introduced the idea of an open world Manhattan and a Spider-Man who could web-swing from building to building, just like the real Spidey. And that was also a movie tie-in game, so there’s a lot of hope for this game – if not the movie as well.
Which part of Spider-Man's origin is 'untold'?
Too bad it looks like he’s focusing on fighting giant robots for some reason.
First, a teaser trailer with some game move:
And then there was a longer, story-based trailer:
Looking damn good!
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #4
The new Ultimate Spider-Man series slows down with issue #4 so that we can all catch up to what came before: the death of Peter Parker. Miles Morales has his spider-powers, so now it’s time to find out how and why he became the new Spider-Man. On the one hand, it makes perfect sense to tie his decisions directly into the death of the first Spider-Man. But on the other hand, this makes for a slow issue filled with moments we’ve already seen before. And it doesn’t give us any new insight or surprises to go along with those moments.
Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #4
But a last page cliffhanger promises some excitement for issue #5.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
The low rating does not reflect poor quality, but instead the lack of story. By all means, this issue is written quite well and Miles continues to be a compelling protagonist. But as I said, this issue is just a retread of everything we’ve seen before. The story of Miles Morales has finally caught up to where Peter Parker’s Ultimate Spider-Man series left off. So this issue is basically just a paint-by-numbers look at what Miles was up to in between Peter’s death and his fight with the Kangaroo from Ultimate Fallout #4.
We don’t see any character beyond Miles and Ganke and we still don’t have his black and red Spider-Man costume. Though this issue does mark the start of Miles’ first-person narration thought balloons. That might liven things up from here on out.
Who is the New Scarlet Spider?
One panel I missed at NYC Comic-Con was the Spider-Man panel by Marvel Comics, where they announced a new ongoing Scarlet Spider series for 2012. That was a shame. The Scarlet Spider is one of mine and my brother’s favorite characters ever. He’s actually a clone of Peter Parker, Spider-Man, who has all of the same powers. During the Clone Saga in the mid-90s, he used his powers for good alongside the real Spider-Man. He had a neat costume and had a lot of heroic adventures.
Until he died.
Happens to the best of us.
Well now he’s coming back…sort of! I’ve done a few posts so far about the various teases, well now I have the full scoop!The name ‘Scarlet Spider’ is coming back, at least, in a new ongoing series. Marvel debuted the first cover and a really clear picture of the character at Comic-Con.
I miss the torn blue hoodie
The question is…who is under the mask?
That’s a big mystery for now, though I have one really good guess that I’ll save to the end. I found an interview with writer Chris Yost talking about the upcoming series. It seems the new Scarlet will be something of a fugitive after the current Spider-Island storyline. He’ll be making his way down to Texas and Mexico, which could be pretty cool. New supporting characters, new villains, plus some old villains with the mothballs dusted off.
This is sort of a dangerous idea, frankly. A new series with all new characters banking only on a nostalgic name/concept. It’s going to have to be stellar to not get cancelled right away. Still, I expect to enjoy it for however long we have it.
As to my theory on the identity of the new Scarlet Spider…it’s Kaine!
Spider-Island is coming to an end in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, and in the last issue, Kaine recovered from being a monster. He was transformed back into a normal looking person – albeit one who looks exactly like Peter Parker. For Kaine is another clone. He’s just still around, as opposed to the original Scarlet Spider. The two were actually enemies/reluctant allies back in the 90s. So it would be fitting for Kaine to take on his fellow clone’s superhero identity.
And I would love if it was Kaine.
Kaine is OK!
Henchman-4-Hire 