Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3 Cover

So, I’m pretty sure that I’ve said this many times before, but my favorite part of Ultimate Spider-Man is the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a good relationship drama. Apparently, Brian Michael Bendis is too, cause he really makes the personal life of Spider-Man the highlight of the book. Sure, there’s a lot of great action and cool plots about villains, but I feel like the heart of the book lies in Peter’s real life and how he balances that with his responsibilities as Spider-Man.

In Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3, Peter and Mary Jane’s relationship really takes the forefront in the book. Why is that? Cause this entire issue is about whether Peter and Mary Jane should “go all the way”. Oh yes, my friends, this book is all about Spidy-Sex. So stick around and see what I think about this little comic with my full review below.

Despite the fact that this issue has been talked about for being about Peter and Mary Jane deciding if they should take their relationship to the next level, there was surprisingly not a whole lot on this subject. I was actually a little disappointed. Ok, that’s not really fair. I wasn’t really that disappointed. I guess I wasn’t really expecting there to be a whole lot of “fighting bad guys” in this issue, based on the way it was marketed. But actually, the sub-plot of Mysterio is actually somewhat interesting and set up a great plot for future USM issues. As for the main plot of Mary Jane and Peter’s sex life, it was handled very well by Brian Michael Bendis. I felt like it was very realistic in the way a mature high school couple would approach the situation. They feel pressure from society but their own maturity makes them question what the right move is. I can see why the editors at Marvel decided that this was a ok issue to run. In fact, I would encourage parents to give this book to their pre-teens and use this as a way to approach them on the subject. Yes, it is that good.

Look at how cute Peter and MJ are!

Surprisingly, I was very happy with the art on this book. No, it is not as good as Stuart Immonen on the on-going series, and definitely isn’t as good as Mark Bagley’s work in the first 111 issues of USM (still miss you, Bags!), but it works well based on the story that is being told. I’ve heard people criticize David Lafuente’s style, especially the way he draws characters. Personally, I like it. I actually think that Peter and Mary Jane are drawn more realistically here than on the main book. They actually look like they are 15 in this annual. Sometimes, they look like high school seniors in the on-going. And Lafuente does great work with character expressions. When Peter and MJ talk, you can really feel the emotions jumping off the page. Great complement to Bendis’ words. My only real complaint is the lack of detail in some frames. I understand that is his style, but I just don’t care for it when artists don’t “complete” the scene, for lack of a better term. Feels rushed to me and like I am not getting all that I can out of each panel. But honestly, that is a very minor complaint for an otherwise really great job on art.

So there you have it, a shining review for this USM Annual. I think this would be a great issue to pick up if you haven’t read any Ultimate Spider-Man before and want to see if you like it. This issue really shows off all the great aspects of this title and might even provide a good jumping on point for new readers.