Sorry about the delay on this one folks. (yes i know two days really isn’t that much of a delay but what the heck) Its been a busy couple of days and now I’m really getting into this series. I’m almost two arcs ahead of my reviews and i cant stop reading this series. It is just to good to put it down. In any case here’s my review of the third arc of Ultimate Spiderman: “Double Trouble”.

This arc kinda puts me in a weird spot because the story is good but the art and the depiction of the main villain isn’t what I would have liked it to be. This whole arc centers around a couple of different problems that are based on events that unfolded in arc 1; Mainly the lab accident at Oscorp. The main villain of this series was born from that accident and to this day this is my personal favorite villain: Doctor Octopus. Yes ladies and gents Doc Ock (aka Doctor Octopus) is making his debut in the Ultimate Spiderman universe and it is awesome.

I can’t help but get giddy whenever I see Doc Ock in the frame, but the way Bendis and Bagley portrayed him was not my favorite. First of all how did he get so ripped? He’s a scientist. When was the last time you saw guy wearing a lab coat that had biceps as big as my thigh, especially if that scientist was in a coma for two months? My second big problem was with his bionic arms. In this universe they can morph and change shape like something out of Terminator 2. Now I know this is a comic series and not all of it is going to be scientifically possible, but come on: they morphed into guns and started shooting. That is a little bit over the top for me. Sorry about that rant, but I really like this villain and they messed him up in my book. To me, they couldn’t have made a better Doc Ock in the movie.

Ok now that that is out of my system on to the rest of the arc: There are a few main issues that pop up in this arc. Justin Hammer, the competition of Norman Osborn and the employer of Otto Octavious to work as a spy, makes his debut and Doc Ock is trying to kill him for turning him into a freak. That makes it Spiderman’s job to save him. At the same time, however, a TV star by the name of Kraven the hunter–a guy I can only describe as a violent Steve Irwin–wants to hunt Spiderman and kill him. On top of all that Pete’s got a girlfriend to look after–the one and only Mary Jane Watson. This arc really starts putting the pressure on Peter as a character: at one point, a student figures out that Peter is Spiderman and that is the last thing Pete needs to deal with. I do have to give Bagley or Bendis (whosever decision it was) major props for putting the student that figured out Pete’s secret, in a NOFX T-Shirt. That is one of my favorite bands and to see them put that in the comic just made it that much easier to relate to

This arc is very hectic and fast paced but it has a great storyline. Like I said, the portrayal of Doc ock could have been done better but you get over that pretty quick because of Bendis’ storyline and the phenomenal art of Bagley. Overall its a good arc but its not my favorite.