The biggest draw of Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto and David Messina’s Ultimate Spider-Man isn’t just the fact that Peter Parker is a full-blown adult when he dons the web, or even the dark empire that the Maker has constructed on Earth-6160. For many, the draw was that Peter was happily married to Mary Jane Watson and had two kids, Richard and Mary. Considering that some fans have not forgotten the fallout of the infamous “One More Day” storyline in Amazing Spider-Man, seeing the Parkers operate as a family unit kept them coming back for more stories. Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 4 by Jonathan Hickman: One Last Day puts that dynamic on full display, as the series races toward its end.
This is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Hickman is clearly great at writing a family dynamic. Peter and MJ’s scenes crackle with wit, heartbreak, and plenty of tension as the battle between Spider-Man, the Green Goblin and the Kingpin’s forces escalates. Things get even more heated when Richard, who’s gained his own set of powers thanks to the symbiote he’s donned (call it what you want, I know a Venom when I see one) and starts flirting with Felicia Hardy. On the other hand, I do feel like these moments should have been spread out throughout Ultimate Spider-Man, rather than stuffed into this final arc.
It’s also a stroke of genius on Hickman’s part to compare Peter and MJ’s relationship to that of Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy’s. While Peter is willing to let MJ in on everything going on in his life, Gwen is keeping secrets – particularly the fact that she’s part of Mysterio – from Harry. She also has a ruthless streak a mile wide, which runs off on Harry the wrong way. Not only does this continue the trend of making Gwen Stacy into an actual character outside of Earth-616, but it also means that Hickman gets to give other characters similar development. Of note is Mister Negative, who gets an entire issue dedicated to his backstory as it’s revealed that he might be the biggest threat to the Kingpin’s empire.
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You can’t talk about Ultimate Spider-Man without discussing Checchetto’s work, and this might be some of the finest of his career. The moments where Spidey and Kingpin go toe to toe feel like David colliding with Goliath, if David had wisecracks to spare. Richard’s transformation into Venom also feels immensely horrifying; his body starts to bulk up and distort, finally morphing into the fanged visage Spidey fans know and loathe (or love, depending on your point of view.) Checchetto also brings a unique intimacy to scenes where Peter and MJ are by themselves, with Matthew Wilson providing the requisite color art. And I think the final page of Ultimate Spider-Man #24 is poetic, as it brings the series full circle.
Messina is no slouch himself, as he manages to inject plenty of humanity into his pages. Chief among them is a moment between Gwen and MJ; as the two talk about what’s to come, Gwen speaks in a calm, measured tone while MJ’s face is flitting between annoyance, anger, and resolve. It finally ends with MJ decking Gwen, and telling Harry how troublesome she is. Messina’s standout moments come when he illustrates Mister Negative, showcasing the monochromatic crime lord’s growth and the full power he has over his victims in the present.
In addition to the final issues of the series, One Last Day also contains the Ultimate Spider-Man story from the Ultimate Universe: Finale one-shot. It’s everything fans loved about the series in a few pages: the Parker family dynamic, Peter and MJ being a ride or die couple, and plenty of web-slinging to spare. It’s enough to make you wish the series could go on for two more years, and with the “end” of the Ultimate Universe leaving a door wide open the ball’s in Marvel’s court.
Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 4 by Jonathan Hickman: One Last Day is a near-perfect capsule of everything that works about this series, with plenty of attention given to the family dynamics. Here’s hoping that in the future, fans will get to spend more time with the Parkers.
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