I didn't want to like this book. I really didn't. I'm a purist in most things and I didn't think that you could just hit the reset button whenever anything goes wrong (I think Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour help prove my point). However this book is just so darn good that you can't deny it. Yes, this is the book that should convince anyone that Marvel's idea to restart their universe, by creating the Ultimate line of comics, was a good one.
I'm going to have to say the thing about Brian Michael Bendis that everyone says: he has a great ear for dialogue. I know that it's become almost cliche to say that but that doesn't make it any less true. Bendis takes him time, stretching out story points, not rushing through anything, savouring each moment. His characters act and speak like real teenagers, making their story all the more engaging and exciting.
Bagley's art is energetic and fits the tone one hundred percent. My only complaint is that sometimes he draws Mary Jane as if she were sixteen and sometimes as if she were twenty-five. Since one of the hardest things to draw is children and teenagers, however, I find it no great insult to Bagley's top notch work to say that.
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