ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #113Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Stuart Immonen
Bendis and his new pal, Immonen, come out swinging for the fences again this month and hit another one out of the proverbial park. This issue deals with the Norman Osborn break out at the Triskelion and the entire issue is from Norman's point of view.
I thoroughly enjoyed this new perspective and insight into the mind of Osborn and Bendis did an incredible job showing his thought process and, if he we did not already know the horrors he was responsible for, he almost comes off as a sympathetic character. He honestly believes he is sane and evolving to a higher state and that everyone else is insane.
During the breakout, he cannot understand why Dr Octopus would attack him, as he believes he is a god to him since he basically created him when his lab blew up. When Electro helps him take down Otto and offers to work for Norman, he considers Electro insane when he describes him to us. His inner dialogue is the best part of this issue and is a real eye opener in terms of where the character is at and what his current motivations and state of mind is. Excellent job on Bendis' part.
As I stated, the issue deals with Norman's escape. After 'hulking out', for lack of a better term for his transformation, Norman frees other inmates with his giant explosion. Some of the people escaping appear to be Omega Red, Kraven and what looked like Gwen Stacey, or her Carnage clone, since the real one is dead. During the breakout, Doc Ock attacks Norman, telling him he sold him out and gave Nick Fury the Oz formula. I like how each holds their own against the other and the fight seems fairly even until Electro zaps Ock from behind and offers his services to Norman. Electro can fly apparently. It has been a while since I read an issue with him in it and, while I remember he can hover with a static type charge or something, I have never seen him outright fly away Superman style. He promises to meet up with Norman later and leaves him to fight his way out.
During the escape, Norman takes out several SHIELD helicopters and crashes one into a large group of civilians before making his escape. Newscasts showed Vulture being captured by Captain America, but SHIELD had covered up the names of all those involved that did not make it on the news.
Norman, with his insane dislike of Fury, opts to take his story to the press and blame SHIELD for incarcerating him without a trial and stealing his work as well as blaming them for turning him into a monster. Again, the inner dialogue he has during this TV segment is telling of the madness of his character and extremely well done. The issue ends with Peter and MJ walking down town discussing a double date with Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four before seeing a shop with a wall of TVs displaying Norman's segment.
Immonen continues to impress and my only complaint is that the colouring seems a little dull compared to his Nextwave work, but that is not his fault. Another great issue by both creators and things are looking up for the Ultimate Spider-Man title as of late. I wonder if Norman will revert to his Green Goblin persona quickly or if he will be absolved of his crimes for the time being and become more of a personal threat to Peter, similar to after he returned from the dead in the 616 Marvel Universe.
Verdict - Must Read
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