ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, No. 1 (Hickman / Chechetto; Marvel, 2024)

At last, not only a Spidey book on the pull list, but a Hickman book. With the exception of his debut, THE NIGHTLY NEWS, I've mostly tuned out of the Hickman renaissance – including the entirety of his X-MEN run (in my defense, I wasn't really reading comics at that point); G.O.D.S. which failed, in every respect, to grab me; and ULTIMATE UNIVERSE, which followed suit (Note: probably would have been better had I read ULTIMATE INVASION; will add those issues to my list). Here, though, I get it: this is the perfect collision of writer and artist and mythology (FWIW: I couldn't care less if Peter is married or not: my objection to him not being married in the mainstream continuity is how it was accomplished, for lack of a better word) and willingness to push into new and daring and exciting areas: it's the first time the Ultimate Universe hasn't read like proto-MCU since its inception. Early mid-life crisis Spidey is something new, something intriguing. This is a special book that lives up to the hype and then some: I'm in it for the long haul – and will most definitely be giving the other upcoming Ultimate books (BLACK PANTHER / X-MEN) a try.