Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3: Double Trouble

Just when I thought the game plan of the "Ultimate Spider-Man" with regards to the love life of his alter-ego Peter Parker was to go directly to Mary Jane Watson, passing Betty Bryant and Gwen Stacy, when scribe Brian Michael Bendis drops the later into the action. This version of Gwen is big on the mascara and perfectly willing to pull a switchblade on a bully, both of which are completely valid reasons for Peter to have his eyes pop out of his head when he looks at her. Not even her police Captain father can reign in this blonde tornado.At this point in the comic book the stage is merely being set for the impending love triangle, but I have to tell you that what is happening here is clearly a take off on "Dawson's Creek." Seriously. Peter is Dawson, Mary Jane is Joey, and Gwen is Jen (No, Flash is not Pacey; Kong is closer to being Pacey than Flash, but Peter Parker does not have a friend, which means Harry is not Pacey either). This should prove to be interesting, especially given that Mary Jane already know's Peter's big secret. But at this point the main problem is that Aunt May has an over inflated opinion about her nephew's love life. Yes, things might actually be worse for our hero this time around.The title of "Double Trouble" has to do with the fact that in this collection of "Ultimate Spider-Man" #14-21, Spider-Man has not one but two villains after him (I was going to say two super villains, but that would not be the case). The new and improved bad guys this time around are Doctor Octopus, who has come out of his coma to discover his tentacles are fused to his skin, and Kraven the Hunter, who is now a reality television star from Down Under. Clearly, the more you know about the original Spider-Man comics and his various foes the more you will enjoy Bendis's refinements and provocative changes. At the end of this collection Spider-Man enjoys his biggest moment in the sun since the spider bit him, which quickly follows with a particularly low moment for Peter. Even when we think we know the rules of the game, Bendis continues to surprise us."Double Trouble" is the third trade paperback collection of "Ultimate Spider-Man" comics, which re-imagines the webhead as a younger Peter Parker trying to learn the ropes of being a superhero. But for those who read the first couple hundred issues of the original "Amazing Spider-Man" this is a hyper retelling of the tale. Forget all the ... superheroes Spidey had to fight with; this time around the focus is on the best and the baddest. The biggest difference between these first 21 issues of "Ultimate Spider-Man" and the original comic is that a single issue is no longer a complete story; it takes eight issues for the conflict between Spidey and Doc Ock to develop and be resolved. Consequently, we have the rather paradoxical fact that things are happening much faster for Spider-Man in this retelling of the tale while taking longer to develop. I continue to be impressed by this brilliant "re-imagining," which is drawn by Mark Bagley with inks by Art Thibert and Erik Benson.

I love Bendis' take on Spider-Man, and this amazing volume is a great example on how well he understands the character. Out of all of the legendary Spider-man books I've read, this, even though the stakes in this book may seem smaller then others, really stands out. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. Came early and in perfect condition.

This graphic novel was well written and the art work is at a very high standard.

When I was a kid, I loved reading Marvel comics. This Ultimate Universe has completely revived that childhood enthusiasm. This is the way I wanted to see my favorite characters revitalized.

Awesome old story. The ultimate universe is awesome and this is spidey’s young years.

I love the Ultimate series. Trying to collect all the issues is so fun

As advertised. Thanks.

Great book and great way to introduce Dr Otto aka doctor octopus and leaven the Hunter. Also wonderful way to start showing shield and other avenger characters like doctor prym aka antman.

This volume collects Ultimate Spider-man 14-21 and introduces villains Doctor Octopus and Kraven the hunter.It shows us what happened to Otto Octavious after the lab accident at Oscorp, as he swears revenge on the man responsible for the tentacles fused to his body. I very much enjoyed this take on the classic spidey villain and the two great fights between him and spidey. I also enjoyed this version of Kraven, as in this universe he is actually an australian tv star who hunts spider-man as his new 'prey'. We are also introduced to Gwen Stacy, who seems more goth-like and sassy than her 616 counterpart, which in my opinion made her much more interesting.All in all it was a great book an I enjoyed it all the way through. I love this series so far and it is a must read for spidey fans!

Magnificent story telling and a great battle to cap it off. Vindication for Spiderman. It works great on Kindle. I shall be continuing eagerly with this series.

Bought this as a present for a young relative, but found I couldn't put this comic book down.

The first two volumes are very much introducing us to Peter Parker and his alter-ego Spiderman, they are quite serious as the first is about Peter living up to his responsibilities and the second about Peter dealing with being tagged as a menace when he tries to help the people.This book though is a lot more relaxed and enjoyable, as Spiderman not only faces Doc Oc but Kraven. I love how they bring Kraven in as like with the original comics but the writers must have realised that even if Kraven was tough he was still only human and Spiderman could easily take him. I didn't like Kraven in the original comics and thought of him as a weak villian (the whole obsession of capturing Spiderman bored me) and realising they were bring him in the Ultimate Spiderman didn't feel me with excitement. In spite of this I loved how Spiderman deals with Kraven after battling Doc Oc.An awesome read

This is another great addition to the Ultimate Spider-Man series, this one features both Doc Ock and Kraven, a must have for all web-heads.