This series relives the adventures that Spiderman has in the current Ultimate Spiderman TV show. The issues do this by taking pictures from the show and then planting them in the comic with some dialogue. Basically, you get to read the episodes in case you don’t watch TV. It can definitely seem like a cash grab since it’s very easy to make these, but I doubt that they sell very well either. Ah well, let’s see if these issues hold up well anyway.

One of the issues involves Harry Osborn as he becomes Venom. Spiderman’s going to have to deal with this threat, but Harry is his friend so that presents a pretty big dilemma for our young hero. Spiderman’s going to have to convince Harry to give up his newfound power the easy way…or the hard way!

Another comic involves the Taskmaster. Doctor Octopus hires him to infiltrate Spiderman’s high school to find out which student he is. Peter Parker is quickly dropped from suspicion since he’s not very good physically, but Iron Fist, Harry Osborn, and Flash Thompson are suspected to possibly be the hero. Spiderman can’t let them fall into harm’s way so it’s time to suit up once more. Will he be able to defeat this vicious foe!?

The Living Laser strikes in a team up comic that features Iron Man as a guest star. Tony Stark gives Spiderman an Iron Spider armor, which immediately gets to the web crawler’s head. His teammates become irritated at this and decide to give him the cold shoulder. Spiderman can’t be deterred and there’s still a villain to stop. He’ll do this…even if he has to do it alone!

Finally, we have a comic with the Hulk. Mary Jane guest stars (It’s a little scary to think that one of the biggest Spiderman supporting characters has been reduced to a guest star role….) as she wants to film this to show the world what a hero Spiderman can be. Spidey is happy to hear it since he hasn’t gotten such good press in a long time. Unfortunately, happy days are cut short as the Hulk engages in battle with a being made of electricity. SHIELD and the government may be after the Hulk, but whose side will Spiderman take? You don’t want to miss it!

I have to say that the usage of the pictures was a little more awkward than usual. They didn’t do a good job of making sure that they make sense. This results in fights that end very abruptly and the characters are already moving onto the next subject. Naturally, they can’t take a picture of every second, but this results in very stilted dialogue and plots. It’s especially noticeable if you’ve seen the show and then you can see all of the parts that are missing. They do manage to cover a lot of ground with these pictures so whoever’s in charge gets some props. It just could have been a little better and more seamless.

Naturally, I can’t even talk about the dialogue or the art that much because it’s all taken from the TV show. This is not a new experience so you should definitely not be reading it if that’s what you’re looking for. At least it is an interesting alternative to watching the show and I still think it would be interesting to see if anyone actually does make that choice.

It’s not really necessary to talk about the character portrayals all that much since it’s the same from the show. In light of this, I’ll just quickly speak about them. Hulk is safely in character, although he looks pretty weak. Zzax is as tough as always, but he’s still not very smart. Taskmaster is a pretty good villain and he was probably the toughest hand to hand fighter that Spiderman’s been up against in a while. Harry is pretty good for the most part and he handled his powers pretty wisely. (Too bad Peter wrecked it) Mary Jane is in character as well and Coulson takes everything in stride. The heroes openly try to mock him, but Coulson’s always prepared.

Peter Parker continues to show the world why he can barely make it as a superhero. He makes a lot of mistakes and he doesn’t act like he has a lot of experience. I can see why his teammates don’t trust him even if they don’t perform much better. I like Spiderman’s portrayal in the show, but just judging from these comics….he doesn’t look so good. Even his famed Spider Sense can’t save him now!

Overall, this is a decent collection of comics. The Iron Man, Venom, and Taskmaster ones were pretty interesting, but I didn’t care for the Hulk story all that much. I am glad that Spiderman stepped up and went against the government. That took character! The action is decent, but the comedy can be a bit much. I can’t recommend this to anyone who saw the show since the show is the definitive way of experiencing these adventures. If you have not watched the show, then these stories can be fun. Remember, it’s just a bunch of pictures that are placed together so don’t come in expecting a lot of artwork. It’s a unique reading experience and it definitely won’t be for everyone. I prefer this to bad art, but I’ll take a comic with average art over this style. You may like this comic for the fight scenes or it may not be enough. I’d sooner just recommend reading the original Spiderman comics from the 60s.

Overall 6/10