I've never been a big Spider-Man fan. I was more into the DC universe because it seemed to have the idea that heroes became heroes because it was the right thing to do while in Marvel they became heroes because they were rejected by the rest of society. Spider-Man's always been a little different in that but I had gotten tired of the plot and his reasons for doing things. Brian Michael Bendis turns that around with The Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1 Power and Responsibility.
This version of Spider-Man is supposed to be new for the 21st century. I wasn't familiar with early Spider-Man stories except his origin (who doesn't know his origin?) but I really like what Bendis did to acknowledge what has come before and to make the material his own. The pacing in the first volume is really interesting. It's practically a day by day account of Peter's life the day before he's bitten by the spider to the moment he fights his first super-villain.
The dialogue is snappy and I really like the use of the narration box to actually give Peter a voice. It could have been done with all thought balloons but the box makes it tidier. The art isn't bad. The hardest thing in comics is to give a feeling of motion and Mark Bagley does an OK job of convincing the reader that Peter can do the things he can.
This is my second time through these books so I'm giving it a 4.
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