Review - Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 7: Irresponsible

When Peter and Gwen sneak out to attend a house party, they encounter a student named Geldoff from another school who possesses the ability of combustion. After an incident where Geldoff was causing cars to explode, Peter intervenes as Spider-Man in an attempt to get Geldoff to recognize the severity of his actions. Before he can sway him one way or the other, they are confronted by the X-Men, who are determined to bring Geldoff back with them to Professor Xavier.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 7: Irresponsible collects Ultimate Spider-Man #40-45, written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Mark Bagley.

One of the most notable aspects of Irresponsible is the total lack of supervillains within its narrative. Instead, Bendis and Bagley take a more human approach to storytelling as they present Peter with a dilemma instead of a full-blown superheroic conflict. This results in a rather slow and somewhat torturous read. The premise is basically “what happens when the awkward foreign student gets powers and becomes popular?” There’s no real stakes since Geldoff doesn’t come across as a real threat. He blows up some cars, but that’s about it. The majority of the issues that make up this arc are essentially characters standing around talking to each other. Aside from the fact that Peter and Mary Jane reconcile after breaking up for a while and Peter meeting the X-Men, it feels like nothing of import actually happens. That’s not to say there aren’t some memorable moments. The X-Men’s inclusion in this arc really adds some much needed energy to the otherwise limp narrative. From Kitty’s fangirling over Spider-Man to an impressive action sequence involving Jean and Storm saving Spider-Man, Kitty and Geldoff during an impending plane crash, the X-Men create a sense of urgency and dynamism that really intensifies the world that Spider-Man occupies.

Given my issues with this dialogue heavy arc, it’s a surprise that my favourite issue in this collection is one that features almost no action and that’s essentially start to finish dialogue. Set in a therapist’s office, issue 45 sees Aunt May reflecting on the current state of her life and making several revelations about her feelings towards Peter, Gwen, and Spider-Man. It’s a truly intimate issue that gives readers a rare glimpse into Aunt May’s world and shows us the remarkable interiority of this character. It’s shockingly quite riveting as a read as it offers us different perspectives on supporting characters that are otherwise only ever seen through Peter’s lens. Getting to see how Aunt May is dealing with the grief of the loss of her family members, of Captain Stacy, and how she’s “using” Gwen as a coping mechanism is absolutely fascinating.

In these issues, artist Mark Bagley had to ensure the characters were as expressive as possible. Since much of this arc relied upon the feelings and thoughts of the characters involved, he had to narrow his focus and illustrate a lot of close-up reaction shots. This is especially evident in the aforementioned therapy issue. He carefully crafts each of Aunt May’s facial mannerisms to accompany the dialogue, which helps plot how she’s feeling at any given moment. There’s also a scene where Peter and Mary Jane are passing notes in class. Each panel is kept tight on their faces as they react to what’s being written. It’s really engaging since we’re seeing how they feel without being told. Beyond that, we’re seeing Bagley allowing the characters to grow through the visuals. Mary Jane is adopting a shorter hairstyle that is more refined, while Peter’s odd wispy bangs aren’t quite as jagged as usual. It’s also worth mentioning that we get to see the Ultimate versions of the X-Men in Bagley’s style. For the most part, he does a great job. I quite like how he captures Kitty’s youth and he really makes Jean pop on the page, but he struggles to make Storm’s hair a consistent style since he gives her weird bangs and the colorist doesn’t make her skin dark enough.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 7: Irresponsible is a bit of a chore. It has a lot of pacing problems and it struggles to maintain the momentum that the previous arcs built upon. Since it’s very heavy in dialogue, it may be a deterrent to some readers who are looking for something that’s less introspective and has more in the way of action. The issues with the X-Men are the most entertaining, but the Aunt May-centric issue 45 is also worth reading. Otherwise, it’d be quite easy to skip over this collection.

RATING: C