Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 18: Ultimate Knights

by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley

Ultimate Marvel team-up Ultimate Daredevil attempts to enlist Spider-Man in a crusade to bring down the Kingpin - permanently. But with his Aunt's life hanging by a thread, and his serious girl problems with MJ and Kitty Pryde, crimebusting may be the last thing on young Mr. Parker's mind. Collecting ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #106-111.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785121366
• ISBN13: 9780785121367
• Release Date: May 2014
• Publisher: Ultimate Universe
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.6" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

Spidey Teams Up to Fight Kingpin

Spidey teams up with Daredevil, Shang, Iron Fist, Moonlight, and Dr Strange to bring down Kingpin. Even Kitty Pryde lends a hand. The fight is only somewhat interesting. The most interesting part of the book is deeper insight into Moonlight's multiple personalities.

everything the last guy said, but........

.........the edition I just finished had issue 111 in it. And it rocked. Now I need Vol 19. Lets go. Now

Bendis and Bagley set a record as Spider-Man and Daredeveil take down the Kingpin

"Ultimate Knights" was the last story arc on "Ultimate Spider-Man" that writer Brian Michael Bendis and penciler Mark Bagley did together in establishing a new record for most consecutive issues done by a writer-artist team (the previous record had been Stan Lee and Jack Kirby doing the first 102 issues of "The Fantastic Four"). Volume 18 of these "Ultimate Spider-Man" trade paperback collections contains issues #106-110, and knowing it is the last story arc by Bendis and Bagley (inked by Drew Hennessy) together makes me think that explains why they throw so many Ultimate Marvel superheroes into the mix for this last roundup. I have to say that I thought there were too many superheroes running around in this one and that they overly complicate the end game that is the payoff here. As the cover indicates, we start off with Daredevil, who back in "Ultimate Spider-Man Annual" #2 had warned our young hero off of trying to be a teenage superhero. Now, as his alter ego, lawyer Matt Murdock, Daredevil offers Spider-Man to be in on an opportunity to help take down Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime in New York City. That leads to a meet of a group that includes not only Daredevil but also Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Dr. Strange, and Moon Knight. The plan is to send Moon Knight, or rather Ronin, a new aspect of his fractured personality, undercover as a new hit man for the Kingpin and infiltrate the crime organization with the goal of bringing it and the Sidney Greenstreet-clone at the top of it down. The problem is that Moon Knight is so submerged in his Ronin persona then when the Kingpin order's him to capture Spider-Man, that is exactly what he does. The high point of this story ends up being a very interesting little talk between Fisk and Peter, in which the Kingpin makes it clear that he "owns" Spider-Man in a way that young Peter Parker could never have imagined. On the one hand "Ultimate Knights" does not really have a counterpart in the original "Amazing Spider-Man," but it does resonate off of what has happened the past year with Marvel's "Civil War," where so many secret identities have been revealed. Bendis and Bagley deal with what happens to essential loners like Spider-Man and Daredevil when somebody like the Kingpin knows who they are; there is an inherent limitation in that superheroes never just go out and kill the people who know their secret identity, although convenient deaths often become a part of the equation. But not with Bendis and Bagley, who feel compelled to find a more creative way to maintain the equilibrium of their characters in a chaotic world. Besides, this one ends with a nice little ironic twist and you know how much I like irony. Ever since "Ultimate Spider-Man" hit the century mark the problems created by those who know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man have become more prominent. Now that Aunt May knows that changes a lot of things, and the next major story arc, "To Kill a Goblin," is going to deal with what No