Ultimate Spider-Man #13 (2001)
Chosen by me from my shelf, breaking with the format a little here by not choosing the first issue of a run. But this is a special comic.
Remember Smallville where the main character was an arsehole who lied to everyone he loves?
Remember the episode of Buffy where her mom had died and they deal with that but still had a fight with a vampire?
Ultimate Spider-man issue 13 is the counter to those things that annoy me*.
Set for it's entire 23 pages inside Peter Parker's bedroom with just him and MJ for the bulk of it (May makes a funny appearance getting a couple of good jokes in and one of MJ's parents is off panel, the other end of a phone call). There's a tiny use of his powers, no fights and all the conflict comes from Aunt May worrying about "hanky panky".
And it is as gripping, hilarious and dramatic as any superhero comic could be.
Of course Parker, a teenage boy, can't keep his being Spider-man a secret from the person he loves most in the world. And her reaction is adorable.
Bagley's work here is exquisite - selling each bit of acting required perfectly (look at Peter's face on the two panels of the last page) and some fine comedy chops (MJ falling off the bed is as good a physical pratfall as a static image could do).
Bendis' writing is top of his game. The characters are all likeable, real in their own way - even with his slightly stylised approach to dialogue.
Of fucking course Parker tells Watson. How could he not?
*I really like The Body, and I get the argument that just because she is in mourning doesn't mean vampires stop happening in Sunnydale but it cheapens the moment and says this is a genre teevee show where certain things have to happen each week.
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