10 Hugely Influential Comics That Changed Everything
3. Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel Comics)
Brian Michael Bendis is the Joss Whedon of comics (or he was, until Joss Whedon came into the medium and became the Joss Whedon of comics). His work has long been famed for it's snappy and snarky dialogue, his deft and authentic handling of teenage characters and his superb gift for long-form storytelling. Of course, whenever he launched Ultimate Spider-Man, along with artist Mark Bagley, in the year 2000, he was an indie creator known for black and white crime comics like Torso and Jinx, so Ultimate Spider-Man is effectively ground zero for the Bendis we know today. The Ultimate Marvel line was created as a way to tell modernized re-imaginings of the stories of Marvel's core characters, dispensing with continuity in a slightly different style than DC had done with Crisis On Infinite Earths. Ultimate Spider-Man was the first series out of the blocks and quickly became a big seller. Bendis brought Spider-Man back to his awkward teenage years, and always excelled at Spidey's trademark quips. One of the finest aspects of the series is that it is genuinely funny, laugh out loud stuff at times. Bendis also created a genuine portrait of Peter and his life and loves, with the series proving very emotionally affecting. Ultimate Spider-Man is influential as the progenitor of the Ultimate line, an incarnation of which still exists today. But it also was a key text for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies, and especially Marc Webb's current Amazing Spider-Man movie franchise, featuring a teenaged Spidey, filled with snark and street smarts but also a romantic heart. Bendis also became Marvel's go-to-guy for many years in the mid to late 2000's, writing just about every event they had going, including his celebrated relaunch of The Avengers, entitled New Avengers. This led to a renewed focus from Marvel on Captain America, Thor and Iron Man, who previously had lagged far behind the X-Men and Spider-Man in sales. It could be argued that this renewed focus then led to Marvel Studios' current output of record breaking movies.
