Ultimate Spider-Man is getting into the holiday spirit to close out its first year. The breakout hit of Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe has flipped the Spidey mythos on its head, introducing a married-with-kids Peter Parker and a heroic Green Goblin. Peter and Mary Jane are a happily married couple with two kids, Richard and May Parker. May was the first person in the family to discover that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, with the rest of the family finding out later. Mary Jane supports Peter’s double life, but how long will that last with Wilson Fisk’s Sinister Six lurking as a threat? That’s all put on the back burner as Ultimate Spider-Man prepares for Christmas.
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ComicBook has the exclusive first look at Ultimate Spider-Man #12 by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto, on sale December 18th. The Christmas tree is lit and the Parker Family is all gathered together, including Uncle Ben, J. Jonah Jameson, and Mary Jane’s family. Aunt Anna can be seen sitting on the couch on the first page, holding a hand-drawn picture of Jonah by May. The young Parker is also holding another drawing of Spider-Man’s mask behind her back.
The second page features MJ’s mother Madeline. MJ and Madeline are in the kitchen preparing a dish of food when May walks over and requests her mother’s cell phone. Madeline’s body language reads as if she’s not pleased with something, but we also could be reading that wrong. Next, we see MJ’s sister Gayle, with the two sisters in a tense conversation by the Christmas tree.
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We wrap up the Christmas get-together with Peter and MJ reunited in the kitchen. They both seem to be having a good time as Peter smiles wearing his “Secret Santa” sweater, and MJ leaning in to whisper something in Peter’s ear.
The last piece of art we have to show off is a variant cover of Ultimate Spider-Man #12 by Pepe Larraz, as May catches Peter trying to get out of his Spider-Man costume in the hallway. Spider-Man toys can be seen on the floor, including the Spider-Mobile, Doctor Octopus, Iron Man, Green Goblin, black suit Spidey and Spider-Man in his classic red-and-blue costume.
A description of Ultimate Spider-Man #12 reads, “A VERY MERRY SPIDER-CHRISTMAS? Season’s greetings from the Parker family! But why is Peter acting so strangely during the most wonderful time of the year? And what’s got Gwen so concerned? Don’t miss the thrilling conclusion of the second arc – and the first year – of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN!”
Ultimate Spider-Man recently continued its trend of finding unique ways to reintroduce characters by making the name “Ben Reilly” a pseudonym for Uncle Ben and J. Jonah Jameson, when they reported on the dirty deeds of Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin. Ultimate Spider-Man will look to close out the year with more confrontations with the Sinister Six.
