Comic Classroom of the Week: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1

This month, Marvel launched the new face of Ultimate Spider-Man. Meet Miles Morales, a teen from NYC who is filling the role of Ultimate Spider-Man after Peter Parker's demise in issue #160 of the previous series. Issue #1 was released in mid-September and has been very well received. As someone who has every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, I was nervous about the change, but was immediately set at ease after reading the first issue (several times!).

The story starts off with Miles' family as they enter a school multi-purpose room where a lottery is taking place for admission into a charter school. This scene is very contemporary and for anyone who has seen Waiting for Superman, it really resonates. You immediately connect with Miles (who is randomly selected for the school) when he ponders the justice in getting in over so many other children. The story progresses from there, including the big reveal about how he gets his powers.


Brian Michael Bendis makes this a very accessible comic for new readers. If you or your students have NEVER read a comic before, you can pick this up and know exactly what is going on. For your students of color, this is a chance to see someone that looks like many of them donning one of the most iconic costumes in comics, in pop culture for that matter. For your reluctant readers, the sequential art provides reading cues to aide comprehension.


Subscriptions on Marvel.com are only $24. Why not get one for your class? You may need to pick up issue #1 at a comic shop, as the subscriptions take a bit to get going. While at the shop, talk to the people who work there about other books/titles they could recommend for readers in you age/level range.