Ultimate Spider-Man #16 proves why this book is considered the best Marvel book. Ultimate Spider-Man has always found ways to impress readers, and the book has been dropping huge shocks on readers in the last several issues. Ultimate Spider-Man #15 started a new life for the Parkers, and Ultimate Spider-Man #16 finally gives readers the Gwen Stacy focused issue that they have been waiting for. What follows is yet another shocking book that completely changes everything about the story so far. Things have changed in the comic industry since Ultimate Spider-Man kicked off, with DC’s Absolute books sucking a lot of air out of the room, but Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is exactly the kind of attention-grabbing comic the book needed. As most of the plot revolves around the biggest reveals of the issue, just be aware that there are SPOILERS FOR ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #16 BEYOND THIS POINT.
Jonathan Hickman has a reputation for being the best writer in comics, and Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is an example of why. Gwen Stacy is something of a controversial character in recent years. She’s always been considered one of the most important Spider-Man characters, but Marvel’s insistence on her as the most important Spider-Man girlfriend has angered a lot of readers, most of whom never read a story starring the original Gwen. Ultimate Spider-Man is the book for people who don’t want what Marvel editorial is selling in the 616, so Hickman has to walk a delicate path with Gwen. So, in Ultimate Spider-Man #16, he blasts everything we thought we knew about Gwen Stacy to pieces and uses it to change the book, setting it on an entirely new path.
In fact, Hickman also uses Ultimate Spider-Man #16 to completely change another Spider-Man villain, Mysterio. There are five Mysterios in the Ultimate Universe, and the Stacy family is a part of that number. Gwen’s father, a police captain in the 616, was a Mysterio, and upon his death, Gwen takes his place. This is a massive bombshell, and it gets bigger from there. Hickman has built this Gwen in an entirely different direction throughout the book; Ultimate Gwen has definitely been hiding something. Giving readers Gwen as Mysterio is a brilliant idea, and the mission of Mysterio — to reveal the truth about the Maker to the world — gives us an idea of why Gwen has acted the way she has. We get to see her throughout her life in the issue, and the role she’s played in Harry’s mission as the Green Goblin. It honestly feels like there’s a great surprise on every page of the issue. Writing like this is why fans love this book so much, and that’s before you even get to the end of the issue (which I won’t spoil because you need to see it for yourself). This is peak Hickman.
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Marco Checchetto is back on pencils for this issue and it’s obviously gorgeous. This is a mostly quiet issue — there’s not much action at all in the issue — so the script lives and dies by Checchetto’s ability to sell the emotion and the shock of the moment. He does a spectacular job on every single page. Checchetto perfectly captures every moment in this book. He brings to life a date between Gwen and Harry. He sells us Gwen’s sadness upon the death of each of her parents. We get to see the resolve of the character, the iron that has been under Gwen’s facade since she first appeared in the book. There’s a scene between Norman Osborn and Gwen where they seem to bond over their shared secrets, that just feels so momentous, all because of the way they look at each other. This is pitch perfect character acting.
But that’s not the only reason that the art is amazing. The introduction of the Mysterios has the perfect vibes, all dark and mysterious which fits into the idea of a group who have bought into their own mystique. Later in the book, we get to moments we’ve already we’ve seen in the book, with a Mysterio over Gwen’s shoulder. It’s an interesting way to show both sides of Gwen in each scene, and Checchetto really nails it. Also, the new Mysterio design? Awesome. It’s still very obviously Mysterio, but Checchetto makes changes to it that fit the new Mysterio ideas that Hickman introduces in this issue.
Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is brilliant. There’s really no other way to say it. Hickman takes two separate classic Spider-Man characters, mixes them together, and creates something new and exciting. Issues like this are we love Ultimate Spider-Man. Checchetto’s art is the icing on the cake, really selling everything that Hickman puts down in the book. Gushing over Ultimate Spider-Man can seem a little cliche at this point, but issues like this keep giving us reasons to.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Published by Marvel
Released on April 30, 2025
Written by Jonthan Hickman
Art by Marco Checcetto
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Letters by Cory Petit
Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is on sale now.
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