I’m usually against decade lists, especially those conducted when that decade hasn’t even finished yet. However, after seeing this topic on a message board and considering it, I feel I can write more fully the topic of comic books from the decade more than I could with music or films. I’m not as in to comic books these days, but between 2003 and 2007 they were my life, pretty much. Some pretty awesome comic books were produced during that period and here I count them down.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN (written by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Mark Bagley, published by Marvel, issues #1 to #111 published 2000 to 2007)

Its seem a little bit of a disservice to the creators involved on this book that I’m going to try and talk about their seven year, 111 issue run on this title in a single blog post knocked out between lectures. After all, the only way they produced over two-and-a-half-thousands pages of material was by hard work, dedication and sheer endurence. I don’t feel worthy enough to even gush over their work without a giant stone weighting down on my shoulders.

The Ultimate imprint was started by Marvel in 2000 as a way of creating books for the tide of new readers being brought in by Marvel’s developing prominence in other media. This may have been before the first X-Men movie or the Spider-Man movies, but Marvel was coming out of bankruptcy and they knew – or at least President Bill Jemas believe – they were going to face a whole new generation of Marvelites who didn’t want to be bogged down with 40 years of continuity or line-wide crossovers. Quite simply, they were to start afresh.

It was also a creative risk – Bendis was an indie writer, illustrating his own graphic novels about struggling to get a screenplay made by Hollywood (“Fortune and Glory”) and his only other Marvel work being a well receive, but low selling, run on Daredevil heavily inspired by film noir. Bagley was a workmanlike worker during the 90s, a dependable artist who was never going to sell gangbusters. Marvel weren’t trusting two big names to sell Spider-Man to a whole new generation; they were trusting no-bodies.

It’s an odd pairing, but also an inspired one. For one, Bendis has a far wider frame of reference than many of his peers writing superhero fiction. His dialogue is inspired by playwright David Mamet and eavesdropping on teenagers in malls. His stories are often built around fractured narratives and dramatic conversations, not action sequences and set pieces. Bagley may be a jack of all trades, but that just meant he could do whatever Bendis threw at him. Issues featuring Doc Oct trashing New York up with his metal arms are as full as character and style as conversations between Peter Parker and Aunt May.

And that’s the remarkable thing about their run – they never lose sight of the characters and their relationships. Whilst later issues may not be as rewarding as early ones, no-one can deny Bendis’ skills at characterisation. Everyone, especially Peter Parker, is pitch perfect throughout the run and, with a few notable exceptions, nothing ever feels forced upon the characters. Writing long runs on comic books is a rarity these days, mainly because of finical concerns but also because it’s such an art. You can write 12 issues and make them fit together, but can you can you fit that year organically with six others?

It would be pointless trying to highlight special moments in the series and that’s not really what this feature is about. Ultimate Spider-Man stands out because of its consistency as much as its quality. From writing to art, for seven years and 111 wonderful issues, Bendis and Bagley were in perfect synch and delivered Spider-Man stories not just for young kids like me who’d been brought up on Saturday morning cartoons with baffling premises, but for all fans of Spider-Man.

Bagley may have not be the flashiest artist in the world and Bendis’ love for conversations consisting mostly of “Ums” and “Uhs” combined with his panache for “decompressed” story-telling (Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man after 5 issues) can occasionally grate, but Ultimate Spider-Man is a testament to hard work and graft. When he left after 111 issues, Bagley expressed desire to leave on a high. He could have left 60 issues earlier or later and he would have done the very same.

Briand Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s run is collected in 18 collected editions which Wikipedia lists here. They’re all available, in a variety of different printings and formats, on Amazon.