Everything starts here!
"Power and Responsibility" is the first story arc of Ultimate Spider-Man, and the first comic book set in the Ultimate Marvel universe.A group of high school students visit the labs of Oscorp. A genetically modified spider, used by Oscorp to test their Oz serum, escapes from its containtment and bites Peter Parker, a timid and nerd student. After some health problems he gets better, and realizes that he got super powers. His legal guardians, Ben and May, are having financial problems, so he joins a wrestling arena and seds them the money he got in the prizes. The manager created the "Spider-Man" persona for him. And one day, a thief that Peter did not stop killed Uncle Ben and... blah blah powers, blah blah responsibility, etc; you know that part.
Oscorp kept an eye on Parker and his condition. Initially, fearing that he would die, Norman Osborn sent a hitman to kill him, so that the family would not sue him. Afterwards, they realized that his condition go stable and that he got super powers, Osborn then tried to repeat the incident and give himself powers. He was instead mutated into a huge, terrifying goblin, and ended up killing his wife. He later attacks Midtown High, although it's unknown if he was there to kill Harry or Peter.
Tropes
- Adaptational Expansion: The arc doubles as a three issue expansion of Amazing Fantasy #15, thus expanding on Uncle Ben as a character and showing why his death deserved to be seen as tragic.
- Ambiguous Situation: Why did the Green Goblin attack the school? Was he trying to kill Harry? Peter? Both of them? In all the attack he just growled "Parker" to Spider-Man a pair of times, so it was hard to figure out his intentions.
- Appropriated Appellation: The "Spider-Man" name is created by the arena manager, as a stage name for the mistery fighter. Peter proposed "The Spider", but that guy fixed it on the fly.
- Are You Sure You Want to Do That?: After realizing the effects of the OZ on Peter Parker, Norman ordered his scientists to go to the next phase, by repeating the accident in a controlled environment. One of them asked it in plain terms: "You, sir? You want to inject yourself with the OZ compound?" "Glad we understand each other".
- Asleep in Class
- All the class fell asleep during the class about the Great Depression.
- And then Peter started snoring during another class. The teacher woke him up, and he broke the desk with the surprise.
- Bald of Evil: Shawn, Osbourne's personal hitman, is bald.
- Beta Outfit: Peter's original outfit to fight in the arena was a home-made full face mask with googles. The Spider-Man suit was provided by the Arena.
- Big "WHAT?!": Kong could not believe it when Parker resigned from the basketball team.
- Blade Reflection: In the start of issue 7, both Spider-Man and the Green Goblin are reflected in the eyes of each other.
- Bully and Wimp Pairing: Peter runs away from home, but where can he go? With Mary Jane? No, her parents would call Ben and May. So he goes with Kong, the school bully. After all, they are basketball teammates now.
- Bullying a Dragon
- Flash defies Parker to a fight, ignoring about his powers. Parker tries to elude him, catches his fist to stop his attack... and breaks his hand by accident.
- Uncle Ben is a tragic example, as he joked to the thief, who got angered and shot him.
- Bystander Syndrome: Parker was a bit angry about the way his wrestling career ended, and ignored a thief that was passing by. And you all know the rest of the story.
- Chalk Outline: The police made one inside the Parker's house.
- Comes Great Responsibility: Peter learns this, of course.
- Covers Always Lie: The first issue has Spider-Man swinging in the city, but Parker does not have the suit yet.
- Crazy Enough to Work: The Green Goblin took Spider-Man, flies with him to a high altitude, and then throws him to his death. What can he possibly do? Create a net of webs below? That's so crazy... of course it worked!
- Dare to Be Badass: Who among the public has the guts to fight against Crusher Hogan?
- Defensive "What?": Peter when he comes home, only for his angry and disappointed aunt and uncle glare at him for his sudden drop in grades.
- Developing Doomed Characters: Uncle Ben has way more development as a character than the one-liner guy of Amazing Fantasy 15. Still, he eventually dies anyway.
- Didn't Think This Through
- When Norman thought that Peter was dying because of the spider bite, he sent a hitman to kill him. He failed, but it wouldn't be a good idea if he actually did it. There would be an autopsy that would reveal his condition, and all the school were witnesses of the spider incident. It wouldn't be hard for them to put two and two together and blame Oscorp for the murder. Norman realized it himself when they discussed about sending Shaw to finish the job.
- When the school is attacked, Peter sneaks into the bathroom, prepares to take off his clothes and jump to the action as Spider-Man... but wait! How can he explain Spider-Man just getting out of the school bathroom? And all his class saw him get bit at Oscorp, how hard can it be for them to figure things out? So he gets out of the school, and suits up in some nearby bushes.
- Dodge the Bullet: Spider-Man manages to elude a helicopter firing against him, and get out of sight.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Peter tried to avoid Flash's attacks, and managed to stop his fist. But, by doing so, he broke his hand.
- Doomed by Canon: Uncle Ben has always been the poster guy of the Death by Origin Story, so if you are even superficially familiar with Spider-Man it shouldn't be a surprise that he dies in the first arc and Peter learns that "With great power...".
- Due to the Dead: Kong ignored Ben's death as if was nothing. Peter did not take it lightly.
- Early-Bird Cameo
- One of the scientists working for Norman Osborn is Otto Octavius. He will obviously be important later on, but now, he's just a scientist among all the others.
- The police outside the warehouse were led by Captain Stacy. He will appear as a full character later on, as well as his daughter Gwen.
- Kingpin was mentioned in the Bugle, as a story that Ben Urich is working on. He would meet him in the next arc.
- Establishing Character Moment
- In his first scene, Peter Parker is reading about chemistry compounds... and gets bullied.
- Flash and Kong bully Peter in their first scene.
- Eye Take: The first issue is filled with those.
- Famous, Famous, Fictional: Jameson is sure that Spider-Man will be the next O.J. Simpson.
- Flat "What": Peter broke Flash's hand? Wait, what?
- For Your Own Good: When Harry revealed that the Green Goblin was his father and was trying to kill him, the police took him in custody. Still shocked by everything, he accepted it.
- Foregone Conclusion
- Of course that the big and ugly spider would bite Peter Parker.
- Of course that Uncle Ben would be killed by the thief.
- George Jetson Job Security: The floor manager was instantly fired for the spider incident. That spider was supposed to be in containment!
- Gossip Evolution
- The other girls in the school said that Peter threw up on Mary Jane's shoes during the spider incident in Oscorp. He didn't. But hey, that's what they say. They even call her "spew shoes".
- Flash picked a fight with Parker, who tries to elude him as best as he can. He finally lands a punch, and Peter tries to stop it. But, with his increased strength, he broke Flash's arm. We can see him in tears, whispering "I told him... I said... I didn't want to fight". Harry was not at school, so Kong explained what happened. According to him, it was awesome! And Peter shouted "Next time, I'm gonna kill you! It's payback time!"!
- Gym Class Hell: It's Peter Parker in a gym class, so that one is a given.
- Home-Early Surprise: Technically not "his" home, but Ben did this to Peter at Kong's party.
- Hulk Speak: In this first arc, the only thing the Green Goblin ever says is growl "Parker".
- It's All My Fault: As you all know, Peter finds out that the thief that killed Uncle Ben was a thief that he had met earlier and ignored, and blames himself for it.
- Kick the Dog: Norman gets his powers and then blows up his home and kills his wife, for no clear reason. In fact, we never even actually saw her.
- Klingon Promotion: Peter broke Flash's hand by accident, and now he is unable to play in the basketball team. The team needs another player, and so the gym teacher selects Parker, who is suddenly a good player since the spider bite.
- Leave Him to Me!: Peter overhears the police about a thief making a shooting at a warehouse, and that he's probably the same guy that killed Ben. He ran away to deal with him by himself.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Liz is drunk at the party and tries to hook up with Peter. He tries to get her away from him, but too late: Mary Jane shows up, and saw it.
- Mood Whiplash: Oh, no! Peter is sad about his unrequited love for Mary Jane! Drop a pie to his face, quick!
- Motor Mouth: In the opening narration, the random guy is not particularly interested in Greek mythology, but Norman told him the whole story of Arachne anyway. It does not have anything to do with anything, he just loves to hear the sound of his own voice.
- Mythology Gag
- Jameson calls the New York Globe the "Distinguished Competition". That name used to be a private joke in the Marvel bullpen to call DC Comics.
- The announcer that gave Peter his stage name announced him as "The Amazing Spider-Man!". When he refused, he named him "The Spectacular Spider-Man!"
- Spider-Man and the Green Goblin fight on top of the arc of a bridge, and someone falls ino the river. Circumstances are greatly different, but something like that happened The Night Gwen Stacy Died.
- Never Found the Body: The Green Goblin was shot by the police and fell into the river. At the end of the story the police has ships around the crime scene, we see some bubbles in the water... the end.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: The last time Peter saw Uncle Ben, he was angry about everything and ran away. While out, he decides to go back home and reveal them his new powers. He never got the chance: a thief go into the house and killed him.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Norman got all focused on the man at the phone, and casually gave the horrible mutated spider to that random guy. The guy got all scared, drop the spider inside the jar, and followed Norman, who was leaving the scene. He forgot to close the jar, and the spider escaped.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Spider-Man has just helped to stop the Green Goblin from destroying the school. What do the police do? Of course, aim their guns at him as well, to arrest him.
- Not Me This Time: Inverted. The school is suddenly blown up, and then Spider-Man shows up. Did he do that?Kong: Dude! Seriously... if he blew the school, he is totally my hero!
- Nothing Is Scarier: There is a noise in the back door. Ben and May thought that it was Peter, who usually uses that door. They call for him... and nothing. Silence. They both realized that something was wrong, because of the kind of silence. And then, the burglar appears, with a gun.
- Power Floats: The first sight of Norman Osbourne, in full control of his power, gave this ominous feel.
- Practical Voice-Over: This just in: there was a huge explosion in Oscorp. Repeat, there was a huge explosion in Oscorp. We'll keep you informed.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: Peter Parker creates the web shooters, completely on his own... and keeps them for himself, to do his superhero tricks.
- Reverse Psychology: Flash is injured and can't play in the Basketball team, so the gym teacher asked Parker to join it. Parker is unsure, he's not really a sports guy... unil Flash, who was begging the teacher, says "But Parker?? Come on!". That decided him to join, just to spite Flash.
- Sacrificial Lion: Uncle Ben is one of the main characters before his death, so it counts.
- Sadist Teacher: The gym teacher openly insults Peter for his poor performance.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Peter did not accept the lecture of May and Ben about his lower grades, and ran away from home.
- Selective Enforcement: Peter break the chair, and the teacher wants to make sure he's right, and tells him to get another one. Flash laughs about it, and gets detention. Peter attacks Flash with the basket ball for trying to flirt with Mary Jane, and the gym teacher praises him for finally having some aim, and tells Flash to hit the showers.
- Shipper on Deck: Uncle Ben notices that Peter and Mary Jane are sitting in different tables, so he calls her.
- Shout-Out: Wondering about the origin of his powers, Jameson though that perhaps he was sent in a ship from a doomed planet somewhere
- Stunned Silence: When everything is said and done, and he got past the initial shock, the people were discussing about the creature and Harry dropped the bomb: "He was my father". For some moments, everybody is speechless.
- Technologically Blind Elders: Aunt May says that she will look about social anxiety disorders on the web. Uncle Ben encourages her to do so, because that will keep her busy for hours.
- Uncanny Valley: In-universe, the thief is scared out of his mind when he is attacked by Spider-Man: a man with a full body costume and weird eyes, who can stick to walls! Have in mind that, at this point of the Ultimate Marvel universe, the only superhuman that people knew about was Captain America, back in World War II.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: There was a huge explosion in Oscorp, and none of the high school students seems to even know about it. They had been there a pair of weeks ago, Harry could have died, but no.
- Villainous Valour: We have to give it to the thief: he got over the initial shock to see a man with superhuman strength who sticks to walls, and tried to counter attack. He was dispatched easily, but still...
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Harry would like to receive some support from his father. Instead, he openly ignores him and shouts Martha to take him out of his face.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Uncle Ben gave two to Peter right before his death: one for the sudden drop of his grades, another for running away from home.
- Why Didn't I Think of That?: Kong wants to fight Crusher Hogan and get five hundred dollars, but the manager did not allow him: he's a minor. Peter made a mask for himself and simply jumped into the arena without asking. Kong was there, and thought that it's what he should had done as well.
- Wild Teen Party: Kong's parent are out of town for the weekend. What else did you expect to happen?
