At the risk of retreading everything I’ve said in prior reviews of this title, it really does bear saying again : Ultimate Spider-Man is about the only compelling reason for the Ultimate universe to exist at the moment. In fact, Bendis is doing such a good job of integrating characters from the other titles into it, that part of me wonders if Marvel mightn’t be better off just scrapping the rest, renaming this book Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate Universe Adventures! and having done with it.

Here, having already successfully integrated Kitty Pryde, Johnny Storm and now Bobby Drake into the book’s already-excellent supporting cast (of which more shortly), Bendis goes a step further by introducing the current arc’s (possible) major antagonist… and, well, I’d leave the last page reveal unspoilered were it not for the fact that the cover already ruins it, so… it’s Magneto. And it’s a damned fine appearance, actually. I stopped reading Ultimate X-Men regularly a while back, so I’m not sure of Mags’ exact status in this universe at the moment – but certainly, here, he shows up as a somewhat intimidating presence, a more A-league villain than Spidey has had to contend with before (even more so than Norman Osborn), backed up by a superb double-page splash by Immonen, who indeed turns in what is probably his best all-round issue so far.

Some sky-based pyrotechnics and, uh, ice-otechnics aside, meanwhile, this is largely one of those dialogue-heavy issues that USM so excels at, as Peter and co. attempt to come to terms with Liz Allen’s newly-powered status (incidentally, how long did it take for that one to pay off? I’m pretty sure seeds of Liz’s unease around mutants were being planted back in the first ten issues or so). After the initial shock, Liz displays an interesting attitude to her powers, the development of which will presumably be the main thrust of the storyline – there’s a somewhat selfish glee, not one that immediately portends future villainy (although Mags is clearly there in an attempt to influence her), but neither one that suggests she’s immediately going to join Peter, Bobby and Kitty’s band of teen wisecracking heroes.

But character stuff has always been this title’s main strength, and we’re also treated to a truly excellent moment with Kenny “Kong” that pays off a whole heap of the development of one of the book’s longest-serving supporting cast members. Indeed, with the way said cast has been built so strongly – with both additions and subtractions over the years – and the emphasis shifted away from Peter this arc (alternating well with being so strongly on him during Death of a Goblin), it really does feel more like a team book than anything. And I’d honestly be happy for it to stay that way.

And perhaps it’s just because I re-read most of the Millar UXM run recently, but for once – given that Ultimate crossovers are generally quite weak – I’m actually quite looking forward to having the X-Men show up next issue, because it draws them away from the “let’s just do a new version of every single X-Men story ever” vibe of Kirkman’s run (Cable, Bishop, Apocalypse… where will it end?) and back to the distinct style laid out in those first fifty or so issues. And it demonstrates once again that, aside from Warren Ellis turning in some pretty good miniseries whenever he feels like it, Bendis is really the only person with a firm hand on the Ultimate tiller. When he’s knocking out stuff as effortlessly good as this, it feels like he could easily go on for another hundred or so issues.