Hello! First of all, thanks to everyone so far who’s listened to, and said lovely things about, episode one of our Graphic Novel Book Club podcast. If you haven’t listened to it yet, you can do so here – but if you have, you’ll also know that for episode two, we’re planning to look at Ultimate Comics Spider-Man vol. 1 : The World According to Peter Parker. The book, as a quite recent and highly popular superhero title, should be available in your local comic shop (and if not, they’ll be able to order it for you – as will any bookshop) or you can find it on Amazon here. Alternatively, four out of the six issues included are available on Marvel’s Digital Comics site (subscription required).

As before, the format will be that we’ll go away and read the book, and hopefully some of you will as well – and you can then send in your comments, either on the five “Talking Point” questions we’re posing below, or on any other topics relating to the book that you think are worthy of discussion.

1. In what way(s) does Ultimate Spider-Man both (a) stay true to the spirit/tone/character of the “real” Spider-Man that has existed since 1963, and (b) set itself out as a distinct interpretation?

2. The relaunched series makes clear that only a year is supposed to have elapsed since the death of Uncle Ben in Ultimate Spider-Man #5. Does this “compression” of so many stories into such a short space of time affect enjoyment of this, or any other comics?

3. For readers who had been following the series prior to the relaunch, does the book justify the decision to restart with a brand new #1 rather than continuing as it had been prior to the Ultimatum event?

4. Although effectively the 23rd collection of an ongoing series, how well does this book stand alone? Does it have something specific to say about Spider-Man, or is it simply another chapter in a continuing soap opera?

5. Does the knowledge that, just two years later, the lead character of this book was to be killed off affect reading it now?

You can leave your answers, or any other thoughts, as a reply to this post (we’ll hide them), or you can e-mail them to gnbc@alternatecover.com. We’d love to hear from as many of you as possible before our planned recording date, which will be Monday 15th August. Thanks for participating!