It’s true. With exception of a couple of animated movies watched with my young sons, I ignored Marvel’s series of Ultimate titles. 

Never picked up any of the comics back in the day. Never went further than those animated DVDs to check out the altered Marvel Universe of the Ultimates. A few months ago, all that changed by finally hunting down the Ultimate storyline where the Hulk tears Wolverine in two and Wolverine and his mutant healing factor puts himself back together again.

Then, the ongoing slow dive into the Ultimates take on the Avengers. 

Now, “Ultimate Spider-Man,” which opened with a retelling of the webslinger’s high school origins with the story arc “Power & Responsibility.”

Good stuff.

“Spider-Man” was a favorite read as a kid but I kind of lost interest a few decades ago amid the symbiotic suit, Venom, the clone that was actually the original Peter Parker, etc. The simple pleasure of “Spider-Man” became way too complicated.

While most of the Ultimate storylines offer a grittier, more adult take on the Marvel Universe, “Ultimate Spider-Man” gets back to the basics of Peter Parker and his balancing act between high school drama and superhero hijinks. 

The familiar chords are here: Brilliant but frail Peter Parker bullied at school. Orphaned, he lives with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Bitten by an altered spider, he develops the abilities of a spider. Parker tests his new powers. He becomes arrogant refusing to stop a robber. His uncle is slain by the same robber who Parker refused to stop … with great power comes great responsibilty.

But all with the “Ultimate” twist provided by writer Brian Michael Bendis and penciller Mark Bagley.

The ultimate Spider-Man is still those early issues created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the early 1960s but the secret of “Ultimate Spider-Man” is remembering the fun of Spider-Man past.