Uneven in spots, it sets up many origin stories (that will eventually be ignored). ( )

A trade-book compilation of the first sixteen issues of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, a comic book which teams (using the term loosely) Spider-Man with some other member of the Marvel Universe. The first three issues feature Wolverine, Hulk and Iron Man. There are several other team-ups of varying quality (some of the artwork is a little too derivative for me), but the two best involve a meeting with the X-Men at a mall, and a school report about heroism Peter must give his class. I normally find team-up books inferior and contrived compared to the original storylines, but these stories, written by the excellent creator of "Ultimate Spider-Man", are an exception. This is Spider-Man at 15, at the beginning of his career, and still finding his way. The unabashed gee-whillikers attitude he brings to his meetings with older, more established and confident heroes, is priceless. ( )