Issues 40-45

Irresponsible

Gwen convinces Peter to attend a party, which he tries to leave after spotting MJ. As he leaves he finds foreign exchange student Geldolf blowing up cars with super-powers. The police arrive, resulting in the students fleeing the scene. Peter ends up with MJ during this, where they rekindle their relationship. Encouraged by MJ, Peter locates Geldolf as Spider-Man and leactures him about the meaning of responsibility. During this, a robbery occurs, which Geldolf stops by blowing up a car, which ends up hurting bystandards and robbers alike. Spider-Man and Geldolf get into an argument, but before things escalate, the X-Men arrive.

The X-Men tell Geldolf that he's a mutant, which causes him to faint. The X-Men invite Spider-Man to the Xavier institute, but during the flight, Geldolf reawakens and blows a hole in the plane. Spider-Man and Geldolf fly out, but both are saved by Jean Grey and reawaken at the institute, where Geldolf agrees to stay in Professor Xavier's care. Peter returns home and is confronted by Aunt May, furious that Peter was gone an entire day, but he is able to excuse himself. It's revealed that May has been going to therapy, where she's been coping with Uncle Ben's and Captian Stacy's death, expressing her hatred for Spider-Man, and worried for Peter. Her therapist encourages her to spend more time with Peter, which she does.

Did You Know?

• Geldolf, the central antagonist of this arc, does not re-appear again in any Ultimate comics, however he was a very minor character in the mainline universe during another Bendis written story, Secret Invasion. He's a minor super-hero involved with Tony Stark's 50 State Super-Team Initiative, but was killed during the Skrull invasion.
• In the QnA section of his Tumblr page, writer Brian Micheal Bendis mentioned how Ultimate Aunt May is based off his own mother: "if you’re still stuck try basing the characters on people you know very well. or at least your version of them. no one will know and you’ll be writing something you know. Ultimate aunt may is a dead on impersonation of my mother" [Bendis]
• While he previously met Wolverine in the Ultimate Team-Up series, this is the first time Spider-Man and the X-men meet in the Ultimate Comics. Kitty Pryde, who he meets in this arc, becomes a supporting character for the series later on.