The first story arc in Ultimate Spider-Man established our main cast of characters. It explained how the younger, hipper incarnation of Peter Parker got his powers, how his uncle's death led to his fight against crime and where his arch-nemesis, the Green Goblin, came from. It was a starting point, a foundation from which to build.

The series comes into its own with Learning Curve, the second collection in the series. Here, the fledgling hero Spider-Man runs into his first bad guy with a gimmick. He begins his long association with The Daily Bugle and its irascible publisher, J. Jonah Jamison. He learns how to deceive his aunt to protect his secret, and he reveals his identity to the one person he can trust.

And, in the meat of the story, he begins to take a serious look at major crime in New York City and attempts to tackle the problem from the top down -- beginning with the untouchable Kingpin, Wilson Fisk.

The fat man isn't so easy to topple, and Spider-Man pays a significant price for his efforts. But he also learns that crime-fighting is not just about swinging fists and fancy leaps.

Brian Michael Bendis has proven himself over and over again as the man to be writing this book, and he vividly captures the attitude of a young, untrained hero -- and inexperienced teenager to boot. Artist Mark Bagley gives the story a brilliant sense of real motion, emotion and life.

Ultimate Spider-Man is the series to use to convince doubters to come back to comics. Start with book one, get this one and keep working up the line.