It’s official: Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, Matthew Wilson, and Cory Petit’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1 is a huge success.

That’s true in every sense of the word. It was an excellent comic, one that understands the core of Spider-Man while reframing the character and his cast in an exciting way. The issue felt new, remixing canon events in shocking ways without somehow feeling cheap or being spoiled by the publisher first. 4 More than that, it hit, and hit big, at comic shops. In fact, every shop I talked to reported that it didn’t just sell well — it sold out altogether.

Now, the low-hanging fruit point to make is that this is because Marvel finally gave fans what they wanted. Their idea was that Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson should be together — married with kids, even — and if that happened the comic would be a sensation. This is proof of that concept, right?

I don’t necessarily think so.

While I do believe that some of the draw is that it simultaneously gave readers what they want and acted as a protest vote for fans who want Peter and MJ to be together in the main 616 universe, from what I’ve heard, this is a rare, late-breaking, word of mouth hit. People read it and quickly spread the gospel, leading to shops receiving calls from current, lapsed, and even new readers eager to get onboard. Ultimate Spider-Man #1 was positioned as a foot in the door for fans of the character interested in something new, and it delivered.

In a lot of ways, its successful launch is a dream start to the year for the publisher after a turbulent 2023. Retailers had bristled at many of Marvel’s practices, whether that was the endless miniseries, the high-priced launches, or the events that landed with a thud. A big hit can go a long way in rebuilding faith in the publisher from its retail partners, so to get one early in this new era of the Ultimate universe is a win.

And yet, the success of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 is also reflective of Marvel’s weakened stature amongst retailers and readers alike. While shops universally touted the book as a sellout in my conversations with them, it almost always came with a caveat.

“It could have been bigger,” to paraphrase the consensus.