Ultimate Spider-Man #41

Name: Ultimate Spider-Man #41
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Jul 2003 · Marvel · 2.25 USD; 3.75 CAD

📊 ~102,115 copies sold its debut month

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“The Letter”

★ 1st appearance — Geldoff

About this Issue

Ultimate Spider-Man #41 is the emotional turning point of the 'Irresponsible' arc, delivering the reconciliation of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson — one of the most closely followed teen relationships in early-2000s superhero comics — through a handwritten love letter rather than a dramatic confrontation, a quiet storytelling choice that exemplified Bendis's character-first approach to the Ultimate line. The issue also serves as Geldoff's second appearance and the chapter that fully establishes him as the first villain in the Ultimate Spider-Man series created without any counterpart in the classic Marvel Universe, making him a genuine product of the Ultimate imprint's creative freedom. Positioned immediately after the psychologically heavy Venom arc, the issue functions as a deliberate decompression installment, foregrounding teenage social dynamics — a party, a bus stop, a locker-hall corridor — over superheroics, and demonstrating that Bendis and Bagley could sustain reader investment through pure character work. That tonal confidence helped define what long-form, Marvel-style 'graphic novel pacing' could look like in the monthly format.

writer Brian Michael Bendis · artist Mark Bagley · inker Art Thibert · colorist Transparency Digital · letterer Chris Eliopoulos · cover Mark Bagley

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $3

CGC 9.8 · 143 in census $43

CGC 9.6 · 12 in census $23*

CGC 9.4 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 9.2 none in existence

CGC 9.0 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

Raw — NM ▾ $2.5–$24 4 listings

NM $2.5 NM $3.99 NM $5.95 NM $24

Raw — NM- ▾ $2.95–$13 2 listings

NM- $2.95 NM- $13

Raw — VF/NM ▾ $2.45–$8 6 listings

VF/NM $2.45 VF/NM $5 VF/NM $7 VF/NM $7.99 VF/NM $8 VF/NM $8

Raw — VF+ $4 1 listing

Raw — VF ▾ $2–$7.7 4 listings

VF $2 VF $4.98 VF $7.3 VF $7.7

Raw — FN/VF $6.8 1 listing Raw — FN $7.99 1 listing Raw — VG $3.4 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $1–$14.99 22 listings

Verified matches for Ultimate Spider-Man #41 · eBay asking prices, seen 20 days ago

More listings for this title

VF $7.99

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 1 total · seen 20 days ago

Read it digitally

Marvel Unlimited Marvel’s subscription reader ▸ Amazon Kindle Buy the digital edition ▸

Opens a search on each platform — digital availability varies by title.

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

The issue falls in the middle of the six-part 'Irresponsible' arc (issues #40–45, July–November 2003), scripted by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by his long-running collaborator Mark Bagley, with inks by Art Thibert — the same core team that had been producing Ultimate Spider-Man since its launch. The arc was designed as a breather after the intense Venom storyline (#33–39), with editor Ralph Macchio overseeing the title under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada; associate editor C.B. Cebulski and assistant editor Nick Lowe are also credited in the contemporaneous issues. Bendis constructed the 'Irresponsible' chapters as a loosely episodic series of single-focus installments — issue #41 is almost entirely dedicated to the Peter/MJ reconciliation — a structure that critics noted read more like chapters of a prose novel than traditional single issues.

Trivia · 8 facts

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, penciled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Transparency Digital, lettered by Chris Eliopoulos; Ralph Macchio edited.
Second appearance of Geldoff (Earth-1610), the Latverian orphan with explosive energy powers whose first appearance was in the immediately preceding issue, Ultimate Spider-Man #40 (July 2003).
Geldoff was the first villain introduced in the Ultimate Spider-Man series who had no counterpart in the main Marvel Universe (Earth-616), making him an original creation of the Ultimate imprint.
Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson officially reconcile in this issue, with MJ delivering a handwritten love letter and the two sharing a kiss — resolving a breakup that had begun in issue #32.
Part of the 'Irresponsible' six-issue story arc (Ultimate Spider-Man #40–45), which was collected in the trade paperback Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 7: Irresponsible (2003) and later in Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection Vol. 4 and the Ultimate Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 2.
Supporting cast in this issue includes Gwen Stacy, Liz Allan, Flash Thompson, and Kong — all classmates at Midtown High — placing the superhero threat within the framework of an ordinary teenage social scene (a house party, a bus ride home, school corridors).
Mary Jane gives Peter a partially completed Spider-Man costume she had been sewing for him — a plot thread continuing from the loss of his original suit during the Venom arc (#33–39) — which he wears when he confronts Geldoff at a neighboring school.
Geldoff was later transported into Earth-616 continuity by writers Dan Slott and Christos N. Gage in Avengers: The Initiative #8 (2008), where he took the code name Proton, demonstrating the character's lasting (if modest) legacy beyond the Ultimate line.