I have to admit, as annoying as all this nonsense is, I don't remember a time when the Ultimate line was marketed towards younger readers, at least in terms of content. I remember the first time I read an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, thinking, "Now this is an origin for Spider-Man that an adult can read and not feel that their intelligence is being insulted." I liked that about the Ultimate line; it had a more grown-up feel, and the stories and characters held together better, being less bogged-down by conflicting continuity.
That was then. Now, I just wish Ultimate Spider-Man had remained it's own universe without spawning all these spinoffs. Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four and the first Ultimates series all started off so good, and then devolved into crap (to be fair, once Land got off art, UFF didn't remain crap, it just became largely mediocre, which is still a big step down from how it started). Now, this. Please, Marvel, allow Ultimate Spider-Man to stay good and keep it from being infected by this terrible plague that seems to be eating away at the rest of the Ultimate universe.