Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #18

Background

While helping the Ultimates defeat a Hydra army Spidey is thrown from the battleground and knocked unconscious from the fall. He wakes in the middle of a field, all alone, with no sign of anyone or anything around him.

Meanwhile, Miles' Dad was captured by SHIELD, freed by Hydra, but then ended up at home with a gun. What did he do? How did he end up there?

Story Details

Miles is walking, trying to find the Ultimates and SHIELD forces. He comes across one of the Hydra 'giant-women' who is in a similar situation to him. She expands to giant-size and fights Spidey, she ends up knocking Spidey out and taking him as a hostage.

Meanwhile, Miles' parents are at home in New York. Miles' dad shares what went down with the Hydra agents who liberated him from SHIELD custody. Basically, Miles' dad wasn't fond of them executing SHIELD agents, so when he was offered a gun, he used it to shoot and wound the Hydra guys and then ran home. Miles' parents then decide that they need to go and find Miles.

Back to giant-woman and hostage. Spidey wakes up, uses his venom-blast thing to get the giant lady close to the ground and then KOs her. At that moment, Spider-Woman and a couple of jeeps find Miles. They are glad he is okay and take him home to New York. In Spidey's absence, SHIELD had won the battle. Spider-Woman and Spidey have a heart to heart, but Spider-Woman refuses to reveal why she is so concerned about Miles (i.e. she is Peter Parker's clone). Miles manages to go home, get changed and find his parents at Ganke's house, where they are trying to find where Miles last was from Ganke.

General Comments

Nice wrap-up issue. The battle with the giant woman was a bit farcical, which I guess was the point at one level, it just seemed a bit repetitive, with the same scene essentially playing out twice, just with different results. The reveal about Miles' Dad was great and the conversation with Spider-Woman was very cool. I like the relationship Miles and Jessica are developing. I find myself very interested in Jessica and finding out what life is like for her. I hope she is featured more in the future!

The art is beautiful this issue. I particularly like the scene where Miles' dad explains his escape from Hydra. It's rendered in gorgeous and dark detail.

Overall Rating

Nice wrap-up issue.