Ultimate Spider-Man #85

Background

A new mob boss, a mutant known as Hammerhead, has made a move against Wilson "The Kingpin of Crime" Fisk's mob holdings - and pitted Spider-Man against a new costumed vigilante: Moon Knight. At the same time, Fisk - whom Spider-Man has long tried to put behind bars - provided Peter with concrete evidence linking Hammerhead to a recent murder.

Hammerhead's attempt to extort money from a Kingpin-owned restaurant in Chinatown brought Shang-Chi (the Master of Kung-Fu) and Danny Rand (the Iron Fist) into the mob struggle. As if that weren't enough, the Black Cat (a former jewel thief who has a personal interest in Spider-Man) arrives on the scene, tracking down Hammerhead to look for help in her war against the Kingpin. But perhaps the most dangerous of all is the Kingpin's personal assassin... the woman known as - Elektra!

Finally - all the players have assembled in Hammerhead's penthouse! Just as Spidey thinks he's got the upper hand - Elektra makes her move and smashes him through the top floor window, down to the street below...

Story Details

Spidey is down, on the top of a car. Elektra watches from above. As she cuts Hammerhead loose from the webbing. Hammerhead is trying to get his act together, he needs to leave the country. Elektra wonders whether his job offer is still valid. Outside, the police try to arrest Spidey. Captain DeWolfe interferes. Inside, Hammerhead is pissed, at Elektra too. She stabs him, several times and throws him out the window like she did with Spider-Man. Spider-Man, barely standing, uses his webbing to create a cushion for Hammerhead. He'll live.

Above, the Black Cat hits Elektra. The two of them start to fight. It ends with a shuck. And then Elektra goes down. Moon Knight used one of the moon darts and hit her in the back of her head. Then he goes down again. Out the window goes Elektra (not shown, but obviously the Black Cat did this). The Black Cat quickly frees the other heroes. They disappear before the police can enter the building.

Later on, Spidey is on a nearby rooftop. The Black Cat joins him. They talk a bit and then she flirts with him and takes of his mask. Peter, waiting for the kiss, is in for a surprise. The Black Cat realizes how young he is and she throws up, on Peter's lap. After which she takes off.

Elsewhere, the Kingpin is talking to a person in the shadows. An update is provided. Hammerhead is in a coma, the feds are going to press charges but the DA said nothings gonna stick. Elektra is in bad shape, and switched sides, twice. Moon Knight is in a coma too, no prints, could be ex-CIA. Kingpin then asks "Spider-Man trusts you?" And Captain Jean DeWolfe says yes.

Peter arrives home late. Aunt May is waiting for him She says that she won't live in a house of lies. If she has to speak to Peter about this again, she'll kick him out.

General Comments

Well, like with the previous issues, this one has it all too! Action, drama, romance. Elektra switches sides again, cool. So perhaps she'll stay in the employment of the Kingpin. Would be nice to see what happens to her, if and when she recovers fro her injuries.

Also, Hammerhead turns out to be nothing more than a big baby. He has a history with the police, got a steel plate in his head (how and why isn't told) and had his face changed. As soon as things start looking bad, he crumbles and wants to leave the country. So much for becoming the new crime boss.

Black Cat, well, she's hot and want's to do the horizontal mambo with Spider- Man. Spidey finally gives in (since he broke up with Mary Jane, he's kinda free to do so). As soon as the mask comes off, what's left of dinner comes out. Although gross, it's the only thing Black Cat could have done. She obviously is (much?) older than Peter and a (sexual) relationship with him would get Marvel into trouble.

Then Captain DeWolfe. Did we see this coming? Looking back, she was too nice to Spider-Man. It did not feel right, but I could find the reason why it did not feel right. Perhaps I had the regular Marvel Universe (or should I say the 616 Universe?) version of her in mind and didn't think much of it. Then again, the 616 version had a crush on Spidey. And Spidey was much older then his Ultimate counterpart. Anyway, nice twist, her working for the Kingpin.

Finally, Aunt May, can't wait to see where this'll go. My guess is, Peter tells her, or he finds a place for himself to stay. If it's the first option, why not do it in issue 100?

Overall Rating

A cool ending to Warriors. Nuff said.