Ultimate Spider-Man #86

Background

Having recently broken up with his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker thought life couldn't get any worse. Little did he know that while his personal life crumbled around him, his life as Spider-Man would become more complicated and dangerous than ever before.

Story Details

One month ago. Damage Control are cleaning up a mess made when the S.S. Roxxon went kaboom while docking. A suit of the Roxxon company tells them that Omega Red was on board. Spider-Man was there and using a fork truck stopped Omega Red.

A shadowy, female, figure listens to the conversation. She talks to Mr. Roxxon on the phone. It seems it's the second time that Spider-Man stopped an attack on the Roxxon company. So, Roxxon wants Spider-Man, for he suspects that Spider- Man knows who is attacking the company. The woman says it'll cost him.

Two weeks ago. Spider-Man is being followed by a surveillance team. They can't keep track of him.

One week ago. Another attempt and they pinpoint it to Midtown High.

Today. Spider-Man is spotted on the roof of the school. When he drops down the alley, team goes in and captures a teenager using special tazers. The captured boy is taken to a warehouse. They wake him up. A beautiful lady wearing a silver outfit with long silver hair calls him Spider-Man. The boy replies that he's not Spidey, his name is Flash Thompson. They cut him loose and Silver Sable kicks him. Since the boy goes down immediately, she says "That is not Spider-Man."

General Comments

Omega Red... what's he doing in a Spidey story? In the regular Marvel Universe (or should I say the 616 Universe, you tell me) he's a mutant. A Russian mutant, not a Russian guinea pig. My guess is, it's just a trick to lure some Ultimate X-Men fans to the Ultimate Spider-Man series. Meaning, I'm willing to put money on him not making another appearance in the Spidey series. Besides, in order to move the actual story at a slow pace, you need a red hering, right?

Mr Roxxon... we do not see his face. And I did not feel like looking it up, but I do not recall having seen his face at all, before. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a surprise about the man. Then again, this might be a red hering as well.

Silver Sable... a foxy lady with an attitude. With an organization, an expensive one, judging by the call she makes to Roxxon. They call themselves the Wildpack are so far we've seen three of them. A woman and two guys. When we see them in action, they kinda act like street punks. This is a team that can capture Spider-Man? Nah, don't think so, and Silver should have known.

Damage Control... they clean up the mess. Nice to see them at the scene. When there's superhumans fighting, there's a supermess and that calls for a supercleaner. Good job on the characters, they're big, not puny like in the regular Marvel Universe.

Spider-Man... yeah, well, he's in the story but that's about it. It's not a Spider-Man story, it's a prologue to one. To me it felt like he only had a cameo in his own series. Mind you, a long cameo.

Flash Thompson... man, did he get a kicking. I felt sorry for him, to receive such a beating. Then again, he is bullying Peter Parker, serves him right? Dunno, I guess we'll have to wait until the next issue to see whether he sustains permanent damage from this.

Overall Rating

Well, this is just the start, make that slow start, of the Silver Sable story. Nothing fancy so just a regular 3 webs.