Ultimate Spider-Man #87

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, when the dangerous mercenary group The Wild Pack, lead by the beautiful and deadly Silver Sable, is hired to capture Spider- Man

The Pack tracks Spider-Man to Midtown High School, and as Spidey changes out of his costume, the mercenaries make their move! Back at the Wild Pack's makeshift base, Silver Sable quickly deduces that the boy they've captured isn't really Spider-Man - just a high school student named Flash Thompson!

Story Details

Midtown High School, the library. MJ is mad, Peter is sitting with a smirk on his face. Peter thinks of Kitty Pryde, an X-Man. Kong approaches Peter, he wonders where Flash is. He's not at school and he's not answering his cell phone.

At the hideout of the Wild Pack, Silver Sable is mad. The boy the captured is not Spider-Man, it's Fred Thompson. As Silver wonders what happened, we see Flash eating a candy bar and Spidey jumping through the window. Silver wants the Wild Pack to get rid of the kid. They argue about it. Flash is conscious again and makes a run for it. He escapes.

At the school, Kitty is waiting outside for Peter. She's there to surprise Peter. MJ is shocked as she sees them leave.

Silver Sable and the Wild Pack are sitting in a bar. On television, the story about Flash. He is a hero, having escaped and working with the police in order to help them catch the criminals. Quentino, the female member of the pack, asks Silver whether Roxxon called back.

Outside, Roxxon is walking to his car. Silver is waiting in the limousine. She wants commitment, because they're in the middle of a delicate transaction. Roxxon feels Silver's reputation is overrated. Silver offers to finish the job, no charge. She gets three days, after that Roxxon'll hire someone to clean up the mess.

The Parker residence, Kitty is flipping through a photo album. Peter talks about fighting a eight-foot metal Rhino. MJ calls, she asks whether Peter is watching TV. He's not. So MJ hangs up, it looks like she's very sad.

The next day, outside the school. ABC is interviewing Flash. Why does he think the kidnappers mistook him for Spider-Man? And of course, everybody seems to have an opinion. Peter is shocked. MJ joins him, does he know what happened. Peter has no clue. He has to lay low, so his costume stays in his backpack. Peter asks why MJ hang up. Silence. Then se says he had company.

A teacher calls, class stared five minutes ago. So they have to go. Not paying attention to what's going on, Peter walks down the hallway. A police officer stops him, asking Peter to open his sack. Random bag check.

General Comments

OK, so Flash his real name is Fred..... Without making fun of that name, I can see why he wants to be called Flash.

Mr Roxxon... and a surprise we got. I grabbed issue 86 and compared the two man. In issue 86 he's tall and kinda slim. In issue 87 we see his face and he's short and not slim at all. Did Bagley goof up? I think so.... or Bendis changed Roxxon in between issues. Yeah, that'll be it, blame it on Bendis.

Now, the real surprise of this story, Kitty. Most of the time, things that start in an Annual die in an Annual. Not this time, what started in Ultimate Spider-Man Annual 1 continues here. Which I think is good. Not only because that gives new ways to explore the Peter - MJ relation, it also opens doors to X-Men related stories. Can't wait to see where this goes.

And this issue's cliffhanger.... Will Peter get away, without opening his backpack? Too bad they moved the shipping date of issue 88 from December 21th to December 28th.

Overall Rating

Great story, a lot happens. A few months ago I was complaining about the slowness of the stories, right now, it's just right. And the art is consistent, what else do I need? Oh yeah, more shots of Silver Sable.... maybe next issue.