Ultimate Spider-Man #90

Background

Having recently broken up with his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, Peter started seeing the X-Men's Kitty Pryde. But Peter's happiness is short-lived, as the dangerous mercenary group The Wild Pack, lead by the beautiful and deadly Silver Sable, is hired to capture Spider-Man!

Their employer, Donald Roxxon (head of the Roxxon Corporation) thinks Spider- Man has been specifically targeting Roxxon properties for protection against super-villains (which, of course, Spidey hasn't) and wants to capture Peter to find out why (which, of course, is a funny way to say "thank you").

In a rooftop garden, Sable and her Pack try to figure out what to do with the captured Spider-Man (and the confused Roxxon). But the inadvertently alert S.H.I.E.L.D. - America's elite espionage force - to their location. S.H.I.E.L.D. head Nick Fury has long had his eye on Peter, bur before S.H.I.E.L.D. can make its move, the rooftop is attacked - by a man in a green bird costume.

Story Details

Spider-Man is swinging after the man in the green bird suit. S.H.I.E.L.D. watches. The Pack wants to move out, Silver Sable says to wait. The bird-man throws grenades down to the rooftop garden. Meanwhile S.H.I.E.L.D. has determined it's Blackie Drago in the bird suit.

Donald Roxxon is webbed up. His cell phone rings. The person behind the attacks on Roxxon is on the line. He wants to destroy Roxxon and his company. Meanwhile S.H.I.E.L.D. triangulates the call.

Silver Sable then shoots at the birdman, damaging his flight unit and thus he and Spider-Man fall down. Eventually, Spidey manages to get on the birdman's back and uses his wings to create some sort of landing. When he returns to the rooftop, Silver Sable and the Pack are gone.

Jersey. Nick Fury and Iron Man visit the man behind the attacks on Roxxon. He tinkers. He's an ex-employee who worked in the R&D department. Nick gives him no other choice then to start working for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Roxxon gets to his car only to find Silver Sable there. She wants to close the deal, and tells Roxxon that if she ever hears from him again, she'll kill him

Later on, Peter is on the phone with Kitty. The X-Men were watching Caught in the Spider's Web: The Flash Thompson Story. They all laugh. And at school, Flash is totally cool again because of it.

General Comments

A lot of action. Fury and Stark watch the fight, Stark wants to help, but Nick wants to test Peter. Hmmmm, what's he up to? Anyway, this issue really shows how powerful S.H.I.E.L.D. actually is. Can't wait to see more of this.

We are introduced to the Ultimate Vulture, by name of Blackie Drago, who in the 616 universe wasn't the original Vulture. What's Bendis up to? Just some name dropping? I guess so...

Anyway, Silver is out of the picture again. Which suits me just fine. I do not really like her. And it seems the foxy ladies from the 616 universe are real bad girls in the Ultimate universe. The Black Cat, Captain Jean DeWolfe and now Silver Sable, all turn out to be a lot less nice than they seem to be at first glance. Perhaps we need these characters to make Kitty more a convincing girlfriend. Who knows?

Overall Rating

An above average issue. Action, mystery, character building, the works. A shame it took so long to get here.