Ultimate Spider-Man #101

Background

On a casual mall outing with MJ, Peter is attacked by a genetic duplicate of himself! He makes sure MJ gets clear and brings the duplicate to the world- famous Fantastic Four for examination.

Unfortunately, MJ is soon kidnapped and taken to an abandoned Oscorp laboratory. She's held prisoner by a horribly scared, tattered version of Peter - who swears he's found a way to keep MJ safe from harm... by making her like him!

As the real Peter searches for her, he instead discovers his friend Gwen Stacy, back from the dead... and as confused as he is! As they try to figure things out, they're caught by Aunt May, so Peter does the only thing he can - he reveals himself as Spider-Man to his Aunt May.

The confrontation is interrupted when Peter's father, also long thought dead, walks right into the kitchen. Richard Parker reveals that he has been alive the entire time, but has been working secretly for the CIA... continuing his genetics work.

Just as Richard is about to explain how all this connects to the growing mysteries , Nick Fury - head of the government's super-human task force and armed to the teeth with spider-slayer warrior drones - surrounds the house.

The overwhelming stress of the situation gives Aunt May a hear attack... but the greater shock is when Gwen transforms into Carnage - the very monster that killed her - and attacks Fury and his men!

Story Details

Carnage attacks the spider-slayers. Fury talks to the Tinkerer through his headset. This is not what they had forseen. The slayers start shooting.

In the kitchen, Peter wants to get Aunt May out of there. Richard tells him not to, it could kill her, he has to stop this. So Peter engages the fight. He's hit by one of the slayers and Fury standing over him, tells him to stay down. Then his gun is hit by fire. The Fantastic Four have arrived.

The Thing takes on Carnage but he's thrown away. Sue sees to Aunt May and Mr. Fantastic is fascinated by Carnage. Sue gets Richard and Aunt May out of there, by projecting a force field around them. Peter wants to stay, he goes after Fury.

Meanwhile, the Tinkerer has found a solution to the earlier unforeseen situation. The slayers all open fire. After a big blast, Carnage is gone and a naked Gwen is standing there. She falls down. Mr. Fantastic is taking notes. Fury says he has to take Peter in. It's over, he has to clean things up. Peter ask what did he do? He didn't do anything, it was his clones.

Elsewhere, in the abandoned Oscorp laboratory, the ugly Peter tells MJ he injected her with OZ. She gets very mad and transforms into a giant, red, furry, goblin like creature.

General Comments

After last all the cliffhangers of last issue, I had trouble believing this issue would be above average. Luckily, I got a big surprise. The story stays at Aunt May's house. And when that is dealt with, we switch to the Oscorp laboratory. No cheap suspense builders by switching scenes all the time. So I got a great read. One big action scene, packed with drama and some humor too.

Also, Richard isn't thinking of himself for a change. Aunt May wasn't very nice to him, and stood between him and his son. But still he shows Peter how keep her from further harm.

Finally, the Tinkerer and Mr. Fantastic. They were responsible for the comedy element of this story. Perhaps a wee bit out of character for Reed, if you read Ultimate Fantastic Four, but otherwise great!

Overall Rating

I liked this one (yeah, it hardly seems possible, but I really did). Action, drama, humor, story progress, a perfect mix. It shows Bendis can write a fast paced story. And Bagley delivered some great pictures. What can I say? Oh, I know, gimme issue 102, NOW !!!