Ultimate Spider-Man #104

Background

After a casual mall outing with Peter, MJ is kidnapped by a horrible scarred, tattered clone of Peter. He takes her to an abandoned Oscorp laboratory and swears he's found a way to keep MJ safe from harm... by transforming her into a monster like the Green Goblin.

As the real Peter searches for MJ, he instead discovers his friend Gwen Stacy, back from the dead... As if that weren't enough, Peter's father - Richard - reappears (after long being thought dead himself) and reveals that he has been doing secret cloning experiments for one Henry Gyrich, of the CIA! But even worse - Peter reveals to his Aunt May that he is Spider-Man!

Suddenly, Nick Fury - head of the government's superhuman 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!

When the Fantastic Four arrive to help Peter, Carnage is defeated and Aunt May is taken to the hospital (with Peter's dad and the FF's Sue Storm following)... and Peter is rescued by another clone of himself - this one, a girl calling herself Jessica Drew! She takes Peter to the Oscorp lab where he finds the mutated MJ and a veritable army of clones... but yet another surprise comes when the mastermind reveals himself: Doctor Octopus, with Fury and the Fantastic Four at his side!

Ock reveals to Peter that he has been working for the government... and is responsible for creating Richard Parker, a clone that only thinks he's Peter's father! Stunned by Ock's malevolence, Fury escorts the FF and his troops out of the building... leaving Peter and Jessica to confront Doc Ock on their own terms. But the good doctor isn't about to go down without a fight... he reveals that he has the power to control metal, and fashions a new set of mechanical tentacles - and attacks!

Story Details

At the Baxter Building, MJ is being treated by Reed Richards. MJ wakes up and sees the Scorpion clone, she freaks and transforms into a furry Goblin creature. A fight starts.

At the hospital, the Richard clone and Sue Storm are taking an the rooftop. Sue confronts him and tells him he's not the real Richard Parker.

Outside, at the Oscorp laboratoy, Fury and Henry Gyrich are having words. Fury is pissed. Inside, Octopus, Jessica and Peter in fighting, to the death so it seems.

At the Baxter Building, the FF try to restrain MJ. When she looks the Scorpion clone in the eye, the realizes it's Peter and calms down. Doctor says he found his Oz notes.

Peter is still fighting Doc Ock. Since Ock can control metal, it's very difficult to hit him. The Peter and Jessica combine their efforts and hit him in the face. Octopus goes down. Jessica leaves, she doesn't want to confront Fury and his men. Peter does, he's angry at Henry. Then the Human Torch arrives and takes Peter with him.

From the hospital rooftop, Sue and Richard see Johnny flying. Richard has gotten very old, he's about to die. He asks Sue to be Peter's friend. She says yes, then Richard passes away.

Peter arrives in the lab where MJ is being treated. She can't believe it's really Peter. Peter gives her a short version of what happened. She hugs him, Peter tells her he was wrong and that he loves her. MJ is cured of the Oz formula, and Doctor Storm can cure Peter too. It's his choice.

General Comments

Great issue, lots and I mean LOTS of action. I would have thought we'd get an issue with just the fight between Peter, Jessica and Doctor Octopus. We did not, Richard and Sue have a very dramatic scene at the hospital roof and MJ gets cured at the Baxter building.

Basically everything is back to normal. What did we get out of this storyline so far? A Scorpion clone and Jessica Drew. The first is in custody, the second one got away. I suspect we'll see more of her, perhaps in a series of her own.

Now, all that's left is how Aunt May is going to react... provided that she'll live. Well, that's I guess the purpose of the epilogue. Stay tuned.

Overall Rating

Yep, this one had it all.