Ultimate Spider-Man #107

Background

After a recent showdown with the villainous Doctor Octopus, Peter's Aunt May learned that Peter was Spider-Man - and suffered a near-fatal heart attack. While May recovers, MJ has her own recovery to deal with - she was injected with the Oz formula (the substance that mutated the spider that gave Peter his powers), and while she's seemingly been cured of any mutation, doubts linger...

Meanwhile, the costumed hero called Daredevil shows up at Peter's school - in the guise of Daredevil's alter ego, lawyer Matt Murdock - an offers Peter an opportunity to plan the downfall of Wilson Fisk (A.K.A. the Kingpin of Crime). Since gaining his powers, Spider-Man has had several confrontations with the red-clad DD... and they are not friends.

But despite these ominous tidings, Peter and MJ's romantic relationship is back in bloom, now that he has left his troubled relationship with Kitty Pryde (of the world-famous mutant super-team, the X-Men).

That is, until the principal introduces Midtown High's newest student: Kitty Pryde.

Story Details

Peter's classroom. Kitty gets the seat behind Mary Jane. The kids hassle her, to show her mutant powers. She does. Jessica Jones takes pictures with her cell phone. When the kids go to far, Kitty runs through a wall to escape. Jessica notices Peter, looking sad.

Later, Peter and MJ spot Kitty. Peter goes over to her. They talk, about the break up. Kitty was kicked of the X-Men team. Along the talk, they are having words. MJ watches, from a distance.

That evening, Peter sits by the bed of his Aunts, at the hospital. He can't wait to go out, be Spider-Man. He meets up with Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Moon Knight and Daredevil. They talk about taking down the Kingpin. Spider-Man stresses that there will be no killing. After some arguing, they decide on a plan.

This plan is later revealed to the Kingpin by Danny Rand. It turns out, Danny, aka Iron Fist, has earned the Kingpin's friendship.

General Comments

What can I say? Imagine what would happen if you had a mutant in your classroom, what would happen? I think Bendis and Bagley caught the right atmosphere here. Same with the argument Peter and Kitty are having later on, it fits. What makes me wonder though, why did we have to wait until this issue to see a " real" Kitty. I felt in previous issues, Kitty was just there, to fill some panels, in the most annoying way. Oh well, I guess a few more issues and she's back to the X-Men and she won't bother us anymore in the pages of Spider- Man.

And the final page, Danny Rand selling out to the Kingpin, totally unexpected. A nice twist to a potential explosive story. I mean, taking down the Kingpin, breaking down his day-to-day operation. I imagine several action scenes are coming, next issue...

Overall Rating

Although it had some great moments, the story has yet to really get going.