Bendis has really cranked it up on Ultimate Spider-Man over the past couple of issues. We have been treated to the return of both Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker’s father! Plus, we have a couple of Peter Parker clones running amok. There is no doubt in my mind that Ultimate Spider-Man #100 is going to be an incredible read. Let’s check it out.
Creative Team
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inker: John Dell & Drew Hennessy
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The issue starts with Peter’s father, Richard Parker, hugging Peter. Peter’s father then explains what has happened since the day that Peter thought his father died.
We then cut to the Spider Man clone telling a captive Mary Jane that he is going to transform her into something that he won’t have to worry about protecting. Suddenly, a six-armed Spider-Man in a black and white costume attacks the Spider Man clone and tells him to leave M.J. alone.
We shift back to Richard Parker filling in Peter on what has been going on. Richard says that Trask Industries bought their experiments but Trask still needed Eddie Brock and Richard to be his experts to run the experiments with the Venom suit. That Trask made them an offer to sign a contract agreeing to work for Trask.
At the airport, Richard refused to get on the plane and work for Trask. Richard thought this was wrong. That the suit was going to only be used as a weapon and not for anything positive. Mary, Peter’s mom, calls Richard an idiot and says that as an officer of Richard and Eddie’s corporation that she is going to sign the contract to work for Trask. Eddie Brock, his wife and Mary Parker get on the plane and leave Richard behind. That plane crashed and everyone died.
We cut back to present day, and see the Spider-Man clone knocking out the six-armed Spider-Man.
Richard then explains that everyone thought he was dead and he didn’t know what to do with his life. Richard was approached by Henry Gyrich from the C.I.A. Gyrich tells Richard that a General named Nick Fury has assumed control of S.H.I.E.L.D. and wants to build an army of super-soldiers to police the world. The C.I.A. doesn’t like or trust Fury. The C.I.A. wants Richard to work for them and continue his work with the Venom suit. Gyrich then reveals that Trask had the plane that Richard was supposed to get on blown up. It wasn’t just an accident. Trask wanted to eliminate the Brocks and the Parkers. Gyrich tells Richard to work for them and he can take down Trask, plus Richard will create a weapon to take care of Nick Fury in case he gets out of control. Richard then accepts Gyrich’s deal.
We then shift to Gyrich revealing that Richard’s son is Spider-Man and that Nick Fury has already gotten to him. We then zip to Richard making contact with Aunt May. May snaps on Richard and tells him to leave Peter alone. That peter has a chance to live a normal good life. That Richard is no good. May tells Richard to stay away from her and Peter.
We snap back to present day. Richard is interrupted from telling his story by bright lights shining into Peter’s house. Nick Fury is outside the house with an army of S.H.I.E.L.D. solider. Fury tells everyone that they are all under arrest. Suddenly, Gwen Stacy snaps and transforms in Carnage!! She jumps out the window and attacks the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers. Aunt May then collapses to the floor. May is having a heart attack.
We then shift to Spider-Man clone from Mary Jane’s point of view. The Spider-Man clone says “Congratulations, M.J. It’s an all new you.” End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Wow. This one a hell of an issue. Ultimate Spider-Man #100 was kick ass. Bendis crammed more twists and turns, shocks and surprises into one issue than I ever thought was possible. Let’s recount the big twists. The Peter Parker clone reveals his plans for giving M.J. super powers. We see a six armed Spider-Man in the black costume. We learn what Richard Parker has been doing since his supposed death.
And then Bendis delivered an ending like I have never seen before. This was like a carpet bombing. Bendis dropped big bomb after big bomb on the reader in an ending that had me stunned and eager for the next issue. Nick Fury arrives with S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers telling everyone in May’s house that they are under arrest, Gwen turns into Carnage, Aunt May has a heart attack and the Peter Parker clone has successfully finished his experiments on MJ creating an all new MJ. That is one rapid fire and stunning ending to a fantastic issue.
The pacing of this issue was perfect. Bendis creates plenty of tension in the reader leading up to the fast paced and stunning ending. As always, Bendis delivers quality dialogue that manages to slip a little humor into the situation no matter how dire it may seem. The Clone Saga has been wonderfully plotted, constructed and planned.
Bendis’ Clone Saga has been stunningly good. When I first heard that Bendis was going to do the Clone Saga, I was extremely skeptical about how good it was going to be. I never liked the 616 Clone Saga so I didn’t think it was a storyline that really needed to be raised in the Ultimate Universe. Bendis has proven that my fears were unwarranted. The past several issues have been fantastic. And Ultimate Spider-Man #100 was even better and certainly rocketed this storyline into overdrive.
I cannot wait to see where Bendis goes with the various plotlines. Is the Spider-Woman we saw a couple of issues ago a future version of Mary Jane after undergoing the Spider-Man clone’s tests? How has Mary Jane been “improved”? What is the Peter Parker clone’s connection with Oscorp and Norman Osborn? Who is the six-armed Spider-Man? Will May die from her hear attack? Will Richard Parker make it out of this storyline alive? What the hell is up with Gwen Stacy? How did she become Carnage? Will Nick Fury arrest them all? Will we end up seeing a confrontation between Gyrich’s C.I.A. and Fury’s S.H.I.E.L.D.? So many delicious questions. It should be fun seeing how Bendis answers each one.
I cannot praise Bendis enough for his work on Ultimate Spider-Man. I think some people mistake my criticisms of Bendis in the past as a sign that I don’t like his work. That is totally incorrect. I try my hardest to not be a fanboy. If a writer does something I enjoy then I will praise it. If a writer does something that I find unimpressive then I will rip it. I try my best to not play favorites. I try my hardest to not blindly support a specific writer no matter what quality of work they turn out. Yes, I have been thoroughly unimpressed with Bendis’ run on the Avengers. I have issues stiff criticism of Bendis’ work on the Avengers.
However, don’t confuse that with me not liking his work. Ultimate Spider-Man is a perfect example. Bendis has managed to do something incredibly special on this title. First, I find it incredible that Bendis has logged 100 issues on Ultimate Spider-Man. In this day and age, writers rarely stay on a title for more than 12 issues. It seems that writers constantly jump from title to title. This lack of stability general hurts the creative vision and development of a title.
The fact that Bendis has stayed on Ultimate Spider-Man for so long is unheard of nowadays. But, more importantly, it has allowed Ultimate Spider-Man to be a consistently great read each and every month. Keeping a writer on one title for a long period of time allows that title to have much more stability. It allows that title to retain a long term course of direction. When a title constantly changes writers, plotlines are dropped, new directions are taken and characters are tweaked. However, when one writer stays on a title for a long time he is able to pull off more intricate and long term plotlines and character development. I like a title reflecting the vision of one writer over a long period of time. We are witnessing history on Ultimate X-Men. This is something that has not been done since the days of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
The Bad: No complaints at all.
Overall: Ultimate Spider-Man #100 was fantastic. I cannot recommend this title enough. If nothing else, pick this storyline up when Marvel releases the trade paperback of the Ultimate Clone Saga. Ultimate Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s stronger titles and is definitely my favorite Spider-Man title.