Ultimate Spider-Man #100

Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils & Cover by Mark Bagley

 

So I pick this up and find it to be a hefty 64 pages or more. I was thrilled! I was gonna get thrice the Spider-Man goodness and this issue certainly has all the revelations and potential to have filled those 48 pages. Sadly, while it is more than the normal 22 pages, it’s really 31. The rest is full of a nice summary of the past hundred issues and some cool sketchbook pages of Mark Bagley’s that reveal some Ultimate character designs we’ve yet to see.

 

Of course, I’m still disappointed I didn’t get 64 pages of new story but I can’t help but smile in appreciation of the summary which takes up 12 pages. That is the smart thing to do, new readers can catch up and that is the most important thing for an imprint that was designed to attract new readers (especially younger ones). All in all, it’s a good package well designed to serve all purposes to all types of possible readers.

 

As for the story inside…whoa, what a dozy. It certainly is worth the drama of a hundredth issue. It also changes everything—I mean EVERYTHING in Peter’s life. Last issue saw May kicking Peter out of the house after Gwen Stacey shows up alive and well. Then Peter’s dad shows up, and he’s the real deal folks. No clone here.

 

Bendis definitely had me going with the whole clone thing, since we’d already seen two clones of Peter and a possible clone of MJ. I was thinking that Aunt May might be a clone since she was acting so mean to Peter, and maybe Peter’s dad was a clone too. But no, and it turns out to be the most dramatic outcome possible. That means his dad purposefully didn’t seek him out. He decided not to come find his son.

 

I like the direction and characterization Bendis has used with Peter’s father. Peter’s dad has been working for a group within the government that have been preparing to take Nick Fury down if he ever abused his power. So it was in this capacity that Peter is entangled in their affairs. And I like that we’ve finally got a direction for the insinuations and hints about Nick Fury being a manipulative asshole.

 

And that is where all the clones are coming from (or so we are lead to believe at this time). The C.I.A. based government group is making clones of Peter and experimenting with the Carnage suit. And that is the last big revelation—that the new Gwen Stacy isn’t a clone at all, she’s Carnage.  

 

Ok, let me try and clear up the clone confusion. There are now three clones of Peter:

·         Scorpion – who is in the custody of the Ultimate Fantastic Four

·         Deformed Peter – who has kidnapped the real MJ and might have given her super powers

·         Six-armed Spider-Man – who tries to save the real MJ but fails

 

Now there is also a clone of what appears to be MJ but may just be a Spider-Woman character that isn’t a clone at all. And finally, there is the Gwen Stacy/Carnage creature that we really don’t know much about yet.

 

That about sums it up for now. Bendis has kept himself from doing anything stupid or horribly contrived with the clone idea. He’s opened a whole set of story possibilities while advancing some slow burning sub-plots in the process. It’s a wonderful hundredth issue and this by a fan who’s read it from the beginning. Good job Bendis and Bagley, keep up the good work.

 

Rating - 8