Ultimate Spider-Man #100 Discussion (SPOILERS!)

Foolsfolly said:
Well what if Richard is lying about CIA connections? Making Fury look like a villain.

I agree he's an a%$hole, but I still can't see him as a villain. I'll far more believe Richard's a villain.

In fact, he's clearly a villain. Richard's messing with Pete's mind, using his fatherhood of Peter to tell him what's best. I mean, Richard has Carnage as an attack dog. And you know Richard's behind the clones, which in turn are behind MJ's kidnapping.

Until there's more proof, I won't admit Fury's a villain, but I will say it's a possiblity.
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It's certainly possible that Richard is a villian and lying. That leaves the question of how he got funding to create the clones (I'm definetly sure he was creating the clones).

Unless he's been working with Osborn the whole time.

Like I said, Fury isn't an outright villian. He may indeed be the good guy here, I don't know. But he's not a good guy, like Captain America, Iron Man or Thor. He is a dark shade of grey.

Also, why are Spider-Woman and Tarantula seemingly good guys? Why did Richard reveal himself to Peter now and not earlier if no one was holding him back? If he is lying about the CIA, we need a lot more explanations. It also would seem like a complete waste of an issue to lay out a huge, fake plan during the double-sized 100th issue.
 
Overall, I actually dug the issue. I've been ragging on Spider-Man for a long time now, but Bendis set up some interesting ideas here. The design for the Spidey clones is pretty slick, and I think they're differentiated enough that they might turn out to be interesting characters.

Mary Jane won't just become a superhero. That would make Kitty a meaningless character in USM, and Bendis said she's going to be a recurring character for the long term.

Richard definitely has an ulterior agenda. This is a guy who recreated Carnage and brought Peter's dead love interest back to life. Something seriously ****ed up is going on. Whoever he's working for (be it the CIA or someone else) has some dark interests, and I wouldn't be surprised if Parker's already gotten corrupted by them.

The one thing that didn't impress me was the Nick Fury panels. The design for the Spider-Slayers is incredibly silly, and going in that way doesn't feel like Nick Fury's style. This is a guy who's in charge of the Ultimates and a legion of other American super-soldiers. I don't see him charging up to Peter's front door just to take out Spider-Man. Either Spidey isn't the real target (Carnage and Richard, I'm looking at you) or there's more to the story or Bendis is just being a dumbass.

I also don't buy Nick Fury as being a villain. He's a hardass, for sure, and he does whatever he needs to in order to do his job right, but he's still a good guy. This is the man who coordinated the attacks against the greatest threats to America and the world. With America under siege, it's one-armed FURY charging right through the middle of the melee to save the President. And regardless of whether he's been antagonistic to Peter, the jump to super-villain seems fairly arbitrary. I agree that the conflict between Peter and Fury seems more of an issue of Peter bucking authority than anything else.

And no matter how you look at it, in comparison to REAL super-powered threats, Peter is a complete non-issue. He can climb walls, and he's a little stronger than usual. If Fury is really building an army of robo-soldiers to take out a sixteen year old kid? I'm going to be INCREDIBLY disappointed.... But I'm giving Bendis the benefit of the doubt and I have a feeling that things between Nick and Peter will eventually be pretty squarely resolved by the time it's all said and done.

The only thing I'm worried about is whether all these huge plot threads can be resolved in the space Bendis has. We still have to give all those clones panel-time and make them interesting, resolve the mystery of Richard Parker, deal with Nick Fury and his robo-monsters, figure out what's going on with Mary Jane, and have room for Peter to spout out random Yiddish interjections.... How many issues do we have left? 3?
 
Zom's got a point to. I forgot about the Spider-Slayers a man that commands Cap, A Thunder God, Iron Man, and Scarlett Witch should have no reason to make robots to fight a teenaged Parker.

In fact, where are the Ultimates? Well....if he knew of Carnage theire might be some worries about it absorbing the team and robots would be better to use...maybe.

You know what, I hope this all works out because I don't think Bendis can wrap up anything in one arc.
 
Foolsfolly said:
Zom's got a point to. I forgot about the Spider-Slayers a man that commands Cap, A Thunder God, Iron Man, and Scarlett Witch should have no reason to make robots to fight a teenaged Parker.

In fact, where are the Ultimates? Well....if he knew of Carnage theire might be some worries about it absorbing the team and robots would be better to use...maybe.
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They maybe tied up in something else like their time in the middle east (though I havent read U2 so I cant be certain) Also you dont want to have the Ultimates attack a house in queens could be bad PR
 
I loved this issue. Plain and simple. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that it was solicited as a double issue, and the most of the second half was unused drawings and flashbacks. As for gwen/carnage, I think after the CIA got Dr. Connors' work, Richard saw that he may be able to bring back Gwen. As for Nick Fury, I think he's suspected clones of spiderman or some other crap for a while now. If you'll go back to the end of the Sivler Sable arc, he and Tony Stark are talking and Nick says "I'm testing him." to which Tony says "why, we know he's got the goods", and then Nick says "no, not for that". When I heard there was going to be a clone saga, I guessed that's what he was talking about. Yet another one of those tie ins that Bendis keeps talking about.
 
Well I read this last night but I couldn't comment on it until today....



4.5/5

Seriously.



I think everyone else did a really good job on summarizing what went down. My only real gripe about this was the timeline of things.


In the panel where Richard was watching Peter play in the playground Peter couldn't have been any older than like 6 or 7. Ben and May are obviouly WAY younger. Then CIA guy approaches Ben and wants to talk to him. A few panels later it looks as if it couldn't have been more than a few hours later and we see CIA man ask Richard if he's ever heard of Fury. CIA man then goes onto explain all about Fury and how he wants to make a group called the Ultimates w/ Cap America blah blah blah.

There is no way Fury was a General back then. Or even a Colonel.

The timeline for all the reasoning behind CIA working with Richard is all wrong.
 
Victor Von Doom said:
The timeline for all the reasoning behind CIA working with Richard is all wrong.
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Might not be a problem if he's lying. :wink:

Of course, if he isn't, we'll just chalk it up to the fact that Bendis sucks with timeline consistancy.
 
Random said:
They maybe tied up in something else like their time in the middle east (though I havent read U2 so I cant be certain) Also you dont want to have the Ultimates attack a house in queens could be bad PR
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So, instead of using your second and third stringers, who the public isn't really aware of, or using any number of black ops for sale, or any of those other freak experiments you have down in the SHIELD basements, you commission a complete army of robotic super soldiers to take out Spider-Man? Sixteen year old Spider-Man?
 
I enjoyed this issue and thought it was a great read. It answered some of my questions, but left me with others.

My thoughts on some of the characters;

1. Richard Parker-I don't think he's a clone. Parts of his story seem shady. He mentions being hired by a CIA agent named Henry Gyrich( Name seems familiar...can't recall his 616 counterpart though) but doesn't say he works for the CIA. I wonder if he even knows who he's working for. He seemed happy enough just getting funding to continue his research. He knew Gwen was Carnage and is probably at the old house to retrieve her, not to reveal himself to Peter. Is he behind the clones? I don't know, but it would not suprise me if he wasn't. He has "self-absorbed, well-meaning dupe" written all over him.

2.May Parker-Also not a clone. The back story with her meeting with Richard after the Venom arc practically confirms this.

3.Mary Jane-It looks like she's getting powers, at least temporary. My gut feeling is she becomes Ultimate Firestar. If that happens, I'd be okay with it.
 
chatbleu said:
I enjoyed this issue and thought it was a great read. It answered some of my questions, but left me with others.

My thoughts on some of the characters;

1. Richard Parker-I don't think he's a clone. Parts of his story seem shady. He mentions being hired by a CIA agent named Henry Gyrich( Name seems familiar...can't recall his 616 counterpart though) but doesn't say he works for the CIA. I wonder if he even knows who he's working for. He seemed happy enough just getting funding to continue his research. He knew Gwen was Carnage and is probably at the old house to retrieve her, not to reveal himself to Peter. Is he behind the clones? I don't know, but it would not suprise me if he wasn't. He has "self-absorbed, well-meaning dupe" written all over him.
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In 616 I believe he was in the X-men comics, I've only seen him in the cartoon he was one of the guys who made the sentinel, his name was also mentioned in the first X-men movie (the guy Mystique was pretending to be on the helichopter)

Zombipanda said:
So, instead of using your second and third stringers, who the public isn't really aware of, or using any number of black ops for sale, or any of those other freak experiments you have down in the SHIELD basements, you commission a complete army of robotic super soldiers to take out Spider-Man? Sixteen year old Spider-Man?
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Cause the reserves will eventually be made public and experiements are not finished. And remember Spider-men, Fury ordered them the secoind he heard "clone"
 
chatbleu said:
I enjoyed this issue and thought it was a great read. It answered some of my questions, but left me with others.

My thoughts on some of the characters;

1. Richard Parker-I don't think he's a clone. Parts of his story seem shady. He mentions being hired by a CIA agent named Henry Gyrich( Name seems familiar...can't recall his 616 counterpart though) but doesn't say he works for the CIA. I wonder if he even knows who he's working for. He seemed happy enough just getting funding to continue his research. He knew Gwen was Carnage and is probably at the old house to retrieve her, not to reveal himself to Peter. Is he behind the clones? I don't know, but it would not suprise me if he wasn't. He has "self-absorbed, well-meaning dupe" written all over him.

2.May Parker-Also not a clone. The back story with her meeting with Richard after the Venom arc practically confirms this.

3.Mary Jane-It looks like she's getting powers, at least temporary. My gut feeling is she becomes Ultimate Firestar. If that happens, I'd be okay with it.
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First, welcome! :D

As to your suggestions:

I don't beleive Richard or May are clones. It would only dilute the story if they were. Bringing back Richard is a wonderful dynamic and I honestly can't see Bendis ruining that by making him a clone.

Henry Gyrich in 616 was a US Government liason to the Avengers. Seems to fit pretty well with what he is in the Ultimate Universe. In fact, it gives credence to Richard's story. Gwen Carnage is definetly a project of Richard's, and by the way he was talking, it's very possible that she is either risen from the dead using the Carnage research or she was the prototype clone for Peter's four clones. I honestly don't think Richard means to be bad, but whoever he works for are not good guys (Either the CIA, Osborn or maybe even both).

As for Mary Jane, I think it'd be completely ridiculous if her powers (So long as Kaine's experiment didn't fail) lasted more than this arc. Firestar is a good suggestion, but I honestly think she'll be Spider-Girl (If Peter's female clone is Spider-Women). But, I could definetly see Firestar, seeing as both Goblins can combust.
 
Like Above Average at best.

I'm sorry I'm just not impressed with "Oh My God!!!" Moments which Bendis thought he could get away with because it's the big 100.

Richard Parker backstory took up too much ****. I don't even want him around and I had to sit there and listen to it. C.I.A. is very cool though. I'm still wondering about what happened on that plane with the Venom suit as shown in the game though. Maybe Mr. Brock survived too or in issue 200 is the big reveal going to be Mrs. Parkers alive....

Aunt May having a heart attack?! No way!?!! :?

Gwen's Carnage!? Who didn't know that when they showed Gwen was coming back to begin with?

Spider-Slayer's looked lame. But they're surrounding the house!?!

And the most exciting part... MJ is going to be a super-human now!!

Pass.

2/5
 
Thanks for the welcome!
As for Mary Jane, I think it'd be completely ridiculous if her powers (So long as Kaine's experiment didn't fail) lasted more than this arc. Firestar is a good suggestion, but I honestly think she'll be Spider-Girl (If Peter's female clone is Spider-Women). But, I could definetly see Firestar, seeing as both Goblins can combust.
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If her powers are spider-based(Spider-girl) or goblin-based(She-Goblin) then I also hope they don't last longer than this arc, as I really don't like that twist at all. I did not take the Goblin's combusting ability into consideration when I made my Ultimate Firestar comment, good observation!

I am guessing MJ becomes Ultimate Firestar only because I see ultimate MJ having a lot in common with 616 Angelica Jones (pesonality-wise, anyway).
It would also be a good excuse to have MJ leave the book for a bit, or cameo her, while she tries to figure out the deal with her powers. Maybe going to Emma's school or something? Didn't Bendis mention wanting to an Ultimate Spider-friends story? It would be a nice little homage to the cartoon too.(They used 616 MJ as the template for Firestar)
 
Richard Parker backstory took up too much ****. I don't even want him around and I had to sit there and listen to it. C.I.A. is very cool though. I'm still wondering about what happened on that plane with the Venom suit as shown in the game though. Maybe Mr. Brock survived too or in issue 200 is the big reveal going to be Mrs. Parkers alive....
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Hmm... you know it is interesting that with the game being in continuity, that Richard failed to mention the fact about survivors. Perhaps he doesn't know and Gyrich has kept the truth from him. Or he's not mentioning it to Peter on purpose.
 
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