Well, it’s a new issue, so obviously, the personnel have changed. Drew Hennessy is joined by Matt Ryan on inks, and Andy Troy of Avalon Studios is here on colors. What in the world was going on here? The book stopped coming out twice a month 5 months ago, inking and coloring it should be easier than ever, and yet it’s a small stampede of people bringing this book to print over the course of this arc. Very strange. But this one is oversized to finish the wildest story of all time. And it begins with the FF minus Sue working on Mary Jane at the Baxter Building. They’re joined by Sue & Johnny’s dad, who’s the big brain who runs the Baxter Building in the Ultimate U, just in time for the heretofore unresponsive MJ to jolt away and start screaming and glowing blue.
Meanwhile, on the roof of the hospital, Sue breaks the news to Richard that he’s a Peter clone. She points out his unusually young-looking hands, and that he didn’t know what to do when May collapsed in the house. Richard spirals, unable to deal with the truth. And back at the fight, we first go outside the fight, to Gyrich showing up and trying to throw his weight around, while Fury denies him access to the building as well as denying any knowledge of what’s going on. And inside…
Trying to explain why Magneto would make arms, I guess, but it’s a weak explanation. At the Baxter Building, MJ goblin is smashing her way around, which frees the Scorpion clone, and when MJ sees his face, she’s shocked into powering down. And back at the fight, Peter keeps coming at Doc Ock, with a silent determination that begins to rattle him. Then Jessica hops back into the fray, and Ock is on the back foot. He begins creating a whirlwind of metal shards and things, a much more Magneto move, while panicking.
Really, really great stuff from Bags there. The action, the wordless communication, just superb. He’s been throwing everything at this story, and I wish he was getting consistent inks & colors to support it. None of the many people inking this has been as good as John Dell.
Sue sees Johnny flying by from the hospital roof, and we see that Richard is now aging very rapidly, which… doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but we had to get some clone degeneration in there, I guess. He asks Sue if she’ll be Peter’s friend. Says he’ll need friends after all this, and he’s an orphan and always looking for a family. Sue promises as Richard dies. 100% better than the previous fake Richard’s death, that’s for sure. Meanwhile, Johnny and Peter arrive at the Baxter Building just as MJ is waking up.
Those 2 “Oh my God” panels… so good.
This seems like bad news for Kitty!
In another world, next issue could be the end of the series. Peter & MJ back together, Peter a normal kid again, the end. A tour de force 105-issue story like nothing else in mainstream superhero comics. But we know better.