The Chi✶Town Breakdown: USM #5 (2024)

Greetings Crawlspacers!  So who asked for a 6160 Harry Osborn Centric issue?  I didn’t, I still waiting for Peter to come clean to Mary Jane, that he’s Spider-Man.  I mean, there have been NINE covers so far in this run that illustrated that she knows and is completely fine with it.  More than fine, she’s turned on by it!

I’m sure we’ll get to that point in this book and Hickman is believed to be the guy that would tell you “All good things come to those who wait.”.  Sure, as long as editorial doesn’t mess up things like they did at the end of Nick Spencer’s run, but I digress.

Here we get to see what drove Harry to be the “vigilante” Green Goblin.  What is his agenda?  How deep is his wife, Gwen invested?  Also, paging Dr. Octavius, paging Doctor Otto Octavius.  Hickman is bringing us some backstory!  Grab you favorite snack and let’s dive in!

(Writer) Jonathan Hickman
(Artist) David Messina
(Colorist) Matthew Wilson
(Letterer) VC’s Corry Petit & VC’s Joe Sabino
(Editor) Wil Moss
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 5/29/2024
Issue Number #5 
Price Tag: $5.99 

STORY:   Months ago, Harry is running late to meet his parents for a very important party.  Norman reminds Harry (via cellphone) that he’s an Osborn and he needs to “Man Up.”.  Harry just rolls his eyes and tells his father “I’ll be there in five minutes, Dad.  Jeez, don’t explode on me right now…”

A few weeks after that…at the attorney’s office.  Lawyer Bill explains to Harry and Gwen that all of Norman’s assets belong to them and for the time being, so does Oscorp.  They conclude the meeting with an invitation being handed to Harry to visit Wilson Fisk.

The Next Day, Harry meets with Wilson who sells Stane/Stark to Oscorp because he’s too important to keep those companies problems and it doesn’t fit his ego.

Two Weeks after that…Harry, Gwen, and their head scientist Dr. Otto Octavius, manage to finally get to a secret room in a Stark facility that was covered with self-healing composite that is about as strong as six-inch thick titanium walls, yet Gwen still can’t understand why it took so long just to cut through….pfftt, classic Gwen.  Inside they find Iron Man suits and a terminal with a data array that would explain everything.  Otto cracks the password, gets in the network and has to sign a new NDA before proceeding.

Four Months Later, Otto has created the Green Goblin suit.  He also shows Harry that there is a secure network that links to all Stark-Tech around New York and they just started waking up.

Three Months, Harry confronts/beats Shocker after he defeated “Spider-Man”.  Apparently the gauntlets are Stark-Tech that Shocker stole while committing a robbery in a guy’s apartment, who had a heart attack when he received a holographic message from Tony Stark.

Two Months ago, Harry is having a drink with Peter and they both discuss what forces are at play in the world they live in with Peter being optimistically cautious around Harry (kinda like I do with Dark Mark). 

NOW..

Dark Mark: Hold up, Chi-Town, Time OUT!  What the hell am I looking at? When does this happen in the Comic?
Chi-Town: Now. You’re looking at now, Mark. Everything that happens now, is happening now.
Dark Mark: What happened to then?
Chi-Town: We passed then.
Dark Mark: When?
Chi-Town: Just now. We’re at now, now.
Dark Mark: Go back to then.
Chi-Town: When?
Dark Mark: Now.
Chi-Town Now?
Dark Mark: Now.
Chi-Town: I can’t.
Dark Mark: Why?
Chi-Town: We missed it.
Dark Mark: When?
Chi-Town: Just now.
Dark Mark: When will then become now?
Chi-Town: Soon…

… Harry is keeping Bullseye locked up and wants answers.  Bullseye is resistant (cause villains can be like that) and Harry doesn’t care how long it will take, he’s gonna get what he wants.

Harry’s Agenda:   Harry has apparently read Hickman’s run prior to this and knows who the real villains are in the story.  What intrigues me the most he is questioning himself on if he’s becoming a hero or something else.  Hickman writes Harry as a person who seeks “justice” from the REAL people that are responsible for what happened to his parents and/or the other people that were caught in the explosion.  Really like how Hickman fills in the holes, but not for the sake of holes to fill in.  He’s showing character depth during this filling up point.  It’s all part of the story.  I think he will find the one(s) responsible and then Fisk will eventually want to get “even”.  Kingpin may go after Gwen which could lead Harry to a dark place as the Green Goblin.  We now get some more in-depth insight into how 6160 Harry came to be in his current position, and Hickman makes it a very enthralling backstory read.

Mystery Man:   Holograph Stark should have a warning sign.  May be the direct cause of seizers, hallucinations, related heart problems, or super powers.  Unfortunately, our mystery man got the short straw.  So if Shocker stole those gauntlets, who did Stark intended to have them?  Another question is Stark making heroes AND VILLIANS for the upcoming battle?  I’m not reading any of the other Ultimate Books, but if you could shed light in our comment section, be curious to know.

Controlled:   Dex pretty much sums up what kind of game of the Council of The Maker are playing.  Control.  Any kind of power that is obtained by someone outside their network and is considered a threat will have to be “taught a lesson”.  Although this is a Harry-centric issue, I am more concerned on how this will affect Peter’s loved ones.  Hickman teases that this evil is NO JOKE and May and Richard could be easy targets.  Even Mary Jane would become a cliché beautiful damsel in distress in their eyes and probably will be the case since the solic in issue six reveals that “Mary Jane can hold her own…nuff said.”  Gwen could be a target as well…

Interesting things to note:

• 6160 Otto Octavius is looks and dresses a lot like 616 Steve Ditko’s version of Peter Parker.  If this is as far as Hickman will take on the Superior Spider-Man run, I’ll gladly take it!
• Fisk just hands over Stane/Stark to Oscorp without getting knowing what goodies it stored.  Looks like the “Homer”, Simpson, because the pitcher just said “D’OH!”
• I’m really, REALLY tired of seeing the words “6 Months” in my Spider-Man comics.
  
• Stark’s influence is all over this comic and as much as I HATE that, I didn’t let that take me out of the comic.
• Shocker may have lost his gauntlets, but still was left with all that cash, so not a total loss??
  

Grade:   Giving this one a B+.  Not that much Spider-Man in it, too much STARK, more of a backstory issue than anything.  STILL, if you are the type of person that is invested in story driven comics that give in-depth characterization that can lead to other future great stories, then you should be satisfied with this one.  Consider this the “calm before the storm”.  This issue prepares for what is to come.  Hickman is on top when it comes to world-building scenario that is being played out in the Ultimate line up and Messina does do a good job making a, what can be considered, “dull script” interesting.  This issue is a piece to a puzzle that most fans are excited to put together, it may not be the most flashy piece in the box, but a important one none the less.