The Chi✶Town Breakdown: USM #9 (2024)

It can only be assumed that the kids birthday party at Arcades didn’t turn into an X-Men death trap and the celebration was enjoyed by all that attended.  So what is next?  Did Peter take the job that Ben and Jonah offered him?  Is Harry feeling left out because Iron Lad said he wasn’t on the “Cool List”?  More importantly, did Peter have that long conversation with his suit after the party and what kind of plans did Wilson scheme with his Sinister Six?  I can not promise you answers to all these questions, however this issue did deliver the goods!  For example, Deb Whitman doesn’t even exist in this universe, so THAT’S a plus in my book!

(Writer) Jonathan Hickman
(Artist) Marco Checchetto
(Colorist) Matthew Wilson
(Letterer) VC’s Corry Petit 
(Editor) Wil Moss
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 9/25/2024
Issue Number #9
Price Tag: $5.99 

STORY:   Jonah and Ben are at the bar where everybody knows your name.  In walks Mary Jane and everyone shouts out “MJ!”.  Mary Jane convinces Jonah and Ben to keep publishing Spider-Man stories to keep the viewership up then throw in stories they really want to focus on.  Meanwhile Otto has found a way to block Stark from tracking Spidey and Goblin and presents Peter with a new suit, the “Spider-Armor: Mark 1”.  Peter is unsure and has a conversation with is AI suit, which isn’t weird at all to Harry and Otto.  “Not-Symbiote” suit tells Peter that it rather be replaced with spandex and suggests that it be used as a home security system at the Parker household instead.  Peter agrees and the super power duo heads out into the city sporting their new threads.  The plot thickens when Black Cat *Felicia’s Father for those who haven’t been paying attention* attacks both Goblin and Spidey on a rooftop.  The supervillain monologue is spoken and while Spidey holds his own, it’s a Goblin blast that sends Walter falling down to the pavement like Wile E. Coyote.  Peter and Harry share they have a different moral compass when it comes to fighting.

Marketing Genius:   Stories, that reporters are too afraid to report on, and so far The Paper is putting out stories on Spider-Man.  Not exactly how Jonah and Ben envisioned their business to premier and they aren’t too happy with it.  Yet their subscriber list is growing at an un-presidential rate!  Think of it this way, you walk into your LCS.  One book has a variant cover that has an ultimate story behind it, the other one doesn’t.  One is boring and the other is exciting to see!  Which would you rather buy?   That’s is what Mary Jane is explaining to them.  Sure, it’s very important to discuss and expose corruption, but getting viewership because of Spider-Man is a foot in the door.  It’s the Icing before the cake.

New Suit:   Really love on how Jonathan Hickman balances this part of the story with nods that every Spidey fan would appreciate.  Can we all just agree that this panel below was written in pure Spidey fashion?

So it’s safe to say the Peter’s A.I. suit will be a backup and can keep an watchful eye on the home front.  This could possibly set a seed for VENOM, but I’m not going there just yet.  I can see either Mary Jane, Richard, or even May getting their hands on that thing and the stories that evolve from that.

Otto reveals the “Spider-Armor: Mark 1.” suit.  It’s the 6160 version of the suit Stark gave Spidey during the Civil War Storyline, the one Joe Quesada designed.  Spidey expresses all Spidey Fans feelings about this particular suit when he states.

So the ACTUAL new suit looks exactly like the A.I. suit, except instead of nano-tech it’s made of a spandex-Kevlar composite.  No A.I. assistant, but does have built in web-shooters.  OH YEAH!!  The question has finally been answered!  It’s mechanical web-shooters, not organic.  Little disappointed that Peter didn’t invent these, it was Otto.  However it doesn’t really take me away from the story.  I don’t like it, but I’ll allow it.  I was hoping Mary Jane would design his classic spandex suit like her 616 counterpart did during the Identity Crisis storyline, but that’s just me.

The Black Cat:   Walter Hardy has been called many names, apparently. “Shadow in the Night”, “A Whisper of Dream”, and embarrassingly “The Velvet Blade”.   With the way he acts, talks and dresses I would have gone with “Zorro the Capeless”, but I never met the guy.  Although he did manage to subdue Harry in his armor, he didn’t seem quite a match for Spider-Man.  I wonder if Fisk knew that and wanted Hardy to be the first pawn on the chess board.  I was nice to see Spidey win one though.  Of course once Goblin rebooted, the game was over.
I swore he was dead after I saw that panel, but he’s alive and I bet he’ll be out of commission for awhile.   Which will provoke his daughter Felicia to gear up.  I am very curious what Kingpin was promising if he succeeded and that will be handed down to Felicia.

Grade:   I’m giving this one an  A+.  Hickman and Checchetto bring us the action, drama, character development and humor that we want in a Spider-Man comic.  I’m still really impressed on Checchetto’s artwork, it does keep getting better.  Hickman is tidying up the Spider-Suit by addressing the web-shooters and making the suit spandex and not techy-techy.  He also keeps Peter moral compass in check.  Peter believes that despite what his enemies do, heroes are supposed to be BETTER.  Harry on the other end, is playing on the opposite side by following the same rules the villains are seeing in their playbook.  The seeds to the OG Green Goblin are perfectly being placed here and I can’t wait to see more.

This series is a really good run and highly suggest you buy and read it.  It’s bringing good storytelling following a template that the reader WANTS in a Spider-Man Comic.  That’s it for now, but I’ll be back again in October for the next issue!

Next Issue!