Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope everyone that visits our site is having a stress free holiday season. It’s Dark Mark’s favorite time of year, which is really odd, since he’s not very cheerful. He is odd though, take my word for it. The guy doesn’t even know where his favorite character, Debra Whitman was born. Now, for a guy like me, I wouldn’t give two thwips where “Whimpering” Whitman came from, but it’s kinda odd for my pal not to know this.
Anyways, USM 12 has hit the shelves and brings tons of characterization and surprises you probably never saw coming. It surprised me! Still it’s a very good read so let’s unwrap what this holiday issue has to offer us!
(Writer) Jonathan Hickman
(Artist) Marco Checchetto
(Colorist) Matthew Wilson
(Letterer) VC’s Corry Petit
(Editor) Wil Moss
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 12/18/2024
Issue Number #12
Price Tag: $5.99
STORY: Celebrating Christmas with The Parkers! Special guests include The Watsons and “The Grinch” (Jonah). Richard answers the door and gives Uncle Ben and Jonah the 411 on the party guests. Mary Jane’s Aunt, Mother, and Sister are at the party and drama are their plus ones. Here is what I got for you Crawlspacers.
Meet Madeline Watson, she is a world traveler, three-time widower, and an occasional mother (Talk about getting around). She complains about Mary Jane not knowing how to cook a feast, want’s to “help” in the most annoying way possible and is thinking about hitting on Ben. She has the personality of Jonah Jameson, basically.
Then there’s Gayle. Gayle thinks and states (years ago) that MJ could have done better than marrying “Punny Parker” although has noticed how “upgraded” he seems to appear since last they saw each other. (You know…the built muscle figure, because he’s Spider-Man. It’s the bod, chicks dig the bod). She REALLY shouldn’t talk because she is going through a divorce. Her husband, Douglas, has been cheating on her…for several years…and people knew. She finally admits she was wrong about MJ’s decisions in life and the joke was on her. She apologizes to her sister and the two hug it out.
Aunt Anna: Kindhearted, sweet old lady that loves coming every year to the Parkers for Christmas, except this year, she found out that Madeline’s “gift” to her is to move in with her until she figures out where her next venture is.
So that’s the usual drama that Mary Jane is talking through and dealing with. Mayday wants to play a game on MJ’s phone, but Gwen keeps calling her. Finally, she answers and Gwen wants to know if Peter knows where Harry is because he’s been missing for six days! Mary Jane asks Peter (who has been oddly quiet this entire issue) if he knows anything, only to find out that Peter is just the suit pretending to be Peter. We then see that Kraven The Hunter has both Harry and Peter, drugged, gagged, and hanging from chains.
THE BREAKDOWN:
The Suit: Okaaaay. So, if you are a long-term continuity Spidey junkie (like me) you are probably thinking the first thing that comes to your mind. “VENOM!!!!!”. Settle down and don’t get too far into it. I’m going to run through a few scenarios for ya, just to get your mind flowing with OTHER possibilities.
- For argument’s sake, let’s say it is the birth of this universe’s Venom. In this issue, Hickman has already named dropped “The Brock’s” and they seem to be friends with “The Parker’s” in 6160. Yet we have not seen them yet. Nothing new in this scenario, The Parkers and Brocks were friends of the family in the first USM Universe (It didn’t end well, btw). We also have Marco Checchetto illustrations mirroring MJ meeting Venom for the first time in ASM #300.
So we got the suit with similar symbiote traits, Eddie Brock name drop, IT does look like the seeds to “Venom” are planted, yet I don’t think Hickman is going with that, at least not yet. One of the biggest complaints (from other fans, not me) is the slow pacing of this series. That being said, seems too fast for Venom to arrive on this book, which brings me to my next point.
- I did mention in my earlier reviews (I’m too lazy to go back and find out which one, which will gives you the honor to comb through them and find out where I exactly stated it at, I’m a giver.) that Peter’s A.I suit could be used as a security for the home front. As creepy as the AI suit is, the suit just shared season’s greetings and could completely be obedient to MJ’s questions and concerns next issue or the issue after that. Don’t forget, it’s programed under Peter’s personality and Peter loves MJ and his kids. Peter could have told the suit, if anything happens, go into “The Parker Protection Program Prime Protocol Procedure.” (I know, it’s a mouthful…) Also, Peter saved the suit from Otto which it was extremely grateful for! I think there’s a trust between the two. Like I said, home security system to keep the family safe.
- Besides the symbiote traits that the suit has already revealed, what OTHER Spider-Man bad guy can do such thing and has a working partner relationship with Kraven the Hunter?
It’s a long shot, I’ll admit. The introduction of The Chameleon when we already have a steady stream of known Spidey villain’s variants flowing out in this run, but you never know. There’s also the possibility that the suit somehow got reprogramed and was switched into stealthy evil mode. I’m throwing out that possibility. Don’t’ think Hickman would go that route with the pace he is already established in this run. Whatever the case, it’s a good cliffhanger to think about.
The Pacing: Usually, I breakdown more of the issue after one point, but I’ll get to the rest in a bit. As stated before, the biggest complaint of this run in the pacing.
- This book is giving us the Spider-Man we have always wanted in a book. Peter Parker: Married with Children, while being Spider-Man in a BRAND NEW UNIVERSE. Remember, that Hickman NEEDS to ESTABLISH this new universe by giving backstories to the main characters and the supporting cast. AFTER a good dose of that, THEN we’ll get to the action that people are craving for. Plus, we have seen Spidey in action, last issue to point out a more recent one and it was great!“Chi-Town, it’s just so slow, we already know these characters!” Oh stop being a Debra “Whimpering” Whitman. You know the characters in the 616, not the 6160. When Nick Spencer finally gave us the Spidey we wanted, it was easy for him to establish this in ONE issue then get to the basic 9-5 stuff when it comes to Superhero Action. The decades of continuity have already been established (then editorial had to go and screw that up). HERE, establishment needs to be made. Character depth on variants based off the characters you know, need to be drawn out. It’s all different here. Hickman wants you to invest in these characters and you all know a good/great story comes from CHARACTERS THAT DRIVE THE STORY.
- I very confident that we can all agree that despite the “slow pacing” of this book, IT’S STILL A BETTER BOOK THAN THE CURRENT “THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN”!
- • Our very own Mike McNulty aka “Stillanerd” brought up a VERY good point about the pacing of the book over on our discord, which I happen to agree with. “The slow burn Hickman has been doing with this series is what made the ending effective. Because the slower, deliberate pacing and spending time with the supporting cast like this issue did leads you into a false sense of security so that when what happens at the end does happen, it’s as much of a shock for the characters as it is for the readers but, when looking back, not something comes completely out of left field”
THE WATSONS:
Gayle: Hickman has done his homework when it comes to establishing the 6160 Watsons. Researching the 616, he puts a different spin on these variants. The 616 MJ was scared to commit to Peter (at first) or anyone else because of the marriage troubles of both her mother and older sister Gayle. So, she lived the party-girl/free style life to mask her troubled past and wanted nothing to do with commitment. 6160 Gayle follows that suite but in a more “shallower directive”. Hickman shows Mary Jane and Aunt Anna as the stable ones in the family which will please many fans. What Gayle said about Peter makes me interested in seeing how this Peter and Mary Jane met, I buy that mini. Now that MJ and Gayle are on speaking terms, is Gayle going to be more involved in the series? No idea, but according to our Discord, Neil is ready to console her with a drive down to El Paso for a fun wall climbing experience. Anyways, I really liked how Hickman wrote MJ and Gayle as real sisters talking and working things out.
The Odd Couple: We haven’t seen Aunt Anna at all in this series. Let’s face it, the Jonah and Ben dynamic is more interesting that watching Anna watch her favorite day time soap opera. However, now that Madeline has invited herself to stay with her, it’ll be fun to watch that dynamic. The idea of Jonah and Madeline going at it while Ben and Anna laugh on the sidelines makes me smile.
Hunted: The failure of The Black Cat brings Kraven up the plate and he already has two for two. Both Harry and Peter and drugged and chained up. I’m sure the IV is preventing Peter from utilizing his Spider-Powers. I can only assume that Kraven knows their secret identity. If Ben can figure it out, a trained hunter can figure it out. You may say to set aside logic because it’s a comic book.
Okay, so then Kraven hasn’t killed them and could be using these two as bait to lure both Goblin and Spider-Man to him? Not realizing he already has them? Sounds right…however, If that’s the case, why the IV’s to drug them? Here’s my guess. He knows and is debating what to do with this info. Does he tell Fisk? Last issue Fisk made it very clear that Kraven and the rest of the six belong to HIM. Kraven’s ego most likely thought “Kraven belongs to no man.”. So he’s thinking, what can be done to ensure a power he could obtain. The thought of obtaining more information from Peter and Harry to find more valuable sources is believable.
GRADE: Giving this one a solid A! It’s a great story, I would have loved to see two more pages of the scene with Kraven instead of the spider symbol and quotes on “Happiness” and “Fear”, but it didn’t take me out of the story. In fact, I’m so ready for the next issue now. That is what a good comic is supposed to give it’s fans. Hickman and Checchetto deliver the goods on all cylinders! You could say this is a Mary Jane “centric issue” and it does show just how beautiful, mature, and strong she is when dealing with the family issue drama and grounded by her own family in the room. The point about MJ I have been making throughout my entire time here on the Crawlspace and in my published letters. It’s good to know that Hickman understands that and follows through with is writing in every one of these issues. Indeed…what a GREAT YEAR.
Happy Holidays Crawlspacers!
English (US) · 