Ultimate Spider-Man #9

History

This issue sits inside a 24-issue run conceived by Jonathan Hickman as a single, pre-planned story — Hickman later confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 that the series concluded exactly as originally pitched, with no deviations. It is part of the second Ultimate Universe line, itself born out of the 2023 miniseries Ultimate Invasion and established on the alternate-history framework of Earth-6160, a world deliberately stripped of superheroes by the Maker. Artist Marco Checchetto, colorist Matthew Wilson, and letterer Cory Petit — the creative team present from issue #1 — remained on the book for #9, maintaining the cinematic visual consistency that critics frequently cited as one of the run's strongest assets.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published September 25, 2024; written by Jonathan Hickman, art and cover by Marco Checchetto, colors by Matthew Wilson, letters by Cory Petit, edited by Wilson Moss.
• First in-combat appearance of Walter Hardy (Black Cat) of Earth-6160: while Hardy debuted in issue #8 alongside the assembled Sinister Six, #9 is his first active fight against Spider-Man and Green Goblin.
• The Earth-6160 Sinister Six — assembled in #8 by Wilson Fisk/Kingpin — consists of Mr. Negative (Martin Li), Black Cat (Walter Hardy), Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff), Mole Man (Harvey Elder), Mysterio (Quentin Beck and associates), and Kingpin himself; #9 is their first operational strike.
• Issue establishes Peter Parker's 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' ethic explicitly: when Harry Osborn's Green Goblin blasts Black Cat off a rooftop — injuring but not killing him — Peter angrily confronts Harry about crossing a line heroes must not cross.
• Otto Octavius (in his Earth-6160 role as an Oscorp scientist) offers Peter a Spider-Armor modeled on the Iron Spider suit; Peter refuses, a moment TV Tropes and other commentary identify as a deliberate nod to the MCU's Iron Spider design.
• The subplot of Ben Parker and J. Jonah Jameson's independent media venture advances: MJ reveals she is running marketing for their outlet, and the issue shows Spider-Man's crime-fighting activities feeding the paper's editorial momentum against Kingpin.
• The issue carries a cover date of November 2024 despite its on-sale date of September 25, 2024, and shipped with at least four variant covers: Anand Ramcheron, Carmen Carnero (1:25 incentive), and Wes Craig connecting variants (standard and virgin).
• Walter Hardy's defeat here — being blasted off the rooftop and left injured — directly triggers the later handoff of the Black Cat mantle to his daughter Felicia Hardy in subsequent issues, making #9 the narrative catalyst for the debut of Earth-6160's Felicia Hardy as Black Cat.

Cast · 15 characters

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