Ultimate Spider-Man 22, Scarlet Spider 16, Morbius the Living Vampire 4

Ultimate Spider-Man 22
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a) and Ponsor (c)

It wouldn't be Spider-Man if a parent figure didn't die in his arms, right? Or a literal parent. Whatever's handiest. Also, and I might be too much of a cynic for saying this, they've just killed off the only likable supporting cast member for Miles. Ganke's sweet or whatever, but he's pretty annoying. Jefferson is too angry all the time. Other roommate is angry and suspicious. MJ and Gwen have just been added to the book and they're both annoying. Leaving Miles' mom as the loving and even-keeled parent figure and oh, she's dead now.
Right, so there were some spoilers above. Sorry. Anyway, Miles tries to tell Maria Hill that he's not Spider-Man, no matter what she thinks, and she responds like a five-year old would, saying "Then I'm wrong. Except I'm not." I really hate Maria Hill, you guys. I was hoping to give her Ultimate version a chance because the 616 version is terrible and I figured she could be different in the Ultimate version. WRONG. She's terrible. Also, writing anyone in this book like a five-year old is not stellar writing. And that comes in back-and-forth dialogue mode. On top of how I think that breaks flow, it makes every single character sound exactly the same. We should all stop writing exclusively in back-and-forth dialogue. Anyway, while Miles is trying to tell Maria Hill he's not Spider-Man, she gets word that Venom has attacked the hospital Jefferson has been brought to. She tells Miles he'd get there faster, and he leaves, putting on his costume on the way. He arrives and starts fighting Venom, who claims he needs Spider-Man. They fight for a bit with Miles' mom Rio watching in horror and refusing to leave (she moves some patients of the hospital to safety, then returns to watch). Venom then wraps Spider-Man up inside of himself saying that he's the key to Venom's future. Rio offers herself in his place and Venom decides for a second to take them both before Miles explodes Venom from within. That's a pretty sweet panel. Then, as the man attached to Venom is revealed, the cops show up and instantly shoot him, which, when I think about it, seems a little abrupt. No warning and no time for Spider-Man (granted, vigilante) and Rio (totally innocent) to get out of the way. Hm. Anyway, somehow Rio gets shot, even though Spider-Man seems to get totally clear in time and is shielding her while diving away. LOOK, she gets shot and it's fatal and she dies in his arms. No nitpicking, it's sad. Then Miles tears up his costume and says "NO MORE" a lot. Also, Roxxon was somehow behind Venom and behind trying to create a new Spider-Man. I'd normally go into pros and cons of the issue here, but I think I pretty well covered what I was thinking above. Oh well.

Scarlet Spider 16
Yost (w) and Pham, Pallot and Olazaba (a) and Fabela (c)

Like with Venom 31 a few months ago, I think this is a really well-timed issue. Kaine has been through an awful lot the past few months, what with a horrible beast currently living inside of him deeming everything prey and the recent questions about Aracely coming to the forefront. He needs a bit of a break. And what better break in Houston than a great big rodeo? All his pals bring him there, much to his chagrin, and force him to wear a cowboy hat. Annabelle, his new love interest, shows up too and is pushed away by Kaine, who thinks he can't have a relationship with anyone whatsoever. She runs off and Aracely demands he chase her. When he does, he tries to explain his problem as vaguely as he can and she doesn't care. Then they're approached by an ex-boyfriend of hers who is getting a little possessive again. Kaine begins to threaten him before Prey pops into his head and labels the guy as "prey." Kaine backs off, trying to be less like the monster inside him, and suggests maybe they talk about it. It's at that moment that ex-hero/ex-villain Armadillo pops up riding a bull in the rodeo, drunk and crying for his ex-girlfriend who has just announced she's marrying a rodeo star. Scarlet Spider, who cannot believe any of this is happening to him, rides a horse into the ring, swearing it was the fastest way. He starts to fight Armadillo before being caught off-guard by the giant, armored foe's tears. He tries to talk with him and starts thinking about how they're both monsters and it means neither of them can be in relationships when he's interrupted by Armadillo's ex-girlfriend running into the arena (is it an arena in a rodeo? Is it just a rodeo? Whatever) and declaring her love for him, saying she thought he didn't want her any more. Scarlet Spider is completely taken aback by this and slinks off before reappearing as Kaine, knocking out Annabelle's ex-boyfriend and kissing her. A journalist who has fallen so low he's reporting puff pieces at rodeos determines he'll get back into serious news by finding out who Scarlet Spider is.
So there's a bit of drama there at the end and there's an overwhelming sense of drama in the form of Kaine battling all of his inner demons (one of is a real being) and his conceptions of how his life is supposed to work. By and large, though, the issue is a fun step back from what's been happening lately in Kaine's too-exciting life. When we got the "Venom moving to Philly" issue, some future plot points were certainly set up but it was largely in the series to calm the tone from the string of high-risk fights he'd been in lately. Same situation here, as Kaine's life has gotten too hectic recently and he needed to pull back a bit. Fun issue, definitely well timed.

Morbius the Living Vampire 4
Keatinge (w) and Elson (a) and Fabela (c)

Probably more than any other issue of the series so far, this issue was meant to develop Brownsville as a really crappy neighborhood. Obviously we knew that already, with Morbius running into Noah in the first issue and getting himself shot right off the bat, among other things, but this issue wanted to make it absolutely clear that this district is worse than any other place on Earth. Noah, if we're to believe Rochelle, was the best thing to happen to the place. Regardless of what he did, he kept the gangs from warring over Brownsville and spilling far more innocent blood. So where did Noah come from, then? Well we get some flashbacks that Morbius isn't privy to of a shadowy figure taking young social reject David Brill and transforming him through some means or another into Noah, the extraordinarily strong ruffian we've seen throughout the book. With Noah dead, Rochelle worries that the whole district will come crashing down around them. She's almost immediately proved right as a group that share the same masks as the shadowy figure's helper burst into the building and take Noah's body away. Morbius tries to stop them but is shocked by one of the mysterious henchmen. Literally shocked, not just surprised. They get away with the body and the villain is revealed as the Rose.
I didn't actually know that there had been four Roses through Marvel history (thanks, Wikipedia!). I only knew Wilson Fisk's son Richard, who tried to overthrow his father Kingpin and take over the family business. He was killed by his mother, though, so I was surprised to see him pop up here. Apparently I was wrong to be surprised, as there have been four in total and only two are dead. Who knows, maybe this is a fifth, or maybe it's one of the two that are still living. Also important to note that these are comics and it's ENTIRELY possible he's one of the dead two. If I had to guess, it's Phillip Hayes, the fourth Rose, who apparently had a lot to do with gene research and manipulation. FITS THE BILL. Anyway, Morbius is characterized well here, willing to risk a couple more of Noah's gang members in the hopes that it will save his friends that Rochelle has sent people after. It kind of does, but not as much as Henry's mom does when she appears in front of a gang member tasked with killing Henry and Becky and takes his gun and disassembles it, saying that she's lived in Brownsville her whole life, she can protect herself. That got a little heavy-handed, the whole "BROWNSVILLE IS A HARD PLACE" thing, but I suppose it's necessary. Maybe not that necessary, but necessary. Not bad though, as Morbius will now find out what Brownsville is like without Noah and will likely come across the Rose in the coming issues.