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I guess with the Timestorm 2009/2099 mini-series upon us Marvel thought it would be a good time to release some trades of the 2099 series’. I won’t be buying the X-Men 2099 volumes, which has already been released with Volume 1, since I do have all the titles in my collection already. So here’s Spider-Man 2099. The premise behind all these titles that emerged was that Marvel, in 1992, wanted to shake things up a bit by reintroducing popular characters without changing years of back-story and continuity. So, they simply set the titles in the future and the 2099 universe was born. Marvel would also use this to great effect to start the Ultimate Universe. I always liked the original concept, though the titles soon ran out of steam a few years after they started (sort of like the Ultimate Universe). One thing that always bothered me about it was that idiots would always ask when it would turn from 2099 to 3000. What idiots.
Spoiler Warning
These were all written by Peter David and illustrated by Rick Leonardi and inked by Al Williamson. Kelley Jones and Mark McKenna chip in a guest appearance in issue #9.
-Spider-Man 2099 #’s 1-3- This would be the introduction to Spider-Man 2099. The same flavor of the original Spider-Man is here, with the main difference being that this Spidey, named Miguel O’Hara, forced this procedure upon himself to rid himself of a drug addiction that was given to him by his bosses to make sure he doesn’t leave the company he works for. Someone messed with the controls and he became Spider-Man. A cyborg is sent after him, named Venture, and after his first real rest (and first realizing the extent he can use his powers), Miguel defeats this cyborg and goes about dealing with his new-found abilities. There’s some really sharp writing from David here that I didn’t appreciate when I read it as an 11-year old.
-Spider-Man 2099 #’s 4-8- Spider-Man helps out his brother by trying to save her girlfriend from a samurai warrior. Spider-Man finds her and frees her but not before the Public Eye (their cameras which record everything) records Spidey in his fight, and even slices his opponent’s throat open. Spidey makes a getaway with the girlfriend, Casey, but gets blasted out of the sky by the police. Spidey lives, gets fixed up by a Thorite, and is then captured by Vulture 2099. Spidey battles Vulture while his brother goes to look for Casey. He accidentally shoots her but don’t worry, it’s only a flesh wound. She and her gang of weirdo’s go to help Spider-Man go against the Vulture and his gang of weirdos. There are a lot of freaky cliques in 2099. Spidey eventually stops Vulture and lets him fall from the sky, making it twice in this arc that he could’ve killed someone.
-Spider-Man 2099 #9 – This is a standalone issue featuring artwork by Kelley Jones (he did a lot of the Batman: Vampire stories as well as Gotham After Midnight). Miguel just wants to get home but on his way he sees how being Spider-Man is influencing people and causing people to dress up like him as followers. The police officer who was fired for shooting at Spider-Man is featured here, too, as going in with a female leader of one of the suburbs of the big city. That storyline wouldn’t pan out in this volume, though.
-Spider-Man 2099 #10- This final issue of the volume sees Miguel and his brother at his sick mother’s side. It is really a look into the life of Miguel and how his childhood turned him into the man he is now. It is as close to an origin story of the Miguel that we’d get in this title, as daddy issues made Miguel cold and guarded.
-The Bottom Line¬- Ultimate Spider-Man wasn’t the first time Spider-Man was reinvented or reimagined. Spider-Man 2099 was the first of the 2099 titles and its success allowed other 2099 titles to be created, namely the X-Men, and the reason for that is the writing of Peter David. Peter keeps all the elements of Spider-Man there, but through the course of the first 10 issues we see a man who is much more conflicted than Peter Parker was. He is a man that is a product of the dark times in which he lives, from the big super companies controlling the world and a family life that is much more conflicted than Peter ever had to deal with. The opening three-issues really cement the origin of Spider-Man 2099 and we slowly learn about his powers as he does. The following 5-issues are a literal rollercoaster for the reader and for our main character and it’s just a break-neck pace and is really what helps newer titles, that things are moving quickly and flow naturally from issue to issue. The final two issues are standalone issues that just further the character of Miguel O’Hara and the man beneath the mask. This volume even includes an article from Marvel Age #117 about the upcoming 2099 titles. Overall it is a very nice collection and Spider-Man 2099 was a truly different take of the character we know and love and stands up quite well almost two decades later. Recommended.
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