My Marvel Life Presents: Fabulous First Issue – Spider-Man 2099 1

Spider-Man 2099 # 1 – September 1992

Why I picked this comic: I missed the boat on most of Image’s start, I didn’t check out Valiant or Ultraverse in their initial run, nor Vertigo if I am being honest, so the only new publisher/imprint that I was on the ground floor for was Marvel’s 2099 line. I remember getting them off the spinner-racks with their cardstock covers and high-tech borderboxes. That combined with this title’s excellent first 25 issues written by Peter David have left me with a deep fondness for this series. It left an impression and I still love it over 25 years later.

The Comic Itself: Spider-Man 2099 : written by Peter David, with pencils by Rick Leonardi and inked by Al Williamson and this view of the year 2099 opens with joyriding teens trying to avoid the corporate owned police known as the Public Eye by flying their car over the usual flightpaths of the Pulic Eye’s hoverbikes.  It would have worked, if the Public Eye weren’t chasing Spider-Man. Leaping from building to building, using the webs on his back for slowing descent, Spider-Man is able to get away from these corporate cops with a combination of inhuman agility and brutality, his taloned fingers cutting through the helmet and into the face of one of the Public Eye. He’s soon gone.

At Bedford Towers apartments, Miguel O’Hara returns home and checks in with his holographic PA Lyla. She relates three holo messages. One his boss Tyler Stone, who tells him that he expects to see him at work, since he needs the drug. The second is from his younger brother Gabe, who berates him for his life choices, yet loves him. The third is from his girlfriend Dana, sporting a black eye and talking about how worried she is for him. There are several other messages from her, but Miguel orders them dumped. Lyla asks what is wong and tells him that he hasn’t made a journal update in several days, so he starts to relate the events from that period.

Days earlier, Miguel is working on the ‘corporate raider’ project at the supercorp known as Alchemax. He is inspired by records of the Spider-Man of over 100 years earlier and sees that as the raider goal. His supervisor Aaron Delgato doesn’t like the attitude and Alchemax’s CEO Tyler Stone doesn’t like how long this is taking and is pushing for human trials. Miguel is unhappy, very unhappy, but is kind of cornered into it. He performs a test on a volunteer, but the volunteer dies after being horrifically altered. No one else seems to care about that. Miguel decides to quit, unable to carry on, but Tyler laces his farewell drink with the powerful hallucinogenic Rapture. Since it alters your DNA and you can’t come off it, and since only Alchemax employees are the only ones that can legal purchase it, Tyler points out that Miguel is going nowhere.

At home, Miguel arrives and is tripping, causing an accidental elbow to his girlfriend Dana’s face, explaining her blackeye. Miguel explains and Dana is horrified. But Miguel is a genuis and has a plan. His DNA is on file for the project, so really all he has to do is alter his DNA using his DNA profile and he’ll be returned to the person he was before Rapture. He gets into the device after setting it or his DNA. Aaron Delgato arrives and see’s Miguel get in and starts messing with the controls, which adds spider DNA to the mix and there’s an explosion. Miguel survives and Delgato wants to read him the riot act to hide his involvement, but he sees Miguel’s face and fingers. Clear white and sharpened canines, matched with talons on his fingers clearly show Aaron Delgato that Miguel isn’t human,  not anymore.

The Thoughts of  The MIGHTY Rosie

Question 1: Have you heard of this property before? I recognised the character, but didn’t know the name.

Question 2: What were you expecting? Something fun, light hearted and full of quips.

Question 3: What did you think of the cover? It’s very busy.

Question 4: What did you think of the story? Really hard to follow.

Question 5: What did you think of the art? ……scratchy, too many lines.

Question 6: What did you think of the dialogue?     Awful!

Question 7: Does it make sense? No, not at all!

Question 8: Was it accessible as a new reader? No, not at all!

Question 9: Did you enjoy it? Look at the above two replies, answers on a postcard please.

Question 10: Would you read the next issue? No! If I could, I would travel back in time and prevent me from reading this issue.

Question 11: What would you do differently? I’d line a cat litter tray with this comic, if only I had a cat. Actually I don’t think the cat would like it either.

I read this digitally, I want this removed from my tablet, I want no trace of this on anything I own, I will not negotiate with the terrorist that have me this to read.

Next time: Okay, lets do an event.