What a tangled web we weave with Spider-Man 2099, or should I say Spider-Man 2014 the not Peter Parker edition. Okay, bear with me if you will for a moment while I sort this all out.
Spider-Man 2099 stars the not quite as lovable, not quite as humorous Miguel O’Hara from the year 2099. He was a geneticist working to unlock the secrets of the modern-day Spider-Man (Peter Parker, Ben Riley, Doctor Octopus, take your pick at this point) and during an accident had his DNA altered to become fifty percent spider.
On top of all the futuristic settings and adventures that made the original 2099 book unique (It was one of the only 2099 series of books to gain a following and see prolonged success) Miguel O’Hara was also of hispanic decent. While this may not be all that interesting to many, growing up as a hispanic male there wasn’t that many people with my background in comic books that I could look to for inspiration. So, as you may have guessed Spider-Man 2099 holds a special place in my heart.
The entire reason any of us read a 2099 branded comic was the fact that these were brand new characters fighting in a completely different world. It was the future where anything goes and where technobabble flowed like wine. You could almost think of it like a reboot of a company without sacrificing your main continuity, almost like Marvel did previously with their Ultimates line.
The problem with this new Spider-Man 2099 is that he’s not in 2099. Heck, he’s not even in the future for Pete’s sake. The entire point of the book was to move away from the present and feature all these incredible stories that only had the most tenuous grip on the past. When you take away half of what made the original Spider-Man 2099 run away you aren’t really left a lot to work with. It’s like if you sent The Punisher in full tactical gear back in time to wipe out all the Neanderthals so that humans could become the dominant species (Call me Marvel, we can work out the details later). It’s a cool idea for a one-shot of mini arc, but not something to base an entire launch event around.
I’m pretty sure 2014 Spider-Man (the original version) has enough to deal with, in the same city mind you, with half a dozen versions of himself running around a ten square block area all at once. Listen, Marvel, I know you really, really, like this Spider-Man thing, but you’re going to have to tone it down a little, or at the very least relocate a few arachnids around the country. New York could run a tourism campaign with all this. “Come to New York and see all our magnificent Spider-Men as they fly overhead.”
Spider-Man 2099 takes place in 2014 thanks in part to Miguel playing time cop to save his grandfather from being killed because he becomes founder of the large mega corporation that Miguel works for in the future. Miguel is stranded by future employees and now lands a job for his grandfather so he can protect the timeline that’s he’s invariably already altered so his father can be born and then make Miguel even though Miguel didn’t know he was his dad and….. “BOOM,” sorry, that was my head exploding. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that there’s another time-traveler from even farther in the future who wants to kill Miguel to save the even farther away future. Okay, I’ll let you catch your breath and sort things out now.
All of this is just so we can apparently set up some wacky adventures alongside all the of current Spider-Men. Look, I’m not against the time travel thing, but I’m just not sure that Spider-Man 2099 has the same punch in 2014, let alone all the problems people are going to have explaining what book they are reading.
“No, It’s Spider-Man 2099, but in 2014”
“So, it’s just regular Spider-Man then?”
“Dammit, It’s future Spider-Man in the past, err… present.”
“Why would an old Peter Parker come back in time?”
“It’s not… You know what, forget it. I’m going to go read Ravage 2099 instead.”
All the jokes aside, it must be said that Peter David does weave an interesting tale with regards to Miguel in 2014. It’s an interesting tale featuring a copious amount of time travel and fun action scenes. But, like so many other tales invoking time-travel things don’t really get resolved and just become messier. Why cant the future police send another robot/cyborg/whatever he is thing to finish the job. As a matter of fact, why can they just send three, or better still, send a pretty lady and slip some undetectable super drug in his drink. These T.O.T.E.M. people are from father in the future than Spider-Man 2099.
Another things of note is the artwork within the book. It’s not terrible by any means, but it just doesn’t do a whole lot to capture your attention as a reader. Everything just seems so plain with regards to the 2014 setting. We’ve seen this all before, the simple backgrounds, the muted textures, the generic office building interiors. It feels less 2099, strike that, It doesn’t even feel that modern.
If you like Spider-Man 2099 this book may put you off as it’s missing what made that series unique. The writing from Peter David is strong, but is this really something that we need/want? As a single tale or story arc, this book would be pretty fantastic for it’s cameos and for putting Miguel out of his element (Even though he clearly has the advantage over everything with his holographic assistant), but as a number 1, as the story for a relaunch, in that respect it doesn’t quite work.
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