Time for another comic book review, and a Marvel one for a change.
For someone who grew up with Spider-man, I've actually never been much of a fan of his more recent on-going series.
Running out of ideas or trying to spin the book on new "more interesting" directions (note the "quotes") , whenever they resort to symbiotes, clones, satanic deals or vampires is usually when they lose my interest.
I always found the earlier classic stories or the origin story more appealing to a broader audience.
That is why I usually like What if...? stories or tales from alternate Marvel Universe that go back to basics with a different interpretation of the myth behind The Amazing Spider-man.
Today's comic is easily one of my all-time favorite (as DC Comics would have named it) Elseworld-take, the futuristic dystopiaof 2099!!
Comic title: Spider-man 2099 Vol. 1: Genesis
Art by Rick Leonardi & Kelley Jones
Story by Peter David
Published by Marvel ComicsFrom 1992/2009
Lineup Spider-man, Marvel 2099
Format: Trade paperback collecting the issues of SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1-10.
The Marvel 2099 Universe was a fun epic event that was launched back in the early 90s.
It revolved around a mysterious Dr. Doom figure waking up in the future of the Marvel Universe and claiming to be the actual original Doom. Taking over America, which by then was already overrun by corrupt companies - which resulted itself in the renaming of the whole brand as 2099AD. Finally the actual Fantastic Four from the present went on to cross over this possible future. The entire line ended up in a big crossover called 2099: World of Tomorrow. And apart from a mini-series and little cameos (usually from Spdiey) here and there, in Annual issues or videogames, the 2099 lineup has been put aside from modern comics.
Marvel's always been exploring possible futures in their books.
Where DC would usually offer alternate realities such as Elseworlds or Kingdome Come to explore concepts behind their characters, Marvel's usually opted for the possible outcome of the then-current present day eras.
Publishing the likes of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Old Man Logan, Marvel MC2, etc.
Marvel 2099 was first sort of-imagined by industry legend Stan Lee & John Byrne. In which they explored the possibility of a Marvel Universe in the future, in the year 2093, as seen through the eyes of original new protagonists.
The entire 2099 was then "spun off" into 4 different titles, Ravage, a new original character, Doom 2099, The Punisher 2099 and Spider-man 2099.
Due to the success of the brand they went on to expand beyond those original and new titles arose or ended. X-Men 2099, Fantastic Four 2099, Ghost Rider 2099, Hulk 2099, etc.!
Spider-man was, of course, the leading book.
It was the one that clearly defined and set the stages for all the others.
It was left in the hands of Peter David and Rick Leonardi who crafted a world of futuristic intrigues and conspiracies.
This first volume collects the first 10 (!) issues of the title, appropriately called "Genesis".
It's basically the very first big arc of the book; the introduction of our hero, Spidey discovering his super abilities and getting his first couple of enemies.
The story takes place long after the end of the Heroic Age (Marvel present day).
The book opens up in medias res, with The Amazing Spider-Man 2099 in a hurry, trying to escape from cops from the Public Eye.
After a fantastic action scene opener the story backtracks to a couple days earlier for some issues.
Our protagonist is Miguel O'Hara.
A brilliant and promising young scientist living in the futuristic metropolis that is New York City in 2099 (or as some locals call it, Nueva York).
Miggy has a family he has long since lost touch with. A younger brother Gabriel. And a mother he tries to avoid these days. His abusive father George O'Hara died a few years back.
Miguel works at Alchemax, one of the biggest mega-corporation running America in 2099, if not it.
They basically took care of his education since his school years. He is now the head of the genetics program at his young age.
New York City is basically Alchemax-owned so they also run the local force, the Public Eye mentioned above.
After a big failure at the lab, the test subject is critically injured and dies, Miguel decide to finally start being in control of his life and decides to leave Alchemax.
Which doesn't go well by the boss so they drug their most important scientist, Miguel, with Rapture. A dangerous substance that bonds with the DNA of its user!
How will our hero be able to shake it off his body once and for good? Is Miguel doomed to become a shadow of his former self, and work until the end of his days for this shady corporation?!
Miguel uses his smarts to get out of this situation!
They were working on a program to create new super powered soldiers, inspired by the long gone old heroes and mutant from a century ago.
But before those tests Miguel already mapped his very own DNA on the system.
He uses the experiment to clean his body but thanks to a unfortunate accident (someone sabotaged the thing to kill him in the process) the lab explodes and everything is destroyed.
Miguel survives, but quickly discovers he has now spider-like abilities like his hero of old Spider-man!!
The story follows Miguel O'Hara as he tries to overcome all the changes he discovers gradually in his body - he can now climb walls thanks to creepy talons coming out of his hands and feet! - while his new alter-ego Spider-man is pursued by the authorities for the destruction of the lab!
Quickly Miguel gets chased down by super villains popping up left and right after him, or more exactly the reward put on Spidey's head!
And he also has to avoid exposing his secret to his close ones like Dana D'Angel, once Gabe's girlfriend and now engaged to Miggy.
His only company and companion seems to be his holo and personal AI, "Lyla".
The story is a really fun ride, it goes from one end to another pretty quickly, always moving forward and leaping in single bounds (err... I mean, web-slinging around)
Peter David is a very smart author, and he is able to reimagine various simple concepts under a sci-fi angle that is both quite original and very imaginative.
It all feels very Blade Runner-y.
Also you gotta like O'Hara. He still what I'd call a "Peter Parker", but while Pete was quite shy and geeky in school, Miguel was already shouting witty remarks and wisecracky around in his day job.
Different but the same.
He might come off as quite arrogant at first, but only because he's actually very private and keep things to himself.
There's some nice throwbacks to the original Spider-man.
The way he came up with a costume (to conceal his id) by using a Mexican "Day of the Dead" costume he had around, the only fabric he owned made from unstable molecules. (like the Fantastic Four's costumes)
The original Spider-man had his costume tailor made for his early wrestling-days and first TV appearances.
Spider-man 2099 originally marked the 30th anniversary since Spider-man's first appearance.
And what an anniversary it was!
Reimagined.
The story takes place in a pretty cool dystopian future with cyberpunk influences, evil mega-corporations owning the government, a downtown lawless rebellious part of the city striving for survival, etc.
But it's not such a dark tale.
It's about a return to the legendary heroes. (see the in-story Thorites!)
Hope.
Overall, it's a fantastic read!
It works great as a graphic novel nowadays, still as entertaining more than 20 years later!
Personally, I love it!
It's goes back to the original Stan Lee-era Spider-man. Discovering his powers while fearing to succumb to the spider-side of his mutation now.
The character design is fantastic, timeless! Terrific. In a good way.
The art is great, some of the best from the 90s, except a slightly off-putting filler issue by guest artist Kelley Jones.
A scary future needs a hero who's just as creepy - perhaps a wall-CRAWLER of some kind?
I'm personally not much of a fan of more recent adventures of the wall-crawler except 2-3 exceptions whenever - mostly because of too many bad stories I've read since then.
But the origin is always a classic tale!
Relatable in a way and yet still fun. It's always a fun deconstruction/reconstruction of what makes Spider-man "Amazing".
Like the previously reviewed here Spider-man 1602, it allows us to see our beloved character under a whole new light and facing completely different odds.
I give it:
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