Please don’t judge a book by its cover because this one is worth picking up and the art within is much better. That being said…
What the shock! Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man from the year 2099 is trapped in our time period from the events that occurred while the Superior Spider-Man was in charge. He came back to save his own timeline but his father (who doesn’t know Miguel is Spider-Man or his son) stranded him in the past! Now he is stuck in our present time watching helplessly as his grandfather is building the Alchemax corporation which will grow to be one of the most powerful corporations in the world. To put that in perspective, corporations are more powerful than nations in 2099, an eerie concept that isn’t out of the realm of plausibility.
Peter David has returned to write the character he created with Will Sliney of ‘Superior Spider-Man Team-up‘ on illustrations. Its good to see someone familiar with Spidey taking the Spidey from the future!
What kind of a mess can O’Hara get into in present day? Well we know he is trying to make some adjustments to his ancestors and the Alchemax corporation’s rise to power but his main goal is to get back home to his own world. Even though he is in modern times, the first enemy he has to fight against is all about him and just happens to also be from the future! We see a time traveler come back to destroy him for not being in his own time period. He can’t just take him back to his own time, the guy has to kill O’Hara.
You’d think these guys might have noticed something going on over at the Jean Grey School Of Higher Learning perhaps with both past and future X-Men hanging about? Or maybe all of the time travel dealing with the Apocalypse Twins or Kang the Conqueror and his legion of underlings in ‘Uncanny Avengers’?
Still, ignoring the fact that this isn’t the first time travelling cop who is trying to preserve a timeline or that they are ignoring other time travelers, it was a fun issue. It gave Spider-Man 2099 a villain he could fight for an issue that wasn’t one of the current multitude of masks that hang out in New York. On top of that, it sets up the director of Alchemax (who also happens to be partially crazy and in love with Norman Osborn) to realize that the future Spider-Man is an employee or he wouldn’t have been able to get into the building.
This is going to setup some great cat and mouse games while she tries to figure out who he is and if she successfully does an interesting power play on how she tries to use that information.
With O’Hara mainly just wanting to go home, I’m curious as to if he’ll be able to return to his own time by the series end or if he’ll be stuck in modern times. We could see him change the timeline to make a better future, return home to his normal time, or be stuck here. I want to know how it plays out. With Doom 2099 already popping up in the ‘Uncanny Avengers’ arc, I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised if more of the heroes and villains of the future find a way into the current timeline.
There is humor in this issue but it is sharpened with an edge and a a want for romance but knowing that it can never happen. I just don’t know how long they can run with the idea that he’s just trying to get home and keep it fresh and interesting. Still,
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Will Sliney
