Time to stop visiting banks. That’s so 20th century anyway.
Creative Staff:
Story: Peter David
Art: Will Sliney
What They Say:
Life’s not easy when you’re a Spider-Man from the year 2099 stuck in our present. What’s the bigger danger; bank robbers, or beautiful women?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Reconnecting with the character of Miguel O’Hara was more fun than I expected since the character has been off my radar for far too long and the opening issue worked well. It set a lot of the foundations, established the basics of the characters well enough and handled the situation fine, though it could have used a bit more visual representation of how Miguel ended up in 2014 for those that missed where that happened. The use of the credits page at the start to explain definitely was welcome though and that made jumping into this book a whole lot easier. Admittedly, one of my reasons for jumping into the book is that it’s somewhat separated from the rest of the Marvel Universe in a way, though I expect interactions will kick up. What I also expect though is that we’ll get things from Miguel’s point of view where familiarity is minor and we can be introduced to the rest of it through his eyes, making it pretty accessible.
With someone from 2099 being in 2014, the fish out of water aspect is certainly fun in some ways, but Miguel handles it pretty well and in ways that feels right. Though he may not understand all things going on, a lot of things transcends the time difference. I am amused that the book opens with him going to the bank and getting caught up in a robbery though because you’d expect that he’d have other ways of doing all his banking. Hell, I haven’t set foot inside a bank in years! Miguel does have a bit of fun with it though as he plays rougher than people associate with Spider-man, but he also plays to some similar aspects, such as when the cops see him outside and tell him to put his hands in the air. That may work with a common criminal, but that just makes it easier for him to up, up and away. It’s that kind of small moment and bit of humor that I like from Peter David’s work that I’m glad is still very much a part of his style.
That basically defines this issue in terms of the action, which is nicely executed but by the numbers when you get down to it. The majority of the book has Miguel dealing with the women in his life through his own awkward social standards from 2099. He’s had problems with Tempest so far because, as written and interpreted by me, he comes across as stiff and aloof. He’s trying to soften his tone with her here, bringing her some flowers, but it’s all cringe inducing in watching how he interacts with her and how he basically snoops around her place. The gives us some of what she’s going through in terms of an illness that’s consuming her, which in turn provides a look at some of why she’s so angry and erratic. Life threatening illnesses can impact people in so many ways and lashing out, becoming withdrawn and shutting down so you don’t connect with anyone is one of those ways.
The other woman in his life, Liz Allan, also gets involved. She made the smart deduction in the first issue that someone in the company must be this S-Man based on what happened and she narrowed it down to Miguel quickly based on an incredibly flimsy history that Layla built for him. That has her essentially accosting him at his place to get answers and that’s really, really fun to watch. Miguel’s idea that telling the truth is the best approach is something we see with Tempest since talking about being from 2099 has most everyone thinking he’s joking, but he’s telling the truth and that allows him to not feel like he’s lying. So when Liz calls him out on it, he doesn’t deny it in the slightest and ends up revealing more than you’d expect. The potential for the two to be on good terms, or even some sort of alliance for mutual benefit, definitely is something that should work well. But Liz takes it a bit further in an intimate way and that’s really fun to see since it complicates things even more for him and his lack of social graces.
In Summary:
Spider-Man 2099 hits a solid second issue where it serves up some good action that doesn’t have anything to do with the full story of the series but provides a look at how Miguel is handling living in the present. What it really wants to focus on are his human connections to other people in the form of Tempest and Liz. His approach to Tempest is awkward as hell and you really do wince at what he does, and the way she throws it all back at him with some understandable anger due to her own issues. We also get a really interesting bit of potential coming from Liz and what she may offer in the story dynamic department as she now knows the truth about him but doesn’t reveal what she’s really going to do with it. Tempest is a little more predictable at the moment but I love the uncertainty of what Liz will be bringing to the story, leaving me wanting to see more of what she’s going to do next. Miguel… well, Miguel is just plugging right along with wondering how to get back to his time, living in the present and figuring out the basic necessities of living. It may not sound hugely engaging, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: August 13th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
