The 2099 arc comes to a close with an uncertain future ahead of it.
Creative Staff:
Story: Peter David
Art: Will Sliney
What They Say:
An ancient evil appears with the hopes of destroying the Avengers once and for all! Roberta discovers the truth about her dual-identity as Captain America!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we get closer to the end of the main Secret Wars event, the various miniseries are starting to come to a conclusion themselves. The first one to do so for me is that of Secret Wars 2099, which we know is getting a post-series with a new Spider-Man based piece that actually looks like it’ll be set in the period. That series will have the same team that we have here, which worked on the previous 2099 title, so there’s the potential for some of the ideas here to make their way into the new series. Which, at the conclusion of this arc, has me worried about it questioning whether to begin it or not. This arc has had its fun but it’s also been problematic because reworking the 2099-verse is one that didn’t have much to do because it was pretty open-ended. So while we got some nice little nods here it just felt like an extension of the previous series but with some obvious (big) changes.
With the finale, we get a piece that’s mostly about the action as Martin Hargood has managed to get free, goes on and on about his heritage with Baron Mordo, and begins unleashing a new evil into the world of the future with a Cthulu-like creature. That’s actually a lot of fun when you get down to it as we get the giant octopus-like creature atop the Alchemax building going on about ending the world and drawing on everyone’s fears. This lets us get a nod or two towards some of those that go to fight him, such as Iron Man, Hulk and Silver Surfer, but drawing out their fears doesn’t really register deeply because we don’t truly know these characters yet. And the fears drawn out aren’t all that different than the old school present day versions in some form or another. We do get some fun with Namor bringing it all to a conclusion in terms of the fight and I liked the overall action aspects of it but there’s not a lot of meat to be had there.
This installment also deals with a few character issues, though that leaves you wondering what the carryover will be in the next series. Cap’s issues of being forced into her “normal” self has some fun moments where everyone tries to get her back on the right page but there’s no real dealing with it since she’s in complete denial. The forced activation is amusing since it’s off-panel and we mostly get the reaction shots, which Sliney illustrates well and David’s dialogue is naturally spot on. We also get some closure when it comes to Miguel and his father. But like most of the character arcs here it’s not something that resonates because you know it’s ephemeral overall and a lot of it is material you hope doesn’t make it into whatever comes next. Especially the whole Black Widow piece that serves as the bookend to the series from where she started.
In Summary:
While I had fun with aspects of this series I found myself largely still dealing with the same problems I had with the Spider-Man 2099 series. It’s not its own thing. The book is obviously a Secret Wars tie-in so I make no bones about that but everything here is just in service to other events like the other book was and it never feels like it gets to define itself. I’ve long enjoyed Peter David’s works and the combination with Will Sliney has made for some great fun, but the time period as a whole is in desperate need of a fresh start. And I’m not sure that we’ll get that with what’s to come and it makes me very wary of it. The main saving grace of the series has been the artwork for me as Sliney is a solidly reliable artist that gets to flex in some fun ways here. It’s a fun little diversion but it makes me long for a chance for this period and whatever characters we get to have time to build itself up without any interference.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 9th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99