Things just get more complicated.
Creative Staff:
Story: Peter David
Art: Will Sliney
What They Say:
Miguel Stone bears his talons for the first time! The Avengers of 2099 take on Alchemax!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When it comes to the 2099 world I readily admit that there’s a simple bias in it to a degree because I had so much fun with the original books back in the day. The current incarnation has had its moments to be sure in the Spider-Man 2099 series but it was trapped by other events and couldn’t really find its own way. With Secret Wars 2099 I again admit that I’m cutting it some slack because in the end it is just one giant What If? storyline that’s playing out since everything is so altered from before and with the state of events being reshaped in the present coming up, well, I can’t imagine that much of this will stick in any meaningful way. So what it comes down to is whether the book is fun, which is what I want out of most of the Secret Wars event books.
In its own way, yes, it is fun. But it’s a turn off your brain kind of fun because there’s nothing really coming across as a cohesive storyline here that I can find after four issues. At the core of it it seems to be about this Captain America and the way that she’s being controlled by Miguel for the greater purpose. She’s been the dutiful soldier in that role but is completely unaware once dismissed and back to her workaday self. But after her encounter with the Defenders and the way that she made promises to them that Miguel has thrown out the window in a very superior way, well, it’s like a logic block has been hit and now everything is breaking down. Seeing her attempting to retain control even after being dismissed is good, though possibly at the cost of her other self. That she has to fight against her comrades to save the others is typical material to be sure, but it’s fun since she teams up with Hercules to do it and he’s always looking for a fight.
But in another way, it’s not that much fun because this storyline of Captain America’s isn’t a great driver of events. It’s a smaller and more personal affair but one that feels like a piece of a larger puzzle. Or rather, multiple puzzles being put together with only a few pieces. It’s fun to watch Hercules and Sub-marine drink and talk and I liked seeing something of who is in the Iron Man suit, but it’s just small character material that will be meaningless in the long run. There’s no sense of a really strong story running through this series or a strong enough personality to really give it some weight, particularly as Miguel has basically gone to the dark side in a fairly bland and uninteresting way. The result is that we get a story where there are these nuggets of fun moments tied together by some action with fun re-interpretations of characters in the future, but in this Battleworld setting without connecting elsewhere. It’s one of the more out of place segments of that world and it shows.
In Summary:
Though elements of this aren’t working for me (and they’re the bigger elements), the fun of the book itself is what salvages it as well as the artwork. I’ve enjoyed Will Sliney’s sense of design and camera angles for his panels for awhile and he gets to do some fun things here throughout the fights as well as the quieter moments. I wish he was able to go a bit further with the character interpretations but we’re dealing with a larger event where the main cast is already going through so many permutations that it’s hard to stand out. The series is one that feels like it’s just a placeholder for the moment until we get back to the post-Secret Wars space and then launch anew. or at least I’m hoping so because I enjoy the 2099 world, but would like to actually experience it in a meaningful way.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 12th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
