2099 Unlimited #8

Background

Miguel O’Hara is Spider-Man 2099. Much like Peter Parker he got his spider-powers from a lab accident (although his origin is slightly more complicated). He works for a mega-corp called Alchemax, and hates his boss Tyler Stone. He is constantly being harassed by the neo-fascist police for of the 21st century known as the Public Eye.

Story '"Behind the Eight Ball"'

The story starts out at the apartment of the Michael, a non-descript twentysomething. His family is a little on the dysfunctional side, to say the least. His father and mother argue with his brother and sister at the dinner table, he looks over an auction catalog of 20th century items that he plans to steal. Donning a fishnet shirt, a yellow vest, and attaching an electronic hook gizmo to his left hand he becomes the Data Pirate (complete with an eyepatch and skull and crossbones on his bi-corn hat).

Meanwhile, our friend Miguel has decided to attend the very same auction in order to get a gift for his ex-girlfriend Xina to thank her for fixing his home computer system (for details for that fiasco check out Spider-Man 2099 #18).

The Data Pirate somehow busts in on this hoity-toity get-together and steals the very lot that Miguel was bidding on (a magic eight-ball, snow-globe, comic book, toy robot, and soda bottle). Of course, Miguel won’t let his stuff get away that easily, so he switches into his Spider-Man 2099 costume and gives chase.

He tracks the Data Pirate to his home fairly easily. Miguel figures that his costume would be short-circuited by water, so he throws the magic eight-ball at the villain and the electric shock knocks him out. Unexpectedly, the short circuit reveals that Michael’s family is just a sophisticated bunch of holograms and he actually lives alone. Feeling sorry for such a loser, Spider-Man gathers his stuff and leaves him to his own devices.

General Comments

This is a short 10-page story, so there’s not a lot of room for character development or plot twists. Unfortunately, that leads to a rather boring read.

Overall Rating

I think this is the fourth time that some sort of short circuit/electric shock has been used as a plot point.

Footnote

This story fills in between a Public Enemy yarn (think Punisher, but with a mad-on not just against bad guys but everybody) and a Doom 2099 piece. Altogether, this is a pretty mediocre issue.