Spider-Man 2099 (Vol. 2) #7

Background

As you should already know, Miguel O'Hara was trapped in the year 2014 on the 616 Universe. He was pulled into a major battle when the Spider-Men of multiple dimensions began fighting against the Inheritors, a group of beings hunting down and eating Spider-Totems. In Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 3) #10, Peter Parker assigned Spider-Man 2099, Lady Spider, and Six-Armed Spider-Man to investigate the dead body of the Inheritor, Daemos, in the year 2099. Their plan was set back when a newly cloned Daemos chased and fought them. They were able to capture him in a electrified field, but Six-Armed Spidey was killed in the process.

Story Details

In the year 2099, Spider-Man 2099 and Lady Spider watch Daemos struggle against his electric cell. Spidey is confident that he won’t escape because “the energy level holding him multiplies exponentially the more he shoves against it.” To escape, he would need the power to “take down the entire eastern seaboard power grid.” The heroes leave him, and Spidey reveals they have an appointment. Soon, they enter the office of Tyler Stone, the corrupt leader of Alchemax, father to Miguel O'Hara, and person who had trapped Spidey 2099 in the year 2014. Stone greets our main hero, explaining it’s good to see him again, but he warns him to not come closer. There are lasers pointing at them, and Stone explains that the hero and him are equal now because of his favor last issue.

Stepping towards him anyways, Spidey is still angry he was trapped in 2014, but Stone is passive considering he was able to return to 2099 anyways. The corrupt Alchemax CEO asks his enemy who Lady Spider is, but he snaps, “She doesn’t matter,” which doesn’t settle well with her. Spider-Man orders him to open the lab next to the one they have Daemos trapped in so they can dissect his old body. Also, they need an Alchemax employee to retrieve the dead body from where they left it. When Stone asks why he would help him, our hero threatens to attack him at his home. The boss thinks it over for a second and then orders Winston, his assistant, to carry out his demands. As they leave, Stone tells Spidey, “It wouldn't have been the same without you.” He replies that was, after all, why he tried to get rid of him.

In the lab with Daemos’ dead body, Spider-Man watches the alive, trapped Daemos on a screen as he taunts them. He explains that he will die before being released, so his threats are empty. Miguel asks how they can stop the Inheritors, but Daemos retorts, “We cannot be stopped. We always accomplish our goals. And we are immortal.” Spidey claims that he will always be stuck in his cage, but the villain doesn’t count on it. What scares Miguel is that he believes him but won’t admit it.

As he is about to begin the dissection, Spider-Man asks Lady Spider if she can perform a task that involves her tech knowhow. He hands her the device he found with the Spider-Man 2099 of another dimension (Spider-Man 2099 (Vol. 2) #5, if you’re interested), which he has figured out helped him to jump to other dimensions. It isn’t his field of expertise, but he suspects Lady Spider can figure it out, especially since she had computers that can “bridge the gap” between their times. Lady Spider is astounded by what she finds, and Spidey declares, “Stick with me. You’ll see all types of new things.” Little does he know that Tyler Stone is watching everything they do and plans on using it against him later.

Suddenly, the trapped Daemos yells he has an offer for the heroes, and they decide to hear him out while they’re doing their jobs. He offers that if they release him, he will convince the other Inheritors to keep away from them and they will be spared. Ignoring him, Spider-Man and Lady Spidey are busy with their work; the former is disappointed because he cannot find an alternative food source for Daemos and the latter is figuring out how to control the teleporting device. Annoyed, Daemos requests for their answer, and Spider-Man explains they won’t accept his offer because they don’t trust him and wouldn't betray their fellow Spider-People. Daemos explains that he now plans on escaping, and they will be the first ones he kills. He suggests they “bid farewell” to their loved ones. Spider-Man leaves to the biology lab to get supplies, and he orders his companion to “keep an eye on laughing boy.” The villain goes in a meditative state, which worries our favorite female Spider-Totem.

A few minutes later, Spider-Man is speaking to a scientist about disease options. The scientist explains that the disease the hero is speaking of was cured in the 2040s and he offers to get a dose of the cure, which only takes a few minutes. Miguel takes him up on the offer, obviously thinking about curing his friend in 2014, Tempest, who is terminally ill with leukemia. Suddenly, Lady Spider begins to speak to him over his ear microphone, and she’s really excited about speaking to him long-distance (they don’t have such technology in her time, of course). But her enthusiasm isn’t the point of the call; Daemos is in a “trance-like” state, and she fears he is preparing to escape. Suddenly, she orders him to come down.

Angrily, Daemos begins pushing on his electric cell wall, yelling, “I warned you!” He rationalizes that Spider-Man mentioned that he would die before breaking out of the cell but that’s exactly what he wants. When Spider-Man arrives, he scares Lady Spider by expressing suspicion that Daemos may escape, telling the scientists around them to flee. The villain explains that he plans on dying, and when he does, a new cloned version of his body will come after the heroes to kill them. And just like that, Daemos’ life runs out and he falls to the ground. A scientist is relieved that it’s over, but Miguel replies, “It’s anything but.” Spider-Man decides they’re best option is to get out of the dimension with the device Lady Spider was studying. As for Daemos, he explains that he has an “acquaintance” (who he refuses to call him a “friend”) to slow him down.

Meanwhile, Daemos is flying in Nueva York on a Private Eye vehicle when he’s suddenly zapped by none other than Punisher 2099! The anti-hero explains, “I’ll give you one chance to surrender. Please don’t take it.” Daemos doesn’t take him up on the offer, so he is zapped again. “Quite … the weapon … you have … but sooner or later, you will run out of ammo … or even worse … miss!” Daemos yells. That’s exactly what Punisher does, and the villain is able to kick him. He throws away his gun, but the anti-hero has a bat to replace it. Daemos laughs at his weapon, but since it’s made of titanium, it does quite some damage to him. Next, Punisher pulls out a “plasma gas cannon,” which sets Daemos on fire but doesn’t particularly hurt him. The flame isn’t meant to melt him but the floor below him, and the Inheritor falls into Downtown. Punisher calls and tells Spider-Man the villain is occupied, but he suggests they get somewhere safe.

After thanking Punisher for the help, Spider-Man directs Lady Spider to use to teleporting device to get them to the safe place the Spider-People were hanging out the last time they were together. She’s “seventy-five” percent sure how to use it, which doesn’t reassure Miguel, but they go along with it anyways. Luckily, they successful get to the safe zone. Unluckily, they find that the Inheritors were there before them and have left behind a bunch of corpses of Spider-People.

General Comments

As I wrote in the last issue’s review, tie-ins to events are generally poor, but Dan Slott has set up Spider-Verse so that every tie-in has a purpose in the story. As I also wrote in the last issue’s review, the Spider-Man 2099 (Vol. 2) monthly title benefited greatly from this. With Peter David’s Spider-Man 2099 (Vol. 2) #7, the same case applies. This issue has an entertaining plot with many twists, feels like a 2099 title should, ties into the event well, and contains some stellar artwork.

First of all, this issue has an entertaining plot, which the early issues of Spider-Man 2099 were somewhat lacking in. There are plenty of cool plot developments and twists that grab the reader’s attention. It’s especially clever how Daemos escapes his cell and exciting when Punisher 2099 makes an unexpected guest appearance. The cliffhanger is also enticing: the readers who are following the title know what happened to the Spider-People’s base in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) # 11, but it’ll be interesting what Spider-Man 2099 and Lady Spider decide to do without the protection of a base and the contact with other Spider-People. Overall, the plot is simply more interesting than when Spider-Man 2099 was trapped in the year 2014.

Second, this title finally has a feel of a traditional 2099 book. I was disappointed when Marvel relaunched this title with Spider-Man in the 2014 timeline because the year 2099 is a more interesting and unique setting. Obviously, David was thinking the same thing, because his writing is far more inspired in the year 2099. It’s fun to see the tall, futuristic buildings and other traditional 2099 elements in the book. Peter David wastes no time getting back to the old character dynamics, with Stone already plotting against Spidey. Of course, he also takes advantage of the year by having Punisher 2099 show up in all his glory. All in all, this book finally feels unique from the other fifty (of however many) books Marvel offers.

As I mentioned last issue, it’s nice to see this storyline incorporate itself well into the Spider-Verse event. Fans who bought it only for the tie-in will certainly not be disappointed. David heavily incorporates Daemos in the plot and succeeds in proving the main point in Spider-Verse that the Inheritors are unstoppable. He also uses Lady Spider well in this issue, and he highlights the tried-but-true dynamic between a person of the past and a person of the future between Spider-Man 2099 and her. Even in the ending, it’s nice to see that David took the time to figure out who died during the Inheritor’s attack on the Spider-People’s base, with the deceased body of Captain Universe Spidey on display. My only problem with the tie-in dynamic is that nothing came of Peter Parker telling Miguel to study Daemos’ dead body. He didn’t find anything interesting to contribute to the story by dissecting it. I have the help of hindsight, though, to know that this tie-in’s plot contributes to the conclusion anyways.

Lastly, and as should be expected, Will Sliney’s artwork is fantastic. He really hits it out of the park drawing the futuristic - but - somewhat - rustic look of 2099. Sliney’s Punisher 2099 is fittingly badass looking and reminiscent of the 90’s with this pouches and giant guns. The Daemos / Punisher 2099 battle is epic and dynamic, with a great layout. It feels like Sliney was born to draw this book because his style works so well in it.

Overall Rating

This is a very entertaining tie - in. The book greatly benefits from the change in scenery and the plot has many cool twists. Sliney's art is, as usual, terrific.