Spider-Man 2099 (Vol. 1) #8

Background

The vicious and carnivorous Vulture of 2099 battles Spider-Man in the Downtown, while Mig's brother Gabe searches for Spidey and his girlfriend, Kasey.

Story 'Flight or Fight'

Spider-Man and Vulture battle takes them crashing into the stained glass window of St. Patrick's Cathedral to greet Father Jennifer.

Meanwhile, Gabe wraps a bandage around Kasey - fortunately, he was a bad shot, and only gave her a flesh wound on her head. Before Kasey can finish her story about what happened to her at Alchemax, a quartet of her scruffy friends knock on the door.

Back at the cathedral, Miguel feels badly for desecrating a church. But outside is Vulture's gang, the Freakers. Vulture pushes Spidey out of the church and into the crowd outside.

At Alchemax, Tyler Stone brags to Dana about all the wonderful work the corporation does - designing a Mars colony, building a tourist attraction in Atlantis - and impresses upon her how important Miguel's work is for bioengineering. He shows Dana an altered human who's part fish working on the Atlantis project. Tyler temps Dana with opportunities for herself since there will be needs for people like her who work at developing resources to grow food in hostile environments.

Spider-Man fights his way through the crowd, getting more and more savage as he tries to save himself. Vulture's sergeant grabs Spidey, holding him steady for the Vulture to attack from the sky. Spider-Man ducks and the sergeant is accidentally slashed instead. Kasey and her friends, the Throwbacks, arrive like the cavalry. They attack the Freakers, allowing Spidey to escape. But Spidey notices Gabe in with the Throwbacks. To protec t his brother, Spidey lures Vulture away from the melee. While Vulture talks and talks like a wrestler with a microphone, Spidey takes the upper hand in the fight - first, webbing his wings, leading him into tight quarte rs, slashing his face, getting Vulture's claws stuck in the wall, and finally kicking him to the street below, unconscious and wings clogged with webs. Spidey thinks to catch him with a web before he hits the pavement, b ut then hesitates..and Vulture's fate is left for another comic!

Uptown, Ex-Sergeant Estevez is greeted by Angela Daskalakis, an elegant and mysterious looking woman. Angela offers Estevez a chance to get back at Tyler Stone, and the very-much alive Spider-Man. Estevez takes her up o n her offer.

General Comments

Nice wrap up to the Downtown story. It was good to see the despicable Vulture get what was coming to him - although I was surprised to see Spidey let Vulture fall to his death (well, apparent death). That's not what our Spider-Man would do, but Miguel is NOT Peter Parker.

This issue introduces Fr. Jennifer and Angela Daskalakis, two characters that will play more significant roles in future issues.

Leonardi is a skillful artist, arranging the story like a movie with dynamic poses and excellent choices in angles. I appreciate his architectural designs - I think the background art can slip past the reader unappreciat ed. Take page 3 top left panel for example - Kasey's apartment. It's a fantastic but tiny exterior shot of her building, with intricate details, and a piping lattice above indicating that the skies of Downtown are cover ed by the streets of Uptown.

A chuckle from Peter David's writing: Vulture questions Spider-Man wondering whether his enthusiasts will stick around, or if he's just popular now as the "new item on the market". Looks like David was also pondering about the future of his character and the 2099 universe!

Overall Rating

Another 4 webs. The series was fresh and alive.