Spider-Man 2099 (Vol. 1) #13

Background

After kidnapping Stone and Spider-Man, Thanatos seized control of the Virtual Unreality lab at Alchemax. In the process, a mysterious man emerged out from the Interspace portal.

Story 'Prophet and Loss'

In the Virtual Unreality lab are Thanatos (the warrior who kidnapped Tyler Stone and Spider-Man), Jordan Boone (supervisor of the lab), Tyler Stone, Winston (Stone's executive assistant), Spider-Man (star of our show), and now a strange man who has emerged from the Interspace portal. The stranger asks what year it is, while Alchemax employees whisper if he's the prophet of Thor. The stranger recognizes Thanatos identifying him as a "creature of evil", though he struggles to remember his own name, nor muster up an energy to fire a blast from his hands.

In her maglev car, Dana drives to Alchemax, wondering about the whereabouts of her fiancee, Miguel.

At Alchemax, Spider-Man defends the stranger against Thanatos. He notices that his claws don't penetrate Thanatos' skin. Thanatos also shows apparent signs of telepathy. Thanatos impales the stranger, and mocks Spider-Man for not recognizing him. Stone's guards fire an energy bazooka at Thanatos, but knock both him and Spider-Man into the portal.

In the other dimension, Spider-Man finds himself in a surreal world with bizarre images. He finds himself atop a giant dead body of himself while people mourn around him. Thanatos appears and reveals that, though Interspace is his "second home", he had been marooned on earth until the experiments with the forgotten works of Reed Richards gave his form the energy needed to possess the body of a recent foe of Spider- Man.

Back at Kasey's apartment, Kasey is awakened from a Spider- Man inspired dream by her friend Raff. Kasey is feeling ill, and Raff offers to take her to a doctor.

At a meeting with Stone's CEO, Tyler is reprimanded to get his corporation back under control after the outbreak of superheroes and the rumors of a new "Net Prophet".

The stranger, a.k.a. the "Net Prophet", finds some of his energy returning and begins to make an escape from the Alchemax guards.

Meanwhile in Interspace, Spider-Man tries to fight Thanatos. Thanatos' grows into a giant, and grabs Spider-Man in his fist. While Thanatos mocks him, Spider-man bites and releases venom into Thanatos, giving him time to escape. A hand appears as Spider-Man runs aimlessly. Rather than face Thanatos again, Spider-Man accepts the hand.

General Comments

Not too many laughs, but an action packed story. Which foe did Thanatos possess? Who is the Net Prophet? How is Spidey going to get out of this mess? Can't wait for issue #14!

Overall Rating

Rating: A solid 4-web issue. I enjoyed the multiple subplots running through the issue and the mystery villain(s).