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Down But Not Out

by Drew Clements westofmiskatonic@gmail.com

This is the last of the three-part Origin of Spider-man 2099 columns. In the last two editions, I covered the first two issues of the series, now we’ve come to the third (me can count goodz). Let’s jump right into it. Spider-man 2099 #3 Original Release Date: January 1993 Writer: Peter David Penciler: Rick Leonardi Inker: Al Williamson Letterer: Rick Parker Colorist: Noel Giddings Editor: Joey Cavalieri At the end of issue #2, our new Spider-Man was struggling hard to find something to say to the cyborg tracker villain, Venture, to strike fear into his mechanical heart. “Hi” wasn’t exactly what he was searching for, but it’s what he came up with. This issue picks up just a few minutes later with that crazy cult gang, the Thorites, attempting to protect our hero who they believe to be the “harbinger of Thor.” These kooky guys (who obviously did not partake in the Kool-Aid offered at Jonestown… I mean Thortown…) attack Venture, who easily takes them down brutally, but not lethally. Venture makes it known to Spidey that he has no problem fighting these goofy cult members all day long, but eventually it would lead to casualties. Rick Leonardi illustrates a spectacular panel here as Venture flips a Thorite off his feet with little to no effort at all. The new webslinger lunges at Venture, which turns out to be a mistake. The cyborg is wielding a mechanical rod that emits some sort of energy that when it comes into contact with Spidey’s right arm, numbs the nerves. Last column I talked about the brutality and gruesomeness of this title. In this issue we get another scene, which illustrates the more serious stance this book takes in comparison to the other Marvel Universe Spider-Man titles of the time. Venture, attacked from behind by a Thorite, smacks the kid down and kills him (off-panel) with his energy rod. Furious, Spider-Man attacks Venture viciously, landing a blow to the mouthy villain and quickly retreating away. In issue #2 we see that Venture is tracking the person responsible (Miggy) for the chaos at Alchemax by tracing their heat signature. Now, Spidey figures to continue erasing his Miguel heat signature by retracing his steps back to his apartment building, up to his apartment, and out the window (which he crashed through last issue). The idea is to clear himself (as Miguel), so that no one will learn his identity (as the person that had a hand in blowing up the lab at Alchemax and “killing” Aaron Delgato). Now back at his apartment building, in the lobby, Spider-Man jumps past his brother Gabe, who is just leaving after being kicked out of Miguel’s apartment last issue. Gabriel seems to recognize his brother, but isn’t sure as Venture flies past in hot pursuit. Once on his floor, Miguel tears the door to his apartment from its hinges and enters. As usual, Lyla his holographic A.I. construct, greets him. This is a really funny scene as Miguel is in his full Spider-Man costume and Lyla greets him with “Hello, Miguel. You’re home early.” The humor comes as fast as the action does in this title and that’s a credit to Peter David. The pacing is at a breakneck speed in this issue, yet we’re still allowed a good bit of drama and fun. Miguel instructs Lyla to point at a window and say, “There was a horrible man in black! And he went through there!” but he ends that by adding “Okay Lyla? Good girl!” Spidey proceeds to jump out that same window, which he also jumped through in issue number two. Venture enters the apartment and on cue Lyla relays what Miguel had told her to say, but she ends it with “Okay Lyla? Good girl!” but Venture doesn’t seem to notice. The following page is an excellent full-page illustration of Spider-Man in a free-fall with Venture in pursuit. The character doesn’t look any more bad ass than right here. It’s a great example of Rick Leonardi and Al Williamson’s talents. The two battle it out on a flying billboard for a few panels and then there’s another great full-page illustration. This one has Spider-Man connecting a punch to Venture’s face. Perfect artwork there too. Venture eventually gets the best of our hero and wraps him in something called “molecularly dense body wrap” (no relation to the weight loss body wraps, you health freaks you…), which is basically some sort of super-strong elastic rope. We jump scenes back to Miguel’s apartment where his brother Gabe has gone back up there to find out what’s going on. Lyla repeats that message from earlier. Yes, even ending with “Okay, Lyla? Good girl!” Gabriel asks how long ago Miguel was there (“5.3 minutes ago”) and then asks what he was wearing… Jumping back to our hero, we see him wrapped up in that elastic wrap and being carried off by Venture. The cyborg is speaking with Tyler Stone, head of Alchemax, via a built-in communications unit. Stone says that he has a number of questions about our hero, or rather “they’re really not questions so much as confirmations…” What does he mean by that?? Spider-Man shreds the wrap with his talons and tears into Venture’s boot jets, which is the only thing keeping the two in the air. During the struggle on the way to the ground, Spider-Man finds he has a new ability; he can shoot webbing from the backs of his hands! This is the first instance in comic books of a Spider-Man being able to produce organic webbing, which so many people are used to from the Spider-Man movies. For those of you new to comics altogether or just Spider-Man in general, the original Peter Parker Spider-Man used mechanical web-shooters to produce webbing, so it wasn’t a bodily function. Recently, the Peter Parker Spider-Man gained the ability to produce organic webbing in a story arc in the latest volume of The Spectacular Spider-Man (the story for the most part was really unreadable so I don’t suggest picking that particular arc up). The webslinger shoots Venture in the face with this webbing, blinding him. Before the cyborg hits the ground, Spider-Man jumps off, giving himself a much softer landing. The two battle it out in the streets in what has now become a one-side battle. In the final blow, Spidey takes Venture’s weapon and jams it into his mechanical leg. The resulting explosion incapacitates the villain and leaves the new Spider-Man victorious. If you’ll remember back to my first column and the first issue of Spider-Man 2099, the story began with Miguel recounting the events that led to his emergence as the new Spider-Man. The battle with Venture was the last of these events so we go back to that moment where we started just three short issues ago. Miguel finishes his story and talks about his future and his powers. A funny bit of dialogue occurs when he talks about his new web powers, “…web spinners all over my forearms… which beats shooting webbing out my butt, I suppose…” That’s just another example of the witty and sarcastic personality of Miguel O’Hara. But all is not over; there is a knock at the door. Tyler Stone, the head of Alchemax, is there to speak to him about… Spider-Man… How’s that for a cliffhanger ending? A lot of credit should be extended to everyone that had anything to do with this book. I refused to pick this title up when it originally came out and I’m kicking myself for it now. This is not simply a rehash of the original Spider-Man; this is a completely new character in a world vastly different from the normal Marvel Universe. Peter David and Joey Cavalieri should be thanked a hundred times over for giving comic book geeks such a deep and fun book. The art team of Rick Leonardi and Al Williamson are perfect. The art is fantastic. Hopefully you’ve seen the plot lines left dangling and are intrigued enough by them and the cliffhanger ending to get out to your local comic shop and search through the bins to find the rest of the issues (issue #4 has my favorite quote of ANY comic book character EVER). Trust me when I say that you won’t be sorry. I also want to encourage you to pick up some of the other 2099 books (Doom 2099 and 2099 Unlimited are excellent!). See you back here next week!