*** (three of five stars)
Summary
Two Public Eye officers stop a guy spray painting "Alchemax Bites" on a piece of property owned by Alchemax. The officer restraining the guy tells him that Alchemax can't let him be seen having such open disdain for it. (The other officer comments, "They'd dock our salaries.") The restraining officer offers not to arrest the guy, suggesting instead that he and the other officer simply beat him severely. Before the officer can land a punch, though, Spidey appears, adding "Big Time!" to the guy's "Alchemax Bites." The restraining officer apologizes in advance to Spider-Man for the fact that he must hurt him as a result of his intervention. When Miguel scoffs at this assertion, the restraining officer reveals that he's wearing a specially constructed armor ("SItuation Emergency GEar," or S.I.E.G.E.) developed by Alchemax and Stark-Fujikawa specifically to combat Spider-Man. (He exposits that only a few were provided to specially trained agents and that these agents, like him, were planted in the Public Eye to draw out Spider-Man.) The officer then attacks, throwing up a smoke screen and revealing that the suit allows him to throw his voice. Spidey flees upwards to escape the smoke screen and S.I.E.G.E. engages in pursuit, firing missiles locked onto Spidey. Meanwhile, outside Synthia, the firm where Dana works, Gabe meets her for lunch, something Dana suggested after the somewhat intense time that they all spent with the boys' mother last issue. Gabe informs Dana that he's late because he was with his girlfriend, and, when Dana says she'd like to meet her, Gabe informs her that Kasey can't come to Uptown as a result of her ongoing legal troubles. Dana suggests that Miguel might be able to help, but Gabe responds that he's tired of asking Miguel to solve all his problems and notes that Miguel's got enough of his own. At that moment, mid-air, Miguel manages to web the missiles and hurl them at S.I.E.G.E. The officer survives and then captures Miguel with a "castrodinium-alloy cord," informing Miguel (and us) that castrodinium is apparently denser than the body-wrap Venture used on Miguel in issue #3. As such, it will take Miguel more time to sever it, time he doesn't have given that S.I.E.G.E. is choking him with said cord. S.I.E.G.E. informs Miguel that Alchemax wants him alive and Stark-Fujikawa wants him dead; they've apparently allowed S.I.E.G.E. to use his discretion and he decides to kill Miguel for his insolence. At that moment, though, an assassin blows a hole throw S.I.E.G.E.'s back, freeing Miguel. S.I.E.G.E.'s body plummets next to where Dana and Gabe are walking and the graffiti artist sprays, "Alchemax Bites" on him. (Nice.) Miguel looks after the departing ship that carries his savior, but can't make out any details, except for an omega symbol on its underside.
At his apartment later, Miguel is describing the events to Lyla, who asks him to clarify what he means by "omega." When he asks what else he could mean, she notes that he could be referring to the last letter of the Greek alphabet, a "generalized icon signifying 'the end,'" or "a worldwide navigational system for planes and ships." Miguel responds "the first one," noting that it looked like an omega. Lyla hypothesizes that it could've been a horseshoe as well, and Miguel comments that he was either saved by a "God...or a horse." (Lyla joins in the fun, adding, "Or a Greek God. Or a Greek horse.") Miguel notes that he felt so alone when he decided to take on Alchemax, but now that someone is helping him, he's not so sure that it's a good thing, given how badly things went when the Vulture tried to "help" him. Miguel asks Lyla what she thinks and Lyla notes that she can't think, only process information. Miguel encourages her to think, remarking that, "Most humans I know can't think...and they're nowhere near as smart as you are." He encourages her to form an opinion and she says that, if she were a human, she'd be in love with him. Surprised, Miguel rushes from the room, leaving Lyla to stare at the door after he leaves. He then arrives at his lab in Alchemax to find someone at his work station. Annoyed, he tells the person to leave, and the individual introduces himself as Jordan Boone, a transfer from Euromax. He informs Miguel that he normally works in the virtual unreality division, but his secondary work is in "the sort of genetic tinkering" that Miguel does. He then gets to the point, informing Miguel that Tyler Stone asked him to review Miguel's work given his erratic hours. Enraged, Miguel storms into Stone's office, only to be shocked to find Dana there. Stone informs Miguel that Synthia is handling some Alchemax accounts and Dana was made its liaison. Miguel tells Stone to keep Boone from his lab and Stone agrees, offering to send Miguel on a trip the following week to the Floating City, where Dana will be traveling as part of of Synthia's investment in it. Later, Miguel escorts Dana to his lab, telling her that he was surprised to see her in Stone's office. She asks if he wants her to drop the account and he says yes. She then says no, saying she never promised him that she'd do it. Miguel looks into his microscope and then looks at Dana, telling her that she knows what type of man Stone is, given what he did to Miguel, and that he's worried about her. He begins to say, "But if you think you can handle him, then..." when she busts out laughing because, unbeknownst to him, Boone has left soot on his microscope and he now looks like a raccoon. Meanwhile, a gladiator-like being hovers over New York. He appears to be the figure who helped Miguel, and he promises that Alchemax will soon "have the Hades on Earth that [it] so richly deserve[s]."
The Review
This issue represents a new era of sorts for "Spider-Man 2099," after Miguel committed himself to fighting Alchemax more aggressively last issue. We seem him purposefully pick a fight with the Public Eye, something he hasn't really done before, to my memory. As I mentioned last issue, I feel like we've definitely passed a turning point, more or less ending Miguel's extended origin story and putting him firmly on the path to being a superhero. Good times.
The Good
1) The whole battle with S.I.E.G.E. was great (other than, as I mentioned below, the fact that I couldn't stand his running dialogue). I never get tired of the mid-air battles, because Leonardi renders them so beautifully. I liked how S.I.E.G.E. was essentially the 2099 version of a Spider-Slayer and I was totally surprised when the assassin shot him. But, maybe most of all? I loved the graffiti artist spray-painting his body. A little tacky? Yes. A lot hilarious? Yes.
2) I feel like Leonardi is really starting to develop a more detailed look for Miguel, particularly in terms of depicting his face. Despite his strong work in the action sequences, Leonardi hasn't quite made Miguel's face all that distinctive. (I often find it difficult to tell Gabe and Miguel apart; we're often just left to costume clues to do so.) But, particularly in the scene where Miguel reacts in shock to Lyla's revelation that she loves him, we get a much clearer image of him (and one, frankly, that shows why he's so popular with the ladies).
3) David continues to use past plots to influence Miguel's present decisions, reminding us that we're in a continuum when it comes to Miguel's experiences. In this issue, he shows how Miguel's battle with the Vulture (whose offer to help him wound up not going so well) makes him leery to trust that "Omega" has his best interests at heart. It's another example of David, layer by layer, building a character. After eleven issues, I really feel like I understand Miguel, because David has taken the time, like he does here, to show us how the events happening to him affect his view of the world. He doesn't just battle one enemy and move to the next one. David really excels at this sort of thing and it's a pleasure to see him do so here.
The Unknown
1) It's interesting to me that we still haven't gotten absolute confirmation that Gabriel knows that Miguel is Spider-Man. We've seen plenty of hints, but nothing for sure.
2) Is this the first time he mentioned his accelerated vision? I have to check. I know he's obviously mentioned his sensitivity to light, but I'm not sure if we've heard him refer to his ability to see great distances yet.
3) This Lyla stuff is really, really interesting. I found myself filled with anticipation when Miguel was pushing her to think, because the idea of an artificial intelligence becoming sentient seems right up the 2099 alley. However, I was expecting David to start her on the path of becoming Miguel's handy Girl Friday or his eventual diabolical nemesis. I was not expecting her to reveal that she loved him. It totally blew my mind. Leonardi really sells it, too, with the image of her sitting alone on her chair after Miguel departs. It was almost like a dog staring at the door after her owner leaves. It seems vaguely hostile, though, again, not in a diabolical nemesis way, but in a jilted lover way. We shall see. David just keeps it all interesting, doesn't he?
4) Why does Dana agree to work with Stone after what he did to Miguel? I mean, did she buy his apology in issue # 7? Is she that naive? She never really answers Miguel's question about why she's associating with Stone, since she's busy laughing at the soot gag. David has hinted that Dana is a little more nefarious than she appears, so I find myself doubting the idea that she's so naive as to trust Stone. We'll see, I guess.
The Bad
1) OK, despite the fact that I enjoyed Miguel's battle with S.I.E.G.E., I totally couldn't stand his banter. One of my rules is that having your character acknowledge that something makes no sense doesn't absolve the author from including it in the first place and I have to apply that rule here. Just because Miguel acknowledges that S.I.E.G.E. is annoying doesn't make it any less annoying to read his constant apologizing. That said, a suit that can throw the wearer's voice? OK, that's pretty cool.
2) Would Tyler Stone really allow S.I.E.G.E. to make the decision about whether or not he killed Spider-Man? That seems a bit of a stretch, given how furious Stone was in issue #6 when Sgt. Estevez tried to kill Spider-Man against Stone's wishes. He just doesn't really seem like a delegating kind of guy.
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