Spider-Man 2099 #6: "Downtown"

**** (four of five stars)

Summary

A woman and her child walk down a dingy street, while two armed men watch them from a modified dune-buggy.  The men work for an outfit called "the Watchdogs," and comment that the woman, Miss Quan, is two months late in her security payments.  The men accost her, one distracting her daughter, Tomi, while the other pulls Miss Quan into an alley to rape her.  Tomi bites her captor and tries to save her mother, only to get thrown into a rubbish heap by the other Watchdog.  However, the movement awakens Miguel, who was lying under the heap.  He emerges, asking for help.  The Watchdogs recognize him as "the guy they're combing Uptown for" and attack.  Miguel webs up one of the men and Miss Quan delivers a knee in the groin to her attempted rapist as he tries to get his gun.  Spidey webs up the two men and Miss Quan grabs Tomi and flees.  Miguel attempts to climb the wall, but realizes he "busted something inside."  Unsure where he is, he gets into the dune buggy and asks the onboard computer to take him to the Babylon Towers.  It informs him that they're outside its perimeter, so he chooses the pre-programmed route.  At Alchemax, Tyler Stone reviews the events of last issue, noting that Spider-Man's unstable-molecule fabric costume would've protected him from the Public Eye's blasts, but not their impact, and hypothesizes either that or the fall killed him.  He berates the Public Eye officer who ordered the troops to shoot at the end of last issue and has him fired "with prejudice," something that terrifies the man and results in him swearing vengeance on Stone.  Stone is then called to a meeting with the C.E.O. of Alchemax and patches into a holographic conference with him.  The C.E.O., who sits shaded from view, criticizes Stone, noting he alleged to have the Spider-Man situation in hand.  He exposits that Stone had promised that Spider-Man would defeat the Specialist and the ensuing debt of honor would send Stark-Fujikawa after him, forcing it into a conflict with Spider-Man, who could very well destroy it.  Stone tries to defend himself, noting that the first part of the plan worked perfectly, but the C.E.O. interrupts him, informing Stone that he was "very familiar" with Spider-Man's predecessor and that a lost Spider-Man is "lost potential."  He tells Stone that he should restore his faith in him immediately and, after the conference ends, Stone orders his staff member to dispatch the Public Eye to Downtown to find Spider-Man.

In Downtown, Miguel is hallucinating, telling Lyla all about his fall.  He mentions that he needs a doctor and the buggy redirects him to the nearest medical facility.  Meanwhile, Kasey is patrolling over Downtown on her stolen flybike and decides that she needs to call in "the reserves" to find Spider-Man, since he saved her life.  Meanwhile, Gabe is hustling to his car with Dana tailing after him, telling her that he has to go because he suddenly remembered an appointment.  Dana asks why he "suddenly" remembered the appointment when he saw Spider-Man get shot and Gabe swears to her he does in fact have an appointment.  He assures her that Downtown is the last place he would go...and then heads to Downtown.  In Downtown, a Thorite doctor finds Spider-Man unconscious in the dune buggy and the Public Eye recruits the two Watchdogs who Spidey defeated to serve as "cannon fodder."  They use the buggy's computer system to get a read on Spider-Man's location and head that way, unknowingly being observed by a shadowy winged figure who wonders why the Public Eye is in Downtown.  At the clinic, Miguel wakes up disoriented and the doctor informs him he had "broken ribs, lungs filling with fluid, multiple contusions."  He ignores her advice to rest for 24 hours, telling her that he needs to get home lest anyone worry about him.  He tells her that he's worried she'll hurt him because "everyone keeps trying to hurt [him]," and she tells him she helped with because he's the harbinger of Thor.  He dismisses her as a religious lunatic (despite her insistence that not all Thorites treat the religion like a costume party) and Spidey leaves the clinic, only to discover the Public Eye has arrived.  He tries to escape in the dune buggy, but the Watchdogs have disabled it.  The Public Eye destroys the buggy as a sign that it means business (though the officers note to themselves that they've been instructed not to hurt him) and Spidey flees down an alley.  Trapped, he's rescued when the winged figure, calling himself the Vulture, appears, slaying the Watchdog "cannon fodder" and grabbing Spidey, promising him they'll be great friends.

The Review

David makes Miguel almost a secondary character in this issue, focusing instead on telling the story of some of the grimmer realities of the 2099 world.  We go "Downtown" in this issue, into the grimy lo-tech area below the glittering hi-tech city we've seen so far in this series.  It's a really fascinating tour, almost like you're watching some documentary about the future, and really delivers on my desire to know more about the 2099 world.

The Good

1) David gives us a pretty unflinching view of the terrors of Downtown, starting the issue with the attempted rape of Miss Quan and ending it with the unexpected massacre by the Vulture.  He also shows us that the Thorites aren't necessarily just a group of crazy cult members, with the Thorite doctor who treated Miguel noting that most of them take their beliefs seriously.  Again, David is really creating his own world here and he uses this issue to take us on a tour of a new corner of it.

2) As I mentioned in last review, David's doing a great job of showing how disoriented and distraught Miguel is becoming.  In the first arc, he was dealing with the drug addiction, the power metamorphosis, and the fugitive status, not to mention difficult relationships with Dana, Gabe, and Tyler.  Last issue, Miguel was so frustrated when the Specialist attacked him despite Spidey having saved his life that he slashed his throat and, here, we see him become downright paranoid, telling the doctor that everyone is trying to hurt him.  When you consider how crazy these first few issues have been and that they represent about a week of his life, it's hard to see how it wouldn't drive anyone a little crazy.

The Unknown

1) OK, I'm re-read issue #4 and I still don't understand where David is going with the Stark-Fujikawa storyline.  I had thought that they might be working together, but it's clearly not the case based on the events of this story.  Based on Stone's conversation with the C.E.O., he wanted to use Spider-Man to injure the Specialist and force Stark-Fujikawa to fulfill a vendetta of honor, resulting in it dedicating time and resources to its battle with Spider-Man that it might lose.  I get that part.  However, I'm still not sure why the Specialist would've turned Kasey into Alchemax in issue #4 if he were working for Stark-Fujikawa.  If the Specialist works for Stark-Fujikawa, why is he working for Alchemax in issue #4?  I also don't understand how Stone using the Public Eye to trap, but not arrest, Spider-Man was going to work in terms of his plan.  I'm not sure if I can just consider these questions a lapse on David's part, put them in the "Bad" column, and forget about them, or if David is playing a longer game.  I guess we'll see.

2) OK, I'm going to black out this part, because it's what I'd call a "mega-spoiler."  It's based on some information I gleaned from the "Spider-Man:  Edge of Time" video game and could reveal a fairly significant plot development.  If you want to read it, highlight it with your cursor:

Why is the C.E.O. of Alchemax "very familiar" with the first Spider-Man?  Is he really Peter Parker, as depicted in "Spider-Man:  Edge of Time?"  Is that why Alchemax had his DNA on record?  I'm doing everything I can not to Google the answer!