**** (four of five stars)
Favorite Quote: "Talk about tight! What's he do, spray that suit on?" -- Christa Devane, on Miguel's apparently phenomenal ass
Summary
A man declaring that he believes in Spider-Man leaps off a skyscraper, despite the Public Eye ordering him to cease and desist. In a flashback, his name is revealed to be Kenny as his wife, Loreen, berates him for getting fired from Alchemax and for his obsession with the return of Thor. She accuses him of letting Alchemax "push him around" and he declares that he won't let anyone do so, grabbing a package from the closet and leaving the apartment. The package is revealed to be a skykite and Kenny is revealed to be the Thorite who gave Miguel a lift in issue #2. In the present, Kenny continues to plummet as, in the past, he announces to his Thorite friends that Spider-Man has returned. "Baldur" refuses to believe him, asking what made him so special that Spider-Man would appear to him. Kenny argues that maybe he sees what everyone else doesn't want to see and leaves. Later that night, he tells his wife to burn the Thor outfit, still enraged by his fight with Baldur and the rest of the Thorites. His wife is relieved, but her relief is short lived when Spidey's fight with Venture from issue #3 appears on TV. Baldur is killed in the fight and Kenny believes that it's because Baldur didn't believe. In the present, Kenny continues to fall, believing that Spider-Man will save him. In the past, Kenny has now become a dedicated Spiderite. Coming home to a gathering of Spiderites in her living room, Loreen kicks out the Spiderites and declares that she has had enough. She tells Kenny that she wants a divorce because she no longer believes that the "up-and-coming, decent man" that she married exists. Kenny tries to convince her to stay, but the Spiderites return, announcing that the Fenris are fighting Spider-Man for embarrassing them previously. (I believe the initial fight is the one in issue #14 and the fight depicted here is the one from issue #15.) Kenny hits the street with the Spiderites to help Spider-Man, but he's soundly beaten , despite hoping that Spidey will come save him. The Fenris thugs flee when someone announces that Spidey is coming their way and Kenny stumbles home. (Meanwhile, in the present, Kenny continues to plummet, hypothesizing that Spidey is waiting to save him to make his rescue as dramatic as possible. A crowd has gathered beneath him.) Loreen declares that she's had enough (again) when Kenny says that he's part of Spidey's divine plan and that he's watching over him. She leaves and, in the present, Kenny declares that he's getting nervous as the ground gets closer. Worried that he'll be punished for his doubt, he announces that he jumped for his wife, to get her to believe. Unfortunately, Kenny spots Miguel in the crowd and realizes that he can't get to him in time. The scenes fades to black.
At St. Pat's, Loreen is praying to God, asking for some sort of sign to tell her what to do. At that moment, the Net Prophet appears, asking for Father Jennifer. She arrives and the Net Prophet informs her that he's been exploring the world, trying to figure out why he's there. He asks Father Jennifer if she has any ideas and she simply replies that he must trust in God's will. Speaking of God, he asks Father Jennifer why so many splinter groups worshipping individuals exist, noting that it strikes a chord with something that he remembers, saying that he believes that he was once similarly worshipped. Loreen tells the Net Prophet that her husband is a Spiderite and that she's worried that he's going to get himself killed. The Net Prophet asks for a picture of him and decides to go find him, noting that faith "is ill-suited to be a crutch for an emotional cripple." Using his power to be drawn to a person and/or place at will, he appears in the crowd just as Kenny is about to hit the ground. He creates a portal, saving Kenny, though also alerting Miguel to his possible presence. Kenny appears underwater and swims to the surface, where the Net Prophet explains that the ocean was the only place where he could put him where his speed would dissipate. Kenny declares that he knew that a divine purpose existed and asks if Spider-Man sent him, grabbing at his boot. The Prophet kicks him, telling hm that he's a fool, that they're both just men. Kenny tells the Prophet that he's an agent of God and the Prophet reminds him that he is, too, and he needs to have faith in himself. The Prophet returns him to St. Pat's, where he is reunited with Loreen. The Net Prophet tells Father Jennifer that he's not sure what's happening in the long term, but, in the short-term, he saved one man from his own foolishness.
At Alchemax Atlantis, a worker conducts a controlled explosion at worksite and unexpectedly discovers a Soviet-era submarine. Tyler Stone bring Miguel with him to the building in New York where Alchemax has relocated the submarine, introducing him to Christa Devane, Special Projects Director for Alchemax R&D. Christa exposits that Miguel majored in 20th-century computer formats at the Academy and Miguel snarks that he had the youthful notion of learning something from the past. He's then stunned into silence when he encounters the submarine. Christa informs Miguel that they need someone familiar with "antique formats" to help facilitate "database assimilation by a contemporary system." As Miguel gets to work, Tyler and Christa move into another lab, where they observe a number of stasis tubes filled with human beings. Tyler instructs Christa to go ahead with the revitalization before Miguel finishes the data transfer, suggesting that they start with one test subject in case the process fails (and the subject dies). He wonders aloud why the Soviets would've abandoned the subjects in stasis in the submarine Meanwhile, Miguel manages to upload the data quicker than expected, though he stumbles upon a cache of protected memory in the process that he has to hack. In so doing, he realizes that the people in stasis are more trouble than Tyler expects. Meanwhile, Tyler seems to expect that the data contained in the ship is going to give them information on the Heroic Age, which could help with the current "heroic infestation."
Miguel races to the scene, changing into his costume along the way and expositing that the people in stasis were an "elite unit of para-human commandos from something called the Cold War," staged off the American coast to be activated in a first strike option. Before he can get there, "Chernobyl" comes fully to consciousness and grabs Tyler, expressing surprise that he's an American when Tyler asks to be released. Believing himself to have been betrayed to the enemies, he attacks the Alchemax troops firing on him. Freed, Tyler tries to blame everything on Christa (to establish a fall-person), only to have Spider-Man arrive. Christa wonders to herself if Spidey was already in the building given how quickly he made it on the scene while Spidey engages Chernobyl, who expresses glee that he finally found an enemy who he recognizes. Spidey tries to convince Chernobyl that he's no longer in the 20th century, but Chernobyl isn't having any of it, breaking form the building with the intent of destroying New York. Spidey tries to separate Chernobyl form his exo-skeleton, but realizes that it's part of him. He tries again to calm down Chernobyl but fails, punching off his mask instead. Realizing he failed (and not listening to Spidey), Chernobyl announces that Spidey's destruction of part of his exo-skeleton means that he can no longer channel his energy field, turning him into a bomb that could level a 1,000-km radius Spidey turns Chernobyl's attention to futuristic New York, making him realize that he really is no longer in the 20th century. Chernobyl realizes that he doesn't want the innocent to suffer and flies into the atmosphere. However, the colder temperatures manage to cool his system and he survives the depletion of his energy. Spidey returns to Alchemax double-time, appearing just as Tyler started to notice his absence (and its concurrence with Spidey's appearance). Miguel reveals that the sudden "jolt" spilled his coffee on the computer, destroying it. Elsewhere, Chernobyl arrives in Siberia, killing a guard who tries to prevent him from entering his homeland.
The Review
Wow. David really embraces the concept of an annual here, using the second person that Miguel met as Spider-Man (after Aaron Delgado) as the vehicle for providing a different perspective on the series so far. To be honest, it's an approach that I'm surprised other authors don't take more often, particularly in annuals, which seem to be exactly the type of appropriate forum for this sort of experimentation with different viewpoints. This issue helps David continue to give us a complete picture of the 2099 world and not just Miguel's role in it. I would've given it five stars except for the clunker of a final story.
The Very Good
Obviously, Kenny's religious journey mirroring Miguel's burgeoning career was a brilliant way of reminding us where we've been so far in this series. From Miguel's first moments as Spider-Man to his battle with Venture to the brouhaha with the Fenris, Kenny was there, on the sidelines. But, David doesn't just reduce Kenny to a gimmick, a fun way to see Miguel's rise from another perspective. He makes you really understand Kenny and, more importantly, why Kenny believes what he does. In my review of issue #23, I noted that David isn't really sugar-coating the 2099 world. After all, Kasey was forced into prostitution after getting abandoned by her drug-addict parents and Sgt. Estevez left behind his life to follow a woman that he didn't know just because he was that desparate after Alchemax fired him David makes you understand, intuitively, why Kenny is hoping for a miracle, for someone to make his difficult life all the better. He also makes you feel sympathy for Kenny's wife, who he doesn't portray as simply a nag (as some of his contemporaries would've done), but as a woman forced to bear a burden that she shouldn't be asked to bear on her own. With each page, I worried more and more about Kenny, so, when it was conveniently revealed that he was saved by the Net Prophet, I have to say that I was happy to see it. I'm pretty sure that the 2099 world isn't the type of place where Kenny and his wife are going to get to live happily ever after, but David at least gives you the hope that they'll face those challenges together now.
The Good
1) I was excited about the 'Net Prophet returning. Sure, he serves as a deus ex machina here and, if it had been anyone else, I'd be holding it against David. I mean, the Net Prophet conveniently returns to St. Pat's just as Kenny's wife is praying for someone to help her find her husband, who just so happened to have leapt off a building? But, David makes some effort to sell it here, almost arguing that it was God's will that the Net Prophet appeared when he did, if only to save Kenny. In fact, the Net Prophet himself seems to embrace this role, commenting to Father Jennifer after he saved Kenny that he only has "several billion to go" when it comes to saving people from their "foolishness."
2) I'm intrigued by the Atlantis issue. If I remember correctly, Tyler alludes to Atlantis and problems with the Atlanteans when he was having his conversation with Dana about Alchemax. The Net Prophet also raises it here, saying that he had spent time there. I wonder if it winds up being the basis of a future cross-over event, like "Fall of the Hammer."
The Unknown
1) It's interesting that Miguel majored in 20th-century computer programming-languages. I wonder if it's due to Xina's influence, given that she's obsessed with the "twencen."
2) I wonder what Chernobyl's future is, particularly given the quote at the end of this story that seems to imply that he's returned to Russia to be its hero. I really wish the 2099 world had lasted long enough to give us a "Russka 2099" series. Plus, what happens to the rest of Red Dawn? Given that Tyler pinned his interest in them to the current "heroic infestation," I wonder how he plans to use them in the future.
The Bad
1) It's weird that Miguel refers to himself as a "wage slave" in the final story. I initially wondered if the story hadn't happened before he became Spider-Man, since it's hard to believe that Miguel -- the rising star of Alchemax, the man behind the corporate-raider program -- would view himself little more than a common computer-programmer. He might've been being facetious, but Tyler also sort of treats him the same way when he reminds him that he's an employee.
2) OK, seriously, why would Miguel wear his costume here? I mean, I get that he's a superhero, but it seems like Alchemax has its own security forces that could've at least initially dealt with Chernobyl. Sure, he eventually appears to address Tyler's curiosity over him being gone at the same time as Spider-Man appearing, but Christa also notes that his sudden appearance implies that he was already in the building at the time. Given the number of times that Miguel has taken this risk in this series, it's really starting to push my ability to suspend disbelief that no one has guessed his identity. (Plus, oddly, Stone seems less sure of Miguel's dual identity than he has in other issues, where it has seemed pretty obvious that he knows that Miguel is Spider-Man.)
3) There's a truly bizarre art moment here, where Miguel is shown apparently shirtless. It's just a shot of his head and upper chest in the form of a diamond, used to show him speaking in-between panels. But, his upper chest is so bare it looks like he's taken off his shirt for no particular reason between the two panels. Odd.
4) At some point, Tyler wonders why he's always being attacked by para-humans. It seems somewhat absurd for him to ask that question, given that he's the one always poking sticks at them.
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