** (two of five stars)
Favorite Quote: "Are you calling us stupid?" "You don't need such an accusation." -- A pitchfork-wielding villager and Doom
Summary
"They" have activated the White Dog, whose job it is to bring back "Red Dogs," one of whom, named the Public Enemy, is loose. He is, in fact, walking the streets of New York, expositing that he survived a mob attack that left him as a "bloody pulp" because Red Dogs are indestructible and his tissue regenerated. Satisfied that he proved his point that the public could act when inspired, he decides to retire from being the Public Enemy. However, he overhears two people complain about the toxic rain, with one of them wondering why one of the superheroes doesn't do anything about it. The Public Enemy is enraged that these men want someone else to solve their problems, believing that Alchemax isn't responsible for the acid rain, but the public is for not doing anything to stop it (or Alchemax). He then witnesses a raid by the Eco-Cops on a playground, demanding that parents present their "parent licenses." One woman tries to run and they stop her; using their bio-scanner, they discover that she doesn't have a license and has, in fact, been twice refused one. The officer asks what made her think that she could have a child without passing the "parenthood tests" and, as she's dragged into custody, she responds that she has natural rights. The other parents are outraged, since she's legally supposed to get the right to appeal, but they decide not to do anything, enraging the Public Enemy all the more. His rage is personal, since he was apparently also separated from his parents at a young age. However, he controls himself, reminding himself that he's starting a new life, one where he won't interfere in the lives of the "gutless public."
Elsewhere, the White Dog exposits that he's the one responsible for killing all the other Red Dogs after the war, since the government knew that they wouldn't be able to re-assimilate. On the streets again, a man and his robot wife draw the glares of other pedestrians since she's not wearing her "synthi-skin" to hide the fact that she's a robot. She justifies it by saying that she only cares what her husband thinks of her, noting that she gained "full legal rights of citizenship" when she became sentient. However, a pedestrian throws a brick at her, starting a riot. Suddenly, some sort of officer appears, knocking down the robot's husband and attacking her. She implores him to stop since her programming forbids her from harming humans, but, before he can fire on her husband, the Public Enemy arrives. He opens fire on the crowd, marveling how the public only bands together when they want to victimize someone for being different. While the robot and her husband escape, the Public Enemy relishes the violence that he just committed. His reverie is interrupted by the arrival of the White Dog, who informs the Public Enemy that he was sent to protect the population from "homicidal maniacs" like him. The Public Enemy's bullets bounce off the White Dog, in no small part, he says, because he was designed to kill Red Dogs. The Public Enemy exposits that he killed the scientists involved in the Red Dog project, since they had experimented on his parents to see how they had given birth to him. White Dog exposits that his powers allow him use radiation to melt down Red Dogs; as such, the government gathered them all in a room after the war for the White Dog to use his powers on them all at once. Proving his point, the White Dog begins to summon his energy to destroy him and the Public Enemy scrambles to pry loose a mag-lev track. He wraps it around his hands and uses it against the White Dog, expositing that it is a super conductor, so it maintains a uniform temperature. Feeding back the energy into White Dog (and nearly killing himself in the process), the Public Enemy manages to cause the White Dog to explode. Pondering that he's stronger than other Red Dogs because of his parents' genes, the Public Eye hears the acclimation of the crowd of onlookers. However, he's mortified by their affection, announcing that they are now his enemy.
Spidey arrives home and asks Lyla to fix him some dinner. When she calls him "Miguel," he reminds her to keep it quiet, destroying a nearby surveillance camera to prove his point. When Lyla has the robot drone fix his favorite dinner, Miguel tells her that he'd marry her if he could and realizes that he needs to get a gift for Xina from the upcoming auction of twen-cen artifacts for fixing Lyla. Elsewhere, a man is reviewing the catalogue for said auction when he's called to dinner by his sister. He expresses disdain that rich people would waste their money on such items when so many people are in need. His sister says that it's not his concern what people spend their "hard-earned money on," leading his father to harangue his brother for not having a job, forcing the family to eat microwave dinners. The brother retorts that his father could do something more than call his bookie, but his dad says that he can't help that he was downsized by Alchemax. The man, named Michael, leaves the table to his room as his father and brother continue to argue, announcing that he'll soon be able to buy the family some real food. He appears in a costume and calls himself Data Pirate, planning on making the rich "stand and deliver." At the twen-cen auction, Miguel is sweating the expensiveness of the items on bid when Data Pirate arrives, using some form of telekinesis to grab the items. He leaves behind a Coke bottle but makes the rest his "buccaneer's booty." Miguel changes into his costume (after disabling a security camera) and goes after the Pirate, who laments that he's become a tool of the rich. The Pirate fires off a blast at Miguel and then escapes into the night, heading home. Miguel follows him, surprising the Pirate in his apartment. Noting that he had left behind the Coke bottle at the auction, Miguel hypothesizes that the water would interfere with his technology, so he uncorks the Magic Eightball that was part of the "booty" and hurls the "water" at Pirate. In so doing, he shorts the Pirate's system, causing the holograms to disappear and revealing that Pirate's "family" was actually holograms. Miguel contemplates the sadness of that discovery, wondering if Michael had never had a family or lost one. As he collects up the items and departs, he pledges not to get that attached to Lyla.
In Latveria, Doom expresses outrage (never a good thing) when his adviser informs him that his intelligence reports indicate that the Zefiro gypsies are speaking of a liberator who will deliver them into a golden age free of fear and persecution. The adviser notes that Tiger Wylde had brought in "criminals and miscreants" who had threatened their freedom previously and Doom notes that their freedom is his to grant. He heads to a device that cloaks him in the guise of a Zefiro so that he can gather intelligence firsthand. That night, he approaches a Zefiro tribe, posing as a weary traveler. Over dinner, one of the Zefiro tells of an "ambitious general" oppressing them and talks about Tranque the Terrible, the liberator arisen from his crypt to lead his people. Doom asks about Tranque and the Zefiro express shock that he is unaware of him, since he was the one who "rousted the thieves from the Court of the Emperor Rodo" 99 years earlier. Learning the name of the general (Verbragge), Doom calls his adviser while everyone else sleeps, telling him to check on the mausoleum The adviser confirms that Tranque's crypt is empty and Doom heads into town, angered by the sight of two Zefiro hanging at the town's entrance as a warning to other Zefirans. Two guards refuse to answer Doom's questions about Verbragge's location (since he's just a common Zefiran) and Doom dispatches them quickly. They then point the way and Doom bursts into a banquet hall. Revealing himself and announcing himself a Zefiro, Doom has Verbragge shot, a sign to all enemies of the Zefiro clan. However, one of the men there notes that Verbragge was acting on intelligence brought tho him by spies that claimed that Doom was the person that Tranque was going to overthrow. Doom brushes off the idea that he needs protection (justifying the murder of Verbragge), but departs to seek confirmation of these rumors. He spots a burning village and, upon arrival, learns that the village is burning because Tranque has returned and is leading troops to defeat Verbragge's faction. Doom asks if anyone has seen Tranque and a man holding an unconscious child says that she had, with two friends. (She was unconscious due to smoke inhalation.) He tells Doom that the villagers had set off bonfires to celebrate the news of Tranque's arrival and they spread, burning down the village. Doom continues to investigate, disturbed by the man's question about whether Latveria can afford someone provoking war on its borders. Doom finds Tranque and convinces "him" to surrender, revealing the two aforementioned friends of the unconscious girl standing on each other's shoulders to animate the armor. The kids say that they just put on the armor and that it was the adults who thought that Tranque had returned. Noting the kids' "keen" interest in Latverian history, Doom punishes them by making them polish the old suits of armor in his castle.
The Review
Although the Public Enemy and Spider-Man stories have some good parts, they were really overall pretty meh. The writing in both stories was somewhat awkward and overly expository, particularly in the Public Enemy story. But, they both did tell stories that reflect the sad realities of the 2099 world, from parents having to get license permits to a guy living with a family of illusions. It shows how socially isolated everyone in the 2099 world is and I don't think we had really had that sad reality so well underlined before this issue.
The Good
1) I like the concept of the Public Enemy, particularly in the sense that he gives voice to the idea that the 2099 world is the way that it is because people let it become that way. One of the obvious questions running through the 2099 line so far is how humanity got to this point, where corporations run everything. Was it a gradual process or did the corporations grab power by taking advantage of the chaos that followed the huge event that ended the Heroic Age? In other words, is it like America today or was it like 1990s Russia? Either way, the people of the 2099 world have accepted their lot in life and it's this acceptance that fuels the Public Enemy's anger. I mean, he's a bit of a one-note character and I'm not really sure how you'd actualize his campaign against the public themselves, unless he's just going to start randomly murdering people who gather and watch his battles with other metahumans. But, he does provide a view that we haven't necessary had so well developed previously.
2) I definitely didn't see the twist at the end of the Spidey story coming. Beyond just the sadness inherent in the story, Kavanaugh makes it all the sadder by implying that this family was so real to the Data Pirate that he really thought that he needed to steal money to put food on the table. Not a happy story.
The Bad
1) I had to do a Google search to learn that the Public Enemy was originally an enemy of Punisher 2099 (a missing text-box probably would've told me that had it been included). It was clear that he had appeared somewhere since we were pretty clearly supposed to know all about the Red Dogs. However, since I don't read "Punisher 2099," I was pretty much clueless about anything related to them for the entire story. How did his parents give birth to a Red Dog if it seems that all the other ones were manufactured? Why didn't the White Dog know about him if his job was eliminate all of them? Despite all the exposition in this story (and, wow, it had a lot), we never really got the answers that we needed to understand why the Public Enemy is so angry and survived the Red-Dog purge.
2) This one isn't really a bad, per se, but it would've been cool if Miguel had ended the story with the gumball machine that he actually gives Xina as a gift in "Spider-Man 2099" #26. (Of course, I also wonder if Miguel winds up stealing the twen-cen items that he retrieves from Michael's apartment. Did he return them to the auctioneers and buy the gumball machine separately?)
3) The Doom story made little sense the more I thought about it (never a good sign). I'm still not sure where the author, Colon, was going with it. Why did Verbragge believe that Tranque the Terrible would lead an insurrection against Doom if the Zefiro believed that Tranque would help Doom in repelling Latveria's enemies? In other words, why did each camp hear such different rumors, despite the rumors starting in the same place? Plus, why were the rumors started in the first place? If they were started by the kids wearing the armor and people seeing Tranque had "returned," you have to ask why the kids put on the armor in the first place. How did they know about it? How did they get into Castle Doom? Colon seems to be using the confusion to prove the point that rumors are untrustworthy by their nature, but in the end all he winds up doing is telling a confusing story.
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