Ghost Rider 2099 #7: "Been Caught Stealing"

(I'm using my regular-review format for these one-off side issues since they're not really all that likely to play a role in Miguel's overall continuity, making the "Summary" section more or less unnecessary.)

First, I'm both impressed and surprised by the number of direct references and obvious allusions to William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy:  Zero, ono-sendai, ice.  It's almost like Marvel acquired the rights to Gibson's books and incorporated them into the 2099 world.  It's also why I mentioned that I'm surprised, though, since it's such an appropriation of Gibson's work that I'm surprised that he didn't sue!

This issue is significantly better than Miguel's guest "appearance" in "Ravage 2099" #5, since Miguel is actually in it for more than two panels!  Kaminski does a good job making the story accessible to someone who hasn't been reading "Ghost Rider."  Ghost Rider, or Zero, is looking for a chemical that will help someone named Kylie.  Although we're not necessarily told who she is, it's clear that she's important to him, motivating him to break into Alchemax to get the chemical.  Of course, it just happens to be in Miguel's lab.

I thought Kaminski did a good job making this entire conflict between Zero and Miguel feel organic.  Miguel goes after Zero not because he's trying to get back Alchemax's property (which would be weird), but because the chemical that Zero stole is highly toxic.  Miguel worries that Zero will accidentally release it and, since Alchemax won't do anything to help people Downtown, realizes that he's the only one who can prevent that from happening.  Plus, I liked how the story didn't end with the two heroes realizing that they're both fighting the same fight, shaking hands, and then teaming up together to take on Alchemax.  Instead, Ghost Rider really doesn't care about Spider-Man or, really, the resident of Downtown; he just wants the chemicals.  Miguel has to stop fighting him to save a bunch of squatters from a collapsing building caused by their fight and Ghost Rider is able to escape with the chemical.  It was an end that I didn't see coming and thought really fit the story well.

Finally, I also enjoyed seeing New York through Zero's eyes.  Complaining about everything being too neat and orderly makes me wonder what Transverse City is like!

I'm definitely intrigued by Zero and part of me wonders whether I should pick up this series now.  But, I'm thinking that the Gibson homage might become a little more Gibson theft and get old quickly.  As such, I'll just stay focused on the regularly scheduled Spider-Man 2099 project.  But, I'd definitely recommend this issue to anyone wanting to read about Spider-Man 2099, since, unlike previous guest-appearances, he plays a really integral role to the story here.