*** (three of five stars)
Summary
A machine of some sort scans the face of a man looking at it, trying to match it with a series of superheroes' faces loaded in its databanks. It fails to place the face of the man, who calls it "Junior" and exposits that he promised someone named "Packrat" that he'd get Junior running. Meanwhile, Packrat himself is addressing his "troops" as they speed on souped-up cars to Nightshade to scavenge its wreckage. Underneath the destroyed Nightshade, Miss Pivot and Xina watch as the scavengers arrive on a monitor. Xina says that they have to do something, but Miss Pivot says that confronting the scavengers will get them killed. Xina worries about Angela and "Miggy" but Miss Pivot assures her that they probably made it to one of the other underground bunkers. Above ground, one of Packrat's men finds Miguel and Angela; although Spider-Man tried to build a web cocoon around them, Packrat exposits that it failed to save Angela's life. Realizing that Miguel is the real Spider-Man after cutting himself on one of his exposed talons, Packrat orders his men to gather up Miguel and leave Angela.
At Dana's apartment, Dana looks at a photo of her and Miguel before throwing it aside. Tyler Stone arrives, telling Dana that Miguel hadn't been to work in several days and that he thought it meant that they had gone on a romantic getaway. He states the obvious, that they aren't on such a getaway if Dana is there, and observes that she's been crying. Dana tells him that Miguel has broken off their relationship and frets that he's now cavorting with Xina. Tyler expresses shock that Miguel could cut loose "such a special young woman" and Dana tells him that he's been more than kind to her. The two then share a kiss, though Dana then abruptly pushes Tyler from her. Tyler says that he's overstepped his bounds and goes to leave, but Dana stops him, asking if he's had dinner. Stone says that he knows a great restaurant near her place and, as she goes to wash her face, he informs Winston via a phone call to bring back Miguel (who's "rabbited") and send around the car for his dinner engagement, a "part of some carefully laid plans." At Nightshade, Xina puts Angela's broken glasses on her corpse, commenting that she always needed her glasses. A distraught Miss Pivot asks why they couldn't let them be and Xina wonders why Spider-Man didn't save Angela. Meanwhile, Packrat and his troops drive across the desert with Miguel's body dangling between two spears attached to the front of one of the cars. In New York, Gabe and Kasey depart for Mexico City for the Day of the Dead festival, with Gabe knowing that Kasey's new-found affection has to do with him "being" Spider-Man.
Miguel awakens to a re-run of "Mister Ed" and Packrat screaming at him, "Are you awake yet?!?" The man who opened the issue talking to Junior offers Miguel a Pop-Tart and Packrat explains that they're foragers squatting in an abandoned research facility of some sort, which he hypothesizes was meant to protect its occupants from a major war. Miguel tries to leave, commenting that he hasn't seen anything "this nutso since the Vulture." Packrat mentions that he knows the Vulture and asks if they're friends; Spidey responds that they had "a...falling out." Packrat offers Miguel a choice: he can either fight his way to freedom or he can take on the task of fixing Junior. He explains that Junior was there when they arrived and that he'd love to get him running. Miguel takes a look and Junior's program scans his face, identifying Miguel as either Spider-Man or Venom. As such, it blends the two of them and Junior transforms into a blend of them and comes to life, telling Miguel that he though that he'd never get there. He leaps at Miguel, announcing that he's his flipside. Miguel thinks that he's attacking, but instead he falls into his arms like a child and pats his face, he tells Miguel that he's going to be his "bestest friend" or he'll kill him.
In the back-up story, Miguel activates the shower to distract a knife-wielding Kron and then headbutts him. Kron drops the knife and then punches Miguel into the locker room. The two scuffle as Xina awakens and screams. Angela arrives, tearing Kron off Miguel. She throws him into an equipment cart and turns her attention to Miguel and Xina. Kron grabs a baseball bat from the cart and rushes Angela from behind, but she notices and flips him. She then breaks his arm ("It's only a hairline fracture.") and informs him that she's convening a committee to expel him. Kron threatens her with his father and Angela escorts Miguel and Xina to the infirmary, asking if they knew how Kron broke his arm and accepting Miguel's answer that he slipped in the shower.
The Review
David delivers an issue reminiscent of the Hulk 2099 stories in "2099 Unlimited," with Miguel leaving New York and finding himself in the middle of a post-apocalyptic cult of sorts. It's a smart move, putting aside some of the more personal drama of the last few issues and resuming our tour of the 2099 world. We are also, however, left with a lot of loose ends, though I'm sure that they will return to cause Miguel trouble in the future.
The Good
I was really surprised that David killed off Angela. He had really built her as a character in the "Young Miguel" back-up stories, so you have to wonder what impact that his failure to prevent her death will have on Miguel, particularly as he's still reeling from the revelations of issue #25. Interestingly, though, David makes her somewhat responsible for her own death, having created Travesty but failing to control him. A parable of science without responsibility, her story is.
The Unknown
1) The obvious question, at this point, is what Tyler's plans are when it comes to Dana. David has been hinting that Tyler's interest in her has gone beyond the professional ever since he approached her about helping Alchemax in the beginning of the series. However, it's clear that these plans have little to do with Dana and more to do with Miguel. But, seriously, what's his endgame? Is he just screwing with Miguel because he's his son? Does it have something to do with his comment in issue #25 that his attacks on the O'Hara boys is about business and not personal? But, if it is actually business, once again, what are the stakes? How does torturing Miguel (and/or Gabe) help business? Or, does it have to do with him "knowing" that Miguel is Spider-Man? (Also, needless to say, given the revelation that Tyler is Miguel's father, it's also super creepy.)
2) If I'm not mistaken, we've seen someone also mention recently that the Vulture came from a place like Nightshade (as he himself also admitted during his earlier appearance, mistaking Miguel for someone like him). Given that we only have 17 issues left, I doubt that David is going to time to explore this lurking threat that he's built throughout the series, namely the creation of metahumans by small-time corporate actors. But, with the revelation that Packrat is one of them, too, since he went to the same "school" as the Vulture, it's really a shame. It's an intriguing idea, since it really gets to how Wild West much of the 2099 world is. It's also intriguing that both Vulture and Packrat led these sorts of scavenging, post-apocalyptic cults. Did their "school" train them to be these sorts of leaders? I hope I'm wrong, because I'd really love to know. (Plus, if more of them do exist, it could also really set up a bad-ass Sinister Six 2099.)
3) I wonder what's going to happen with Travesty. Assuming that he's not dead, he's on the loose now, which can't bode well for Miguel.
4) I can't wait to see what the deal with Flipside is, particularly if he's someone from the current timeline. (He seems Deadpool-esque to me.)
5) I wonder who Winston is going to send after Miguel...
The Bad
1) One thing that bothered me from last issue and still bothers me here is that Angela destroying Nightshade seems super extreme. OK, I get that they didn't want Alchemax to take control over them, but was it really worth sacrificing everything to prevent their research from falling into Alchemax's hands? Does Nightshade view itself (and its research) as "good" and is afraid that Alchemax will use it for "evil?" David never really makes that clear, which is why Angela's actions seem so extreme.
2) We never really learn what Headhunter and the Corporate Raiders' powers are. What was that metallic sheen that they had? Miguel seemed to be able to cut through it, so it seems to have been something that only shrugged off energy blasts. But, it would've been nice to get some more information on them, particularly if they are Alchemax's elite corporate-raider squad.
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