Seriously, this issue is barely readable. Although, plot-wise, some interesting things happen (we'll get there in a minute), the script is remarkably bad. Sue telling Reed that she'll give "her baby brother a big, wet kiss" from him when she sees him? I can think of multiple things wrong with that sentence. Moreover, the dialogue is essentially one cliché after another. For example, Susan declares at one point, "Men! No matter what the century, they're infuriating as ever." She might as well just have said, "Can't live with 'em, can't send 'em to the Negative Zone!" Did I mention Reed and Sue making out while an oncoming planetoid is steadily flooding New York and Johnny is left drowning in the Atlantic Ocean?
If you can get past those (and other groan-inducing) moments, the most important parts of this issue are the connections to a number of other plots occurring elsewhere in the 2099 universe:
For "Spider-Man 2099" readers, the most surprising moment is when Raab and Kavanagh kill off Roman the Sub-Mariner as part of Attuma's invasion of Atlantis. Given that David took the extraordinary step of bonding Roman with the Venom symbiote in "Spider-Man 2099" #44, it's bizarre that a character poised to have such a huge impact on the future of the 2099 universe is killed essentially off-panel. Moreover, the failure of Raab and Kavanagh to mention his bonding with the symbiote opens up a gap between this series and "Spider-Man 2099" that seems unexplainable. Since this issue appears the same month as "Spider-Man 2099" #43 and Roman's Venomization happens in issue #44, it's almost as if history forks between issues, with the Fantastic Four living in a world where Attuma cut short Roman's invasion (and prevented his subsequent Venomization) and Spider-Man living in a world where Roman becomes Venom and plots against the surface world from Atlantis. Talk about bad editing. It's clearly part of Marvel's decision to cut the 2099 line, requiring the sort of drastic step that the oncoming planetoid flooding New York would have. To facilitate that story, David's more nuanced story in "Spider-Man 2099" about Atlantis invading New York is clearly sacrificed. (We'll get to the dueling floods in the last paragraph.)
We also have a Dr. Strange appearing, though I'm a little unclear on the details. He seems to be coming not from our "present," but via the 22nd century. Along the way, he encounters his 2099 counterpart. At least, I think that he does, though I'm not 100 percent sure that the woman occupying his townhouse was, in fact, Strange 2099.
Finally, regarding the false planetoid rocketing toward Earth, I can't say that I really care that much. It's hard to tell if the editors essentially decide to re-write the events of "Spider-Man 2099" #43-#44 or if we're dealing with two floods. I believe that it's the latter, but I could buy a world where the sea monster didn't cause the rising tides (see "Spider-Man 2099" #44), but the planetoid did, inspiring Atlantis to press its advantage and attack. Unfortunately, no one actually makes that argument here. As such, it feels like this issue is supposed to match the events of those issues -- given the flood and the Atlantis drama -- but doesn't. I have to wonder if we're even going to see the flood -- a second flood, to whit -- in "Spider-Man 2099," since it seems weird to repeat a plot, even if it's as a result of a different menace.
Basically? It's going to be a bumpy ride to the end.
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