*** (three of five stars)
Summary
A "shattered undersea base" explodes to the surface of the ocean and a man in a futuristic diving suit surfaces moments later. He's greeted by Spider-Man, who's hanging from the bottom of a helicopter circling the site; Spidey grabs the man's wrist with a Web-Line and begins to pull him from the water. The man complains that Spidey didn't save him sooner and, just as Spidey's telling him not to panic, a huge shark lunges at them, causing Miguel to drop the man. At Alchemax, Gabe confronts his mother about taking the job as Miguel's secretary, noting that she has always said that she can't stand Miguel and she hates Alchemax. Conchata responds that, when it comes to her anger at Miguel, she's learn to "blow some off" recently. She says that she's committed to making amends with him and notes that he needs her. Gabe says that Miguel needs a swift kick and Conchata argues that her being there might be just that. They're interrupted by a call from Boru, who asks if Miguel has gone through their list of demands. She tells him that Miguel's in conference, while, in the ocean, Miguel uses his accelerated vision to evade the shark underwater. He manages to slash it with his talon, causing the other gathering sharks to focus their attention on it and allowing him to escape. He surfaces, grabs the man in the diving suit, and gets off a Web-Line to the helicopter. As the helicopter flies from the scene, Miguel notices a blue man gazing at him from the ocean.
In the helicopter, Spidey exposits that the man in the diving suit and his team had been sent to New Atlantis in an exploratory vessel after Alchemax lost touch with the colony; Miguel sent Spidey when Alchemax lost touch with the vessel. The man replies that they found New Atlantis but, instead of the "genetically engineered undersea mutates" bred to live the quiet life of servitude that Alchemax had envisioned, they had rallied around a man named Roman and revolted. (Roman took his name from Namor, the Sub-Mariner.) The Atlanteans killed the humans who fought the revolt, kept some for "hideous experiments," and released the others with the understanding that they would be killed if they tried to retake Atlantis. The man says that Tyler Stone sent them as a counter-offensive but he was the only one to survive. He asks what Spider-Man thinks O'Hara is going to do. Spidey says that he doesn't know, but comments on "rumors" coming from a meeting that Miguel had with some "high-powered business types..."
In a flashback, a Public-Eye official tells Miguel that overseas investors are worried about the "New Atlantis business," fearing that the mutates will attack the U.S.-Europe tunnel and any vessel crossing the Atlantic. Another "business type" notes that they've declared independence and should be punished, similar to what America did when Atlantis did the same thing 100 years earlier. He notes that the British also fought back, though Miguel says that they did the wrong thing. The man disagrees, saying that they did the right thing, but it just turned out badly for them. Hikaru-sama observes that Stark-Fujikawa aided Alchemax in the development of New Atlantis and tells him to rectify the situation less Stark-Fujikawa decide that Alchemax doesn't care about its financial concerns, something that would have dire consequences.
In the present, the man presses Spider-Man whether Miguel will leave Atlantis alone. Spidey responds that it's not really an option; Miguel'll have to force the mutates to turn back control of New Atlantis to Alchemax. The man says that the Atlanteans won't do it, but Miguel says that they'll have to do so, since it's not their city. Enraged, the man rips off his shirt, exposing blue scales and revealing himself to be one of the "hideous experiments." He says that he came to understand the "rightness" of the mutates and jumps from the helicopter to warn Roman of the surface world's answer. Miguel calls after him, saying that he wasn't giving his official answer, but it's too late. The man heads to Roman, who hypothesizes that Alchemax will not allow New Atlantis to be free. The man confirms that this hypothesis was Spider-Man's impression. Roman notes that he learned from diaries left by Namor that he had engaged in similar subterfuge as the one that Roman used with the man, going to the surface and blending with the population to learn their intentions. When he learned the threat that they posed to Atlantis, he "taught them a lesson."
At Alchemax, Miguel tells his Public-Eye advisor not to prepare shock troops to invade Atlantis, as he wants, but that he's opening peace talks with them. The division heads are shocked, claiming that the mutates aren't even human (something that Miguel takes personally, given that he's essentially one of them). Miguel says that it's better to convince New Atlantis to do something that Alchemax and its allies want it to do on its own volition. The advisors continue to argue at Miguel's back as he leaves, but Conchata dismisses them (and they flee in fear of her). Conchata reminds Miguel about his appointment with Boru and he says that he'll meet him in Downtown that afternoon. Conchata says that he should have Boru come to him, to keep home-field advantage. Miguel says that the last thing that he wants is to think of Alchemax as home and tells her to set up the meeting, which she icily agrees to do. Downtown, Gabe approaches Father Jennifer, telling her that he needs to talk to her. She expresses sadness that it took Dana's death for them to get re-acquainted and he agrees. He tells her that they have a lot to discuss, since they have "stuff" that needs to get done. When she asks about this "stuff," he tells her that he's been having dreams of the end of the world and that he thinks God might be sending to him.
Spidey makes his way to Boru, contemplating the "biiiiiiiig" mistake that he's making. Boru and his men are waiting for O'Hara, but the men report that their scouts show no sign of O'Hara. Boru notes that the meeting is in two minutes and he expected such childish behavior. He expects Miguel to be sending his regrets soon, but he's surprised when Miguel appears, asking where he got his "major league chip on [his] shoulder." Boru asks where his limo is and Miguel says that he walked since it's "lovely today with no acid rain expected." They shake hands and Boru tries to squeeze Miguel's to intimidate him, but Miguel squeezes back Boru's hand just as forcefully, surprising him. Suddenly, they feel some drops of water and Miguel again notes that it wasn't supposed to rain. At that moment, a huge tidal wave sweeps into Downtown. Boru accuses Miguel of engineering it, but Miguel asks why he'd arrange to be there with him if he did. At St. Pat's, Gabe notes "fire and flood" to Father Jennifer, just as he was saying, but she grabs him and pulls him to safety. Boru gets everyone inside, but can't find Miguel. Miguel is climbing up a building, lamenting the fact that he ditched his new shoes. He's then shocked to see an enormous sea monster wrecking Downtown. Suddenly, Roman appears, saying that the Atlanteans wanted to be left alone but instead they've decided to rule the surface. Spidey attacks him, telling him that he ruined everything and he just had to wait. However, they're both pushed underwater by the sea monster's wake and find themselves poised under his descending foot.
The Review
I actually don't have too much to say about this issue, since it's a fun self-contained story where everything fits together nicely. David puts the drama of recent issues on the back burner to return to New Atlantis, a sub-plot that I've wanted to see addressed for a long time. Roman, the new Sub-Mariner, is a fitting heir to Namor, since he's just as hot-headed and impulsive. Although I've enjoyed the high drama of Venom and the Green Goblin, it's nice to take a break and see Miguel go against a formidable enemy who doesn't also happen to be his brother.
The Good
1) I'm thrilled that David returned to New Atlantis. The concept has been ripe for exploration since it was first introduced and it definitely delivers. David uses it to show what a task Miguel has ahead of him, trying to clean up Alchemax's more nefarious dealings. If all the mistakes are on the same level as creating an underwater colony of mutates who rise against the surface world, he's got a lot of work ahead of him.
2) This issue confirms that Miguel is now using Spider-Man in a way similar to how Tony Stark used Iron Man. It really opens up the series to more stories, since it allows Spider-Man to be in situations that would be unbelievable without this connection. For example, Miguel would've risked exposing himself as Spider-Man had David set up the conflict with Roman by having Miguel visit New Atlantis as CEO of Alchemax. Spidey's sudden appearance under the sea would've been suspicious, as it was in "2099 Unlimited" #3, when he appeared in the same lab moments after Mutagen attacked Miguel and the other two people in the lab. David gets around this problem with the Iron-Man approach, breaking the necessary connection between Miguel and Spidey. Unfortunately, the series ends in three issues, so it's just another example of the squandered opportunity that the cancellation of the 2099 line was.
The Unknown
If Gabe is the Green Goblin, David might be implying here that he is sub-consciously. Something about Gabe's interaction with Father Jennifer made it seem that he doesn't have his wits fully about him. However, David has previously had Gabe make comments that make it pretty clear that he'd know that he's the Green Goblin, such as when he told Kasey in issue #36 that she would make him become something that he's not. Curiouser and curiouser.
The Bad
The sequence of events related to New Atlantis confused me upon my second reading of the issue. Although Spidey says that Miguel sent the exploratory vessel to New Atlantis after Alchemax lost touch with the colony, the man in the diving suit says that Tyler Stone sent them as a "counter-offensive." The latter implies that Alchemax knew that an uprising happened and Tyler responded with troops; the former implies that Alchemax was ignorant about the fate of New Atlantis and Miguel sent a team to investigate. They're two pretty different stories. To make matters more confusing, Miguel is fully briefed on the situation of the mutates declaring independence in the flashback, but he's shocked when he sees the mutate as he's saving the man in the diving suit. It almost implies that the flashback is a flash-forward, happening after Miguel returns from the ocean, except for the fact that Spidey is clearly telling the man the results of that meeting. The story doesn't really hinge on the sequencing here, but it's confusing nonetheless, since we don't really knew what Alchemax knew when and which CEO did what.
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