**** (four of five stars)
Favorite Quote #1: "What was your dad like?" "[He's the head of an oppressive corporation who stranded me here in 2014.] He was okay. We don't talk much these days." -- Tempest and Miguel
Favorite Quote #2: "What comes in brands?" "Yyyyyyeah. How do you not know that?" "I come from the year 2099. By that time, water is just water." "Right. Okay." "[It's so easy fitting in in this time. People ask me questions, I answer them honestly, and they assume I'm joking. So it all works out." -- Miguel and Tempest, again
Summary
Miguel is trying to deposit a check when a bunch of would-be robbers hold up the bank. Wondering why it's his lot in life to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, he takes out the robbers in short order and then evades the police arresting him. He returns home and then goes to Tempest's apartment to give her some flowers to thank her for cleaning off the "mercurochrome" from his floor last issue. She promptly slams the door in his face. She then opens it again to ask him why he wears sunglasses indoors. They have an awkward exchange where she invites him into her place without exactly inviting him into her place. He asks why her apartment is full of sports posters. She explains that her father wanted a boy and, when he had a girl, he still took her to every sports game that he could afford. She offers Miguel some water, since it's the only thing that she has, and Miguel then surprises her by asking how sick she is. She expresses shock that he knows that, but he comments on the fact that she's an otherwise healthy twenty-something with a lot of medical bills. She furiously asks if he's been reading her mail, but he notes that she left out the bills on her table. She throws the glass of water at him and demands that he leaves. He catches it (before the water can spill) and leaves.
Returning to his apartment, he encounters Liz Allan. They enter his apartment and Miguel invites her to take a seat on the only piece of furniture that he has: a folding chair. Liz asks him to tell her who he is and he responds that he's "no one in particular." She asks if he played guitar for an indie band called Sleepaway or owned a book store in the U.K., because the only Michael O'Mara's that she could find did those things. She informs him that his social-security number belongs to someone who died in 1968 and that the people listed on his résumé don't know who he is. (We also learn that Miguel charmed the head of HR, to whom Liz will be speaking.) Miguel realizes that he has only one option and throws Liz out the window. However, that little moment is revealed to be a day dream. Upon prompting from Liz, Miguel returns to the moment and asks why she decided to investigate him all of a sudden. She tells him that she realized after Spider-Man's appearance at Alchemax that he was likely on the staff so she checked into everyone; Miguel was the only one without a certifiable background, so she thinks that he's Spider-Man. She tells him that he can deny it and that she came to him first because he saved her son. She begins to leave, but Miguel stops her. He has Lyla dress him in a stereotypically futuristic costume and tells Liz that he's stuck here in the present to help his grandfather Tiberius achieve his full potential. She asks how he changed clothes so quickly; surprised that her "takeaway" after he dumped "this boatload of exposition" on her is his clothes change, he reveals his holo-unit and Lyla. Liz is amazed and Miguel asks what she wants in exchange for staying quiet. She then kisses him and leaves, but not before asking if the Cubs ever win the World Series. (Miguel doesn't know what the World Series is, so it doesn't look good.)
Reeling from Liz's kiss, Miguel is surprised when someone knocks on his door. He thinks that it's Liz, but it's Tempest. She admits that she has "t-cell prolymphocytic leukemia" and only has a few months to live. She thanks him for the flowers and leaves him to his thoughts.
The Review
Color me a happy camper. One of the main challenges of this series it that David is going to have to avoid letting it descend into "Quantum Leap," where we spend every issue with Miguel trying to find a way home. In this issue, he sends a clear signal that he gets that by making it all about Miguel's relationships with people in the present. Moreover, in typical Miguel fashion, these "people" happen to be women. What would Xina think?
The Good
1) The unexpected dream-sequence where Miguel throws Liz from the window was amazing. You really didn't know where David was going from panel to panel. Would Miguel save her and reveal his secret identity? Would she somehow save herself? Would she die? It really drew you right to the edge of your seat. It's a great reminder that David is always telling a long story, so he can take the time to throw in sequences like this one because he's not rushing to get to the next revelation. Plus, Sliney really sells it, from the Liz's look of horror as she plummets to the ground to Miguel's menacing fanged grin. It made me gasp when it happened, and it's been a long time since a comic made me do that.
2) Miguel's general interactions with Liz were great (though I'm not sure about the outcome, as detailed in the next section). David makes it clear how smart Liz is, deducing that Miguel has to be Spider-Man because he's the only one without a certifiable background. Sure, someone with a certifiable background could be Spider-Man; Peter Parker has one, after all. But, it's a pretty good idea to start with the guy that doesn't have one. As a result, it forces Miguel to reveal the truth to Liz, but not the one that she thought. I have to applaud David for taking this step, because it was going to get really old that no one knew Miguel's "secret." I'm intrigued to see where he takes it. Both Slott and David have portrayed Liz as anything other than scrupulous, so it's unlikely that she's not going to want to exploit this revelation for her own ends. Her interest in the holo-unit implies that she's going to put pressure on Miguel to use his future technological knowledge to make Alchemax money. (Maybe it's how Alchemax gains its market share in the first place.) Then again, it's not like Miguel hews as strong of an ethical line as Peter does, so Miguel might not necessarily be opposed to this sort of manipulation. We shall see.
3) I'm glad David made Tempest something other than a lunatic. It now makes sense why she challenged those thugs in "Amazing Spider-Man" #1. I'm still not entirely sure why she's hostile to everyone, but, given the fact that David took the time to establish that she's a sports fan, I'm fairly confident that we'll get an answers to this question, too.
The Unknown
I'm not sure about Liz kissing Miguel. David has always portrayed Miguel as the type of guy that women love (see: charmed HR director), so it's not inconsistent with his previous characterization. But, it's the only part of the story that feels rushed. We've already established that Liz is pretty level-headed, so it seems impulsive of her to kiss an employee, let alone one from the future. But, then again, assuming Liz is level headed, maybe she's got a plan. Or, maybe she's lonely, and Miguel's famous ass was too much for her to resist. At any rate, I'm willing to reserve judgment to see where we go from here.
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