**** (four of five stars)
Favorite Quote #1: "Uh...hi. I'm Gabriel." "Yes, I know." "And you're May." "Two for two." "Where do you hail from?" "New York. In the year 1895." "Welcome to 2099." "Thank you. You, uh, can stop shaking my hand now." "Sorry, what?" "My hand. You can release it." "Oh, right." "Peter has some unshaken ones if you're still in the mood." -- Gabe and May meet cute
Favorite Quote #2: "Go! Go! I'll stall him!" "Will you now? How are you going to do that? Dazzle me with your wit? Fluster me with your intellect? Try to seduce me, perhaps? You do have a surplus of hands. Think of the possibilities." -- Six-Armed Spider-Man and a creepy yet funny Daemos
Favorite Quote #3: "You're flying now. Can you do that on your own?" "Anti-grav material on my back." "Technology. Then you would enjoy my world." "Is anyone trying to kill us there?" "Yes." "Then I'm thinking not so much." -- Lady Spider and Miguel, with the banter
Summary
Tyler Stone gloats to his assistant, Winston, that they're finally rid of Spider-Man, after successfully trapping him in 2014. He tells Winston that he's going to go home to get some sleep, but Winston interrupts him with a report from the Public Eye that Spider-Man has returned. As he relays this information, Spider-Man, Lady Spider, and the Six-Armed Spider-Man swing past Alchemax (in view of Tyler and Winston). Tyler expresses frustration over Spidey's return, since he'd only been gone an hour or two. However, Winston notes that he could've been gone for years, given the vagaries of time travel; in fact, he comments that they're lucky that he didn't return before they sent him to 2014, leaving them with two Spider-Men. Tyler asks if the Public Eye is tracking them, and Winston confirms that it is. He notes that Spidey is usually able to slip through gaps in the viewing parameters and hypothesizes that he's likely too distracted to do so at this point. Winston asks Tyler if he's no longer going home and a testy Tyler tells him to stop Spidey once and for all.
Conchata calls Gabe to ask if he knows where Miguel is; he replies by asking her if she wants to talk to Miguel to borrow money from him. Conchata ends the call, telling Gabe to tell her when Miguel returns, and Gabe is startled when Miguel and the two Spider-People appear. Miguel tells Gabe that they're from other dimensions, and they introduce themselves. Gabe asks Six-Armed Spidey which hand he should shake ("The one I'm extending") and Lady Spider entrances Gabe (see "Favorite Quote" #1 for evidence of that). Gabe tells Miguel that he ran into Peter Parker earlier in the day, but Miguel declines to explain that it wasn't actually Peter, since it's too complicated. He just tells Gabe that Nueva York has a lot of Spider-People in it at the moment, because someone is trying to kill them. Lady Spider tells Gabe that his name is Daemos and he's from a family of Spider-Killers, and Six-Armed Spider-Man adds that the family members live forever by draining Spider-People's essences. Gabe expresses shock that Miguel came to his place, possibly leading Daemos there, but Miguel assures him that they didn't. He says that he just needed a moment to coordinate forces, like the Hulk, the Punisher, and Strange. He observes that the Inheritors are normally gunning for Spiders, so mixing up the "offensive team" might help. As he says, "I'm Spider-Man. Trust me.", Daemos crashes through the wall, complaining that it took ten whole minutes to find them. (Natch.)
Daemos demands back his (cloned) body, and Six-Armed Spider-Man attacks him to stall him so the others could escape. Daemos quickly captures him, and Miguel and May jump into action to stop him from feeding on Peter. However, Daemos successfully repels him and then drains Peter, telling him that the formula that gave him the extra arms made him particularly tasty. Lady Spider steps to the plate next, though Daemos expresses disgust when he discovers that she's not actually a Spider; she merely uses technology in a spider's image. He then licks her, telling her that he can find "other ways to amuse [himself] with [her]." At that moment, though, Gabe uses a massive weapon that Dana left at his place to blast Daemos from the building. He tells Miguel to get Daemos, and Miguel heads through the hole. Lady Spider follows Miguel, but not before kissing Gabe her thanks.
On the ground, Daemos threatens to start killing people if Miguel doesn't appear. The Public Eye arrives and tells Daemos to put his hands over his head. However, Daemos, announcing that he doesn't take orders, throws one of the offices from his fly-bike and departs on it. Miguel arrives on the scene and speaks into the defenestrated officer's helmet to Tyler, telling him that he knows that he's listening. He tells Tyler that he'd ordinarily "beat the living crap out of" him for sending him to 2014, but announces that he'll give him a free pass if he opens up "Alchemax, Floor 82, Lab C." He tells Tyler that he'll owe him a favor if he has the lab ready for him and depart after Daemos. Tyler tells Winston to make the lab ready.
Miguel finds Daemos, crashing him and the flybike to the ground. Lady Spider webs up Daemos' hands, but he escapes the hold. Miguel stops him before he can attack her (and her "striking" figure), and Daemos exults over facing someone with actual Spider-Power. Miguel lands a punch and then flees, hoping to draw Daemos after him. Lady Spider follows, asking Miguel where they're going, and he tells her to follow him. He tells her the plan and is thrilled when he notices that Tyler has opened up the lab. Daemos appears on his recovered flybike; Miguel flips over him and puts his hands over his eyes. Lady Spider, poised over the door, uses her webs to grab the bike and throw it (and Daemos) into the lab. Miguel then activates a stasis field, capturing Daemos; he notes that it kept Venom "buttoned up" so it should do the same to him. He welcomes him to Alchemax, announcing that he won't be leaving anytime soon.
The Review
Holy crap, a lot goes down here, in terms of both "Spider-Verse" and the ongoing series. I know it's a little weird to give this issue four stars when I only have one "Good" and four "Unknowns," but most of the "Unknowns" are intriguing and make me want to keep reading, something that the other "Spider-Verse" tie-ins haven't really managed. Plus, David deserves credit for accomplishing the rare feat of advancing this series' plot at the same time as the event's.
The Good
The best part of this issue is that David, unlike some of the other "Spider-Verse" authors, does a sterling job at getting these characters to interact. "Spider-Woman" #1 failed to foster any sense of collegiality among the characters; in fact, it barely showed the characters themselves as anything but vehicles for dialogue. "Scarlet Spider" #1 managed to do a better job in terms of showing the characters' personalities, but it focused almost not at all on playing the characters off each other. However, David really shows the nascent bond forming between these three characters in this issue. He even gets Gabe into the act; his interactions with Lady Spider are priceless and make you hope that she hangs around a bit after "Spider-Verse" ends. Given how many characters are getting thrown at us in "Spider-Verse," it's a real accomplishment to be able to say that about any of them, particularly the newly introduced ones. Leave it to Peter David to manage that.
The Unsure
One of my goals in reviewing this new series has been to figure out exactly where this new 2099 Miguel diverted from the previous 2099 Miguel. We know that it happens before Atlantis invades Nueva York in issue #43 of the original series and the Earth is subsequently destroyed in the terrible "2099 World of Tomorrow" series. However, David has held his cards close to his chest in terms of providing exact details, something easily done so far since Miguel has spent most of this series in 2014. But, with Miguel returning to 2099, it has now become clear that we're dealing with a different character entirely.
In my review of "Superior Spider-Man" #19, I guessed that the Miguel that gets sent to our time is from somewhere in issue #26 of the original series. He knows that Tyler Stone is his father (meaning that it happened after issue #25), but Doom's takeover of the United States (among other events) hasn't happened. (Said takeover originally happened while Miguel was in Nightshade and Mexico in issues #27-#33). However, in this issue, Miguel mentions that he knows the Punisher, the Hulk, and Strange. Miguel met the Punisher early in this series, but he only met the Hulk (if I'm not mistaken) in "2099 A.D." #1 (falling somewhere between issues #30 and #31) and Strange in issue #32.
By confirming that Miguel's sojourn to Nightshade and Mexico happened, David would also be confirming that Doom's invasion happened, based on the information that we have. To explain, Miguel returns to the United States in issue #34 when Doom sends agents for him; he doesn't arrive in Nueva York in issue #35. This part is relevant, because the Miguel that gets sent to our time in "Superior Spider-Man" #17 is in Nueva York to start. In other words, if the new 2099 Miguel knows the Hulk and Strange (meaning that everything until issue #32 happened), we have to be in issue #35 (at the earliest), since it's the first time that Miguel is in Nueva York after meeting them. However, we can't be in issue #35 without Doom having taken over the United States and be in the same continuity.
But, the lack of focus on Doom's coup d'état could, in theory, easily be explained. It's not like Doom razed Nueva York or anything; it's just weird that it hasn't been mentioned. However, it becomes clear that it's not just Doom's "presidency" that isn't lining up correctly. For example, Conchata hasn't apparently shot Tyler Stone, as she did in issue #34; Tyler spent the rest of the series in a wheelchair, something that he doesn't have in the current 2099 stories. It's not like we can be in a period after he somehow regained his ability to walk, either; he was killed in his wheelchair in issue #46. In other words, we can't have a walking Tyler and be in (or after) issue #35. We might be able to ignore Doom's takeover, but it's hard to ignore Tyler's paralysis. Making matters more complicated, Miguel in this issue mentions caging Venom in the stasis field that he now uses on Daemos, something that happened in issue #39. However, the problem with that is (beyond the existing Doom and Stone conundrums) that Miguel says in issue #42 that he hasn't spoken to Gabe since Venom killed Dana in issue #37. Similar to not being able to have a walking Tyler and be in (or after) issue #35, we can't have a friendly Gabe and Miguel (as we've had throughout this relaunched series) and be in (or after) issue #37. Again, it's not like we can just be in a period after they became friendly again; Miguel learns that Gabe was the Green Goblin in issue #45, as Nueva York was inundated. We can't have a friendly Gabe and Miguel and a non-flooded Nueva York.
In other words, it's clear that we're working with a different continuity. We have just too many moments where the presence of a certain character or event implies the presence of another character or event that clearly isn't present. However, Marvel apparently disagrees; it uses the original 2099 Universe's designation, Earth-928, here to describe Miguel. At this point, I'm just throwing up my hands and going with the flow. After all, the good news is that David seems to be removing the more ridiculous parts of the previous 2099 universe, like Doom's takeover of the United States, the Atlantis invasion of Nueva York, and the unmitigated disaster of "2099 World of Tomorrow." In that regard, color me a happy camper.
The Unknown
1) I'm really not entirely sure what Daemos' powers are. Twice in this issue, he sends people flying (in one case, two people flying) with a punch despite not obviously landing said punch on them. Physically, hitting two people at once is pretty difficult, so it would make sense if he were doing it telekinetically. But, I'm not sure if we've established that as one of his powers. It could just be a weird art flub?
2) Um, how the hell did Dana, an public-relations person, get access to some sort of souped-up futuristic bazooka? Is Dana someone different here? This question goes with the obvious un-answered questions from the revelation that we have to be in a different continuity. Is Dana still dead? Is Gabe still the Green Goblin? Is Kron still Venom? Inquiring minds want to know.
3) We haven't actually learned why Daemos is so hot to get back his body. What are Miguel and May going to learn from it?
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