Anyone familiar with the Cancerverse recognized the squid-faced creature emerging from the survivor of the attack on Nefig. Days later, after Annihilus and Blastaar join forces to prevent the Cancerverse from taking over the Negative Zone, Blastaar addresses his troops on Annihilus' homeworld, Arthros. When a group of indistinct figures crashes on Arthros, a soldier asks Blastar what the explosion was. When he answers, "Our defeat," I knew that it was the Revengers before I turned the page and saw them. But, Rosenberg still manages to amp up the mystery when Annihilus and Blastaar express shock and horror over the Revengers' leader. I initially thought that it was Thor from the glimpse of blond hair that we see, but Annihilus' and Blastaar's fear seemed disproportionate to "just" Thor. Blastaar holds the line against the Revengers as Annihilus uses his portal to the Positive Zone to escape with some troops.
In the Positive Zone, Cosmo looks at a vomiting Rich Rider with dismay. We know from "Guardians of the Galaxy" that Rich was already on stress-related leave before the Church of Universal Truth then destroyed the Nova Corps, so the fact that he's fallen so far into alcoholism is no surprise. When Annihilus' ship almost crashes into the "second-best bar in the third-best spaceport in this sector," Nova reluctantly stops it. However, he's so drunk that he doesn't recognize that it's Annihilus' ship until he discovers that Annihilus is the crash's sole survivor. Annihilus tells Rich that they need the Nova Corps, and Rich informs Annihilus that they're dead. Annihilus responds that they are as well, and we learn why he's so worried: the Sentry is the Revengers' leader.
In other words, I loved this issue. It's grounded so heavily in previous stories that it was particularly rewarding to read as someone who's loved all the previous Marvel Cosmic cross-over events. Given Nova is one of the two characters mentioned in this blog's mission statement, I'm obviously a huge fan. I've been pretty happy with Cates' treatment of him in "Guardians of the Galaxy." Like Star-Lord, he's been through such much grief and trauma over the years, and I'm thrilled to see it addressed honestly, with him crumbling under the weight of it. This event gives the authors the chance to really explore his struggle, and I hope they lean into it along the way. I was apprehensive about this event, because I so wanted it to meet the same high quality of the previous Marvel Cosmic cross-over events. I'm thrilled to say that it does. I can't wait to see where we go from here.
Marvel 2099: Alpha #1: Like "Annihilation - Scourge: Alpha" #1, I was very excited about this issue, since it involves the other character in this blog's mission statement! That said, I'll admit that this issue was something of a miss for me. I'm not totally disappointed, because Spencer certainly throws enough at us here to keep our interest. But, it's also too much thrown at us really to follow. Moreover, it becomes clear that Spencer is rebooting the entire line. Whereas "Annihilation - Scourge: Alpha" #1 built off years of previous stories, Spencer sweeps all previous 2099-related stories under the rug here. It seems clear that this event will undo this new status quo at least in part. But, I would've preferred to see Spencer follow Rosenberg's lead and build on existing stories.
At any rate, the issue starts with a young blond child finding Mjolnir in "the Ravage." Before the child can grab it (as he or she hears someone chanting "worthy"), a pack of vaguely outlined humanoids appear and the child flees. The humanoids appear to be some form of mutated humans, and I'm guessing the Ravage is an irradiated landscape.
In Brooklyn, Public Eye officers fight rampaging Thorites. I only realized at the end of the issue that one of the offices is Jake Gallows (i.e., the Punisher 2099). He's frustrated that they're just getting back-up because he's trying to complete his mission, finding some "guy from E.C.O." who works on cell therapy. Apparently, a woman approached this guy to help her son, who suffers from "skullfire." Realizing that he could cure it with an injection, the guy snuck into Brooklyn to help. From the Public Eye officer's comment to Jake, it's clear that Brooklyn is total chaos all the time. Jake informs the officer that they found the woman and child's body on "the pyres," though they were barely recognizable because the "drangs" didn't go easy. Jake says that the E.C.O. guy was valuable to his "circle," but they find him hanging from ropes with a hammer dangling from his throat.
In Nueva York, Tyler Stone is thrilled with Miguel's progress on the Raider Initiative, and the only difference from Miguel's original origin story is that his research seems to come from studying a spider-like mutant from the Ravage. Miguel expresses disapproval that Tyler is going to use the Initiative to steal other companies' intellectual property and not just defend Alchemax's, but Tyler brushes aside his concerns. Miguel also stresses that he needs to do more testing, but Tyler is also unconvinced. We all know where this story is going to go.
We then get to the heart of the matter. Doom 2099 is holding Uatu hostage to monitor the Earth. We learn that he is somehow responsible for this reboot, wiping the population's minds clear of their history. Doom justifies his actions as saying that he's saving them from the "heroes," who we see fighting here in a flashback. He is using Uatu to police this wipe, something that Nate Grey probably should've thought to do in "Age of X-Man."
We're then given glimpses of Conan 2099 and Ghost Rider 2099, a young thief who grifts people newly arriving at Transverse City, where the authorities can't arrest you so long as you keep moving on the Road That Never Ends.
We move onto a bar full of "raiders," or mercenaries, where Venture (now a woman) prevents two raiders from destroying H.E.R.B.I.E. for parts, recognizing him as a relic from another time and possessing "unregistered processors." H.E.R.B.I.E. is looking for his mother's friends, and he offers Venture something "better than money" that convinces her to help him. (Apparently, money doesn't mean much here, but H.E.R.B.I.E.'s mother told him to go specifically there, which is probably why she didn't give him money.) Doom tells Uatu that he'll leave H.E.R.B.I.E. alone in honor of his "mother," who's clearly the Invisible Woman. Uatu warns Doom that the only thing he "sees" is something that he hears and that he knows that Doom also hears: a bandaged man forging something, which means doom. Doom dismisses it, saying that he'll send the Kingpin. Uatu wonders if it's the beginning of the end of Doom, warning him that no matter how hard he tries, he can't snuff out man's very nature.
It seems hard to believe at this point that a cross-over event with so few issues is going to manage to tie up all the storylines that Spencer launches here, but we'll see where we go. If you're not a huge fan of the 2099 line, I'm not sure this event is going to have much for you.
Amazing Spider-Man #34: For the fact that Spencer is coordinating the Marvel 2099 event, this issue interestingly doesn't take place in 2099. We remain in 2020 as Peter has to deal with the consequences of Dr. Doom's (alleged) assassination while Miguel desperately searches for Peter.
The only real piece of information that we get about the events in 2099 is that reality started changing in front of everyone's eyes. Having read "Marvel 2099: Alpha" #1, it's pretty clear that this change occurred when Doom altered history. Interestingly, though, Miguel runs into Doom as he tries to flee the chaos emanating from the change, and Doom claims that he isn't responsible. Doom sends him into the past to rectify the situation, as we saw last issue.
Amazing Spider-Man #34: For the fact that Spencer is coordinating the Marvel 2099 event, this issue interestingly doesn't take place in 2099. We remain in 2020 as Peter has to deal with the consequences of Dr. Doom's (alleged) assassination while Miguel desperately searches for Peter.
The only real piece of information that we get about the events in 2099 is that reality started changing in front of everyone's eyes. Having read "Marvel 2099: Alpha" #1, it's pretty clear that this change occurred when Doom altered history. Interestingly, though, Miguel runs into Doom as he tries to flee the chaos emanating from the change, and Doom claims that he isn't responsible. Doom sends him into the past to rectify the situation, as we saw last issue.
In the present, Jaime offers to make Peter a partner in Clairvoyant. He notes that the device that he created is pretty limited in scope given its lack of access to enough power to really engage in quantum computing. He's also afraid that giving it too much power would wind up changing the multiverse rather than scanning it. Jamie gives Peter the device to try to figure out a way to solve that equation, saying that he trusts him. (I think that we can all see where this plot is going.) At that point, Spidey learns that the Hitman successfully shot Doom. Spidey visits the body and, surprise, it's a Doombot. Said Doombot is furious, but, before we can learn why (other than, you know, the assassination), Miguel arrives and pulls Spidey into a time-pausing dome. Miguel explains that the future's scientists eventually figured out that our present and Miguel's present are linked. Whereas Peter often encounters people from other futures, Miguel's future is our future, a superposition. Miguel explains that he can't find anything to prevent his timeline's collapse, but, before he can elaborate, something explodes. Meanwhile, an army of Doombots appears over New York and demands justice. Ruh-roh.
All in all, it's a solid companion piece to "Marvel 2099: Alpha" #1, as it hints at where we're going. I'm intrigued by the duality of Doom telling Miguel in this issue that he wasn't responsible for the time change, but a Doom telling Uatu in "Marvel 2099: Alpha" #1 that he was. Otherwise, everything lines up decently, to the extent this issue deals with the larger event, which it admittedly doesn't do much. We'll see if "Amazing Spider-Man" gets more involved as we progress.
Fantastic Four 2099 #1: Holy fucking shit. For 90 percent of this issue, you're just cruising along the road with Pacheco, maybe rolling your eyes a little at how the Fantastic Four is all lesbians until you realize the Invisible Girl is an Invisible Boy. Sure, H.E.R.B.I.E. seems a little...unhinged, and he seems to be taking as gospel a possibly off-handed comment the Invisible Woman made years ago. Then, suddenly, as the new Fantastic Four are putting their hands together, everything goes haywire: the Human Torch attacks the Thing (her daughter, who seems made of ice) and then burns out entirely, and Ms. Fantastic turns herself into knots. H.E.R.B.I.E. comments that he fixed them this time, and Venture suddenly realizes that we've got a problem. We learn that the Invisible Boy's family was supposed to be the Fantastic Four, but the Thorites killed his family because they started to change. (We don't get any reason why they started to change. I think that it was H.E.R.B.I.E.'s doing, but I'm not sure.) H.E.R.B.I.E. apparently then started exposing people to cosmic rays because his family got their powers that way. He becomes unhinged telling Venture and the Invisible Boy this story, finally screaming "None of you are special enough!" as he unleashes a fusillade at them, killing them. Yup. You think you're getting clichéd "let's all put our hands together in friendship" story, but, nope, they're all dead now because H.E.R.B.I.E. is off his fucking rocker. It isn't a perfect story, but, man, it's definitely a 2099 story. I totally, totally didn't see that end coming.
All in all, it's a solid companion piece to "Marvel 2099: Alpha" #1, as it hints at where we're going. I'm intrigued by the duality of Doom telling Miguel in this issue that he wasn't responsible for the time change, but a Doom telling Uatu in "Marvel 2099: Alpha" #1 that he was. Otherwise, everything lines up decently, to the extent this issue deals with the larger event, which it admittedly doesn't do much. We'll see if "Amazing Spider-Man" gets more involved as we progress.
Fantastic Four 2099 #1: Holy fucking shit. For 90 percent of this issue, you're just cruising along the road with Pacheco, maybe rolling your eyes a little at how the Fantastic Four is all lesbians until you realize the Invisible Girl is an Invisible Boy. Sure, H.E.R.B.I.E. seems a little...unhinged, and he seems to be taking as gospel a possibly off-handed comment the Invisible Woman made years ago. Then, suddenly, as the new Fantastic Four are putting their hands together, everything goes haywire: the Human Torch attacks the Thing (her daughter, who seems made of ice) and then burns out entirely, and Ms. Fantastic turns herself into knots. H.E.R.B.I.E. comments that he fixed them this time, and Venture suddenly realizes that we've got a problem. We learn that the Invisible Boy's family was supposed to be the Fantastic Four, but the Thorites killed his family because they started to change. (We don't get any reason why they started to change. I think that it was H.E.R.B.I.E.'s doing, but I'm not sure.) H.E.R.B.I.E. apparently then started exposing people to cosmic rays because his family got their powers that way. He becomes unhinged telling Venture and the Invisible Boy this story, finally screaming "None of you are special enough!" as he unleashes a fusillade at them, killing them. Yup. You think you're getting clichéd "let's all put our hands together in friendship" story, but, nope, they're all dead now because H.E.R.B.I.E. is off his fucking rocker. It isn't a perfect story, but, man, it's definitely a 2099 story. I totally, totally didn't see that end coming.
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