Usually I save comic book reviews for big events or miniseries, but when it comes to this particular arc of Superior Spider-Man, I'm making an exception for one reason: the return of Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of the future, 2099 to be exact. While the character's solo series was the cancelled in 1996, his popularity remains, even being a key part in 2 Spider-Man video games, "Shattered Dimensions" and "Edge of Time." Miguel has also been a go-to pick when it comes to new Spider-Man speculation. When Peter Parker died in the Ultimate universe, some thought an Ultimate version of Miguel would take the mantle before the new character of Miles Morales was announced. Miguel was also a popular choice among readers to be the new Superior Spider-Man; Marvel even fueled that fire by putting out some red herrings. But alas, Doc Ock was indeed the self-proclaimed Superior Spider-Man and Miguel was still on the bench. That is, until #17 of the new series.
Due to the space-time continuum shattering events of "Age of Ultron", time anomalies had been occurring in the year 2099, and one of the affects was Tyler Stone, biological father of Miguel and the head of Alchemax, the corporation Spider-Man fights against, fading from existence. Tracing the cause of this anomaly back to 2013, Stone made an uneasy alliance with Spider-Man to send him back and fix what was happening to him, not knowing that Miguel's own existence was at stake as well. As it turns out, Miguel's mission would be to ensure the survival of his grandfather, Tiberius Stone, the founder of Alchemax. Throughout this arc, Miguel juggles with the idea of killing Tiberius himself, ensuring Alchemax and the evil it wreaks never happens, even if it means his own demise.
In that first issue of the story arc, I felt writer Dan Slott did a good job re-establishing the world of 2099 for readers who may be unfamiliar with it, even right down to the slang ("Shock!"). That helps those reading Superior Spider-Man, but with most of the arc, a lot the story relies on plot-points that have been occurring in Spider-Man comics since Dan Slott became the main writer on Amazing Spider-Man at the start of the "Big Time" era in 2010. For Spider-Man 2099 fans reading this arc solely for that character, it may make it hard for them to follow a majority of what's going on, especially the part about Doc Ock's mind in Spider-Man's body. I didn't have any trouble myself, but felt there should be some warning to the 2099 fans wanting to read the character again.
I had seen some conversation among readers over which Spider-Man would be considered the hero of the story, Miguel or Otto. Personally, I thought it was pretty obvious it was Miguel. The story began in his time, so it's only logical to follow the hero from beginning to end. He certainly acted more heroically than Otto, who was constantly losing his temper with everyone throughout this arc, wanting to do things himself. Had Peter still been in control, he certainly would have been more cooperative. It also would have helped since Peter worked with Miguel before in a one-shot, but Otto seemed to have erased those memories during #9's "Parker-ectomy".
One of my worries for the end of this arc was that Miguel would die, especially based on the cover to #19:
But my fears were thankfully dashed when Miguel survived, deciding to save his grandfather, fearing what a changed 2099 timeline would do to his loved ones. It doesn't end there though. Once the time anomalies affecting Tyler Stone ended, he destroyed the time door, stranding Miguel in 2013. So what's a time-dispaced web-slinger to do? Get a job at the newly founded Alchemax under an alias as the assistant to his unknowing grandfather, as a way to make sure the corporation that had such a grip in his time doesn't get out of hand. So it seems that Miguel will be sticking around the present day Spider-Man universe for awhile, and hopefully this will lead to his own series again. But if I had to guess what lies ahead for the most part, I would say he'll be involved in the unofficially announced sequel to 2012's miniseries "Spider-Men", in which Peter Parker of the main Marvel universe traveled to the Ultimate universe, where his counterpart died, meeting different versions of friends and family, along with that universe's new Spider-Man, Miles Morales. Based on the upcoming "Cataclysm" event, where the main Marvel universe Galactus attacks the Ultimate universe's Earth (yet another "Age of Ultron" consequence), there's some speculation that this will be the end of Marvel's Ultimate line, but that Miles will survive as a refugee to the main Marvel universe. I wouldn't put it past Brian Michael Bendis to throw Miguel into the mix for a "Spider-Men 2", having 3 web-slingers from different times and worlds in one setting. The only question that I wonder though is whether or not Peter will fully return by then.
Now while the Spider-Man 2099 element was a shining point for this arc, let's not forget that this is still Doc Ock's book as he continues to cause more craziness in Peter's life than even Peter could. For one, he loses his job at Horizon Labs, not to mention that his constant avoidance of Mary Jane has finally caused her to cut ties with Peter. Ock got Peter's life, and it seems he's starting to get the Parker luck with it. Once Superior is over, it's going to be interesting to see how much Peter will have to answer for when he returns.
One of the most interesting parts of this arc though is that Ock is having trouble maintaining his cover as Peter, since he eliminated Peter's memories in order to gain full control of the body, since they appeared to take on a life of their own before. But in trying to remember something from the Parker memories he had already familiarized himself with, there's a "blink-and-you-miss-it" moment that provides an opening to how Peter will come back:
When Ock won the mind battle, he buried Peter under the rubble of the Daily Bugle. But it seems that with the Parker memories Ock has retained, Peter still lives on. Just how Peter will get back and how much of his memories he'll have when he gets control again, I'm unsure, but it's just another part of this roller coaster of a series that keeps me coming back for more.
For fans of both Spider-Man 2099 and the Superior Spider-Man, this is an enjoyable read that gives many reasons to look forward to what happens next for each character.
STORY RATING: 9/10
RECOMMENDATION RATING: 7.5/10
For my next comics review, I'll be looking at the X-Men 50th anniversary event "Battle of the Atom" where the X-Men of the past, present, and future collide. Funny that it's another time travel story isn't it? Stay tuned, readers.
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