A Spider-Man Podcast

Secret Wars 2099 #4 – REVIEW

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The shock has finally hit the fan in this corner of Battleworld.  After three issues of world building and domino setting, Peter David and Will Sliney have shifted into a higher gear with a great mix of character-driven moments and superhero action. However, the payoffs of Secret Wars 2099 #4 lack the desired effects, due to some of the slow-building stakes earlier in the series.

4730714-scwars20992015004_int2-page-002After an issue away from the spotlight, Captain America 2099 returns to center stage. Previously, the character’s conflict seemed to be in her dual personality of Avengers field commander and pacifist civilian. But in this issue, Cap is torn between her duty to honor the Alchemax chain of command, and her personal duty to honor her word. The series has been building to this moment from the start, but in some ways, it comes out of thin air. For one thing, we see Captain America 2099 disobey her transitioning programming for the first time. This moment should be the most powerful moment of the series, but because we haven’t learned enough about how this transitioning works, her betrayal kind of just happens.

The motivation of her sea change is also somewhat out of left field. She makes a noble stand when it comes to keeping her word (including a somewhat meta message about America keeping its word), but this particular value, while maybe assumed, hasn’t been demonstrated in the past. In fact, given some of the context clues of prior issues (like billboards demanding Alchemax registration), I find it a little surprising that The Defenders’ arrest angers her. This seems like standard operating procedure for Nueva York 2099 and a situation that Cap has surely seen before as leader of these Avengers.

After Captain America, Hercules has probably received the next most attention as a character, and this issue is no exception. Herc has been a man out of time in this book, frustrated that he doesn’t seem to have a place in this world. In issue #4, he finally gets to vent some of those frustrations by taking out some Alchemax henchmen, as well as some fellow Avengers. His loyalty is to Captain America, probably because she’s shown before that she’s not afraid to confront him when he steps out of line. While Miguel Stone treats Herc as a bit of a liability, Cap treats like a solider and warrior.

A couple other characters who haven’t had much previous page-time get interesting moments in this issue. We check in again with The Vision 2099, who gets two pages to provide some vague foreshadowing of what may come in the final issue of the series. But will this warning be another red herring? In issue #1she warned that The Defenders would come as friends but actually be enemies. While that’s technically correct, it’s not exactly how the confrontation happened. It was Miguel who turned on The Defenders when they chose not to join the Avengers. Frankly, if The Vision is Alchemax’s best 4730715-scwars20992015004_int2-page-003prognosticator, they may be better off with one of the storefront psychics from the streets of Times Square. We also get a little scene with Miguel’s father. If anything, their exchange actually humanizes Miguel and shows that Miggy may not be the most heartless person in Nueva York 2099. Will he play a bigger role in this story’s conclusion? Maybe the better question is WHAT role will he play in the finale.

The art team continues its strong, colorful work. All their strengths from throughout the series are on display here, including Sliney’s great facial expressions and Fabela’s bold, dynamic colors. I especially liked the bright reds and oranges during Cap’s fight with Iron Man. We haven’t seen those color choices much in previous issues, and they contrasted well with Captain America’s blues.

It seems like Secret Wars 2099 #4 would’ve been most effective as part 3 of a 4-issue story.  This series started off fast-paced and action-packed, but after two slower-paced issues, the creators are finding their groove again. But everything now comes down to the final issue. It could turn this series into an exciting, but non-essential part of “Secret Wars,” or it could become one of the more forgettable titles of this event. More importantly, I’m interested in finding out exactly what the moral of this series will be. In David’s and Sliney’s previous run of Spider-Man 2099, that theme was unclear. They have another chance now with Secret Wars 2099 to deliver a story that rises above spandex fist fights and comments on corporate control and the authority of unjust law, let’s see if they can pull it off.

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