The Spidey of the future finds himself trapped in the world of today...

(Panini Books)

With the USP of this character the fact that he is a futuristic version of the modern day Spider-Man, battling for survival in the New York of 84 years hence, it’s somewhat unexpected to find that the first few issues of his second series are set in today’s NYC, and Miguel O’Hara finds himself facing off against contemporary bad guys like the Scorpion instead of his own adversaries from the cusp of the 22nd century.

The Marvel 2099 line was a relatively short-lived series of titles set in a future world where multinationals own the police force, a timelost Doctor Doom took over the United States, and a Church of Thor has become one of the world’s dominant religions. New versions of Marvel heroes from our present are active, including a team of X-Men, and 2099 counterparts of the Hulk, the Punisher and the Ghost Rider.

With Spider-Man 2099 the most popular series in the line, it’s hardly surprising to see a revival, and having original writer Peter David at the helm is an added bonus.

Much of the enjoyment of this opening arc is seeing how Miguel reacts to the eccentricities of our era, while at the same time protecting his grandfather and maintaining his costumed career decades before he was born.

Then just as it seems we’re settling on a status quo for the foreseeable future, the epic Spider-Verse crossover event crashes into our lap, and it soon becomes evident that the ongoing narrative is going to be sidelined while Miguel joins Spider-Men, Women and even pigs from a host of parallel dimensions to tackle a threat to their whole existence… Damn.

Actually the Spider-Verse storyline is excellent, it’s just a shame how early in new series’ runs they find themselves caught up in crossovers these days, something which does little to establish themselves in their own right.

Mind you, the new Spider-Woman title starts off with four issues of Spider-Verse mayhem, so at least Miguel avoided that fate and had time to find his feet in the first story of this volume.

Whether the Spider-Man of 2099 will indeed return to that specific point in history remains to be seen at this stage, but either way there are enough positive signs here to suggest a long future for this title…