Another of the beloved, obscure corners of Spider-Man continuity that Dan Slott has brought back during his run, the 2099 line is another of those mostly forgotten experiments that Marvel indulged in during the mid-nineties. It actually spawned a handful of decent stories (we're still big on Warren Ellis's legitimately insane Doom 2099) amongst the dross (nobody need ever go back to Ravage 2099, possibly the worst comic Stan Lee ever put his name to...were it not for Stripperella). One of those more-than-decent stories was the Spider-Man 2099 title, handled primarily by Peter David and artist Rick Leonardi. Rather than simply transplanting a hero in the future or providing some second-rate knock-off inspired by his predecessor, the pair did a lot of cool, interesting stuff with the character. For one thing, Miguel O'Hara was the first Latino character to assume the identity of Spider-Man - take that, Miles Morales! - a quite possibly the first to headline a Marvel book. The pair didn't bother with winking nods and references to current-day Spidey, either, instead fleshing out Miguel's far-future world with a great supporting cast, a fully realised environment, and a new set of villains that sometimes riffed on the likes of Venom and the Green Goblin, but just as often took inspiration from things like the S&M-style gang members from Mad Max. It was great riff on some of the core Spidey concepts, albeit with a character who has different powers, a totally different approach to superheroics, and a Blade Runner-esque setting providing a new set of challenges. Like how you web swing through a city of flying cars...
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
