Thoughts on Spiderman 2099 thusfar

I'm a little bit into volume 2 of the classic Spiderman 2099 comics and I'm liking it so far!

If you aren't aware, Spiderman 2099, Miguel O'Hara, is going to be appearing in the new Across the Spiderverse movie. He's the big blue one that runs around on all fours.

I saw some thirst edits of him on TikTok, and I thought to myself, pshh, he's just a basic buff guy, he's a pretty basic character to thirst for...

So of course, I gotta see more of him! You know, for a long time I kinda thought I wasn't that into superhero stuff. I am... NOT... a fan of the MCU films, and I kind of just assumed that all superhero stuff was like that? But, after watching Invincible and Spiderverse, and then deciding to read some of Spiderman 2099, I can say that its really fun!

It's pretty silly and camp, and its self aware of that. But, its also trying to be something cool. It's a science fiction story, he is the Spiderman of the year 2099 after all. And I LOVE the attempts at adding a scientific basis to his powers.

So, of course he isnt bitten by a spider. This is sci-fi, he's been gene spliced with spider dna! Of course, such a fucking classic. One of my own characters has gene splicing in his backstory! I love it!

And because its sci-fi gene splicing, it tries hard to make all of the spider powers biologically based and realistic enough within the universe. This certainly isn't a hard sci-fi, but it makes an attempt. For example...

Spiderman can climb on walls, how exactly does he stick? Oh, well, this one here just has FUCKING TALONS IN HIS HANDS AND FEET. He doesnt stick to walls, he digs his claws into them and hangs on for dear life. With some effort, he can retract them. But in especially intense moments he may accidentally unsheathe them and tear things apart without meaning to.

Speaking of which, they're definitely... Unique. I said claws and you pictured pointed nails, right? Yeah, well, this guy has nails on the tops of his fingers and claws growing out of the bottom. No, this isn't just a drawing fuck-up, this is a consistent detail in his design.

Oh, its sci-fi, what's his web spinning device look like? Fuck you, he has spinnerets visibly bulging out of his forearms! He controls them by contracting his muscles! And of course, because the web spitting is controlled by the spinnerets being squeezed, that means his cover can be blown if anyone grabs his arm really tightly cuz thatll make web spit out too.

He has some extra bonuses, for example, VENOMOUS FANGS! Bite bite bite!

But things stay fair, he's got some unique downsides too. His eyes are now so sensitive that he needs to dim the lights in every building he enters.

I really love speculative biology, I LOVE having biological reasons for things. It's my favorite fucking thing, so you know I love this.

They even attempt logical consistency with other things. Like, you know, what happens to a super hero's clothes when they change in the middle of nowhere? Do they leave them in a specific spot and come back later? Well, in this case here, Miguel just ships his clothes right back to his house!