ADVANCED REVIEW! Spider-Man 2099 Exodus Alpha #1: Everything Changes (Spoiler-Free!)

Miguel O’Hara is back!! While he hasn’t been gone that long, he’s back in his own time, in his own world, he’s back where he should be. There’s a big difference between the future of 1992 and the future of 2002. If you’re old enough to remember 1992, just look at how far technology has come since then, and that’s reflected in the book, but the overlying element of corporations running everything and inserting themselves into everyone’s everyday life is definitely there. My worst fear going in was that author Steve Orlando would take this “world” and make it his own, making it resemble nothing of the 2099 universe that we’ve known for years. Shame on me. Orlando does a fantastic job with this story, making it his own and staying true to what’s come before. This issue kicks off a storyline that celebrates Spider-Man 2099’s thirtieth anniversary and based on this first issue, it’s definitely a worthy celebration. This issue has everything you want: superheroes, guest stars, and a really good mystery as to what exactly is going on, A really solid start to this storyline.

And you can’t talk about this book without talking about how great artist Paul Fry is! I gotta be honest, he’s gonna be a hard act to follow, and I don’t envy the two artists that are going to be drawing the next two issues. Fry’s pages here are absolutely unreal. The scenery looks like it evolved from our world, yet it looks nothing like it. Everything looks cohesive and slick, yet detailed and realistic. Color artist Neeraj Menon also deserves some applause, because what he does here, is create a pallet for a whole new look, one that I’ve never quite seen before, making Fry’s pencils absolutely come alive. Very well done job by the art team!