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4.5
Alex Segura’s “Araña and Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow” builds on the growing body of literature using the Spider-Verse concept to see how the interaction of two different spider-powered characters can reveal truths about the characters that might not otherwise come out in a story. He focuses on Añya Sofia Corazón, who received her spider-powers from a totemic force and became the crime-fighting Araña, dedicated to helping the Spider Society fight the Sisterhood of the Wasp. Segura brilliantly retells her origin for those who might have missed her stories in “Amazing Fantasy” vol. 2, nos. 1-6 (2004), “Araña: Heart of the Spider” nos. 1-12 (2005-2006), “Young Allies” vol. 2, nos. 1-6 (2010), or “Spider-Girl” vol. 2, nos. 1-8 (2011). Segura’s novel takes place relatively early in Araña’s superhero career and he signals that it might be contemporaneous with her early comics through a mention of “Wizard Magazine,” which ceased publication in 2011 (pg. 53). She does think of meeting Peter Parker Spider-Man, who showed his age with a mixed reference to TikTok. Their first meeting occurred in “Spider-Man & Araña Special: The Hunter” back in 2006, prior to the ubiquity of much modern social media (pg. 77). That meeting with Spider-Man, however, prepared Araña with the information that there will be a Spider-Man active around 2099. Despite some minor timeline discrepancies, readers should view Segura’s novel as taking place it its own continuity that freely incorporates elements from the comics. Araña and Spider-Man 2099’s story in this novel begins when something goes wrong when Judas Traveller steals a magical object called El Obelisco in order to lure Araña into a trap. It activates and transports her to the cyberpunk future of 2105 (pg. 70).Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099, might be more familiar to readers due to his recent appearance in the film, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” but he’s had a long comics history since his first series in 1992 including three volumes of a self-titled series and appearances in other Spider-Man titles. Miguel’s world was cyberpunk in a time when that genre was still developing through works like Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner,” William Gibson’s “Neuromancer” and the mangas “Akira” and “Ghost in the Shell” along with their anime adaptations. Miguel received his powers through an accident with an experiment at Alchemax to replicate the powers of the original Spider-Man. They succeeded in a way as Miguel can shoot organic webbing from his arms, has heightened strength and agility, and can cling to building and objects with claws that protrude from his feet and fingers (pg. 83). Unfortunately, his first turn at being a hero ended in sorrow ended in tragedy. Segura follows the events of “pider-Man 2099” vol. 1, in which Miguel’s brother Gabriel O’Hara became the Goblin and so Miguel had to defeat him (“Spider-Man 2099” vol. 1, no. 45). The events of this revelation never sat right with Peter David, the original writer on the comic book who departed before the last two issues, so he retconned the Goblin’s identity to be Jennifer D’Angelo, the sister of Miguel’s fiancée Dana D’Angelo, effectively trading one family trauma for another (“2099: Manifest Destiny” no. 1). This story explained Gabe’s apparent actions by explaining that a shapeshifted that took Spider-Man’s brother’s identity (“Spider-Man 2099” vol. 2, nos. 10-12).Both characters bring the baggage to their first meeting, having a potential enemy in common through Judas Traveller. Miguel O’Hara knows details about Araña’s future, including becoming Spider-Girl (p. 91) while withholding his Spider-Man dual identity from her as he recently chose to give it up following Gabe’s death. Araña finds her powers waning in the future and simply wants their return and to return herself to the past even as she finds out the glitz-and-glam of the future in Nueva York is just a façade over an underprivileged lower level. Traveller’s plan involves Morlun, the creature who – along with his inheritor family – led to the original Spider-Verse storyline (p. 144). Traveller’s efforts bring about a full Spider-Verse-type story, with Gwen Stacy’s Ghost-Spider joining the fray as Peter Parker is currently off-world. The novel hints that Traveller was responsible for killing Araña’s mentor, Miguel Legar, as well as influencing Miguel O’Hara’s brother to become the Goblin (p. 216), while Traveller continues to use illusions to attack his foes, including one of Araña’s mother, whom she had not seen since she was a girl (p. 190). In typical bad-guy fashion, Morlun breaks his arrangement with Traveller as soon as he feels ready to siphon Spider-powers on his own (p. 228). The various Spider-powered heroes must team up and think quickly to defeat their shared enemies even as their enemies use psychological attacks to throw them off.Segura’s “Araña and Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow” is a great addition to the growing Spider-Verse subgenre in Spider-Man and related titles. He honors the characters he chooses to tell his story while combining them in ways that reveal their inner truths. My only critique – and it’s a minor one – is that Marvel used to illustrate their adult novels, as in the work of Diane Duane. Carolina Rodríguez Fuenmayor’s cover art is absolutely stunning and I would have liked to see her bring Segura’s key plot points to life in selected illustrations. Other than that minor issue, the book is great, particularly for those who have been reading both Araña and Spider-Man 2099 since their respective first appearances!
