Launched in the long, long ago, or 1992, the 2099 line of comics was a glimpse of the Marvel universe over 100 years into the future. The line started with the four titles shown in the ad below: Spider-Man, Ravage, Punisher and Doom. Other than Ravage, a new creation by Stan Lee and Paul Ryan, most of the early 2099 characters were just future versions of existing characters, which didn’t change with the additions of Hulk 2099, Ghost Rider 2099, and X-Men 2099. At least on the surface, it’s just the regular Marvel universe of 1992, but in the future and plus Ravage, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Punisher of the year 2099 kills bad guys, but that’s about the only similarity he has with Frank Castle. Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099, has developed to be a little more Peter Parker-like, but when he first showed up that was NOT the case. The Hulk of 2099 is a very, very different monster than Bruce Banner, the Ghost Rider of 2099 is a largely digital being with a chainsaw rather than a motorcycle riding spirit, etc.
Doom is the same guy, traveled to the future with an eye on conquest, which, of course, he does, because Doom rules.
The 2099 line’s crown jewel was Spider-Man 2099 by Peter David and Rick Leonardi. Besides a killer design, the book was shockingly reserved when it came to introducing 2099 versions of all of the Spidey villains, instead it focused on his battle with the all-powerful mega corporation, Alchemax, although they did introduce a 2099 version of the Vulture that was very different and very awesome.
Each book in the line has something to offer. The Punisher book isn’t bad, the Doom book has moments of brilliance (see when Warren Ellis was writing it), and Ravage is written by Stan the Man Lee and has an interesting anti-pollution mission statement. In the second wave of books the X-Men is probably the best.
When I look at the ad below I am filled with nostalgia, but honestly, it still works for me. If I saw this ad in the back of an issue of Al Ewing’s Thor, or the new Chip Zdarsky Avengers book, I would still be interesting in checking these out today.
