| rdfs:comment | - The Marvel Universe meets Cyberpunk. Roughly a century prior, a massive cataclysm brought about the end of the “Age Of Heroes.” The disaster also destroyed most of civilization, resulting in a much, much worse world than before. (And considering how bad it was before, that’s saying a lot.) The world is now ran by massive Mega Corps (most notably Alchemax), the only police are the privatized Public Eye, and the entire planet is little more than a toxic deathball.
- Marvel 2099 is a Marvel Comics imprint, started in 1992, that explores one possible future of the Marvel Universe. It was originally announced by Stan Lee in his "Stan's Soapbox" column as a single series entitled The Marvel World of Tomorrow, which was being developed by Lee and John Byrne. This later changed to a line of books under the banner Marvel 2093 (the date being one hundred years from the year in which the titles launched) before finally being published as Marvel 2099. The three of the initial four titles launched — Doom 2099, Punisher 2099, and Spider-Man 2099 — starred futuristic takes on pre-existing characters. The fourth, Ravage 2099, featured an all-new superhero, scripted for several months by Stan Lee. The 2099 line soon expanded to include 2099 Unlimited, Fantastic Four
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| abstract | - The Marvel Universe meets Cyberpunk. Roughly a century prior, a massive cataclysm brought about the end of the “Age Of Heroes.” The disaster also destroyed most of civilization, resulting in a much, much worse world than before. (And considering how bad it was before, that’s saying a lot.) The world is now ran by massive Mega Corps (most notably Alchemax), the only police are the privatized Public Eye, and the entire planet is little more than a toxic deathball. In the year 2099, however, four individuals suddenly get pulled into superheroism. Miguel O’Hara, a geneticist working for Alchemax, accidentally bonds Spider DNA with his own. Paul Philip Ravage, CEO for an environmentalist Alchemax subdivision, goes on the lam to bring down both his former employer. In distant Latveria, a long-lost dictator suddenly returns, and prepares to retake his homeland. Jake Gallows, a member of the private police force, becomes a violent vigilante when the law fails to condemn his family’s killer. Later, a small group of mutants gather in the Nevada desert. An amoral Hollywood producer turns on the Knights of Banner and is pelted with Gamma Rays. A hacker finds his personality trapped on the net, and is transported into a robot body to avenge his death. Not to mention the many, many other heroes that began to crawl out of the woodwork… Marvel 2099 was very much a product of the Dark Age, with Liefeldian physiques, ridiculous future slang, and heroes you could barely root for. Nonetheless, the first four series (Spider-Man 2099, Ravage 2099, Doom 2099, and Punisher 2099) sold extremely well. Spider-Man 2099 would become the most well-known series, and would be the only one to directly interact with the mainstream series. Doom 2099 featured exceptional writing, turning Doctor Doom into an Anti-Hero while still keeping him a Magnificent Bastard. Ravage was the only fully original character, and was written by Stan Lee for the first eight issues. Punisher 2099 was…well, a Dark Age comic. 2099’s best strength, however, was its continuity. Editor Joey Cavalieri worked overtime to make sure every issue of the series fit, while also giving the creative staff considerable leeway in what they created. As a result, the series was akin to Marvel’s Silver Age work; several comics that didn’t cross over every month, but at the same time were clearly in the same universe, with events occurred concurrently. In fact, the lines only actually crossed over once, for the “Fall of the Hammer” story arc, and even that was tightly managed. Facing declining sales, the comics culminated in the "One Nation Under Doom" event, where Doom took over the United States. It was inconceivably awesome, mostly because they let Warren Ellis write it. Unfortunately, that was pretty much the end of it. Marvel, desperate to cut costs, fired Cavalieri. Nearly every writer quit in protest. The line limped along for a while, before every surviving series was canceled at once. In their place was "2099: World of Tomorrow," which ran for eight issues before also being cancelled. Finally, Marvel closed the universe off with "2099: Manifest Destiny." Aside from some brief revisits, the entire 2099 franchise has largely become another part of geek trivia. Spider-Man 2099 has received some new attention from being featured in recently Spider-Man video games, most notably Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man Edge of Time.
- Marvel 2099 is a Marvel Comics imprint, started in 1992, that explores one possible future of the Marvel Universe. It was originally announced by Stan Lee in his "Stan's Soapbox" column as a single series entitled The Marvel World of Tomorrow, which was being developed by Lee and John Byrne. This later changed to a line of books under the banner Marvel 2093 (the date being one hundred years from the year in which the titles launched) before finally being published as Marvel 2099. The three of the initial four titles launched — Doom 2099, Punisher 2099, and Spider-Man 2099 — starred futuristic takes on pre-existing characters. The fourth, Ravage 2099, featured an all-new superhero, scripted for several months by Stan Lee. The 2099 line soon expanded to include 2099 Unlimited, Fantastic Four 2099, Ghost Rider 2099, Hulk 2099, X-Men 2099, and X-Nation 2099.
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