Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #1 Review

Written by: Steve Orlando
Art by: Dave Wachter
Colors by: Carlos Lopez
Letters by: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Ryan Stegman, J.P. Mayer, Marte Garcia
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: May 25, 2022

Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #1 finds Miguel O’Hara enlisting a bounty hunter of his own to stop Norman Osborn from claiming the Celestial Garden of Eden. Can Winter Soldier 2099 sabotage Norman’s plans?

Was It Good?

Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #1 isn’t a Spider-Man 2099 comic. In fact, Miguel O’Hara only appears on 1.5 pages in the entire issue. This comic is 100% a Winter Soldier 2099 introduction/origin issue that takes place within Spider-Man 2099’s current conflict against the Cabal. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad issue, and to be clear, it’s not terrible. But if you’re looking for some Spider-Man 2099 action/adventure, you’ll need to wait until a future issue.

Winter Soldier 2099’s (let’s call her WS99 for short) introduction works well enough. Technically, she’s the 13th Winter Soldier, and her body is more machine than human. She emits a localized EMP field that makes her tough to kill by anything electronic or robotic, and her current trade is as a bounty hunter who accepts payment in the form of hard-to-get information. As far as setting up another 2099 version of a current character, Orlando gets the job done reasonably well.

The plot involves Miguel hiring WS99 to stop Norman Osborn’s bounty to secure the Celestial Garden of Eden for the Cabal’s sole use. We follow WS99 as she uses her payment, the location of the last bounty on her list she could never find, to eliminate her target who also happens to have a data obelisk containing WS99’s true memories. The obelisk is damaged, so she sets out to find the Celestial Garden of Eden to heal her arm (damaged in a fight with Crossbones 2099) and the obelisk. Once she retrieves her true memories, she sets out to destroy the servers containing Norman Osborn’s bounty, forcing Norman Osborn to find a new way to secure the Garden.

If the plot sounds super convoluted, that’s because it is. Riddled with plot holes and convenient skip-aheads, the issue serves little purpose other than to introduce WS99 as an engaging character. However, it does nothing to highlight Spider-Man 2099 or to deal with the conflict with the Cabal.

Yes, there are a ton of plot holes or succession of events that don’t make sense. How does destroying Madame Web’s flying server farm stop the bounty? In practicality, it doesn’t, but WS99 claims the mission as a success. How does WS99 get to the Celestial Garden of Eden to heal herself and her memories before anyone else, especially when she gets held up with her conflict with Crossbones 2099? Unknown, and it makes little sense when the location of the Garden is public knowledge. Why does Norman Osborn need to send out a bounty to secure the Garden when the Cabal is the most powerful criminal organization on the planet with almost limitless resources at his disposal? Couldn’t he simply send a squad of men to secure it directly?

This is one of those comics that fall apart when you think about it. If you’re in for the ride of learning about a pretty cool new character, you’ll enjoy yourself as long as you turn off your brain first.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

Follow ComicalOpinions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Bits and Pieces

Spider-Man 2099: Exodus #1 does a fine job of introducing readers to Winter Soldier 2099 and nothing else. The art is good, WS99’s design and backstory are cool, and there’s plenty of action to hold your attention. However, the plot makes little sense when you pick it apart, and this issue has almost nothing to do with Spider-Man 2099 and his conflict with the Cabal.