Once Upon A Time. . .
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Marvel Comics introduced a new line of comics to help celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of their flagship character Spider-Man. Thus, Spider-Man 2099 and many other titles were introduced to the world of comics. So what, many thought, we have a new alternate time-line for the Marvel Universe. Many had seen this same gimmick before, and shrugged their shoulders, and turned their head to drool over another X-title. Well, somehow this "futureverse" was different. It was no mere alternate time-line, this series, was acutally defining the future of Marvel's universe!!!
Marvel had brought in a top notch editor to be in charge of re-vamping the future time-line. Enter, Joey Cavalieri. He was the brains behind the operation, and he was the one who mapped out our favorite "futureverse." He quickly brought in such talented writers as Peter David, John Moore, and pencillers Rick Leonardi, and Ron Lim, for example. And finally in the fall of 1992, the 2099 line was released with Spider-Man 2099 # 1!!! Such titles as Ravage 2099, Doom 2099, and Punisher 2099 soon followed. This was a new world of oppurtunities that the readers discovered as they watched their favorite characters explore the uncharted world of Marvel's future. But these new characters weren't cheap knock-offs either. Spider-Man 2099 was very different from his current incantation, as was the Punisher 2099. Ravage 2099 was a brand new character to the Marvel Universe, and Doom 2099 claimed to be the orginal Doctor Doom!!! But the world they ventured in was completely different from that of the world we know in Marvel Comics. The old heroes had been killed at some point in Marvel's future, and governments were only decoration, as large Corporations had ulitately taken over most countries. In an attempt to expand, many cities had to build Upward instead of around, leaving the poor and deprived to rot in the valleys of steel. Corporations could freely distribute designer drugs to the addicts, as a type of loyalty. The only police forces were owned by the same companies, who escapted their law. And only those who could afford to pay for services were protected by the law, or even treated for illness. Technology was used soley for the quick money, rather than benefit humanity. This was a cruel and cold world, but albeit a believable one. People looked upon the legends of the past such as Spider-Man, Thor, and Captain America for hope. They had no heroes.
Then a storm of costumed crusaders began appearing in the 2099 universe!!! Spidey, the Punisher, Ravage, and Doom, were soon followed by a new batch of mutants, modeled after Xavier and Magnus' dream. They were the X-Men! Then the Hulk, Ghost Rider, and many others began appearing. The world was also introduced to brand-new villains, such as Venom, Goblin, and Thor! Toward the end, the Fantastic Four somehow found their way to the future and began trying to change the world, again. And a new team of mutants were being trained at the Xavier Shelter in the X-Nation title! And then disastor stuck. The brains behind the operation, Joey Cavalieri, was dropped from the employment of Marvel, thanks to corporate down-sizing. And the whole 2099 universe was soon to follow.
Soon, writers began dropping their titles, and the much prized artists began leaving as well. Saddly enough, the quality of the 2099 world had left with Cavalieri. Soon all the books were ended and shoved into a series called "2099: World of Tomorrow", or WoT, as we call it. But after a few issues many saw that it just wouldn't be the same. The characterization and quality was slipping. The end of the future was at hand. The series only lasted eight issues, and the authors ended it with an apology.
I personally could not stand the loss of being able to read the new adventures of my favorite characters. I slowly stopped buying comics all together. Then one day on the Net I began searching for information on the 2099 universe. I was lucky to stumble over the Ghostworks, the official web-page of the 2099 Underground. I subscribed to the free mailing list and I was surprised to find my favorite characters and more! Apparently a group of 2099 fans on America On Line had gotten together inspired by Cavalieri, and the 2099 Assitant Editor, Lia Pelosi, to begin a universe of 2099 written by the fans! The fans felt the urge to write the stories and treat the characters the way they deserved to be treated. Now the Underground has introduced many new characters such as Morbius 2099, Tales of the Chicago Reserve 2099, Life 2099, and Abomination 2099. I myself have started the new Mighty Thor 2099 series. I am also the new Assitant Editor In Chief. So if you are interested in joining the FREE mailing list please contact Rage at "[email protected]" He will add you to the mailing list that receives all the new 2099 Underground stories as they come.
