2099 UNLIMITED #6

***1/2

Back in the early to mid nineties, Marvel Comics had a line of comic books that were futuristic. They called this line 2099. The 2099 comics took some of the well known comic book titles and revisited them 100+ years in the future and even created some new heroes for the corporately ruled monarchy of the year 2099. Included in this title were HULK 2099, GALAHAD 2099 and DOOM 2099.

2099 UNLIMITED #6 was released in August of 1994 and had different writers and artists for each of the three titles it included. HULK 2099 was written by Gerard Jones and drawn by Khato. This particular Hulk incarnation has a more grotesque Hulk who actually has intelligence. The artistry of this title was very harsh and almost abstract, but it seemed to fit the story and the characters. The story was quite good, however, I don't know much about the background of this Hulk character (which was someone other than Banner), beside the fact that there was something going on with the ever present gamma rays.

GALAHAD 2099 felt like an Iron Man revival. Ethan Shields is a brilliant scientist without an immune system. Thus he is confined to an artificial environment. He has created a type of armor called the "Galahad Armor," which hopefully will be used to protect emergency rescuers. Writer Michael Jan Friedman sends Suzanne Carter to Shields' lab to review the Galahad armor and has instant chemistry between Shields and Carter. During an outside sabatoge, we discover that the Galahad Armor can be controlled via a subcutaneous chip implanted into Shields' head. Matt Ryan's pencils are awesome in this one.

DOOM 2099 was written by Friedman as well, and drawn by Marie Severin. This particular book is centered around one of Doom's partners, Wire, who has the ability to turn himself into binary code it seems and "surf" databases as well as any kind of electrical signal type of format, in this story, he enters the world of 50's TV sitcoms. All of this is in an effort to help Doom and Fortune escape a world they have been trapped in while searching for a lost device which pulls the ambient energy out of the air.

Personally I do miss the 2099 comics. I liked the characters, especially seeing Doom as a good guy for a change, well at least kind of a good guy! I would have to give 2099 UNLIMITED a rating of 3 1/2 stars out of 5.