In the year 2099 a New Heroic Age has dawned on Earth-928! But this hasn’t gone done well with mega-corporation Alchemax who essentially control the United States with help from their own police force, the Public Eye. The Board of Directors – Tyler Stone being key among them – are the most powerful men in the country.
One of their employees, scientist Miguel O’Hara, was present for an experiment gone wrong which transformed him into the new Spider-Man. Tyler Stone’s son murdered the mother, brother and sister-in-law of Private Eye cop Jake Gallows, who seeks revenge against the corrupt system under the guise of the Punisher. Paul-Phillip Ravage was a member of Alchemax’s ‘pollution police’ at Eco Central until he discovered the truth about them, though his decision to fight against Alchemax has led to him being transformed into a ‘Beast-Man’. A handful of the remaining mutants have formed a new incarnation of the X-Men. And a man called Doom has emerged seemingly from nowhere in Latveria.
Fearing their control over America is slipping due to this New Age of Heroes, Alchemax are about to form their own team of heroes to put an end to the growing feeling of hope.
The complete build-up to the first 2099 crossover event, THE FALL OF THE HAMMER, is included below. This isn’t an official crossover in itself (there is a minor crossover when the Punisher and Ravage meet for the first time) though the stories are all linked as they map the rise of the Aesir...
Crossover: Ravage 2099 #13-14 and Punisher 2099 #11 are a direct crossover and lead directly into The Fall of the Hammer event.
Related Events: The remaining issues all lead into The Fall of the Hammer, but don’t directly cross over.
Must-Reads: Issues marked with a ✔are essential to the story.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions, first appearances and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- ✔ Spider-Man 2099 #11 (tie-in)
- ✔ Spider-Man 2099 #12-13
- ✔ Ravage 2099 #11
- ✔ Spider-Man 2099 #14
- Doom 2099 #13 (tie-in)
- X-Men 2099 #4 (tie-in)
- ✔ Ravage 2099 #12
- Punisher 2099 #10 (tie-in)
- ✔ Ravage 2099 #13
- ✔ Punisher 2099 #11
- ✔ Ravage 2099 #14
- Punisher 2099 #12 (tie-in)
- ✔ Spider-Man 2099 #15
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #11 (tie-in) Spider-Man clashes with a member of Alchemax‘s private policing unit, the Public Eye, geared up with SIEGE armour specifically aimed at taking him down. The armoured officer almost kills him, but he’s saved by a mystery man with a powerful sniper rifle who makes his escape in a vehicle marked with an omega symbol. Returning home, Miguel O’Hara talks to his holographic personal assistant Lyla about the ship only for her to suddenly admit she loves him. Miguel heads back to work at Alchemax and meets his new lab partner Jordan Boone who starts tinkering with Miguel’s projects. Miguel takes the addition of the arrogant trickster Boone up with his boss Tyler Stone who seems to be making a play for Miguel’s girlfriend, Dana D’Angelo. Meanwhile, the Trojan-styled sniper plans his move against Alchemax… 1st appearance: Dr Jordan Boone, SIEGE Unit, Thanatos (Earth-9309, unnamed), Synthia Building |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #12 Miguel misses a date with Dana when he comes to the aid of Jordan Boone whose experiments with Virtual Unreality cause an explosion at the Alchemax labs. Miguel dons his Spider-Man costume when the sniper – a warrior who called himself Thanatos – crashes into Alchemax and threatens to take Tyler Stone prisoner. Spider-Man goes along with with Thanatos who wants full access to the Virtual Unreality programme, interrupting Boone’s latest experiment. Thanatos knocks Boone into the VU portal. Spider-Man’s webbing pulls Boone back out of the portal, but he returns with another super-powered stranger… 1st appearance: Synthia, Thanatos (named)/Rick Jones New identity: Justice/John Tensen (Earth-148611) as Net-Prophet |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #13 (pp.1-16) The stranger – who some guards believe to be the fabled ‘Net Prophet’ – appears to be from the past and remembers Thanatos. Spider-Man tries to take Thanatos down, but they’re both blasted into the VU portal. Things get surreal as a gigantic Thanatos explains how he had no form until he used the body of Aaron Delgato to regain his physicality. Elsewhere, Miguel’s brother’s new girlfriend Kasey Nash dreams about Spider-Man and falls ill… |
| ✔ | Ravage 2099 #11 (pp.1-10) Paul-Philip Ravage‘s brother has just been murdered by what appears to be an alien being. Ravage activates his new beast-form, an ability he gained after absorbing radiation at Hellrock and fights the creature which he eventually learns is a Sensory Facsimile – a microchip created by Fearmaster which produces tangible holograms of what its victims fear most. Ravage’s father and sister – Wes Ravage and Miranda Ravage – arrive to find Ravage (now in human form) standing over his brother’s corpse. 1st appearance: Miranda Ravage |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #13 (p.17) / Ravage 2099 #11 (pp.11-13) At Alchemax, Tyler Stone meets with the other members of the board who discuss the arrival of the Net Prophet and plan to put an end to this ‘New Heroic Age’… 1st appearance: Alchemax Board of Directors (full), CEO Avatarr (full) |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #13 (pp.18-22) The Net Prophet escapes Alchemax via the Virtual Reality portal and pulls Spider-Man himself to safety, transporting them both to Miguel’s apartment. |
| ✔ | Ravage 2099 #11 (pp.14-22) Ravage’s sister refuses to accept his explanation that he was killed by a solid hologram. Unexpectedly, Ravage’s father makes him CEO of the family business – the mega-corporation Green Globe. Elsewhere, at the Alchemax board meeting, CEO Avatarr kills Anderthorp Henton for failing to deal with Ravage and crushes Fearmaster’s hand for trying to use his powers against him… |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #14 Miguel uses a heat sealer to close the Net Prophet’s wounds caused by the Alchemax guards. Net Prophet seemingly has no memory of his past, but knows how to use his powers which he proves by teleporting them to Stark Tower. They head to Downtown and save Father Jennifer D’Angelo from the Fenris Gang. Net Prophet decides to explore the world of 2099 on his own. Elsewhere, Lyla lies to Dana about Miguel’s whereabouts to keep her out of Miguel’s life. And Gabe O’Hara’s new girlfriend develops an obsession with Spider-Man (with neither realising it’s Gabe’s brother beneath the mask). Doom uses his own arcane knowledge and the books in Vox’s library to banish Necrotek back to imprisonment. 1st appearance: Ogunn, Stark-Fujikawa Tower |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Doom 2099 #13 (tie-in) Paulo Vasari‘s quest for power ends when he steals the only copy of the Geometries of Shadow from the Vatican and uses it to unleash the demon Necrotek from exile, involuntarily becoming its host body. Necrotek begins his own quest for power, seeking out the three Eyes of Agamotto, starting with the one held by the young sorcerer Vox. In Hong Kong, Lei Fong and Fortune are attacked by assassins on their journey towards Doom. Duke Stratosphere encounters a rift in Cyberspace. And the reborn Heimdall emerges atop the floating city dubbed ‘Valhalla’. 1st appearance: Neon Angel/Margaretta von Geisterstadt | |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #15 (pp.1-2) Jordan Boone sends a message to Meanstreak before being knocked out and taken away by the Public Eye… |
| X-Men 2099 #4 (tie-in) The Theatre of Pain kidnap the mutant Bloodhawk and raid his memories to share with their clients, then follow up being capturing Meanstreak, Krystalin and Skullfire of the X-Men. La Lunatica‘s attempt to drain Skullfire herself unleashes his powers, allowing Bloodhawk and the X-Men to escape. La Lunatica turns on the Controller, killing him. After receiving a message from Jordan Boone who’s been looking into Alchemax’s Valhalla project, Meanstreak heads to New York to learn his friend’s fate… 1st appearance: La Lunatica/Luna New identity: Jordan Boone as Loki (in shadow) | |
| ✔ | Ravage 2099 #12 (pp.1-18) The Ravage family bury the fallen Jean-Claude Ravage while Miranda and her fiancé Alec Dupledge continue to dispute Paul Philip being made CEO of Green Globe before they’ve even left the cemetery. They’re immediately attacked by another Sensory Facsimile, proving Ravage wasn’t making the creature up but also forcing him to transform into beast form, somehow unseen by his family. Dupledge sends his Eco Central Police after the Facsimile and the ‘Beast-Man’ Ravage. But Ravage destroys the Facsimile and brings the police crashing down… |
| Punisher 2099 #10 (tie-in) Multi-Fractor somehow survived being torn apart by the Punisher and is reborn with cyborg and animal parts as Jigsaw. He returns to Fearmaster (complete with a new cybernetic hand) who sends him after the Punisher. Jigsaw draws the Punisher out by killing vagrants and the two quickly get into a pitched battle… 1st appearance: Young Blades New identity: Multi-Fractor as Jigsaw Full name revealed: Reverend Cecil MacAdam | |
| ✔ | Punisher 2099 #11 (pp.1-11) The Punisher defeats Jigsaw and drags him to the Punishment Hotel where he tortures him into revealing that the Fearmaster is the man pulling the strings at the Public Eye and the tech-based criminal organisation Cyber Nostra, then drags him to a cell and leaves him to starve. Jake Gallows’ boss at the Public Eye assigns him to assist a squad on Valhalla… 1st appearance: Aesir/New Gods, ‘Baldur’/Earl Roth |
| ✔ | Ravage 2099 #12 (pp.19-22) Ravage drops in on the Alchemax board who are clearly behind these attacks. Before he can, Dupledge arrests Ravage (now in human form) convinced he’s connected to the Beast-Man. Elsewhere, Ravage’s girlfriend Tiana Sikoski turns to the Church of Thor for guidance and is offered power, instead… |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Ravage 2099 #13 (pp.1-16) Ravage is brought before Fearmaster who unleashes an Animek creature on him to force him to transform into beast form. Ravage kills the creature to put it out his its misery, while Fearmaster takes the opportunity to escape. Ravage tears his way out of the Eco Central building… |
| ✔ | Punisher 2099 #11 (pp.12-17) Avatarr reveals his plans to Fearmaster. He wants to use Valhalla and some ‘new people’ to replace the new heroes that have emerged, having introduced ‘Baldur’ to the public as a hero of the people. On Valhalla, Jake Gallows witnesses the unscheduled arrival of Ravage and goes to confront him alone… |
| ✔ | Ravage 2099 #13 (pp.17-21) Ravage heads to Green Globe Headquarters where he announces his plan to withdraw Green Globe from the Valhalla project. He’s outvoted by the board, so he heads out to Valhalla in beast form to sabotage the project himself… 1st appearance: Gylla Ravage, Hyzell Ravage, Valhalla (full) |
| ✔ | Punisher 2099 #13 (pp.18-20) On Valhalla, Jake Gallows witnesses the unscheduled arrival of Ravage and goes to confront him alone… |
| ✔ | Punisher 2099 #11 (pp.21-22) / Ravage 2099 #13 (p.22) Ravage’s efforts to sabotage Valhalla are interrupted by Jake Gallows… |
| ✔ | Ravage 2099 #14 After an initial clash between Jake Gallows and Ravage, Gallows disappears and re-emerges as the Punisher. The fight is interrupted when the Punisher makes himself scarce so the arriving Public Eye officers don’t learn he and Jake Gallows are one and the same. Ravage studies a disc stolen from Valhalla and learns it will cause death and destruction in its wake due to the technology Alchemax have employed in its construction. Doom holographically introduces himself as a potential ally, but takes the information he needed on Valhalla from Ravage’s files without permission. Meanstreak, Bloodhawk and Krystalin also trace the disc to Ravage in their search for Jordan Boone and threaten to take Green Globe down once they’re done with Alchemax. Elsewhere, Tiana Sikoski is transformed into Hela, while Baldur announces the return of the gods and their intention to take down Spider-Man, the Punisher and the ‘Beast-Man’… New identity: Tiana Sikoski as ‘Hela’ |
| Punisher 2099 #12 (tie-in) The Punisher boards Stark-Fujikawa‘s Skyliner – a veritable floating city that could rival Valhalla – when Alchemax hire the Skyjackers to sabotage it. Despite the group murdering a number of passengers, the Punisher kills the Skyjackers and saves the remaining passengers. | |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #15 (pp.3-22) Spider-Man defeats Bloodsword in Downtown and is uncomfortably hailed as a saviour. Tyler Stone continues to try and steal Dana D’Angelo from Miguel O’Hara, Conchata O’Hara plots her own efforts against Alchemax and Gabe O’Hara quits the Throwbacks when he becomes jealous of his girlfriends fascination with Spider-Man. Dana and Miguel get a tour of Valhalla which is rocked by the arrival of Heimdall and Thor! The seemingly returned ‘god of thunder’ announces the impending demise of the false heroes… 1st appearance: Bloodsword, ‘Heimdall’ New identity: Reverend Cecil MsAdam as ‘Thor’ |
| Must Reads | Issue & Fallout | Event/ Crossover |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #16 (1994) The Aesir‘s war on the new heroes begins. Ravage 2099 #15 (1994) Jordan Boone is revealed to have been transformed into ‘Loki’ by Alchemax. | THE FALL OF THE HAMMER |
| ✔ | X-Men 2099 #10-14 (1994) While on a leave of absence from the X-Men, Skullfire ends up joining forces with La Lunatica as she’s pursued by Brimstone Love‘s agents from the Theatre of Pain; La Lunatica joins the X-Men when Skullfire returns to the team; Desert Ghost/Xi’an Chi Xan leaves the X-Men and joins the Theatre of Pain. | |
| ✔ | Punisher 2099 #15 (1994) Jigsaw escapes the Punishment Hotel; the Punisher comes face-to-face with Fearmaster. | |
| Spider-Man 2099 #18-19 (1994) Lyla’s apparent emotional behaviour is revealed to be the result of a virus; Lyla has her original programming restored after she tries to kill Dana D’Angelo. | ||
| Spider-Man 2099 #22 (1994) Gabe O’Hara reveals to Miguel that he knows he’s secretly Spider-Man. | ||
| X-Men 2099 #16 (1995) Jordan Boone is revealed to have been transformed into the mischievous Halloween Jack. | ||
| Doom 2099 #17 (1994) Fortune and Lei Fong finally make it to Doom’s side. | ||
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #25 (1994) More clues are given regarding Net-Prophet’s true identity when he seeks justice for the downtrodden inhabitants of Earth-928. | |
| ✔ | Ravage 2099 #21 (1994) Alec Dupledge reveals the ‘Beast-Man’ to be Paul-Philip Ravage, ending his tenure as CEO of Green Globe and forcing him to openly declare war on the corporations who are harming the planet. | |
| Spider-Man 2099 #25 (1994) Miguel O’Hara learns Tyler Stone is his father. | ||
| ✔ | Captain Marvel #27-30 (2002) Thanatos is revealed to be Rick Jones of Earth-9309 – a reality in which Rick stayed with the Supreme Intelligence after the Kree-Skrull War in order to learn how to develop his use of the Destiny Force; Rick became Thanatos and travelled to other universes, killing every other Rick Jones and the heroes to rose to protect him; it’s likely Thanatos responsible for the end of the first Heroic Age on Earth-928; Thanatos encounters Rick Jones and his body-sharing counterpart Captain Marvel/Genis-Vell of Earth-616 who combine the power of mjolnir and the Nega-Bands and transform him into a brick. | |
| ✔ | Doom 2099 #31 (1995) CEO Avatarr is revealed to be an alien when he’s killed by Doom. | ONE NATION UNDER DOOM |
| Spider-Man 2099 #34-38 (1995) Conchita O’Hara shoots Tyler Stone, leading to Doom appointing Miguel O’Hara as CEO of Alchemax; Spider-Man does face a 2099 version of Venom when Kron Stone (Miguel O’Hara’s older half-brother) bonds with the Venom Symbiote; Venom kills Dana D’Angelo; Father Jennifer D’Angelo takes on the identity of the Goblin and clashes with Spider-Man | ONE NATION UNDER DOOM | |
| ✔ | X-Men 2099 #24-25 (1995) The X-Men have their final showdown with the Theatre of Pain when they rescue La Lunatica from the clutches of Brimstone Love, her father; Xi’an Chi Xan returns to the X-Men. | ONE NATION UNDER DOOM |
| ✔ | Spider-Man 2099 #44 (1996) Net-Prophet remembers his real name is John Tensen, confirming his true identity as the super-powered vigilante known as Justice from Earth-148611 (the New Universe). Doom 2099 #44 (1996) Duke Stratosphere witness the assimilation of Cyberspace by the Phalanx. | LAST STAND AT WORLD’S END |
| X-Force #92 (1999) Halloween Jack is revealed to have jumped back in time (and realities) to Earth-616. |
See how this story fits into the wider Marvel Multiverse with these reading orders:
- MARVEL 2099, 1992-1997: The Original World of Tomorrow
- DOOM 2099, 1992-1997: The Future is Doomed
- SPIDER-MAN 2099, 1992-1997: The Original Earth-928 Timeline
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Spider-Man 2099 vol.2 | Spider-Man 2099 #11-14 Spider-Man 2099 Annual #1 Spider-Man Unlimited #1-3 [part] |
| Spider-Man 2099 vol.3 | Doom 2099 #14 Punisher 2099 #13 Ravage 2099 #15 Spider-Man 2099 #15-22 X-Men 2099 #5 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Fantastic Four/Doom 2099 Omnibus | Doom 2099 #13 |
| Spider-Man 2099 Omnibus vol.1 | Spider-Man 2099 #11-15 |
| X-Men 2099 Omnibus | X-Men 2099 #4 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2024
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