Spider-Man "One More Day" Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

The controversial storyline, which crosses through The Amazing Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and The Sensational Spider-Man, has begun!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544

http://marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/0907/AzmSM544_SM.jpg (http://marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/0907/AzmSM544.jpg)

WRITER: J. Michael Straczynski
PENCILS: Joe Quesada

THE STORY: "One More Day," Part 1 of 4. Get ready for what will be the most talked–about and controversial comic event of the year -- brought to you by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. The stakes have never been higher for Peter Parker. At his darkest hours -- and he's had plenty -- Peter has always had one shoulder to lean on, one person who'd remind him who he is, who he was, and who he can be. Now he's about to lose that person. What would he do...what would you do, if you only had "One More Day?”

Comments?

[Peter Paltridge]

Which person? And how is this controversial? Except for giving Spider-Man even more reasons to be emo?

[wonderfly]

Which person?

Aunt May


And how is this controversial?

What's going to be controversial is how they "fix" Spider-Man's universe by the end of this storyline. The "Powers that Be" at Marvel have hinted that they're going to somehow break up Spider-Man and MJ.


Except for giving Spider-Man even more reasons to be emo?


Well, supposedly after this storyline, he won't be "emo" anymore...

Anyway, I just read this issue, and it was allright. I don't understand why Peter suddenly switched back to this "Red and Blue" costume...I thought he was all set on showing the world that he's now "take no prisoners!!" with the Black costume? Bah! It was such an arbitrary way to bring back the Black Costume in the first place....

And if Jarvis loved Aunt May so much, why did he stick around with Tony? Talk about plotlines that never were really developed to their full potential...:sad:

[Wonderwall]

Oh....the black costume...everything was done terribly with that thing. It had a good set up, however there wasn't any real reason for him to wear it. Too many issues that I read could've been done as regular red and blue clad Spidey. And I thought that the movie's version of the costume was lame, but it was a crime to see the black costume look so bland and uninteresting in a comic medium. I was very underwhelmed by it all.

As for how this won't make Spider Man comics even more depressing..well I have an idea on how to pull that off. It'll be interesting to see if Marvel does something like that, or they just make another depressing comic, we'll see.

[Jordo]

I don't invest much in Spider-Man, but I have a question -- I have the issue from the 90s where Aunt May dies (she's on her death bed and she tells Peter she's always known he was Spider-Man, etc)...How did she become alive again?


-Jordan

[Matt Hazuda]

I don't invest much in Spider-Man, but I have a question -- I have the issue from the 90s where Aunt May dies (she's on her death bed and she tells Peter she's always known he was Spider-Man, etc)...How did she become alive again?


-Jordan
Aunt May has "died" several times. In her most recent "death", the "Aunt May" who died was, in a widely-derided plot twist, revealed to be a "genetically-altered actress" who impersonated her while May was held captive by villains.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_May#Fictional_character_biography


In Amazing Spider-Man #400 (http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/reviews/spiderman_amazing/400.html), Aunt May finally left Peter and Mary Jane in a moving story which also provided the impetus for Ben Reilly (http://www.spiderfan.org/characters/ben_reilly.html), the Spider-Clone to finally introduce himself to Mary-Jane and Peter. The greatest tragedy came with the ill-conceived "The Final Chapter" story starting in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #441 (http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/reviews/spiderman_amazing/441.html), which recently 'revealed' that the woman who died in ASM #400 was a DNA-modified actress, and that the real Aunt May had been held captive by Norman Osborn (http://www.spiderfan.org/characters/greengoblin1.html), and her head now contained an implant which was killing her, but if removed would detonate a... yadda, yadda, yadda.http://www.spiderfan.org/characters/aunt_may.html

[Xurk]

Okay, try not to think about this too much:
The "Aunt May" you speak of, was actually an actress hired by Norman Osborn and made to look like Peter's Aunt May, and whom Norman told Spider-Man's secret identity to. IIRC he also injected her with stuff which could kill her. A few years later, just before the relaunch in the Fall of '99, Peter was told that May was still alive and where to find her. Thinking that May was his supposedly still-born baby daughter, he set out to retrieve her, only to find out that it was Aunt May that was meant, who had been kept somewhere by Norman Osborn all this time.

Doesn't that sound pretty lame? :) It was pretty exciting at the time, but in retrospect, it's just lame and makes no sense whatsoever [especially all that actress stuff] :p
It does remind me though, that relaunch in 1999 was also meant to make the Spider-Man books more "Spider-Man" again, which also involved "killing" MJ just over a year into them. In my opinion, the first few years of this relaunch was the worst Spider-Man era I can think of at the moment [at least the Clone Saga was riveting in its time!]. I hope this new "relaunch" of the Spideyverse after One More Day fares better than the previous one.

To finish up my little synopsis above:
After Aunt May "returned from the dead", she did absolutely nothing in the books [they relaunched her back to her '60s behaviour] except get a new hairdo, until JMS came onto AMZ and wrote a pretty cool storyline which involved Aunt May finding out that Peter was Spider-Man after he barely survived a battle with the villain Morlun [spider totem pole stuff, I'm not going to get into that in this post as well :p] and collapsed onto his bed wearing his - all torn up - costume. After that they talked a bit and she came to accept it and became a huge Spidey fan, spamming the Daily Bugle with hate mail ;)


Soooooooooooooo, I haven't read this issue yet, but I will within a few days :)

[Ed Liu]

I don't invest much in Spider-Man, but I have a question -- I have the issue from the 90s where Aunt May dies (she's on her death bed and she tells Peter she's always known he was Spider-Man, etc)...How did she become alive again?

Really, it might be better if you just pretend to yourself that the issue you own was a super secret "What If?" story and just go on from there, especially after trying to read the "real" explanation ;).

-- Ed

[The Clown Prince]

For such a hyped story line this first issue was just O.K. How many times have we seen Aunt May die or be in a lot of danger, yet that's what this hyped story seems to be about on the surface, Peter trying to save May. I mean, we had the Tony/Peter confrontation that's been building for months which could have been a fun brawl, but maybe it was felt that Tony already got his at the hands of the Hulk and Thor. Anyways, Jarvis to the rescue with a deposit into his account via Tony.

Ever since Peter obtained the organic webshooters, (and I read the three books) we haven't really seen him shoot the webs from his arm. It's like maybe the artists didn't want to aknowledge that he has them. But they finally tackle it in this issue with the "explosion" of webs binding Tony completely and then in that little back-up at the end, giving us a detailed diagram of his new organic shooters. Just saying, it's the first really the organic web shooters have been addressed in this manner.

When this thing was announced as being a crossover between the three books, I was under the impression we would get this 4 part story told in 5 or maybe 6 weeks tops. Wrong!

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24
"One More Day" part 2- October 10th

Sensational Spider-Man #41
"One More Day" part 3- October 31st

Amazing Spider-Man #545
"One More Day" part 4- November 28th(!)

Was it always planned to stretch this far, or did Quesada get himself in over his head and shipping had to be delayed as far as it seems here?

The Clown Prince

[wonderfly]

Was it always planned to stretch this far, or did Quesada get himself in over his head and shipping had to be delayed as far as it seems here?


The latter. Originally, this entire storyline was to ship in August, I think. And yeah, it's because Quesada himself can be a slow artist at times, but I think Marvel is also using it as a way of getting more "Spider-Man 3x a month!" storylines in the can before that starts up in November, (or is it December?)

[Jordo]

Wow. That's...stupid. So the touching issue I read of Aunt May dying is just a pile-a-crap. Was this a retcon or was the whole actess thing planned all along? I'm gonna guess the former...Man I'm glad I didn't stick with Spider-Man...


-Jordan

[rggkjg1]

so, is it looking like this arc will be more "controversial" than sins past?

[Captain Highwind]

This may be the first Spider-Man arc I'll be purchasing in quite a while, but I'm not expecting anything.

No way they can fix everything they've done in just one arc, unless dimension-hopping is involved.

[Sandoz]

I hope the Spider-Marriage retcon rumor is just that, and all the "end of an era" stuff is just a big bluff on Marvel's part. If they really think that Mary Jane is the reason for the book's slow decline then it's just further proof that they don't understand their product or fanbase at all. The marriage isn't the problem; the fact that they greenlight terrible stories like "Sins Past," "The Other," and whatever the heck (Freudian slip alert: at first I spelled "hack") the Spider Totem thing was.

[Xurk]

Wow. That's...stupid. So the touching issue I read of Aunt May dying is just a pile-a-crap. Was this a retcon or was the whole actess thing planned all along? I'm gonna guess the former...Man I'm glad I didn't stick with Spider-Man...
You guess correctly, it was a classic case of a retcon. A shame really, seeing as how great AMZ #400 was and the way Aunt May was used for the first few years after her "resurrection", but thankfully, it got better after that.

[wonderfly]

You guess correctly, it was a classic case of a retcon. A shame really, seeing as how great AMZ #400 was and the way Aunt May was used for the first few years after her "resurrection", but thankfully, it got better after that.

Exactly: At least they've started to use Aunt May intelligently the last few years, (the one big reason to applaud JMS's run on Spider-Man).

I'd like for them to go ahead and kill Aunt May off at the end of this storyline, (because surely they wouldn't have the guts to bring her back AGAIN), but I think Peter's going to get his wish, and have her be "saved"...

[W.C.Reaf]

They haven't actually said who will die at the end of the story only that "Someone close to Peter will die". Aunt May's just the only one in mortal danger at the moment.

Personally I hope she dies at the end. I've got nothing against her but she's lived a good life and when JMS leaves after this Aunt May will probably go back into being a background character if she survives.

Quesada is the only one who wants the Spider-Marriage to end because he "feels it ages the character" So he plans to change that. I think the fact that Spidey has been around since the 60s and AMZ is currently up to #544 ages him.

If people want to read an age-less, marriage-less, Spidey then they can read Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Mary Jane Loves Spider-Man, and Ultimate Spider-Man. There's no need to do it in the main title.

[Matt Hazuda]

They haven't actually said who will die at the end of the story only that "Someone close to Peter will die". Aunt May's just the only one in mortal danger at the moment.I still think they'll have a cop-out and kill someone who hasn't really been used in any role in years, like robbie or Betty Brant or someone.

Also, either Loki or Doctor Strange still owes Spidey a favor I think, so I could see him wishing it so that no one ever knew his secret identity, thus meaning he never married MJ, since she didn't trust him, and Aunt May never got shot; and so Spidey has all the bad elements retconned out of his life, and you're left with a 30-something year old virgin Peter Parker (all comic book fans can relate to that, right? :p ). They already did the exact same story in The Flash, but that never stopped anyone before :sweat:

[Captain Highwind]

And after all is said and done, and Peter becomes single, I wish a guest writer would come along and mess up continuity again by marrying Peter off to a shrill, cigarette-dangling, trailer park housewife that lies on the couch all day talking on the phone, gradually sucking the life out of him by her very presence.

I wonder what Quesada would say to that.

[Stu]

And after all is said and done, and Peter becomes single, I wish a guest writer would come along and mess up continuity again by marrying Peter off to a shrill, cigarette-dangling, trailer park housewife that lays on the couch all day talking on the phone, gradually sucking the life out of him by her very presence.

I wonder what Quesada would say to that.

New monthly - My Name Is Peter!

[Shawn Hopkins]

I just think killing of MJ is a stupid idea. Because you don't get lighthearted stories about a Peter who is a swinging bachelor out of it again, you get depressing stories about a swinging widower. Divorce is just as bad. What would his adventures be like if he loses MJ? Sitting in his lonely apartment and crying while he clutches her picture?

I think they're going to go with a full blown, "oh no we did unt" reality wipe, the big ole reset button. The presence of a future Spider-Man in some of the teasers seems to hint to that.

By the way, if it goes one way I think it might this story has already been done and done well. There's an issue of the Incredible Hulk around 400 where Marlo "dies" and Rick Jones goes to all the mystic and science types he can find and asks them to break their rules by reviving her. Even Dr. Strange turns him down, so he later went to the Leader for help.

[Wonderwall]

New monthly - My Name Is Peter!

Best thing Ive read all week. I could see that being a hit ala Marvel Zombies.

[Spider-Man]

For such a "controversial" storyline this sure seemed a little boring. I thought the artwork was beautiful but I thought the cover price was a bit much. It seems like they may be using this storyline as a way to get some new readers in so I guess I can understand the Spider-Man history in the back but still you need alot of current Marvel kowledge to understand alot of what happens. But it just drags it seems. It's a continuation of last month's issue which also didn't go anywhere. But like I said I thought the art was beautiful. The rest? Could have been better.

[Xurk]

I'm giving One More Day the benefit of the doubt seeing as this was the opening issue for the storyline [even though it's actually just picking up where the previous arc left off, as Spider-Man pointed out].

I'm not the biggest fan of Quesada's artwork, but it was good enough. The doctor at the hospital willing to help due to Spider-Man saving his uncle once - I liked that, as did I like Jarvis showing up to help. Though, if he and May were so in love, I wonder why not much attention was paid to there relationship; the last time I remember them together was during The Other, and that has to be over a year ago, right?

My favourite parts of this issue all had to do with Tony. I liked his initial reaction to the news about May, him slipping back into the role of b*stard shortly thereafter and most of all, him sitting slouched in a chair*, surrounded by a photograph from "better times", wallowing in self-pity. These past weeks have been great for the people who despise Iron Man ever since Civil War started up, we can count:
- Hulk kicked his butt in WWH
- Thor humiliated him in Thor #3
- Spider-Man kicked his butt in this issue
:D

Now, let's see where the next issue moves the plot to... I'm hoping my guesses prove wrong [Dr. Strange doing some magic tongue-twisters and resetting the whole Spideyverse].

*Is the image of Tony sitting in a chair / standing at a control panel covered in red light, staring at a bunch of screens, supposed to be a visualization of how he sees things from inside his armor? I seem to recall that being done a long time ago in New Avengers and ever since, these type of panels show up frequently.

[RedKnight]

Now, let's see where the next issue moves the plot to... I'm hoping my guesses prove wrong [Dr. Strange doing some magic tongue-twisters and resetting the whole Spideyverse].

Wouldn't that make the Ultimate book redundant, though?

Regardless, I'm allowing myself to place some hope in this storyline (against my better judgment, I might add. :shrug: ) The Spider-Man books are, without a doubt, in need of a drastic, lasting change. I wouldn't want to be the one making it, but it is needed. Badly. The whole Spidey universe has just spiralled out of control.

Every couple of years, I'll spot a promising cover at the newsstand and pick up an issue, only for the whole storyline to inevitably take some insane nosedive. As a result, I usually just stick to Ultimate Spider-Man these days. That's actually pretty sad, because I remember devouring the main Spidey books when I was a kid.

So, yeah. We need a change.

[Spider-Man]

A pretty big spoiler is up in the new Lying In The Gutters (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=13). I dont want to ruin it, but the spoiler is pretty much what fans have been guessing since day one.

[Wonderwall]

That article is like a rajah.com report. Aunt May may or may not die, Peter and MJ may or may not get a divorce.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Wow. Won't give away the spoiler, but if it is true, it's fantastically lame and predictable. Glad I hesitated about buying the first issue of OMD and the jury's still out if I'll continue to read any Spider books after this.

At least there's still the Ultimate universe.

[Wolf Boy2]

I like the Peter/MJ marriage. WHY WOULD THEY MESS THAT UP. WHY. It wouldn't go over any better than Ben Reily went over (though I've never actually read that story arc).

I never figured out why a hero needs to be a bachelor or have love interests or anything.

The Spoilers seem to suggest that MJ will be removed from the picture (there's actually been spoilers suggesting that for the last 2 years). However, the spoilers also say that there will be no love interest in Peter's life. Well, if there's gonna be no love interest why get rid of Mary Jane?

Superman: The Animated Series avoided the Superman/Lois Lane relationship, and Justice League Unlimited only featured hints that a romance was going on behind the scenes. Clark Kent's love life never featured prominently in STAS/JLU. AND IT DID NOT HURT THE STORIES A BIT.

They need to let go of this Marvel philosphy of focusing on the alter ego and really give us some good stories about SPIDER-MAN. I'm rather sick of reading The Psycological Peter Parker instead of The Amazing Spider-Man. Especially now that his identity is public knowledge.

I doubt it will stay public, though. Comic writers never have the stones to leave shocking changes permanent. Just like DC (with help from the Spectre) gave Wally West/Flash his secret identity back and seperated him from his wife, I think Spider-Man is about to undergo the same predicable crap.

And if they do ... I stop buying.


I would like to see more stories like the early JMS stuff, minus Ezekiel and that crap about Spider-Man being a totem pole.

[Wonderwall]

What the hell does Superman TAS have anything to do with this?

[BCVM22]

see above

So you prefer a hero to not have a love interest or romantic connections, but then you ask why bother getting rid of Mary Jane? Huh?

Also, yeah, I don't see the relevance of the DCAU canon to the discussion.

[Wolf Boy2]

What the hell does Superman TAS have anything to do with this?
Superman TAS avoided romance almost entirely and focused on developing action stories. That's what Spider-Man should do. Mary Jane should just stay as his Alfred/Jarvis-esque support character to bounce things off of.


So you prefer a hero to not have a love interest or romantic connections, but then you ask why bother getting rid of Mary Jane? Huh?I didn't say he should have no romantic connections. I said that the stories do not nesscessarily need to center around singles romance. Superman on JLU was in a romantic relationship, but it was never a major part of the stories and it never needed to be.

Getting rid of Mary Jane is pointless unless they plan to create new love intrests for Peter. However if love intrests are not going to be a factor, than why get rid of her? She makes a great supporting character, why mess that up? Do we really NEED more brooding loner Peter like in the 60s?

He's married. Deal with it. Don't erase his memory.

EDITED FOR SPOILERS by moderator

[wonderfly]

Guys, there are others who haven't yet clicked on the link that Spider-Man posted above, (and who choose not to) but some of the recent comments in the last few posts are discussing those potential spoilers a bit too openly. Remember: use the spoiler tags if you want to discuss it here!!!

[Spider-Man]

Is there a street date for the next part of "One More Day"? I thought this was supposed to be weekly/bi-weekly.

[Russkafin]

Why not just have Mary Jane be a skrull?

[The Clown Prince]

Is there a street date for the next part of "One More Day"? I thought this was supposed to be weekly/bi-weekly.

I posted this on the first page of this thread, but I'll post it again for you. ;)

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24
"One More Day" part 2- October 10th

Sensational Spider-Man #41
"One More Day" part 3- October 31st

Amazing Spider-Man #545
"One More Day" part 4- November 28th(!)

This 4-part story WAS supposed to come out over the course of 5 or 6 weeks, but like all things that go with a big event story at Marvel, it was stretched out. Two probable reasons...

1) Joe Quesada got himself in over his head with the pencilling duties, and couldn't get it all out on the time that was originally stated.

2) This gives the rotating writing/artists teams to get a little further ahead in their stories when Amazing Spider-Man goes 3 times a week starting in December.

As for the spoiler that was posted, if this comes to pass, 'Amazing' WILL lose readers. This is how it's been for a long, long time and all I know is the "current situation." Same with a lot of fans. Most of the fans as a lot of Internet polls show are pro and for the "current situation." I don't think Quesada really knows what he's getting himself into IF this goes the way that's been hinted at for a while now.

The Clown Prince

[Stu]

That's a ridicolous wait between issues. How do they expect to keep the hype up, especially when part one was as filler as it comes?

Another boneheaded desicion that plagues the Spider-Man books.

[Wolf Boy2]

Why not just have Mary Jane be a skrull?
I know, why not just have her be a Hydro Man clone? Oh, wait they did that already. And fans just LOVED it, right? Right?

Peter and MJ being married is not some new marketing ploy made this year that they now have to try and undo because sales are dropping. This has been the status quo for Spidey since what, 1985? Until the last few years, I had never read any classic Lee/Romita Spider-Man, so a married web-head was all I knew. It's all a lot of readers ever knew.

I can't fathom why they would want to change it. Spider-Man didn't sell better in the 70s because Spider-Man was single -- they sold better because comics in general sold better back then.

I hate it when comics try to drastically reinvent the wheel. Don't get rid of MJ and don't make Peter Parker's identity secret anymore.

Although, with his identity being public, if he had some magic person or mad scientist erase him from May and MJ's mind and give them new identities somewhere else ... well, it would be interesting. How would Spider-Man handle voluntarily losing his support base in order to protect their lives? Poor Spider-Man would live in lonliness every day while his wife and aunt would not even know he ever existed.:crying:

Damn it, now I am starting to like that story idea ...

[RedKnight]

Oh boy...

I hear there are previews/rumors going around indicating that the Spider-Man books will soon feature a story involving Harry Osborn and Gwen... alive. So, the new assumption is that Marvel will not only erase the marriage, but actually turn back time 20 years.

This certainly would get Joey Q his young, single Peter back. At this point, I wouldn't put it past him to facilitate something like that.

Personally, I'd be royally pi**ed. Seriously, if that's what going to happen, they should have stuck to their guns back in the mid-90's and kept Ben Reily as the new, young, single Spider-Man. :mad: Every year that goes by just makes me more certain that it would have been the right move.

IIRC, they brought Peter back because many fans were turned off by the idea that their childhood hero had been a "fake" all along. Mind you, Marvel actually had everything Parker-related neatly tied up back then. Still, many fans didn't accept it (which annoys me to this day).

Looking back at that little debacle, how in the world does Joey Q think fans will respond if he wipes out 20 years worth of stories in one issue and then simply starts over?! I don't want to read that! I already did! In the end, something bad will happen to Gwen, Harry will go mad, and Peter and MJ will be together in some way, shape or form. That's just the way it is and the only way fans will ever accept it, IMHO. We don't need to rehash these developments over the next 20 years. I get plently re-runs on TV, I don't need them in my comics!

If Joe really that stupid, he deserves every amount of backlash he gets.

[Joe Wagner]

I hope I'm wrong, but I really don't like where this storyline is allegedly heading. As a HUGE Spidey fan, I am one of the few people that actually really enjoyed the Clone Saga story line (so much so that the Scarlet Spider could easily be my favorite comic character). However, the story line is looked at unfavorably because of the back and forth of who was and wasn't a clone. I think that the thing people miss with the entire Spider-Man story is that family has always been at the center. Spidey began fighting crime because his failure to stop a robber lead to the death of his Uncle Ben. He kept his identity secret to protect his Aunt May, and later to protect Gwen and MJ. After the initial elements of the Clone Saga began, Peter began to view Ben as a brother and not of a clone - and he was welcomed in Peter and MJ's home. One of the primary reasons he allowed Ben to take on the role of Spider-Man was so he could focus on MJ and the baby they were expecting.

As a fan of Spidey, MJ was always the one that was outside of his league and yet always faithful, loyal and concerned. She was everything he should have in his life. I think it is incredibly sad that the EiC of Marvel would decided that they simply can't tell a story of a married Peter Parker and, therefore, they have to remove that element from his life, as though it had never happened. I mean if I want a story about Spidey looking for his next date, I'm pretty sure I have almost 30 years of stories to look back on. Somehow it seems like more of a failure on the writing/creative side to allow this storyline to continue than it does on the character and the situation he is currently in.

Just my two cents....

-Joe!

[Peter Paltridge]

Gee, now Gwen showing up in Spider-Man 3 will make perfect sense! 9_9

[Wolf Boy2]

I said it once and I'll say it again: if they're NOT going to focus on Peter's love life, than what freaking difference does it make if he's single or
married???
But honestly. Did anyone really expect the changes from Civil War to be permanent?

[Captain Highwind]

I haven't started reading this arc yet, but I wasn't afraid to click the spoilers either.

Why didn't Marvel just admit that when a dead horse is beaten, it's time to cancel the book and take a breather. Didn't they do this with She-Hulk?

Honestly. Start another Untold Tales of Spider-Man series if you want to time-jump so bad.

[Spider-Man]

Newsarama has a preview of the next installment of "One More Day" which shows a bit more about how this arc unfolds. Click here (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=131688) for the preview.

[Joe Wagner]

Following up on the pages from Newsarama, it seems like the rumors are looking true. I think I'm going to hate this almost as much as Ben Reilly's demise....

-Joe!

[Wolf Boy2]

Although I have been nothing less than vocal about my feelings on where this story arc is going, I cannot deny that I love the cover artwork.

It's so old school. If only the stories were this old school.

On the bright side, if he can't send Peter as far back as the day May got shot, he ESPECIALLY wont be sending Peter back to his bachelor days.

[Joe Wagner]

Although I have been nothing less than vocal about my feelings on where this story arc is going, I cannot deny that I love the cover artwork.

It's so old school. If only the stories were this old school.

On the bright side, if he can't send Peter as far back as the day May got shot, he ESPECIALLY wont be sending Peter back to his bachelor days.

Who's to say that Dr. Strange is the one that actually helps Peter. One of the posters at the Newsarama board made an interesting point of a red bird that seems to be following Spidey through the first two issues of this saga. I believe the poster thought this could be Mephisto as it is the only one colored red while the rest are black. Then again, it could just be something completely minor and have no influence on the story.

-Joe!

[Spider-Man]

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #24

http://marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/0907/FNSpMan24_SM.jpg (http://marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/0907/FNSpMan24.jpg)

WRITER: J. Michael Straczynski
PENCILS: Joe Quesada

THE STORY: "One More Day," Part 2 of 4. One More Day continues as J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada present Part 2 of what will be the most talked–about comic event of the year. The stakes have never been higher for Peter Parker. At his darkest hours -- and he's had plenty -- Peter has always had one shoulder to lean on, one person who'd remind him who he is, who he was, and who he can be. Now he's about to lose that person. What would he do...what would you do, if you only had "One More Day?” PLUS: Director's Cut style extras!

Comments?

[Wolf Boy2]

One thing that bothers me is the scene where MJ is asking Peter what did Aunt May "believe in." Uh, Aunt May and Uncle Ben were always portrayed as some sort of devout Christian (probably Protestant). Especially in the movie where she was saying the Lord's Prayer.

Peter has been known to pray from time to time, though admittedly not often (and in a very "book of Job" 'why is this happening to me' sort of way). Heck, JMS is the one who probably wrote the most stuff to make Spidey and friends religious.

So why is he breaking with his own continuity?! How could MJ not know what May's beliefs were??

[Spider-Man]

So who else thinks that Mephisto is going to play a role in thise. There's been a few clues that Spider-Man will eventually make a "deal" in order to save Aunt May and I think he might play a role. It seems like it esepcially with the ending of this arc. So far the arc hasing been moving a bit slow but with only two parts left it needs to pick up to bring us to a satisfying conclusion if that's even possible at this point.

[En Sabah Nur]

Quiestion, who is the little girl at the end of FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #24? I don't recall her.

[The Clown Prince]

Quiestion, who is the little girl at the end of FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #24? I don't recall her.

Spider-Man's post above yours suggests that Mephisto might play a role in this story, hence the little girl we saw, and that red bird that kept showing up through out the pages.

Mephisto has been a theory thrown around by a lot of fans when this story began. It picks up a little more weight to it since even Doctor Strange can't do anything to reverse what's happened. And Strange too makes the comment that only a powerful force could defeat those creatures that help prevent tampering with history. What more powerful force is there than Mephisto if even Dr. Doom can't do anything?

The Clown Prince

[Spider-Man]

Mephisto has been a theory thrown around by a lot of fans when this story began. It picks up a little more weight to it since even Doctor Strange can't do anything to reverse what's happened. And Strange too makes the comment that only a powerful force could defeat those creatures that help prevent tampering with history. What more powerful force is there than Mephisto if even Dr. Doom can't do anything? On top of that I believe with Quesada and Bendis mention how Mephisto would be making a major comeback toward the end of 2007 and this seems to be a very likely option for his return.

[RedKnight]

So they're actually going to try and let a deal with the devil set up the future of the Spider-Man books? Wow... Talk about deus ex machina. Since when is Spider-Man about magic tricks, time travel and supernatural forces?

You know, they actually considered a similar course of action in order to explain away Ben Reily when it was determined that he had to go. At the time, cooler minds prevailed. This is just another example of how management has changed for the worse. :(

[Xurk]

@RedKnight: funny you brought that up, I think the exact same thing everytimg I read about all the mystical stuff which is probably involved with the ending of One More Day :) I'm guessing your knowlegde also stems from the Life of Reilly articles with Glenn Greenberg. For those of you not familiar with these, I've copied and pasted a long excerpt from the articles, which go into detail about all the stuff RedKnight mentioned above. I've placed it into a spoiler tag so that it doesn't take up an annoying amount of space in this thread :)


[...]

GLENN GREENBERG: Anyway, the end result of this rule was that no trip to the past could cause any changes to the Marvel Universe of the present. And under this rule, if Peter Parker was sent back five years, he wouldn't land in the time line that he left. We had to get around this rule, so the suggestion was made that Judas Traveller and Scrier could be brought back into the story line and be responsible for the time loop. The rationale was that these characters were presented as being so vastly powerful - Traveller had once said that he wasn't God, but he was pretty close - that we could just establish that they were able to sidestep this universal rule and make sure that Peter stayed in the same time line when he was sent back in time. That seemed to work, so we went with it. Then, a short time later, I had a new idea that I felt could be inserted into the story, so I asked for a lunch meeting with Brevoort and Budiansky to present it to them. We had the meeting, they thought that my idea could work, so I wrote up an 8-page memo that incorporated everything into one streamlined story treatment. In short, my idea was that we would reveal that Traveller wasn't exaggerating his closeness to God - that he, in fact, was a fallen angel, "an agent of good who somehow lost his way, and, as punishment, was sentenced to spend his existence wandering the Earth and learning the nature of good and evil." In bringing Traveller back into the story line, we would establish that he now believes in the inherent goodness of mankind, thanks to the example set by Spider-Man, that most human of super heroes. Convinced of mankind's goodness, Traveller would declare that he planned to use his powers to eradicate all evil from the Earth - at which point the enigmatic Scrier would say, "I cannot allow that to happen." We had previously seen that Scrier was working behind Traveller's back, perhaps undermining Traveller, and now we would see why. Scrier reveals his true self to Traveller.

Other important events would be Mary Jane's miscarriage, and the fact that Ben Reilly is beginning to have flashes of "memories that couldn't possibly be his, namely because they belong to Peter Parker!" Eventually, Peter and Ben would discover that neither of them is the clone - both test positive as the genuine article!

The rest of the scenario involved Traveller and Scrier, now clearly in direct conflict with each other, having concocted a contest - one in which winner would take all. "The contest, like so many of Traveller's recent experiments, would revolve around Spider-Man... (it) would settle Traveller and Scrier's dispute about the inherent nature of mankind. Spider-Man will represent all of humanity, and his actions during the contest will determine the outcome... and the winner." If Spider-Man's actions proved Traveller's theory that mankind is inherently good, then Traveller would win the contest and be allowed to remove all evil from Earth. If Spider-Man failed, then Scrier would win and Traveller would have to end his studies and would owe Scrier a very special payment.

Peter and Ben refuse to participate, but they're not given any choice in the matter. In a great show of power, as Ben Reilly and Mary Jane watch, Scrier blasts Peter Parker into oblivion! Peter is apparently disintegrated, gone forever! A horrified and anguished Ben, with vengeance in his heart, closes in to tear Scrier apart. But then Scrier asks what Ben would give to have Peter back. Would he offer his soul and risk eternal damnation, just to restore Peter to life? "Having come to love Peter as a friend and a 'brother,' and unable to bear the sorrow of Mary Jane, one of his closest and dearest friends, Ben says that he would be willing to give anything to bring Peter back... even his own soul."

And here came the kicker: "Scrier laughs, and finally reveals himself to Ben (and the readers) in his true form: MEPHISTO! He says, 'Okay, Peter's alive. In fact, he never died! Because you're Peter! You always have been Peter!"
Here's more: "Mephisto reveals that he never really disintegrated Peter, he just sent him back five years in time, de-aged him, stripped him of his last five years of memories, and placed him in the smokestack, where he would be found by the Jackal... Following his own agenda, the Jackal would then make Peter believe that he was the clone! This Peter would go off to become Ben Reilly, while the Peter Parker who was already living in that time period would continue in New York as Spider-Man."

My story treatment went on (and on and on and on), to discuss the ramifications of these revelations, how everything fit in with established continuity, the backstory of Traveller and Scrier's relationship, and so forth. Traveller would have lost the contest, because in saving Peter, Ben was in essence saving himself, thus supporting Mephisto's argument that mankind is at its core a very selfish beast. The "very special price" that Traveller had to pay Mephisto was his own soul.

I wrote in conclusion: "We know that involving Mephisto and all the metaphysical stuff is a bit far removed from the usual Spider-Man type of story, but the mysticism and metaphysics have been an undeniably prominent part of the series since Traveller and Scrier first appeared. The plan is to pull out all the stops, use these elements to tell and finish off the story once and for all, and then return to the types of Spider-Man stories we're all more familiar (and comfortable) with... After Scrier is revealed to be Mephisto, and Traveller fulfills his role in the saga, and we finish off this story line, we never have to see either of them again in the pages of Spider-Man comic."

Looking back on all this, I think it would have made for an intriguing, compelling, thought-provoking story... but not anything that should ever be done in a Spider-Man comic. In fact, what's so blatant to me now is how Spider-Man is completely overshadowed by the events of this story - he's little more than a plot device, a pawn. And that's not what the readers want to see. Hell, it's not what I would want to see, either! But somehow, I just got so wrapped up in this concept and the story possibilities and the fact that it solved so many of our problems that I lost sight of what makes for a good Spider-Man story. Obviously, I wasn't the only one, since Brevoort came up with the initial idea and Budiansky was onboard for it. But having presented myself in so many installments of this column as one of the very few "voices of reason" during the clone saga, I have to take the blame for being a key part of the "Time Loop" scenario.

Bob Budiansky distributed my story treatment to the Spider-Man writers and Marvel's on-staff continuity cop, Peter Sanderson, who responded with a 7-page memo of his own detailing what worked about the scenario and how things that didn't work could be made to work. This too was sent to the writers. Then Budiansky wrote up a 13-page master overview of his own that was distributed to everyone working on the Spider-Man books. This overview mapped out the whole "Time Loop" saga and proposed that the story line would be brought to a close in the Spider-Man books published in April of 1996.

Next time, I'll discuss why this scenario, which came so close to becoming a reality, was ultimately abandoned, and what came along to replace it.

[...]

GLENN GREENBERG: Last time, I went on at great length about the "Time Loop" scenario that was devised to wrap up the "clone era" of the Spider-Man books. It looked for a while like we were actually going to use this scenario, but as you know, we didn't. In this installment, I'll explain why.

First and foremost, the writers were a bit, shall we say, taken aback by the "Time Loop" concept. Dan Jurgens was perhaps the most vocal about his misgivings. "Time travel stories always give me a headache!" he wrote in response. "They're often hard to explain, seem like an easy way out, and are usually incredibly cumbersome."

Dan also argued against using Judas Traveller and Scrier as part of the solution to the clone saga. "If they're so powerful that they can create time loops, why the heck do they care about Spider-Man? (They) create a scenario in which Ben is yanked around by guys way more powerful than him."

Dan wanted to keep things simple. His solution: "Ben is the clone. Peter is real. That's the goal." Was it a flip-flop? Sure. A cop-out? Absolutely. But it was also the quickest, cleanest, simplest way to settle the matter. Dan's idea was that a classic Spider-Man villain would be behind the whole thing, preferably Doctor Octopus, who at that time was still believed to be dead (murdered by Kaine), but was actually operating as the mysterious Master Programmer. "Doc Ock was the first true super-villain (Spider-Man) ever fought, so it's kind of appropriate (that he be behind it all). Doc also knows now that Peter is Spider-Man, so he has the knowledge to pull this off… This is a story that could ultimately mean more to Spider-Man. It brings it down to a more real level than Scrier and Traveller and it seems somehow appropriate that one of his classic villains should be behind all this."

Tom DeFalco's response to the "Time Loop" was equally unenthusiastic. "Mephisto is not a Spider-Man villain," he wrote in a memo dated October 2, 1995. Further, he noted that "we ultimately learn the fate of the 'clone' Peter Parker and Ben Reilly from the ol' Prince of Lies himself." In other words, how can we trust anything that Mephisto says? Another thing DeFalco noted: "Neither Ben nor Peter plays a significant role in the story's resolution. Traveller becomes our major protagonist, and he is the one who must rescue the star of our series."

It's pretty interesting to read in retrospect and it makes me wonder why the current people in charge think it is a good idea, while ten years ago it was decided that it was just not a story which should be told in a Spider-Man book.

[Wolf Boy2]

It's pretty interesting to read in retrospect and it makes me wonder why the current people in charge think it is a good idea, while ten years ago it was decided that it was just not a story which should be told in a Spider-Man book.
**WARNING! RANT AHEAD**

The more I analyze J. Michael's writing, the less I like it. Don't think I am recanting on my love of "Sins Past" because I'm not. But the stuff about Ezekiel and the Spider-God and all that is just some WHACK hack.

Although I actually like his web-spinners being internal (it just makes more sense, IMO, than a 15-year old boy creating artificial web shooters). I didn't mind the poison stingers either (I think a lethal last resort is a good thing for him to have. But the spider god crap? WTF is that?!

Therefore, in light of all that mystical nonsense, it wouldn't really surprise me at all if they used Mephisto in this story. Keep in mind that the reason they avoided it before was because Peter couldn't be the main protaganist in that story. But Pete is definitely the main protaganist in "One More Day."

Are there very many people who want to see the Peter/MJ marriage undone? Because most fanboys I see on message boards are against any changes. Personally, I think Peter is too old for any "classic" style stories anyway. The man is pushing 30 years old. He's not in college. He's not in high school. Flash Tompson is not bullying him. He's not missing classes, he's teaching them. He's a grown man. Did you hear that, Marvel? GROWN MAN. If you want to tell "classic" stories, tell them in the Ultimate universe.

I've heard Marvel people make derogatory comments about "fanboys" being resistant to change ... but does anyone OTHER than "fanboys" even READ Spider-Man comics?! Let's be real here folks, Marvel 616 is about as mainstream as indie rock on MySpace. While it's true that Ultimate Spider-Man brought in a lot of new readers with its modern approach, Amazing Spider-Man and the rest of Marvel 616 are following 50-year old storylines that are (at this point) pretty much for the hardcore Marvel devotees only.

Instead of trying to alter or "update" their stories, Marvel should realize who their audience is and write accordingly. I have gotten sick of the classic "Marvel approach" to comics where you write character soap operas first and epic stories second. Why can't we get some good plot-driven epics like the DC animated series gave us? Civil War was a good start. Unmasking Spider-Man and making him a fugitive was also a good springboard for plot-driven stories. Yet instead of giving us good comics about Spidey being on the run (I was hoping for something like "The Fugitive" TV show from the 60s but with superheroes), we get this soapy tripe about Aunt May dying.

Okay ... end of rant.

[wonderfly]

I find it funny how Spider-Man did the whole "must find a way to save the ones I love" in the span of 2 pages, whereas it's taking Beast, (in the back of the X-Men books, where he's trying to save the Mutant race) 17 chapters just to come to the same conclusion: There's nothing you can do to change things!!!

Although, really, some of those people that Spider-Man turned to for help: Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Octopus, are they really saying those people couldn't help Aunt May? I've seen Mr. Fantastic regenerate his wife's arm from nothing, (during Mark Waid's run) and yet he can't come up with a way to heal Aunt May?!? And you're telling me Dr. Strange doesn't have a single "heal" spell in his arsenal?!? And Dr. Octopus, he could probably build Aunt May a cyborg body to house her brain, or something, if Peter was REALLY that desperate to keep her alive...:sad:

[The Clown Prince]

Well, I knew it was too good to be true to actually have two parts of this story come out in the same month. Marvel has delayed Sensational Spider-Man #41: 'One More Day' part 3 from it's October 31st date. Instead they'll try and aim to have two parts of this story come out in the same month in November.

The updated release schedule so far now is...

Senational Spider-Man #41: 'One More Day' part 3- November 7th

Amazing Spider-Man #545: 'One More Day' part 4- November 28th

The Clown Prince

[Wolf Boy2]

I find it funny how Spider-Man did the whole "must find a way to save the ones I love" in the span of 2 pages, whereas it's taking Beast, (in the back of the X-Men books, where he's trying to save the Mutant race) 17 chapters just to come to the same conclusion: There's nothing you can do to change things!!!

Although, really, some of those people that Spider-Man turned to for help: Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Octopus, are they really saying those people couldn't help Aunt May? I've seen Mr. Fantastic regenerate his wife's arm from nothing, (during Mark Waid's run) and yet he can't come up with a way to heal Aunt May?!? And you're telling me Dr. Strange doesn't have a single "heal" spell in his arsenal?!? And Dr. Octopus, he could probably build Aunt May a cyborg body to house her brain, or something, if Peter was REALLY that desperate to keep her alive...:sad:
What irritates me is that she told Peter she is ready to go! Though I have always doubted the canon of "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man", when he had Madame Webb channel Aunt May's spirit, May said she was ready to go in peace.

Parker is being incredebly naive here. Aunt May and Mary Jane knew damn well what they were getting into when they encouraged Peter to go public. It's like soldiers and police know that they could die doing their jobs. May accepted the risk and paid the price. Tragic, but it was her own choice.

[Spider-Man]

Newsarama (http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/OMDDelays.html) has just reported that the final two instalments to "One More Day" have been delayed.



SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41 (AUG072202)
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Pencils & 50/50 Cover by JOE QUESADA
50/50 Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
“ONE MORE DAY” Part 3
Rated A …$3.99
FOC—11/08/07, On-Sale—11/28/07

[Newsarama Note: the issue’s original on-sale date was 10/31]

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #545 (SEP072177)
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Pencils & 50/50 Cover by JOE QUESADA
50/50 Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
“ONE MORE DAY” PART 4
Rated A …$3.99
FOC—12/06/07, On-Sale—12/27/07

[Newsarama Note: the issue’s original on-sale date was 11/28]

They also released this teaser image:


http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/SpiderMansWorldAboutToChange.jpg

[Xurk]

Newsarama (http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/OMDDelays.html) has just reported that the final two instalments to "One More Day" have been delayed.



They also released this teaser image:


http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/SpiderMansWorldAboutToChange.jpg

Wow... they were already pushed back, but now pushed back another month?? :sad: Way to take the momentum out of what is supposed to be one of the events of the year!

As for that image: Ezekiel, Iron Man, a Skrull, Loki, Daredevil, ??? [Lady Thor?], Venom, Scarlett Witch, Gwen Stacy. It seems pretty random to me and feels like Marvel just wants to mess with our heads :p

[Kazuya Prower]

Wow... they were already pushed back, but now pushed back another month?? :sad: Way to take the momentum out of what is supposed to be one of the events of the year!

As for that image: Ezekiel, Iron Man, a Skrull, Loki, Daredevil, ??? [Lady Thor?], Venom, Scarlett Witch, Gwen Stacy. It seems pretty random to me and feels like Marvel just wants to mess with our heads :p

That's Valkyrie. And it ticks me off that the last two parts have been delayed. How can Venom save Spidey? And isn't Gwen dead?

[wonderfly]

*breaks down crying* :crying:

Why, Marvel, WHY?!?!


Way to take the momentum out of what is supposed to be one of the events of the year!Quoted for truth. What's more, this'll probably delay "Brand New Day" aka "Spidey 3x a month"! :sad:

I'm sure Joe Quesada's like, "You can guarantee that the Amazing Spider-Man 3 times a month will come out on time!!!" Well, as much of a delay as they've had, those issues BETTER come out on time!!! :mad:

http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/SpiderMansWorldAboutToChange.jpg

If I had to pick, I'd guess Loki. 2 things to consider:

1. Stracynski has used Loki in an Amazing Spider-Man storyline previously, (wherein, as I recall, Loki seemed to make friends with Spidey),

2. Stracynski is the writer on Thor. Any dangling plot lines in the pages of "One More Day" can be carried on over in the pages of Thor, (and you know that Stracynski loves his dangling plot lines - look how he found a way to explain what Dr. Strange was up to back in that issue of Spider-Man)!

[Ed Liu]

As for that image: Ezekiel, Iron Man, a Skrull, Loki, Daredevil, ??? [Lady Thor?], Venom, Scarlett Witch, Gwen Stacy. It seems pretty random to me and feels like Marvel just wants to mess with our heads :p

As Kazuya Prower mentioned, the woman is Valkyrie, but Lady Thor is pretty close. She was killed a while ago, but I guess she got better recently.

Also, that Skrull in particular looks like one of the Super Skrulls, guessing based on his proximity to members of the Fantastic Four. I don't know that this matters a lot -- I believe two different Super Skrulls have appeared in Young Avengers and Runaways, but I don't know how those particular Skrull characters are tying in to anything else. I think there was one in last year's cosmic crossover event (Annihilation? Or is that this year's?) but I thought he was killed or something. Then again, I thought Valkyrie was dead too, so just shows what I know ;).

-- Ed

[The Clown Prince]

I'm just utterly speechless when it comes to these delays. December 27th by the time we get the get the conclusion! :mad: This whole thing was ORIGINALLY supposed to be told in the months of August and September. Why, why did Quesada have to draw this? The editor of Marvel has to do draw the Spider-Man story of the year and because he's soooo bogged down it seems with editor duties as well, this gets pushed back until the end of December, AND Amazing 3x a month gets bumped to January.

Just blows my mind. Marvel can't for the life of them EVER, EVER get a big event story out on time. Not in the Ultimate Universe, not in the 616 universe. I mean hell, World War Hulk #5 has been pushed back until the middle of November.

As for the image, some of those seem random to throw us off. There is no image of Mephisto there like a lot of us have been suspecting with him. But Loki might be pretty credible. Plus, aren't all the missing Gods of Asgard trapped inside the bodies of humans? That was a "little girl" offering to help Peter. And Strazinski is writing Thor. And that's not Qwen Stacey, but her daughter. The one from that wonderful Sins Past story. Ezikiel maybe, another Strazinski character, but I thought he was dead? And they wouldn't bring back Scarlett Witch for this. I think when Marvel brings her back into the regular fold, it won't be in 'Amazing'.

But God, those delays!!! :mad:

The Clown Prince

[Lorendiac]

As for the image, some of those seem random to throw us off. There is no image of Mephisto there like a lot of us have been suspecting with him. But Loki might be pretty credible. Plus, aren't all the missing Gods of Asgard trapped inside the bodies of humans? That was a "little girl" offering to help Peter. And Strazinski is writing Thor. And that's not Qwen Stacey, but her daughter. The one from that wonderful Sins Past story.


Actually, I assumed at first glance that it was supposed to be Clone-Gwen, the one who was created by Gerry Conway in the mid-70s in order to appear to bring Gwen Stacy back from the dead for several issues, without really bringing her back from the dead. As far as I know, that particular Clone-Gwen hasn't been heard from for a decade or so now (I think Miles Warren, or a clone of Miles Warren, was cohabiting with a different clone of Gwen, but I could be wrong; I didn't actually read much of the Clone Saga of the mid-90s).

If I'm right, then there's no telling what that particular clone girl has been up to, these last several years!

[Captain Highwind]

So I guess they're trading in Mephisto for Loki?

[HellCat]

If it hasn't happened already, you know people are gonna have fun adding other people into that teaser image.

To be honest, this is why I never fully got into comics. Stories are driven by writers whims and cheap sale pushes. Does ANYONE still believe it when a comic company says "So and so's life will NEVER be the same again!"? I just take it as given now it's short hand for "...Until we retcon it half a year later because fans hated it".

EDIT- He he he...

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k22/HellCat86/onerpersonHC.jpg

[Hades]

Anyone know when the second part to One More Day comes out? I've had the first part for what seems like a month now, but I have yet to see part 2.

[wonderfly]

You missed it. It came out Oct. 10th. (http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?date=2007-10-10) Unless you were referring to pt. 3? It's been delayed till next month. (http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/OMDDelays.html)

[Hades]

You missed it. It came out Oct. 10th. (http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?date=2007-10-10) Unless you were referring to pt. 3? It's been delayed till next month. (http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/OMDDelays.html)

Oh well, I'll pick up part 2 the next time I go to the comic store. It is no big deal. I do plan to stop reading TASM after this parter is done since the series has been a piece of crap over the last year (well, actually, after the Sins of the Past storyline, it got sucky), and yet, I hoped it would become just as great as it was when Straczynski first started.

[wonderfly]

Oh well, I'll pick up part 2 the next time I go to the comic store. It is no big deal. I do plan to stop reading TASM after this parter is done since the series has been a piece of crap over the last year (well, actually, after the Sins of the Past storyline, it got sucky), and yet, I hoped it would become just as great as it was when Straczynski first started.

Well, you do know that an all new creative team is coming on board after Stracynski leaves, don't you? Maybe you should give them a shot before deciding to quit the title...*shrug*

[Hades]

Well, you do know that an all new creative team is coming on board after Stracynski leaves, don't you? Maybe you should give them a shot before deciding to quit the title...*shrug*

Straczynski is leaving? That sucks. And no, I'm quitting because I just do not have the funds anymore to buy every comic series I have been getting. I just recently stopped on Catwoman because the series turned to crap, along with Spawn, Batman, and now Spider-Man.

The only series left I plan to get are Jonah Hex, Countdown, Conan (which ends soon), Beast Wars (2 issues left), and Gargoyles. Oh, and maybe Death of the New Gods depending on how the first issue goes.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Straczynski is leaving? That sucks. And no, I'm quitting because I just do not have the funds anymore to buy every comic series I have been getting. I just recently stopped on Catwoman because the series turned to crap, along with Spawn, Batman, and now Spider-Man.

The only series left I plan to get are Jonah Hex, Countdown, Conan (which ends soon), Beast Wars (2 issues left), and Gargoyles. Oh, and maybe Death of the New Gods depending on how the first issue goes.

Excuse me bud, do you realise that part 2 of this story is in Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man title? It has to be mentioned in the end of the story or the last page of the issue.

[Stu]

Sensational Spider-Man #41

http://www.marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/uploaded/0.603543001187726247image_small.jpg

The most-talked about – and controversial – comic event of the year continues, brought to you by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada! Brace yourself, Spidey fans, after this, nothing will be the same for Peter Parker!
The stakes have never been higher. At his darkest hours – and he's had plenty – Peter has always had one shoulder to lean on, one person who'd remind him who he is, who he was, and who he can be. Now he's about to lose that person. What would he do...what would you do, if you only had "One More Day?"

Comments?

[Spider-Man]

Well this has played out predictably. This is happening just like the spoilers earlier (which were said to be false) said they would. And I have to say I'm really disappointed. Making a deal with the devil? How does this fit in with Spider-Man at all. It's so out there and riduculous. The artw as good, I will admit, but . . .everything else about this? Not so much.

We now have just one more part to go before Brand New Day (speculation discussion (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=199844))

[Stu]

Most people seem really impressed with the artwork - I'm really not liking it at all. I loved his Daredevil stuff from a few years back but I wasn't fond of his Spider-Man then either - it looks pretty bad here, in my opinion.

JMS still doesn't get Spider-Man, I'm starting to think Quesada doesn't either. Spider-Man is all about extraordinary things happening to ordinary people - the every man, not deals with the devil and butterfly effects.

I'm looking forward to this being over and hopefully a significant increase in the quality of these books, otherwise I'll probably just stop reading them.

[Shantosh9500]

Well i have to say that Joe Q really improved on his Peter and MJ. Too bad he took a loooooong time to do that and delaying the books. Compared to the story of the previous issue (which is a slight improving over the first), this issue however is a real pain in the neck. I mean Spidey making a deal with the Devil?

[wonderfly]

One more issue to go, and I have to say, it's still ridiculously hard to avoid spoilers for this storyline...I think someone on here mentioned Mephisto in an offhand remark, and that made a bell ding inside my head, (I thought, "Of course! That's how they'll change things!") so this issue wasn't much of a surprise...

So while there was little surprise in the reveal of Mephisto himself, the scenes leading up to Mephisto were nice. I love alternate "What If" tales, and seeing these two different types of Peter Parker were a nice twist, (one becoming a bitter nerd, the other a lonely billionaire) and it made for fascinating character explorations. Those "What If's" leave out the death of Uncle Ben, so it's unclear if Uncle Ben still met his demise at the hands of the burglar, (and what effect that had on Peter)...but I otherwise enjoyed those scenes.

And as for the "deal with the devil" laid out before Peter and MJ, I have to say I was intrigued. Obviously, they take the deal: we have enough hints from Marvel, even without spoilers, to know that the marriage status quo is changed come "Brand New Day". But it was nice that Mephisto didn't want anyone's soul, (a tired plot device indeed). Instead, he just wanted to ruin Peter's happiness, (at the cost of sparing Aunt May's life).

I find that to be a very meaningful choice: if you could spare someone's life, (someone you care deeply for) at the cost of breaking up a long and meaningful relationship, (in this case, Peter and MJ's marriage) then would you take that risk? I suspect Peter and MJ decision next issue is based on the hope that they'll meet up down the road and rekindle their love. I think that as long as there is the potential for our two star-crossed lovers to reunite, (while at the same time exploring Peter and MJ again as single characters) then I hold out hope that "Brand New Day" will be a plot line worth exploring. Especially if there's potential for payback against Mephisto at a later date, (if you're going to bring him into the story, he better show back up again on a semi-frequent basis...he shouldn't be used just as a Deus Ex Machina here in one single storyline).

My praise aside, I'm still way past ready for JMS to leave the Spidey-verse. JMS's strength lies in character exploration, (with our heroes struggling towards self-enlightenment), and it makes for rich character studies, but that often doesn't make for great superhero/supervillian battles. In fact, there hasn't really been a satisfactory use of supervillians during JMS' run, in my opinion, (all supervillians that have appeared are either one-note characters, or they are used as mirrors to reflect against Peter's virtues). It's past time for a writer like Dan Slott to come on board, (Slott's strength lies in plot exploration, rather than character exploration). Put another way, the far-fetched and whimsical, (yet intriguing) plots that Slott comes up with reveals insights into his heroes personalities, whereas JMS' plots revolve around the heroes personalities leading into quests of self-exploration. But that's my opinion...

More thoughts to come next issue upon the conclusion...

[GregX]

JMS Slams "One More Day"


Speak of the devil and he shall appear....

For whatever it's worth, the situation is not as clear cut as one
might hope. The reality of any writer workingfor any company, DC or
Marvel or Image, is that when you're handed a franchise character,
you're basically entrusted with something that the company owns, and
the company has final say in what happens to that character, because
as a writer, you're only there for a certain amount of time and then
the next guy has to come in. Spider-Man belongs to Marvel, not to me,
and at the end of the day, however much I may disagree with things,
and however much I may make it very CLEAR to all parties that I
disagree, I have to honor their position.

In the Gwen storyline, yes, I wanted it to be Peter's kids, Joe over-
rode that, which is his right as EIC. I got the flack for that
decision, but them's the breaks.

In the current storyline, there's a lot that I don't agree with, and I
made this very clear to everybody within shouting distance at Marvel,
especially Joe. I'll be honest: there was a point where I made the
decision, and told Joe, that I was going to take my name off the last
two issues of the OMD arc. Eventually Joe talked me out of that
decision because at the end of the day, I don't want to sabotage Joe
or Marvel, and I have a lot of respect for both of those. As an
executive producer as well as a writer, I've sometimes had to insist
that my writers make changes that they did not want to make, often
loudly so. They were sure I was wrong. Mostly I was right.
Sometimes I was wrong. But whoever sits in the editor's chair, or the
executive producer's chair, wears the pointy hat of authority, and as
Dave Sim once noted, you can't argue with a pointy hat.

So at the end of the day, all one can do is try to do the best one can
with the notes one is given, and try to execute them in a professional
way...because who knows, the other guy may be right. The only thing I
*can* tell you, with absolute certainty, is that what Joe does with
Spidey and all the rest of the Marvel characters, he does out of a
genuine love of the character. He's not looking to sabotage anything,
he's not looking to piss off the fans, he genuinely believes in the
rightness of his views not out of a sense of "I'm the boss" but
because he loves these characters and the Marvel universe.

And right or wrong, you have to respect that.

jms

http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17697

[Xurk]

Wow. I'm pretty surprised he just came out with that, you'd think that he wouldn't make his stance on the whole situation known [since it differs so much from Joe Q's] while still under contract at Marvel... I wonder how / if Marvel or Joe will respond to this.

[JLU Dude]

Speak of the devil and he shall appear....

For whatever it's worth, the situation is not as clear cut as one
might hope. The reality of any writer workingfor any company, DC or
Marvel or Image, is that when you're handed a franchise character,
you're basically entrusted with something that the company owns, and
the company has final say in what happens to that character, because
as a writer, you're only there for a certain amount of time and then
the next guy has to come in. Spider-Man belongs to Marvel, not to me,
and at the end of the day, however much I may disagree with things,
and however much I may make it very CLEAR to all parties that I
disagree, I have to honor their position.

In the Gwen storyline, yes, I wanted it to be Peter's kids, Joe over-
rode that, which is his right as EIC. I got the flack for that
decision, but them's the breaks.

In the current storyline, there's a lot that I don't agree with, and I
made this very clear to everybody within shouting distance at Marvel,
especially Joe. I'll be honest: there was a point where I made the
decision, and told Joe, that I was going to take my name off the last
two issues of the OMD arc. Eventually Joe talked me out of that
decision because at the end of the day, I don't want to sabotage Joe
or Marvel, and I have a lot of respect for both of those. As an
executive producer as well as a writer, I've sometimes had to insist
that my writers make changes that they did not want to make, often
loudly so. They were sure I was wrong. Mostly I was right.
Sometimes I was wrong. But whoever sits in the editor's chair, or the
executive producer's chair, wears the pointy hat of authority, and as
Dave Sim once noted, you can't argue with a pointy hat.

So at the end of the day, all one can do is try to do the best one can
with the notes one is given, and try to execute them in a professional
way...because who knows, the other guy may be right. The only thing I
*can* tell you, with absolute certainty, is that what Joe does with
Spidey and all the rest of the Marvel characters, he does out of a
genuine love of the character. He's not looking to sabotage anything,
he's not looking to piss off the fans, he genuinely believes in the
rightness of his views not out of a sense of "I'm the boss" but
because he loves these characters and the Marvel universe.

And right or wrong, you have to respect that.

jms

http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17697

And right or wrong, I have the right to send Marvel a letter saying I don't like where they're going or what they're doing and don't have to but it if I don't like it. I don't like where One More Day's going, I didn't like where Avengers Disassembled went, I didn't like where House of M went, and I didn't like where Civil War went, so I refuse to shell out money for stuff I don't like. I'm sorry but this wasn't the right way to go and I think Quesada will just alienate a lot of fans in the long run.

Though, on a lighter, but related, note, I do wonder how this news will affect what will happen in the months to come.

[Ed Liu]

Though, on a lighter, but related, note, I do wonder how this news will affect what will happen in the months to come.

Upcoming headline: "J. Michael Straczynski signs exclusive contract with DC Comics" ;).

-- Ed

[JLU Dude]

Upcoming headline: "J. Michael Straczynski signs exclusive contract with DC Comics" ;).

-- Ed

I was wonderig if it would impact Brand New Day (which I hope it does, for the negative) but that would be funny.:D

[wonderfly]

From reading his statement, I don't think he "slams it" so much as he "politefully disagrees with it". :)

[Matt Hazuda]

Upcoming headline: "J. Michael Straczynski signs exclusive contract with DC Comics" ;).

-- EdDammit Ed that's what I was thinking :sweat:

[Darking]

From reading his statement, I don't think he "slams it" so much as he "politefully disagrees with it". :)

Yeah. There's also the fact that we don't know what exactly he's finding disagreeable. It could be the execution rather than the result. After all, he did want Gwen to have babies, but he wanted Peter rather than Osborne to be the father.

[Antiyonder]

Frankly the argument that MJ is a supermodel is weak one. If I'm correct, it was solved by ruining her modeling career and switching her to a job that's less glamorous.


The only thing I
*can* tell you, with absolute certainty, is that what Joe does with
Spidey and all the rest of the Marvel characters, he does out of a
genuine love of the character. He's not looking to sabotage anything,
he's not looking to piss off the fans, he genuinely believes in the
rightness of his views not out of a sense of "I'm the boss" but
because he loves these characters and the Marvel universe.

While he may not have anything personal against the fans, it's clear his decision is based on personal feelings and thus is unprofessional.

I mean there's no legitament way to break up Spidey and MJ. If the revelation of her husband being a clone or the abduction of their child didn't do so, then it's hard to see them permanently breaking up to begin with.

[Jin Kazama]

Now, granted, I haven't read Spider-Man outside of Ultimate for years now (things like OMD/BND being part of that reason, but that's another rant), but since this is about creator issues more than it's about the storyline, I must ask.

If JMS had such a problem with it, why not just not do it? I know he's been on the character for a while, and has been a bit part of Spider-Man for a while. But if you don't like a storyline, I don't care how much you try, you're not going to put 100% into it. So why not get someone that does like the idea to write it, so that they can put a decent effort into it? Instead of screw over the fans?

I mean, what's more important? A name on a cover or a story people will actually buy?

[GregX]

Now, granted, I haven't read Spider-Man outside of Ultimate for years now (things like OMD/BND being part of that reason, but that's another rant), but since this is about creator issues more than it's about the storyline, I must ask.

If JMS had such a problem with it, why not just not do it? I know he's been on the character for a while, and has been a bit part of Spider-Man for a while. But if you don't like a storyline, I don't care how much you try, you're not going to put 100% into it. So why not get someone that does like the idea to write it, so that they can put a decent effort into it? Instead of screw over the fans?

I mean, what's more important? A name on a cover or a story people will actually buy?

You see, in the business world, there exists this thing called contracts. Especially in the entertainment business. The contract tells the writer what he will be paid for his work, and how long his contract is for. It also guarantees that the employer gets the work done, and that the writer can't just pull out anytime he damn well feels like it.

So, if JMS just refused, Marvel could sue him for breach of contract.

This has been Real World 101.

[JohnCrichton]

What was done that he doesn't agree with? And what'd he mean about Peter's kids? O_o

[JLU Dude]

What was done that he doesn't agree with?

The break-up of the marriage between Spider-Man and MJ. The writing of the wall's that, more or less, what's going to happen and he said in an earlier interview that he personally liked the marriage.

Personally, I hope it tanks. Honestly, I don't it will, though.:(:mad: People will complain, but in the end OMD/Brand New Day will make a lot of money.

[Ed Liu]

While he may not have anything personal against the fans, it's clear his decision is based on personal feelings and thus is unprofessional.

I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out how you can tell a story that's worth anything at all without basing it at least a little bit on your personal feelings. In creative endeavors, it seems unprofessional NOT to base your story decisions on personal feelings.

-- Ed

[Lorendiac]

You see, in the business world, there exists this thing called contracts. Especially in the entertainment business. The contract tells the writer what he will be paid for his work, and how long his contract is for. It also guarantees that the employer gets the work done, and that the writer can't just pull out anytime he damn well feels like it.

So, if JMS just refused, Marvel could sue him for breach of contract.

This has been Real World 101.


I've never actually seen any of those "exclusive" contracts that Marvel has signed with some of the creators. For all I know, there could be a clause that says: "You can't withdraw in the middle of the term of your contract, but we can cancel it with a unilateral decision from our end if we conclude that you have committed any of the following sins: 1) Publicly suggesting that any of the plots we order you to script are Less Than Perfect. 2) . . . " and so forth.

I have no idea whether or not there are such escape clauses in JMS's contract, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that there were . . .

[Antiyonder]

I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out how you can tell a story that's worth anything at all without basing it at least a little bit on your personal feelings. In creative endeavors, it seems unprofessional NOT to base your story decisions on personal feelings.

-- Ed

Except that Joe isn't the one in charge of writing. That and like the editors before them, the marriage is more of a scapegoat so the company doesn't have to face facts that poor writing and endless crossovers are hurting sales on the book. Crossovers are good every now and then, but have them too much the appeals lost.

[Jin Kazama]

You see, in the business world, there exists this thing called contracts. Especially in the entertainment business. The contract tells the writer what he will be paid for his work, and how long his contract is for. It also guarantees that the employer gets the work done, and that the writer can't just pull out anytime he damn well feels like it.

So, if JMS just refused, Marvel could sue him for breach of contract.

This has been Real World 101.

I'm sure that the contract reads that he has to write a certain number of issues for the title, or that he has to write from point-a to point-b in time (which I doubt, given delays and such). That being the case, he can always opt out of this storyline and write a different one, fulfilling his contract.

I doubt the contract reads "you have to write these storylines for this character."

[JLU Dude]

Just out of curisoty, could something like this affect the sales from OMD/Brand New Day and if so, what are the odds and in what way?

[Russkafin]

They also released this teaser image:


http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/SpiderMansWorldAboutToChange.jpg

Three issues in, one to go... and none of these characters have been incorporated yet. Interesting.

[Matt Hazuda]

Three issues in, one to go... and none of these characters have been incorporated yet. Interesting.Loki still owes Spidey a favor from way early in JMS' run I believe, so it could be him. JMS is working on Thor as well, so he could easily tie the two together since Loki has not been "found" yet in that book.


Just out of curisoty, could something like this affect the sales from OMD/Brand New Day and if so, what are the odds and in what way?It will do nothing if not increase sales cause comic book fans are big whiny babies, but at the end of the day, they'll go back to the books they ever so love to complain about. That itself is the biggest problem in the industry today.

[JLU Dude]

It will do nothing if not increase sales cause comic book fans are big whiny babies, but at the end of the day, they'll go back to the books they ever so love to complain about. That itself is the biggest problem in the industry today.

The sad thing is that I think you're right. If they really wanted to change things, they'd stop buying the books to send their message. Complaining in of itself isn't gonna do any good.

[wonderfly]

Loki still owes Spidey a favor from way early in JMS' run I believe, so it could be him. JMS is working on Thor as well, so he could easily tie the two together since Loki has not been "found" yet in that book.

Or it could be that Marvel was throwing us a total fake-out, trying to throw us off the trail of Mephisto appearing...

[Sandoz]

Or it could be that Marvel was throwing us a total fake-out, trying to throw us off the trial of Mephisto appearing...
Because outright lying to your readers over an already controversial storyline is always a good idea...

[Matt Hazuda]

Or it could be that Marvel was throwing us a total fake-out, trying to throw us off the trial of Mephisto appearing...It just seems like JMS wouldn't leave that plot thread hanging like that when it seems like Spidey is going to be leaving the world of the mystical once Brand New Day starts probably. Be nice to have some closure on it.

[Ed Liu]

Or it could be that Marvel was throwing us a total fake-out, trying to throw us off the trail of Mephisto appearing...

Nah. Look at the ad text. "Only one person in the Marvel Universe can save Spider-Man! But AT WHAT COST?" The last panel of OMD will be one of these characters saying, "I could have saved Spider-Man. But the cost was just too high so I said, 'Eh, he's a big boy. He can handle a little adversity in his life.'"

(I should REALLY stop making fun of a storyline that I am so determined not to pay attention to...:p)

-- Ed

[GregX]

This whole thing has inspired the creation of my new blog:

Greg's Blog of Clue-by-Fours
http://gregxb.blogspot.com/

[Ducard]

It will do nothing if not increase sales cause comic book fans are big whiny babies, but at the end of the day, they'll go back to the books they ever so love to complain about. That itself is the biggest problem in the industry today.

This isn't always the case though. Didn't sales plummet when Peter was revealed to be a clone?

[Lorendiac]

The sad thing is that I think you're right. If they really wanted to change things, they'd stop buying the books to send their message. Complaining in of itself isn't gonna do any good.

I almost never buy monthly issues of anything from DC or Marvel, anymore. And not half as many TPB collections of recent story arcs as I used to buy. That's been my habit for a few years now. So far, my message doesn't appear to have made much impact on DC or Marvel . . . but I'm doing my part, and I used to be a big, regular customer for many of their titles in the late 90s/early 2000s! So I'm not taking the blame for subsidizing the junk they often publish now! Somebody else will have to take responsibility for that!

(Pardon me while I take a moment to polish up my halo, I say modestly . . . ;))

[Xurk]

I finally got around to reading part three of One More Day... I think this story has lost me with this issue. I thought the pace would pick up by now, but with one issue left I'm bored to death!

The alternate universe versions of Peter were slightly interesting, but that's been done before, back in AMZ #500, and probably even before that [even though I can't remember just now]. What annoys me the most is how dumb Peter is in this issue, just following all these "imaginary" people around and accepting rides from them and letting them talk to him the way they are, when they're clearly strangers. It's so jarring, because it's not like he has been drugged or he is dreaming, when he meets this little girl at the beginning of the previous issue, he is wide awake and outside on the streets.
Another thing: why in heaven's name does he pull his mask up at the beginning of the story with the girl, and leave it so for the rest of the issue? I know he's unmasked to the world and everyone subsequently knows who he is, but if he doesn't care anymore, why does he put it on before going out the door window?? In the movies it can be explained away by wanting to give the actor more face screen time, but here it makes no sense.

What did get a cynical chuckle out of me was Mephisto saying: "...I want your marriage.", as I can literally hear Joe Quesada sitting behind his desk saying that :p

The conclusion better be astounding, because this story isn't going to be saved by any less. I just pray that the "relaunch" with Brand New Day is worth all of this mess.

[Shantosh9500]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Shantosh9500/759c13d7f91a0537c7b1121xo4.jpg

[Sandoz]

Awesome, I've been waiting for that photomanip.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Shantosh9500/759c13d7f91a0537c7b1121xo4.jpg
That sucks.
No marriage?
The first thing that should be defaulted is spiderman getting in the avenger and giving them his secret, or maybe before May discovers Peter's torned suit, injuries and web shooters

[Xurk]

Ha! Thanks for that Photoshop, exactly how I pictured it :p


or maybe before May discovers Peter's torned suit, injuries and web shooters
I disagree; the story JMS wrote about May finding out Peter's secret is one of his best stories since he was put on AMZ and also one of the best "recent" stories told in the Spideyverse.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Ha! Thanks for that Photoshop, exactly how I pictured it :p


I disagree; the story JMS wrote about May finding out Peter's secret is one of his best stories since he was put on AMZ and also one of the best "recent" stories told in the Spideyverse.
I know, I loved that story very much that I rate it 4.5/5, but it's about the changes I want to see happening as she still believes him a menace as Spiderman. That story however will remain, but it has one gigantic mistake against what's been said for decades in the Spiderman realm:
Always, especially in Amazing Fantasy #15 and in Amazing Spiderman #200 Ben Parker was murdered inside of his house, May explained to Peter that he was angry after an argument and never returned inside the house. Never has there been the explanation that she lied to sooth Peter and don't feel all this pain for himself, it remained under her story that Ben was shot by a burglar far from Parker's house where he originally stood up to him

[MattThomasM2B]

So, Hey....


http://i13.tinypic.com/8152op5.jpg

[Sandoz]

Wait, Harry's alive now? What?!

[Captain Highwind]

By the powers of ret'conn! D:

[Shantosh9500]

SPOILERS
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Okay lets see first there was Peter waking up seeing MJ worrying after that its just the talk with MJ saying perhaps it was the the timt to let May go and not go through with the deal then Peter still says things like its his fault and the bullet was meant for him and not her. After that Mephisto appears and MJ made another deal with him that he can't refuse so that Peter might have a little chance of happiness then Mephisto shows Peter and MJ two possibilites that might happen, 1st would be woman who would be a possibility yet to happen then and 2nd would be the little girl who would have been MJ and Peter's child. After that the deal has been sealed and Peter and MJ had one final kiss. Then Peter wakes and rushes off to a party for none other than Harry Orsborn who has been dead for 20 years and has been brought back to life. There Peter sees MJ and the new characters that will appear in Brand New Day were also there and then everybody cheers for a "Brand New Day".

Well i guess our worst Nightmares have finally came true fellow Spidey fans. If you look at the credits you can see that Quesada's name with JMS's as co-writers showing that Joe Q is resposible for OMD and not JMS's idea. Also the art is alot worst than the pervious issue though the pages after the deal was made like the page above wasn't really that bad. So overall this entire crossover is a total abomination and a terrible way to end JMS's run on Amazing. Not only the deal has been made but bringing back Harry Osborn from the dead was a terrible idea even after killing him off in Spider-Man 3 but i have to say that was the only part that got me interested. I'm really going to miss JMS. Really. He created some of the best Spidey moments i have ever read like Aunt May finding out that Peter is Spidey, His first fight with Morlun, Spidey witnessing his future self getting killed, Turning into a teacher in his old school and last but not least the brilliant 9/11 issue. I even thought that Civil War Spider-Man was good. So overall i'm giving this 3 stars. One each for Miki and Isanove and on for JMS for giving us an "Amazing" run on Amazing Spider-Man. None for Joe Q.

[MattThomasM2B]

At least organics (and stingers by association) were wiped out?

[Captain Highwind]

...Spectacular Spider-Man #200's so going to go up in value.

[wonderfly]

Allright, people, let's be clear here:

The last chapter of "One More Day" isn't officially out till tomorrow, (Friday) thanks to the delay from Christmas. I'm not sure how some of you got advanced copies of it, but you're discussing it openly, without the use of spoiler tags, the day before it's release.

In other words, people are stopping by this thread, (like myself :sad:) expecting to see discussion about the last issue, or people talking theories of what they think is in the next issue, only to find actual discussion of the last chapter.

Yes, in a talkback thread, you can discuss the actual issue without spoiler tags, but you should wait until the day it's actually released! Otherwise, please use spoiler tags!!!

We now resume our regularly scheduled discussion, already in progress...

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Now there's a surprise, Harry's alive and partying, at least Norman 2nd won't be an orphan(an orphan is the one who loses his father in our terms of speaking(in Arabic), someone who loses his/her mother or loses both parents is called something different). I love the organic webbing, but I never read an issue with stingers. They should go back to the early Romita/Kane/Andru art style, now those were golden days for comics before people start to imitate McFarlane's style

[wonderfly]

Allright, people, NOW you can discuss the issue openly!

Amazing Spider-Man #545

http://www.marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/1107/ama_sm545_SM.jpg

Cover by Joe Quesada
Written by J. Michael Stracynski and Joe Quesada
Pencils by Joe Quesada
Inks by Danny Miki

The Story:
“ONE MORE DAY” PART 4
The riveting conclusion to the most-talked about -- and controversial -- comics event of the year. Brought to you by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. Brace yourself, Spidey fans, after this, nothing will be the same for Peter Parker!
The stakes have never been higher. At his darkest hours -- and he's had plenty -- Peter has always had one shoulder to lean on, one person who'd remind him who he is, who he was, and who he can be. Now he's about to lose that person. What will he do...what would you do, if you only had "One More Day?”

Comments? What are your thoughts?

[Jacob T. Paschal]

So, wait this is actually going through? Parker's being written to such an extreme level of stupidity that he's going to allow the past to be rewritten and his present thrown in the can? For God's sake, Mr. Quesada, I could write a better storyline then that. What sort of ego does a man have that he cannot even admit he cannot write. Using the marriage as a scapegoat like this is so horrendously silly I'm probably never going to touch another Marvel title in years to come.

Of course I really do not have the right to be threatening things like this when in all honesty I do not purchase American comics I guess I now know why, it's riddled in muck like this. If 616 Spider-Man cannot have good, solid stories told without having to resort to something like this then why not just end the 616 line?


EDIT:

http://www.commonsensefarm.com/images/Ingredient_sub/500soapbox-pic.jpg

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Of course I really do not have the right to be threatening things like this when in all honesty I do not purchase American comics I guess I now know why, it's riddled in muck like this. If 616 Spider-Man cannot have good, solid stories told without having to resort to something like this then why not just end the 616 line?

So many fans wanted SpiderMan back after the final chapter, so fans will be upset if that happen, even if they want stories with much higher quality, they want good 616 stories, not upsetting stories and all of a sudden this world goes to an end.
Why did they bring Nitro back anyway? He's a lame villain since he first appeared, he should have stayed nauseuos or better yet in his cylinder so he won't bring such a horrendous decision called "super hero registration act".

[wonderfly]

The Trial of Joe Quesada begins!!! (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12664)

Or really, I should say, "The Interview of Joe Quesada begins"...but by the time he's done being interviewed, I bet he's going to feel like he's on trial...

[Ed Liu]

Did anybody in the story, at any point, try to ask Aunt May what she wanted? Or was she conveniently in a coma so she couldn't have a moment when she tells the two of them that they're completely stupid for doing this and she's had a fine, full life, "I have the strangest sense of deja vu, as though I've had a deathbed scene before...", etc etc?

And does this mean that "Sins Past" never happened, and the kids that Gwen had with Norman Osborne don't exist any more?

For that matter, why didn't they just resurrect Gwen Stacy while they were at it? It seems that the way they're writing Spidey these days, MJ is the distant second to Gwendy in Peter's heart (despite that nice little speech I've seen quoted about how Peter & MJ have such a pure and enduring love). This way we can go directly back to the 1970's and get the whole love-rectangle between Peter, Harry, MJ, and Gwen going again.

Bah.

-- Ed

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Notice how the Ultimate line is conviently not mentioned. :mad: :shrug:

[Miyamoto Musashi]

You want Gwen back?
I loved the idea of getting rid of Gwen, this way Pete's life would've been less complicated a little, but I do like to know what would she think if she learns Spiderman didn't kill her father and that he was considered later to be a hero by D.A. Tower.
Don't you think that Luke Cage might have not been introduced if Gwen was still alive.
I agree with anyone who says the twins shouldn't have been born.

[RogueFanKC]

Did anybody in the story, at any point, try to ask Aunt May what she wanted? Or was she conveniently in a coma so she couldn't have a moment when she tells the two of them that they're completely stupid for doing this and she's had a fine, full life, "I have the strangest sense of deja vu, as though I've had a deathbed scene before...", etc etc?
...
-- Ed

Actually, they did. :(

http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/4556401.html

And yet despite that, Peter really managed to mess THAT last wish up. Yes, of course, being a hero means not accepting that there are some things in life you can't control and that even though Aunt May specifcally says "be happy with MJ", you go and make a deal with the devil because the ends justify the means (Tony Stark and the Initiative, anyone?). Wonderful characterization of a hero, Quesada. So where's the REAL Spider-Man I know and actually care about and who's this Skrull you've been having impresonate Peter? :mad:

Sigh!

My take on this is that as annoyed as I am, in the grand scheme of things, a comic book isn't important as real life. And yes, Quesada as EIC has as much of a right to change and take a story where he wants since he calls the shots and I am only a reader who doesn't have a real say in it. He's in charge, Marvel owns Spider-Man and can do whatever they want. I get that, I really do.

But I have as much of a right to not buy what I don't like. If Quesada can do what he wants with his characters, we have as much right to drop and refuse to read this because we don't want to waste our money. I'll be reading "Marvel Adventures" (you know, when comics are actually funny and heartfelt) until this is over. :shrug:

[En Sabah Nur]

Shouldn't Dr. Strange be looking out for these abnormalities? I mean he is the Sorcerer Supreme after all. Its his duty to watch over the this universe. He failed on M-day and now he fails again?

[Matt Hazuda]

Shouldn't Dr. Strange be looking out for these abnormalities? I mean he is the Sorcerer Supreme after all. Its his duty to watch over the this universe. He failed on M-day and now he fails again?Well, we all know the countdown to the undoing of all this begins the moment Brand New Day starts. I'm thinking by con season come this summer we'll have a clear idea of when this will all be undone, or at least merged with the previous timeline. I love how Harry is back, but Norman is conveniently in Colorado running the Thunderbolts. I wonder if he'll even show up at some point considering a major chunk of his life would be altered by his son being alive.

[Captain Highwind]

^Most likely. Money says Dr. Strange kicks the Universe on the side one more time like a bad jukebox, sending everything back to the point before Civil War, and no one will ever speak of Peter's unmasking again. Just like all of the major events in Spider-Man's life, save for Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy dying.

Oh and Captain America will be alive too I guess.

[Matt Hazuda]

^Most likely. Money says Dr. Strange kicks the Universe on the side one more time like a bad jukebox, sending everything back to the point before Civil War, and no one will ever speak of Peter's unmasking again. Just like all of the major events in Spider-Man's life, save for Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy dying.

Oh and Captain America will be alive too I guess.Heroes Reborn 2 perhaps? And yes I know of Onslaught Reborn before anyone mentions that, but with all that has been going on in the 616 these past years, who's to say a line-wide reboot isn't in order to clean up all of this and get back to a status quo of some sort?

[GregX]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/gregx/Funny%20Pictures/normie_is_dead_lol.png

[Miyamoto Musashi]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/gregx/Funny%20Pictures/normie_is_dead_lol.png
Wait wait wait, Harry's alive and Norman is dead?
I don't like this era from Sal Buscema

[Ducard]

^ You have no idea how much I laughed at that when I first saw it.

What a horrible storyline. Let me if I've got things straight: we have Peter Parker making a deal with the Devil (during Christmas, no less- with great power comes great reliability on the demonic to bail you out) to save the life of his 80-some-year old aunt; in exchange, he has to get rid of his marriage and about two decades worth of stories, as well as eradicating from existence Peter's daughter, baby May, and Peter's own 5-year-old godson, Normie. And btw, MJ is a superhero and Harry is alive.

?!


Fans on a lot of boards have been trying to piece together how any of this holds together at all. Technically Peter should still be wearing black since MJ talked him out of it, technically Peter should be dead from Kraven's last hunt, technically Peter should be double-dead since MJ talked Harry into becoming good again, etc... I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this nonsense. Way to go, Marvel.

http://hometown.aol.com/CMor923905/332a1j8.jpg

Also, check out the Newsarama poll (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=141208&page=16). Overall there are over 7,000 angry voters.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Say what?
Why would that happen?
What does it have to do with anything?
MJ the super heroine. Nonsense.
I still think they should've only erased before Nitro goes boom, before he decides to go back to school.

[HellCat]

Say what?
Why would that happen?
What does it have to do with anything?
MJ the super heroine. Nonsense.
I still think they should've only erased before Nitro goes boom, before he decides to go back to school.

Retcon is bad enough. If they'd said "Spider-Man makes a deal so all of Civil War never happened for anyone", it would be a massive cop out.

[kid rabbit]

they erase 20 so years of spider man's history for the sake of making him immature come on he's living with his aunt and riding a bicycle the only upside is that Harry Osborn is alive but how the hell does spider man fit in with the rest of the marvel universe now since the unmasked storyline is gone

[Bubblegum Girl]

Also, check out the Newsarama poll (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=141208&page=16). Overall there are over 7,000 angry voters.

I've just check that out and I wasn't surprised about the results.

I really like the idea of Spider-Man being married to Mary-Jane. I thought it was pretty romantic and it would have been interesting for future stories. But I really hate the idea of Peter trading 20 years of being marry to MJ just to save his 80 year old aunt. :shrug:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/31/Asmannual21.jpg/180px-Asmannual21.jpg

I'm going to miss this couple....:crying:

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Not to mention that when Dr. Strange brought her spiritual form under Peter's request she said she accepts her destiny, her death.
Peter is one big baby

[ShadowGUN]

So instead on letting her very old Aunt May die a peaceful dead he warps reality and sacrifice his marriage so that she can live? That has to be the stupidest thing Peter has done since he unmasked himself during Civil War. Way to go Quesada:mad: . I hope that "Brand New Day" fixes the crap that this story was if not I am sticking to MA Spider Man from now on.

[HellCat]

If it's your aunt, does it count as an oedipus complex?

[GWOtaku]

posted by Bubblegum Girl:

I really like the idea of Spider-Man being married to Mary-Jane. I thought it was pretty romantic and it would have been interesting for future stories. But I really hate the idea of Peter trading 20 years of being marry to MJ just to save his 80 year old aunt.

On top of that, he sacrificed his daughter and future grandson as well...so really, he basically killed two people with promising lives to save his 80-year-old aunt. He knew they were going to be alive one day and wrote them off.

Did I mention that Marvel can go to hell? Just checking.

[Bubblegum Girl]

I am sticking to MA Spider Man from now on.

I feel that Marvel Adventures Spider-Man is the only Spider-Man related comic I can get into...:shrug: I'm not counting Ultimate Spider-Man or Spider-Girl since they're in alternate realities, though I enjoy reading them. ;)

[Chris Johnston]

Why is it that Marvel likes to crap on Spidey nowadays? How can they eke out this stupidity? I'd switch to DC, but it's just as bad there.

[Captain Highwind]

Not to mention that when Dr. Strange brought her spiritual form under Peter's request she said she accepts her destiny, her death.
Peter is one big baby

That was Judas Traveller.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

So instead on letting her very old Aunt May die a peaceful dead he warps reality and sacrifice his marriage so that she can live? That has to be the stupidest thing Peter has done since he unmasked himself during Civil War. Way to go Quesada:mad: . I hope that "Brand New Day" fixes the crap that this story was if not I am sticking to MA Spider Man from now on.
Is that "Marvel Adventures" or "Marvel Age"?
If my mother was dying I wouldn't have done his action
Judas is a Psychiatrist not a magician, and I know Stephen Strange used to be a greedy surgeon until he had a car accident so don't reason him to me

[Miyamoto Musashi]

On top of that, he sacrificed his daughter and future grandson as well...so really, he basically killed two people with promising lives to save his 80-year-old aunt. He knew they were going to be alive one day and wrote them off.

Did I mention that Marvel can go to hell? Just checking.
MayDay has deceased, her stories are in an alternate universe named MC2 universe

[Bubblegum Girl]

Is that "Marvel Adventures" or "Marvel Age"?

It's Marvel Adventures. It used to be called Marvel Age but Marvel changed it to Marvel Adventures.

[Hanshotfirst113]

they erase 20 so years of spider man's history for the sake of making him immature come on he's living with his aunt and riding a bicycle the only upside is that Harry Osborn is alive but how the hell does spider man fit in with the rest of the marvel universe now since the unmasked storyline is gone


Well, I thought that it was only a matter of time before they retconned the unmasked storyline in some way.

[ShadowGUN]

MayDay has deceased, her stories are in an alternate universe named MC2 universe

MayDay didn't die. They just ignore her existance like they did with Kaine and the Jackal. She is still alive somewhere.

[Dogbert]

MayDay didn't die. They just ignore her existance like they did with Kaine and the Jackal. She is still alive somewhere.My understanding of 616 young May Parker is in line with ShadowGUN's account. I believe the What If...? issue that sparked Spider-Girl comics and the 982 universe merely changed who was returned to Peter's life from Aunt May to little May Parker. As far as I know, the baby May story was dropped/unresolved. I really, really hate linking to Wikipedia, but they do have a nice summary of 616's May under the Earth-616 heading of their Spider-Girl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Girl) page.

Oh, and since I haven't remarked on the main topic at hand, I think this whole story stinks. It won't be too bad if they undo this and put the marriage back in place (a possibility that is certainly available to the writers), but it's awful that's the only positive I can come up with. You can't just undo 20 years of stories and expect the fans to react positively. That's exactly what the Ultimate universe is for. The fact that characters have matured and changed over the years is one of the things I like (liked) about Marvel. Isn't Marvel being more like real life (in comparison to Superman-like superheroes anyway) why we all liked Marvel? Growth was a part of that.

That said, I mostly blame the current writing staff for this horror. Marvel may or may not have pushed for it (I really don't know), but I won't be boycotting their other titles. Especially not my precious 982 / MC2 titles...

[ShadowStar]

What did Mary Jane offer Mephisto in exchange for the unmasking being retconned?

[kid rabbit]

I agree with this being the worst spidy story ever but I disagree that Peter was selfish MJ was the one who pushed the final desecetion it seems less selfish for her because she diddn't want Peter to through the guilt again like with uncle Ben

[Moto Pete]

Am i the only one who thinks that MJ and Peter will get back together.

there is still a little part of them taht knows the great love they had

[The Clown Prince]

What did Mary Jane offer Mephisto in exchange for the unmasking being retconned?

We don't know yet. And who knows how long that will be until we do. But if those teaser images we've seen are any indication, Mary Jane might have powers now.

I can't add anything else that hasn't already been said. I've been reading comic books since I was in sixth grade. I'm 28 now. That's a lot of comics and stories. I've been reading Amazing Spider-Man and all the other 'Spidey' books since then. Up until this point, there has never, NEVER been a comic book story that has ever really upset me. I've read stories that I didn't like, or found boring, or whatever. But this story just made me upset! Just mad and having all this hate for Marvel now.

If this really is truly a retcon on the surface as it seems, and it's not some alternate universe/timeline that Peter and MJ have been transported to, then this has to be the DUMBEST and STUPIDEST story idea that Marvel(Quesada) or really anyone could have come up with.

Quesada's reasonings (currently going on over at at CBR in his 5 part interview) just don't make sense and go completely against his character. A deal with the devil?

The one thing that seems confusing about this, and posters over at Newsarama have pointed this out, that end sequence we see of Peter, Aunt May, and Harry(!), and MJ etc.... was that in the past so to speak? The point where Mephisto went back and screwed with something to change it all? Will 'Brand New Day' then start in the present so to speak. Having Harry back (if that is what it seems) now really messes with things quite a bit. How does this change Norman Osborne's character and position in the Marvel Universe? Will he still be dealing with the Thunderbolts? Is his identity revealed to the world?

What the hell was Spider-Man's situation in Civil War now? Jesus H. Christ! This really messes with everything in the Marvel Universe across other books and characters. It gives me a headache that no fictinonal book or form of entertainment should ever give me!

I guess I'll stop ranting and wait to see what happens with 'Brand New Day'. But if this is truly a retcon, then I will drop the book. I will not have all of my years of reading Spider-Man (which Peter and MJ were married when I started reading years ago) just thrown away and changed just like that.

This just truly can't be the retcon that we're all seeing here.


there is still a little part of them taht knows the great love they had

And that is THE loophole that will set things right if this doesn't go the way Quesada wants. The fan community is already very outspoken and pissed about this. That will be the loophole to go back to the way things were.

But if that happens, will Peter have organic webshooters again? Will his identity be known to the world? God what a waste that was there. What happened to all the "stories that can be told because of this" that Marvel kept yammering about when the decided to out him?

Ahhhhh!

The Clown Prince

[rggkjg1]

the main thing thats been a head scratcher for me is that this story doesn't only affect spider-man, the entire marvel universe has been changed. unless all the new spider-man stories in the weekly title take place before the "present" (maybe immeidately before or after peter and mj's wedding they were supposed to have) . everything now taking place "years ago" would at least explain the reapperance of characters who have died or are no longer recurring minor characters in the spider-man book. if everything takes place "now" then theres gonna have to be alot of explaining somewhere down the line.

[The Clown Prince]

Going back to possible loopholes to get them out of this, you have whatever it was MJ whispered, that part of his soul that will still remember everything, and you also have the Loki favor. With him/her back in the Marvel Universe (in a JMS book no doubt), Loki is a powerful enough being to probably undo this. BUT, has the Loki favor been retconned now because of all this?

The Clown Prince

[Miyamoto Musashi]

I'm done with earth 616.
Since Spiderman is Marvel Comics mascot that probably means if Spiderman wasn't missing in the time where Captain America 2 is born then the whole earth616 goes back with spiderman.
What a horror it will be if that happens

[symbiote]

I was never in favor of Spider-Man unmasking but to take it back this way is just stupid.Harry is alive,Peter is living with his aunt & he still has webshooters?? Unless that was just a look into the past when Mephisto split them up. I really don't know what they were thinking on this one. They were hyping this so much I just think it fell flat bigtime.
I guess we will have to wait & see next issue how it all plays out.:confused:

[wonderfly]

The 2nd part of the Joe Quesada interview is now online! (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12673) Of major interest to me is this following part, where Joe explains why JMS was upset with the final two issues:


What had unfortunately happened with Joe's original scripts is that we didn't receive the story and methodology to the resolution that we were all expecting. What made that very problematic is that we had four writers and artists well underway on "Brand New Day" that were expecting and needed "One More Day" to end in the way that we had all agreed it would. Joe's original scripts, especially the fourth, didn't provide that.


I had a Solomon-like decision to make: I could either keep Joe's story as he delivered it, and then tear up tracks on "Brand New Day" and make an entire year's worth of Spider-Man stories worthless and stop shipping the book until we righted the train, or go to very extensive rewrites on Joe's scripts. Unfortunately, we had to go to the rewrites. The fact that we had to ask for the story to move back to its original intent understandably made Joe upset and caused some major delays and page increases in the series.


Also, the science that Joe was going to apply to the retcon of the marriage would have made over 30 years of Spider-Man books worthless, because they never would have had happened. We would have also had a "Crisis" in the Marvel Universe because it would have reset way too many things outside of the Spider-Man titles. We just couldn't go there and in the end we weren't expecting that kind of story.


Notice how I highlighted the phrase: "they never would have had happened". That means, the way this is working is that those stories DID still happen. Thus, in my mind, this isn't a true retcon, this is a massive mind wipe...


But at any rate, let's all be clear here: JMS wasn't upset that Quesada wanted to end the marriage. He was upset that they altered his script!!! It sounds like those rumors about how JMS didn't ever want Marvel to mess with his scripts is true...

[Captain Highwind]

It was at one of these summits that JMS said the methodology we were using was more akin to the movie "Sliding Doors" than "Back to the Future." Rather than a single incident not happening that causes a huge domino effect across the timeline, he explained it was more like one door that wasn't taken or opened that only changed the subtlest of things.

So he's going to reconnect the wires of thirty years-worth of Spider-Man interacting with the rest of the Marvel Universe, making sure that the other books don't suffer any relapse, but Peter's life will still be changed?

Good luck with that.

[creativerealms]

A lot of Spider-man's stories and choices in the past twenty years were due to him being married and a lot of his choices effected the marvel Universe, especially lately. Joe Q may thing it's not a big deal but really it is. This is not undoing something minor here. There is a whole two generations worth of Spiderman fans who only know Spiderman as being married or at least for the most part.

If he has managed to rewrite every important Spider-man story since Peter and mary Jane have been married to work without them being married then great. But really I think he did not think his desission though and just hated Spider-man being married way too much.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

fans who only know Spiderman as being married or at least for the most part.

I'm more used on the single spiderman than the married spiderman

[Antiyonder]

My understanding of 616 young May Parker is in line with ShadowGUN's account. I believe the What If...? issue that sparked Spider-Girl comics and the 982 universe merely changed who was returned to Peter's life from Aunt May to little May Parker. As far as I know, the baby May story was dropped/unresolved. I really, really hate linking to Wikipedia, but they do have a nice summary of 616's May under the Earth-616 heading of their Spider-Girl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Girl) page.

Not to brag, but I'm the one who put up that page. The info comes from Tom Defalco who posts on the Spider-Girl boards regularly.

[Joe Wagner]

Worst. Story. Ever.

Ok, maybe not ever, but certainly ranking as probably the worst Spider-Man storyline I've ever had the displeasure of reading. As a long time fan of Spidey, I hate what they've done with the character and their complete disposal of almost every story and storyline that I've followed Spider-Man through. Aunt May died in Amazing Spider-Man #400 and she should have stayed dead. Period. End of story.

Unfortunately, the Marvel editors decided she had to come back, even though her original demise was perfect and suited everything that had come prior. This decision seems to completely neglect the very character and essence of Spider-Man. Seriously, a deal with the devil? A conscious decision to end his marriage and happiness for the purely selfish reasons. What would Uncle Ben have said to Peter? Would he have traded Aunt May in to save his dying mother/father/etc.... Somehow, I don't think he would have. I can understand the difficult situation Peter was in, but this should be considered a smack in the face to everyone who has picked up a Spider-Man title in the last 20 years. It's bad enough that a lot of comics have adopted a dark and gritty look to almost every title on the market, but now we have Marvel essentially giving the bird to those that stuck with them and followed Spider-Man. At best, this is a bad, bad fanfic plot. At worst, maybe Joe Q. made the deal with Mephisto and this is the favor that's been called in.

Here's the solution to the unmarried Spidey you so desperately crave Marvel - bring back Ben Reilly/the Scarlet Spider. Let Pete be happy with his wife and fight crime on the side. Use Ben as your eligible bachelor in the Marvel U. Brighten up the Spidey titles in the artwork, make the character witty and fun again.

Unfortunately these words are to little and to late for today I mourn the squashing of a spider. For anyone that hasn't done so, pick up the Amazing Spider-Man omnibus if you have the means to do so. It's a demonstration of Spidey at his best, before the age of meaningless retcons and circular storylines that only seek to remain at square one.

Again, just my overpriced two cents....

-Joe!

[Captain Highwind]

Ok, maybe not ever, but certainly ranking as probably the worst Spider-Man storyline I've ever had the displeasure of reading.

Maybe not the worst ever; but as far as the long term effects of this, it will be worse than the Clone Saga, even if Ben had been the original. Because, I agree with you, at least his character was going somewhere.

I wish more flagship characters would take The Phantom approach. Then we wouldn't be forced to deal with the reset button.

[The Clown Prince]

Part 3 (of 5) of the One More Day interview with Joe Quesada is now up, and boy is it a doozy guys. Check it out....

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12681

[Peter Paltridge]

Let's kidnap Joe's wife. He'd be more interesting miserable.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Let's kidnap Joe's wife. He'd be more interesting miserable.
Let's not. This isn't something to joke about

[Dogbert]

Part 3 (of 5) of the One More Day interview with Joe Quesada is now up, and boy is it a doozy guys. Check it out....

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12681So, let me see if I've got this straight. What the editors wanted to do was to essentially divorce Peter and MJ, but they couldn't because it would be hard for the kids to understand. Instead, they used a butterfly effect style timeline change to cause the marriage to never happen, resulting in a single Peter sharing an apartment (and bed) with his also unmarried lover for 20 years, but just not anymore. Because that's so much easier for kids to understand. Do I have that right?

[Ed Liu]

So, let me see if I've got this straight. What the editors wanted to do was to essentially divorce Peter and MJ, but they couldn't because it would be hard for the kids to understand. Instead, they used a butterfly effect style timeline change to cause the marriage to never happen, resulting in a single Peter sharing an apartment (and bed) with his also unmarried lover for 20 years, but just not anymore. Because that's so much easier for kids to understand. Do I have that right?

Yup. Ain't Marvel comic book logic grand?

-- Ed

[Wolf Boy2]

The fundamental error in Joe Quesada's logic, from my standpoint, is his assumption that Peter still needs to be "youthful" in order to be interesting. Quesada compares his youth to Daredevil's blindness, but there is a flaw in that blindness is permanent whereas youth is not. We expect the young to grow up, but we don't expect the blind to see.

One of the hallmarks of the Spider-Man story was that the character grew and matured rather than staying in the eternal status quo which most comic book characters get locked into. Marriage might make the writing harder but not impossible. Marriage never hurt the stories concerning Reed and Sue, Lois and Superman or Margot and The Shadow. Futhermore, it doesn't concern me that the marriage was orignally a bogus sales stunt. So was the Death of Superman. But canon is canon and undoing over 20 years of continuity is a disgustingly backwards evolution.

The book is called The Amazing Spider-Man. Not The Romantic Peter Parker. Peter Parker's personal life exists only to add versimilitude and realistic grounding to the Spider-Man stories. He doesn't need to be romantically involved with various women for the stories to be interesting.

Quesade poses the question, "are there any stories you could tell about a single Peter Parker that you couldn't tell about a married Peter Parker?" Of course, the obvious answer is yes. But my response to Quesada would be to ask, "are there any stories you could tell about a single Peter Parker that you couldn't tell with a different superhero or with someone who is not a superhero at all?" The fact is, the book should not be about the private life of Peter Parker. It is and always will be about the ADVENTURES OF SPIDER-MAN.

I think the whole "unmasking" plot was wasted. Instead of dragging out that Back in Black filler crap to make way for Brand New Day, they should've continued writing about the unmasked Spidey. At the end of Back in Black, I was expecting Spidey and MJ to go on the run, like the 1960s TV show The Fugitive. They could've taken Spidey out of New York for a few years, and only AFTER running out of ideas for that storyline should they have considered rebooting the series. I can think of a boatload of "unmasked" plot lines right off the top of my head. I can't imagine that the entire creative team at Marvel could be having trouble with it.

Quesada keeps bringing up the "kids" all the time; do "kids" really care about who his girlfriends are?! Doubtful. One of my 8-year old brothers is reading the first Essentials volume which collects the first two years of Amazing Spider-Man. What interests him? Spider-Man catching Sandman in a vacuum cleaner (his favorite story in the book), team-ups with the Fantastic Four, fighting the Vulture and the rivalry with Flash Tompson (one of the few character relationships that an 8-year old can relate to).

Besides, a single Spider-Man can get irritating also. Part of the reason I didn't like Spider-Man 3 was the fact that it treated Peter no differentely than 1 or 2 had. He was lovable in high school, but to still be acting like a goofy nerd when he is in his 20s just makes him look like a retarded loser. Spider-Man 3 did absolutely nothing but retread romantic plots from the other two movies and if it wasn't for the special effects, it would've been a complete waste of $7.50.

[Xurk]

Okay, I just read AMZ #545 yesterday and have been reading everything posted here and all of the articles on Newsarama on the issue, plus the interview series on CBR with Joe. Seeing as so much has already been said, I'll try not to be too repetitive here.

As for the issue itself, artistically I think it succeeds in its goal. The whole issue is set up like a heavily dramatic scene in a movie and the way the lighting and contrast is visualized really does add to the vibe of the story. Now while their actions ultimately don't make as much sense as we'd all hope, the drama of the situation is delivered to me perfectly, having the panels where MJ is so distraught of the thoughts and the situation that she is on the verge of vomiting, her reaction to what she proposes to Peter [just "letting May go"], which is pure shock and disgust as to what she has just proposed, and them just holding each other for what seems like hours[?].
All of the above actually did hit an emotional snare in me somewhere, which I congratulate the situation [NOT the story] and the art for [even though I haven't thought of JQ's art in this storyline as stellar]. I also have to admit that I did feel a little choked up during Peter and MJ's final scene together, I guess the whole thing just reminds me of some personal experiences I've had.

So, the above is the only praise this issue is getting from me, because for the rest, however much I'm excited about the creative teams and the story possibilities / expectations gained from reading the leaked information on "Brand New Day", this whole thing has left a sour taste in my mouth.

I'm one of the few guys left who actually didn't dislike Joe Quesada; I overall enjoyed reading his weekly interviews / Q&As on Newsarama and thought he was pretty entertaining. But after OMD, his involvement in the outcome of it and reading his comments on the whole project in the CBR interviews, my opinion of him has shifted to seeing him as someone who is so full of himself to the extent that he feels the need to put a huge stamp with his name on it on a character I feel he has no business touching, seeing as he's not even a writer by profession. To make it worse, he masks his intentions by repeatedly stating that he has to push these decisions, being in the EiC chair and all! I for one, can sincerely not wait until the next EiC comes along and sets everything right .

What strikes me as highly ironic is all of the praise JMS receives in the back of the issue from the "greats" at Marvel . Not that I disagree with them, but all of the achievements they talk of have just been erased! It's now as if JMS' run on AMZ never took place...! I really don't understand why JMS wanted to do this story instead of leaving just before OMD [according to JQ, this is how it happened]. Perhaps he wanted to do some damage control by maintaining some of the reins, instead of feeling "back-stabbed" after his departure, by having all of the things he's dones over the years erased from existence.
I can understand that the relationship between JMS and JQ could very well be strained at this point, seeing as Joe messing with his stories goes as far back as "Sins Past".

In order to not just repeat opinions I've read, I'll point to a Newsarama article I read which sums up a lot of valid points various reviewers make on the subject: BEST SHOTS: THE ONE MORE DAY ROUNDTABLE (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=141416)

Until BND starts, I remain [I]very confused. It's hard for me to even start going over the last nine pages of the storyline, because it makes my head hurt. I just really, really hope that this is a flashback to a certain point in time where one of the subtle changes that have been made [according to JQ] is portrayed, instead of the modern day situation. Because I really don't want to read about a thirtiesh [as that's the age JQ sets on Peter in the CBR interviews] Peter Parker living with his Silver-Age-stupidish aunt and riding a bike around New York acting like a goofball.

All in all, Brand New Day still is promising to me, though it could just as easily jump the shark completely. I hope it comes out as soon as possible, to wash away this taste from my mouth. And for once, I'm glad nothing in comics is forever [though if you read the CBR interviews, they wanted to bring back Gwen Stacy as well in those nine pages!].

EDIT:

Massive update, and hoo boy, is it a woozy... JMS sent an unsolicited e-mail to Newsarama, to address certain points that JQ is failing to address in his CBR interviews. You can find the article under this link (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=141756).

As of now, the story behind this story has surpassed the story itself [huh? ;)] and is taking "The Life Of Reilly"-esque proportions for me. Everyone, grab the popcorn and enjoy the show.


I think the whole "unmasking" plot was wasted. Instead of dragging out that Back in Black filler crap to make way for Brand New Day, they should've continued writing about the unmasked Spidey. At the end of Back in Black, I was expecting Spidey and MJ to go on the run, like the 1960s TV show The Fugitive. They could've taken Spidey out of New York for a few years, and only AFTER running out of ideas for that storyline should they have considered rebooting the series. I can think of a boatload of "unmasked" plot lines right off the top of my head. I can't [I]imagine that the entire creative team at Marvel could be having trouble with it.
I agree so much with the above. The only stories that even touched the hundreds of opportunities that Spider-Man unmasking presented, were featured in Sensational Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - respectively the "Deadly Foes of Spider-Man" arc and the Debra Whitman arc - whilst the core title dragged on and on with this monotonous Back in Black stuff until One More Day was ready to roll. This is partially why it saddened me that both titles got the bucket in the end to make way for the thrice-monthly AMZ, as at the time of cancellation, I was enjoying them more than said core title.
What saddens me further is that JQ knew from the start of the unmasking that he would have a story [OMD] which he could use to solve anything he wanted in the Spideyverse, and intentionally meant to also use it to erase Spidey's unmasking from continuity. In other words, the only reason he allowed that event to happen in Civil War #2, was because in his mind, it was already being undone :sad:

As the dialogue from the conversation between JMS and Marvel from the link at the top of my post portrays so hilariously [take that sarcastically], as of now, anything that changes in the AMZ title is due to "magic". At least back in the mid-nineties, they didn't sink to using that explanation to solve the Clone Saga.

My apologies by the way, for my negative post. Keep in mind that all this is coming from a guy that rarely "bashes" on a comic / the comics industry; heck, I loved the Clone Saga way back when in all my youthful naivety :p

[Spider-Man]

This is from the page that Xurk linked to in his above post.


In his story, Mephisto was going to change continuity from as far back as issues #96-98 from 1971. In Joe’s story, Peter drops the dime on Harry, and that helps get him into rehab right away. Consequently, MJ stays with Harry, and Gwen never dies and never has her affair with Norman, etc., etc. And in the end, Peter and MJ are never married.

Having read the finale to One More Day I would have preferred this, especially if JMS worked out an extensive timeline like he said. I can't believe Quesada chucked all of this out for the horrible conclusion that saw print. If they had to retcon the marriage this would have been a great alterative to it and one that wouldn't have me so upset.

[MattThomasM2B]

Fans would've still been outraged if JMS' version were the published one. The only difference being that JMS' version at least tries to justify the continuity change.

As is, JMS' walks away looking like a victim, which is better than I remember most Spider-man fans thinking of him during a lot of his run.

[Russkafin]

....What did this have to do with anything???
http://www.newsarama.com/general/JunotDIaz/SpiderMansWorldAboutToChange.jpg[/center][/quote]

[Xurk]

Precisely what I've often been wondering today... it makes no sense whatsoever, unless the "saving" of Spider-Man is yet to come. If that's so, I'd rule out everyone except the Skrull [Secret Invasion] and Loki [just returned - as a female - in Thor #5]. Or maybe in the "new" past where Peter and MJ never married, Gwen did something.
Whatever it is, it couldn't be any crazier than the solution to OMD already is!

[Dogbert]

Fans would've still been outraged if JMS' version were the published one.Yes, but it would have at least been the lesser of two evils. One is something fans don't agree with, while the other is also something fans don't agree with but comes with the added bonus of being a sloppy cop out. I'll take the well written story I don't like over the "a wizard did it" style story any day.

[Ed Liu]

After forcing myself to read all of JMS's reply, I think his alternative would have annoyed me even more because, if I'm reading his response right, he planned on resurrecting Gwen Stacy. I'm not keen on the resurrection of all the iconic comic book deaths we've gotten so far (e.g., Bucky and Jason Todd), and I'm definitely not a fan of the school of thought that essentially says that Gwen was the One True Love of Peter Parker's life and relegates MJ to be the consolation prize, especially because of how I feel about the end scene of the Death of Gwen Stacy story (http://forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=2430501&postcount=3). JMS's solution would have managed to smack both of those buttons. So, I get that JMS had a different, more consistent solution, but that's also one that I think is even worse.

I'm also not too keen about his admission that he wanted to retcon Gwen's twins out of continuity by the end of his run, but wasn't able to do so and is upset that he's left "holding the bag" for it. That's like robbing a bank and then telling the judge that you meant to return the money all along, but your partner spent it all when you weren't looking. If returning the money was your intent, it seems to me that it would have been easier to not rob that bank in the first place.

Really, this seems to me like nearly everybody concerned scrambling to try and shift blame to someone else, or give the total cop-out "Mistakes were made" garbage answer that's the bogus admission of responsibility that doesn't actually take responsibility for anything. Baloney. Nobody seems to get that there's enough blame to go around for EVERYONE involved in this dumb story.

But, in the end, it is still just a story and I plan to ignore it as much as possible, just like I've ignored most of the past few years of Marvel continuity. This is a story that will push Spider-fans away from the mainline title or it isn't, and if you're one of the Spider-fans saying, "I'm really upset, so 'Brand New Day' better really wow me," then IMO you're sending absolutely the wrong message to Marvel about this.

-- Ed

[Matt Hazuda]

This is a story that will push Spider-fans away from the mainline title or it isn't, and if you're one of the Spider-fans saying, "I'm really upset, so 'Brand New Day' better really wow me," then IMO you're sending absolutely the wrong message to Marvel about this.

-- EdNo it won't. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, "Comic book fans are big whiny babies who whine about everything, but when it comes to taking action, refuse to do so."

You'll always have the loser who must keep a collection with no gaps, even if the plot sucks, the art is terrible and he hates everything about it, and those people and others like them will make sure there is no noticeable detriment to any top-tier comic, no matter the cost.

I love Dan Slott's work, so it sucks that I won't be able to pick up "Brand New Day" but I'm not going to give this a pass just because "lots of cool artists and writers are coming soon." I'll stick with Ultimate Spider-Man, with a teenage Peter Parker who is having relationship problems and all the other issues Joe Q thinks 616 Spidey needs so badly, plus there's the fact that it isn't just the regular status quo. Having Peter and Kitty Pryde be a couple is possibly the most original concept ever approached in the book, and I've been loving it, so I have a Spider-Man book that's actually good and full of [good] surprises.

[RogueFanKC]

No it won't. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, "Comic book fans are big whiny babies who whine about everything, but when it comes to taking action, refuse to do so."


Please realize that what you just said was an incredibly ignorant and stereotypical statement. :sad:



I love Dan Slott's work, so it sucks that I won't be able to pick up "Brand New Day" but I'm not going to give this a pass just because "lots of cool artists and writers are coming soon." I'll stick with Ultimate Spider-Man, with a teenage Peter Parker who is having relationship problems and all the other issues Joe Q thinks 616 Spidey needs so badly, plus there's the fact that it isn't just the regular status quo. Having Peter and Kitty Pryde be a couple is possibly the most original concept ever approached in the book, and I've been loving it, so I have a Spider-Man book that's actually good and full of [good] surprises.

Testify. This is exactly the same reason why I like Marvel Adventures; though it's really for kids, it keeps the characters mostly true to their form and personality, and most importantly, is an enjoyable and fun read that stays true to what heroes do. And Ultimate Spider-Man, though different, actually stays true to its established status-quo which not only makes it less confusing and absurd, but it doesn't muck up the universe with retcon after retcon and yet gives us interesting and fresh stories in a way that can't be told in the 616 universe (yes, I don't understand why Quesada isn't getting that this already shows Spider-Man not married to MJ either and that there's no real reason to wreck 616 continuity :confused: ).

I actually feel sorry for the other Marvel writers who are linked around the Civil War fiasco. It's easy to see how this will hurt their stories and make it more difficult for them to write the heroes who had Spider-Man be a big part in their lives. And yet it doesn't seem to bother Quesada that much on how he's trying to put the proverbial genie back into the bottle (a genie he released in the first place):

Quesada: Spider-Man never unmasked and never got together with MJ! I have spoken!
Marvel Writers: But...but how will we write that in the New and Mighty Avengers?! And Daredevil?! And Black Cat?! And the Initiative and the Scarlet Spiders?! And the Fantastic Four?!
Quesada: That's your job. You work around what I decide.
Marvel Writers: *contemplate between quitting or raising a big honest-to-goodness fit*

I hope there will be no headaches from this on the writers' part. :sweat:

[The Clown Prince]

One of the many things to make me angry even further with Quesada and his reasoning is the way he now treats and sees Ultimate Spider-Man.

Every fan and critic has been saying that if you want to read about a single Peter Parker, then that is why we have "The Ultimate Universe." But that's not good enough for Quesada. He just wants original Peter Parker changed and molded to this non-sensical Spider-Man status quo.

From Part 3 of "The Interview"....




But what of the “Ultimate Spider-Man” Peter Parker, who has been single this entire time? Doesn't he fit the bill of a single Peter?

Well, first let me say that his being single is one of the key components of why I think “Ultimate Spider-Man” is so much fun. We know Peter and MJ are meant for each other, but I bet there are a lot of people rooting for Kitty Pryde as well. And let me say that while our Marvel U Spider-Man will be single like “Ultimate Spider-Man,” it’s a whole different vibe because our Marvel U Peter is a much more seasoned and mature person. He’s a already a man; he’s not 15 years old and in High School, so his relationships will be much more sophisticated yet completely Peter Parker-ish.

I also don’t buy into the argument that just because "Ultimate Spider-Man" Peter is single that Marvel U Spidey shouldn’t be. I mean Ultimate Spider-Man doesn’t kill, does that mean that I should let Marvel U Spidey start killing his enemies?

"His relationships will be much more sophisticated" yet at the same time can't ever be serious enough to mature, grow, and go somewhere like getting married because Quesada DOESN'T want Peter to get married. How does that make friggin sense!? :mad:

Ultimate Spider-Man is/now was their way of telling single Peter Parker stories. Now even in the 616 universe, he can't be allowed to age, mature, and grow in life!

[The Clown Prince]

Part 4 (of 5) of 'The One More Day' interview is now up....

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12688

[Wolf Boy2]

There's an official preview of Brand New Day on MySpace.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=92159514&blogID=343976793

They have finally done it. They have ruined Spider-Man. IDK who this is in this comic, but he is no one I care about.

**Spoiler Rant**

His aunt telling him to get out of bed and get a job?! THE MAN IS PUSHING THIRTY!!! Betty Brant finds his apartment for him? What kind of spineless loser of a man is this?! In the words of Galvatron from Transformers, this is bad comedy!!!

Mephisto is certainly right about one thing, he created grave blasphemey. If I were God, I would be disgusted and appalled. Mephisto has taken a hero and turned him into a bum! This is .... this is ..... :mad: !!!! I am so upset right now I can hardly type. Joe Quesada has ruined Spider-Man. Completely and utterly ruined him. He has made a sow's ear from a silk purse.

This is not a case of the fanboy who doesn't adjust well to change but gradually comes around to like it. I felt the same way about what Bryan Singer did to Superman, and you know what? A year and a half after "Superman Returns" I still feel the same way. However, I never liked the 70s Superman movies anyway, so it didn't bother me too much when someone mucked up that continuity. But Amazing Spider-Man has been my favorite comic series, bar none, for TEN YEARS. Now they just toss the character I knew out the window and replace him with an immature bumbling MORON?!?!

Whatever optimism I had about the series is hereby ERASED. I am not buying Brand New Day, or even the next two issues of One More Day. I am saving my Spider-Money to buy the Stan Lee omnibus or more Essentials volumes.

[Joe Wagner]

I love the way that Mr. Q continually states that they didn't want to use JMS's story because it would completely change a large majority of Spidey's past stories and then talks about how the ending of the marriage still allowed the past stories to occur but no one remembered Peter and MJ being married. Huh? Is Mr. Q honestly thinking that a decision to not walk down the aisle would have none or little effect on the lives of MJ and Peter? Speaking of my own life, the decision to not get married would have had a serious impact upon my life.

I also agree with Wolf Boy2, the idea that the writers couldn't find good stories to tell with a married Peter Parker mean's only one thing - Marvel needs to find writer's that have the ability to write a story where Peter is married. None of this retconned storylines where Peter has to be single because Joe Q said so. This only shows Peter completely out of character and alienates the long time fans that were keeping the title afloat and had stuck through the Gwen Stacy/ Norman Osborne storyline that truly never should have been done. Again, as a fan of the Scarlet Spider, I think Ben Reilly could have solved many of the problems Mr. Q had, but alas, we get this garbage instead.


Let's kidnap Joe's wife. He'd be more interesting miserable.

Somehow I think kidnapping my wife would just make me go all Bruce Willis-y in a Die Hard with a Vengance kind of way. :)

-Joe!

[Wolf Boy2]

At least we can take some solace in the fact that it won't last. Just like the Clone Saga and John Bynre revamp, the changes will be undone and the proper timeline will be restored. However, I feel that the return of the secret identity may be permanent. Restoring the marriage but leaving the secret identity alone could be a possible "happy ending" after Brand New Day falls on its face. The bad thing is, the Brand New Day nonsense will clutter up a year's worth of stories.

It really galls me that Joe Quesada just tells us to buy Spider-Girl if we want to see a married Spider-Man. It's not the marriage we want, per se, but a realisticly developing continuity free of idiotic stunts and endless revamps.

I feel rather burned that the Civil War and War at Home arcs got absolutely no resolution outside of this reboot crap. The Civil War TPB is one of my favorites in my collection, and it is now an Elseworlds/What If. I have little doubt that a new version of Civil War will be published showing how the "new" Spidey fit into that conflict.

I am also not happy that the $3.99 price is sticking. Do they REALLY expect me to pay $12.00 per month on Spider-Man alone? At least with the old JMS run of Amazing you didn't have to read the other books unless you wanted to (as they had little to do with the Amazing Spider-Man storylines). But now ASM is published 3 times a month?! I don't even make it to a comic book shop 3 times a month.

I know I gush over Transformers a lot, but I am really pleased with the way IDW publishing has handled the franchise. Instead of trying to continue the classic Marvel series from the 80s (which was already a mess of conflicting timelines), IDW launched a brand-new storyline. The main plot has been told in four six-part story arcs so far since 2005, "Infiltration", "Stormbringer", "Escalation" and the current "Devestation." However, these arcs do not meet a monthly publishing demand, so they fill the gaps with the "Spotlight" series of self-contained stories that focus on individual characters while adding small tidbits to the main storyline. There are no sales stunts and everything genually contributes to the plot. There is never any need for "fillers."

If I were the writer of ASM, I would use a similar approach. I would've used the Back in Black storyline to really explore the mind of post-unmasking Spidey (a good, formative character arc to follow in the wake of the largely plot-driven "War at Home" and "Civil War" arcs). After delving into the tortured mind of Public Peter, I would've dedicated an issue to each member of his supporting cast. Spider-Man would be a constant in each story, of course, but I would break away from the JMS style of using Spidey as the audience's point of reference. This would be a GREAT excuse to reference old storylines, also. For example, how would Betty Brant react to Peter being exposed on TV? It would be interesting to go back into the old Stan Lee material and revisit things like her brother's murder, but in the context of the post-Civil War. Quesada wants to bring back "classic" material? That is Classic. Villian POVs would've been interesting too, following in the same vien as what we got in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

After exhausting every plot that could be exausted in New York City, I'd take Peter and MJ on the road for a couple years. Maybe even to another country. What if Spider-Man reestablished himself in Canada like USAgent did? For that matter, a Spidey/USAgent crossover would've been cool. Spider-Man in Mexico, maybe. How would other places/countries react to having New York's mascot on their turf? I mean, in the Marvel U he's right up there with Captain America in terms of American inconography. Again, tell me there are no stories there.

I would've also brought some closure to the Peter/Tony character arc. As a matter of fact, I might even go as far as to do one of my POV issues from Tony's perspective. I would further explore the father/son dynamic, and reaffirm to the audience that Tony is not evil. Instead all we got was that scene in "One More Day" of Peter attacking Tony with webbing. With Quesada's current meddling, their ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC is out the window. No more "Pete" and "Boss." No more broken familial dynamic in the wake of Civil War where both parties feel equally betrayed. Quesada had made them total strangers again, and if I were a writer with freedom I wouldn't allow that.

So there. I've just laid out my plan for at least a 2 to 4 year run on Amazing Spider-Man (assuming JMS had left after "War at Home").

Damn it, if I can pull these ideas out of my hat than you KNOW men like Dan Slott could do it if Quesada wasn't cracking the editorial whip on them. Dan Slott did some excellent stuff with the B:TAS comics, adapting easily to the DCUA continuity. Don't tell me he couldn't have done the same with an even longer and richer continuity like Amazing Spider-Man.

[Hades]

So how long do you think Marvel will have Peter on his own until he meets MJ for the first time, again?

[Xurk]

"Comic book fans are big whiny babies who whine about everything, but when it comes to taking action, refuse to do so."

I love Dan Slott's work, so it sucks that I won't be able to pick up "Brand New Day" but I'm not going to give this a pass just because "lots of cool artists and writers are coming soon."
As I stated earlier in this thread, I'm a generally calm comics fan, it takes a lot to tick me off. I can even see the bright portions of where OMD leaves us, but it was only after reading through the online interviews with JQ and JMS that I felt the urge to express myself negatively on the whole matter.
I've been reading Spider-Man for a bit over 15 consecutive years now and so far, nothing has gotten me so frustrated that I gave the book up [not even the reboot which turned Spider-Man into a widowed hobo], so I'm going to continue reading on into BND, which really does give me hope as I have tremendous faith in the names attached to it.
I know your post wasn't directed at me, but I quoted some of it so I could juxtapose it against my personal attitude towards comics in general, as evidence that not everyone "complaining" about this development fits the "whiny fanboy" stereotype.


Part 4 (of 5) of 'The One More Day' interview is now up....

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12688
To quote an excerpt from that part of the interview:

Some of my favorite remarks are when I’m accused of playing god with Spider-Man. Ummmm, yeah, all of us who create these stories are playing god with the characters with every single story we create. That’s what all of us in comics do for a living, we play god in the lives of the characters.
This responds to the point I made about JQ having too much control of the Spideyverse that I made yesterday; I understand that the people at Marvel *are* ultimately gods of the characters, but I just don't think JQ should be the one coming up with stories or resolutions for Spider-Man, especially not of this magnitude, as he's not a writer, he's an artist! Just leave the storytelling - especially the important storytelling - up to people who are more than certified for it. At least, that's how I feel about it.


There's an official preview of Brand New Day on MySpace.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=92159514&blogID=343976793
What was I expecting from Slott & McNiven? Good storytelling and fun dialogue. Amazing artwork. Judging as far as I can from this preview, I can put two checkmarks next to those bullet points on my list, because it appears that they wil deliver. That said, it's obvious that it's really weird to read those pages [although most of it is interesting] as it feels more like an Elseworlds story. I don't agree with everything I'm seeing and reading, but so far, I think Dan Slott is doing the best with what he was handed. After all, he [and the other AMZ writers] isn't responsible for where the story was left of before he came on, is he? :)


At least we can take some solace in the fact that it won't last. Just like the Clone Saga and John Bynre revamp, the changes will be undone and the proper timeline will be restored. However, I feel that the return of the secret identity may be permanent. Restoring the marriage but leaving the secret identity alone could be a possible "happy ending" after Brand New Day falls on its face. The bad thing is, the Brand New Day nonsense will clutter up a year's worth of stories.
I too, find faith in the fact that none of these "nothing will EVER be the same!!" tend to stick around longer than a year or two max - at least, as far as I can remember. And due to the fact that MJ whispered in Mephisto's ear, MJ seems to be Jackpot and [judging from her appearance in Swing Shift] still has a thing for Peter / Spider-Man, there are enough escape doors built in for this to eventually be undone if it tanks dramatically or when a new EiC comes around and decides he liked Peter better married.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

I have a strong feeling I shouldn't waste money on this story.

[Wolf Boy2]

I'm more upset about losing the public identity than the marriage. The Civil War unmaksing was one of the most balsy things I ever saw in a comic book, and now its gone with NO resolution.

[Captain Highwind]

I'm more upset about losing the public identity than the marriage. The Civil War unmaksing was one of the most balsy things I ever saw in a comic book, and now its gone with NO resolution.

Because there is no way to actually give it a satisfying resolution, which is what everyone knew beforehand.

Peter's either on the run for the rest of his life or he lives under the heel of Stark or whoever would give him shelter. Banner's already got the fugitive thing covered, and Peter being just another Avenger with his identity exposed takes just about everything good out of the character.

And those Brand New Day preview pages are hilarious. I really don't care about Parker's character since everything's pretty much run the course with him, but I can't help but laugh at such a lazy reboot.

[Wolf Boy2]

Because there is no way to actually give it a satisfying resolution, which is what everyone knew beforehand.

Peter's either on the run for the rest of his life or he lives under the heel of Stark or whoever would give him shelter. Banner's already got the fugitive thing covered, and Peter being just another Avenger with his identity exposed takes just about everything good out of the character.
I disagree. I don't think characters should be eternally locked into "formulas." Take Batman, for instance. We have the "Year One" Batman who is just starting out, making mistakes and mostly fighting gangsters. His closest allies are Alfred, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent. He flirts with Catwoman/Selina but doesn't yet know her identity. Then we have the Batman/Robin era where young Dick Grayson is tossed into the fold, and together they fight costumed (usually insane) villians. Batgirl later joins this team, creating the first Batfamily. Later, Dick becomes Nightwing, Barbara gets shot and becomes Oracle, Jason dies, Tim becomes Robin and Batman himself becomes leader of an ensemble team. Quite a jump from the brooding loner of the Year One era. He's gone from loner, to father to Optimus Prime leader.

But throughout all that, he has also been a sometimes member of the JLA. There's a HUGE difference in how he behaves with his own team (where's he is the Fearless Leader) and in the JLA where he is a creepy seperatist who keeps files on everybody and sometimes punches Guy Gardener. Another stark contrast is the almost brotherly off and on relationship he has with Superman (who is both his antithesis and greatest ally at once).

These aren't different versions of Batman from different eras or universes but a single character -- the mainstream, post-crisis Batman. Now if Batman can be so multifaceted, why not Spider-Man? Why does there need to be "one" version of the Spider-Man character? That's not realistic and its boring as all hell.

Why can't Spider-Man be an Avenger? "Because Peter is a loner." So is Batman. "He would no longer be any different, just another bland Avenger." Is Batman "just another" Leauger? HECK NO. Spider-Man was a great addition to the New Avengers, with a good personality and good relationship to the other characters like Cap, Tony and Logan. Plus the icon appeal of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain American and Wolverine in the same book is priceless. I challenge anyone to tell me that Aunt May in the Avengers tower was not priceless.

Imagine if a DC editor decided that partners ruin Batman stories and reset Batman's history, taking him back to the Year One version. All 3 Robins, 2 Batgirls and classic storylines like "The Killing joke" and "Knightfall" would be out of continuity. Wouldn't that be stupid? Well, that's what Marvel is doing with Spider-Man.

[MattThomasM2B]

There's an official preview of Brand New Day on MySpace.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=92159514&blogID=343976793


It's appropriate that you mention Superman Returns in your rant. Reading that preview that's exactly the vibe I was getting.

I guess Peter being a worthless freeloader doesn't bother me too much, as I'm pretty sure it's going to be resolved very fast. I imagine it might hit too close to home for some of the fanbase, though. ;)

I won't lie, I'm a tad bit interested in buying into this. It just so happens though that I already subscribe to Ultimate, and don't see the justification in having both, especially now.

[Wolf Boy2]

See, I've never been very interested in Ultimate Spider-Man. I've read some TPBs from the library, but teen stories aren't my thing. I liked 616 Spider-Man because it wasn't like Ultimate Spider-Man or the movies. I guess I am in a small minority here, as I liked "Sins Past" a lot -- in fact, it was the story that got me interested in comics again as a teen.

[Xurk]

Why can't Spider-Man be an Avenger? "Because Peter is a loner." So is Batman. "He would no longer be any different, just another bland Avenger." Is Batman "just another" Leauger? HECK NO. Spider-Man was a great addition to the New Avengers, with a good personality and good relationship to the other characters like Cap, Tony and Logan. Plus the icon appeal of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain American and Wolverine in the same book is priceless. I challenge anyone to tell me that Aunt May in the Avengers tower was not priceless.
I agree with you on all fronts here. But I'm under the impression [and hoping as well] that Spider-Man will still be in the New Avengers after BND starts up, as Joe Quesada has said that "everything" still happened, except Peter and MJ just never married. Seeing as she didn't have that much to do with him joining the New Avengers [he just happened to be involved in that prison break in the first issue and therefore was invited], this event in history should remain unchanged, according to the Quesada Laws.
If they decide to go against this and have him NOT in the New Avengers and all of the remaning members magically forget he was ever part of their team, then head-on-desk slamming from me will follow.

On another note, the final part of the CBR interview with Joe Quesada has been posted, click this link (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12694) to read it!

[Captain Highwind]

I disagree. I don't think characters should be eternally locked into "formulas."

Where did I say he should be locked into a formula? If anything, he *would* be eternally locked into either a fugitive state or an Avenger, unless the world just decided to leave him alone after the unmasking.

And Batman's in the Justice League because it suits his terms. Peter didn't have that option anymore during Civil War, so I really don't think he'd take it that well after time, as we've already seen. And then what?

It's the unmasking, not the Avenger joining, that's the big mistake.

[ShadowGUN]

There's an official preview of Brand New Day on MySpace.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=92159514&blogID=343976793


Wow, that was crappy. I guess I gonna stick to Ultimate Spider-Man and MA Spider-Man from now on.

In some OMD related news the "It’s Magic … We Don’t Have To Explain It” t-shirts (http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/01/04/is-its-magic-the-dont-taze-me-bro-of-comics/) are out.

[HellCat]

Some nice humour, but man. So he went from a married guy with his own place to a jobless bum living with his Aunt....yes, that's completely healthy and natural for any guy Peter's age :shrug:

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Some nice humour, but man. So he went from a married guy with his own place to a jobless bum living with his Aunt....yes, that's completely healthy and natural for any guy Peter's age :shrug:

Coming soon from Marvel Comics: 'Brand New Life!' What happens when Peter Park looses just not his memory of the past fifteen years, but also has his age reduced by fifteen years?! It's all in 'Brand New Life' written, drawn, and edited by Joe Quesada!

[Wolf Boy2]

Where did I say he should be locked into a formula? If anything, he *would* be eternally locked into either a fugitive state or an Avenger, unless the world just decided to leave him alone after the unmasking.

It's the unmasking, not the Avenger joining, that's the big mistake.
I guess I liked the unmasking a lot because I hate secret identies. It seemed to me that the whole message of War at Home/Brand New Day was "be a coward and hide your face." I get the whole "if my enemies knew they'd hurt my family" thing ... and I still think it's crap.

I am an Iron Man supporter and I favor registration. Peter would've been better off (IMO) standing with Tony. If Peter had never switched sides, Aunt May wouldn't have been shot. By being a "hero" (aka Vigilante) Peter was breaking the law. Sure, I'd love to go out and stop crimes also. But that's not the way a civilized society works. Tony could've given May and MJ new identities or extreme security.

IMO, Peter changing sides in the "Civil War" was idiotic. HOWEVER, I can easily live with characters making idiotic choices. But throwing in a Deus Ex Machina reboot to erase 20 years of continuity is editorial stupidity. I can't stand the fact that my Civil War and War at Home trades are now non-canon. They could've at least given us an "ending" before the reboot. Back in Black was a pointless arc. It all makes me sick.

[Captain Highwind]

Tony could've given May and MJ new identities or extreme security.

Sounds fun. Just like the thought of Peter being a curmudgeon of an Avenger with little chance of growing out of it.

[Matt Hazuda]

Some nice humour, but man. So he went from a married guy with his own place to a jobless bum living with his Aunt....yes, that's completely healthy and natural for any guy Peter's age :shrug:Joe Q turned him into the average comic book fan :sweat:

[Shawn Hopkins]

There was no way I was going to encourage this mess with my money, but I read the last issue of One More Day in a Borders and I think I'm done with the main Spider-Man titles for a while. Everything about this comic was just illogical and ugly, from the terrible art to the fact that Spider-Man, the most upstanding guy in the Marvel Universe, is making a freaking deal with the devil. With the devil! He's rewriting history, erasing at least two people all together (Normie Osborn and his future daughter), to save his 80-year-old aunt. There's some talk about how he can't let her die because it would be his fault, but she knew the risks when he revealed his secret identity and gave her blessing. And it's just lovely how the writers manage to spin it so the final decision is put on Mary Jane so Peter doesn't seem like the cowardly wimp he would have seemed otherwise.

The end result, by the way, makes Peter a loser who still lives with his Aunt and apparently dated superhot, love of his life supermodel Mary Jane for five or so years without any serious comittment or the guts to seal the deal. How is that better?

[rggkjg1]

im trying to figure out where we are in the "timeline" in brand new day. when did mary jane find out peter was spider-man? in the free comic book day amazing spider-man peter and mj aren't talking to each other but when they are spider-man and jackpot they seem like they're totally oblivious to each other's secret identity.

i thought i would be as angry as everyone else here, but im kind of excited for the new weekly title. honestly, i won't be surprised if peter and mj will get married again in this new altered timeline. maybe when they get married again it will disrupt the space time continuum and every thing will be back to normal before civil war and before "one more day".

[Wolf Boy2]

There was no way I was going to encourage this mess with my money, but I read the last issue of One More Day in a Borders and I think I'm done with the main Spider-Man titles for a while.
I read it in Borders also. I didn't buy it. That's right, I read a comic and didn't buy it. I'm gangsta, yo.:evil:


The end result, by the way, makes Peter a loser who still lives with his Aunt and apparently dated superhot, love of his life supermodel Mary Jane for five or so years without any serious comittment or the guts to seal the deal. How is that better?
Word.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

I am an Iron Man supporter and I favor registration. Peter would've been better off (IMO) standing with Tony. If Peter had never switched sides, Aunt May wouldn't have been shot. By being a "hero" (aka Vigilante) Peter was breaking the law. Sure, I'd love to go out and stop crimes also. But that's not the way a civilized society works. Tony could've given May and MJ new identities or extreme security.

IMO, Peter changing sides in the "Civil War" was idiotic. HOWEVER, I can easily live with characters making idiotic choices. But throwing in a Deus Ex Machina reboot to erase 20 years of continuity is editorial stupidity. I can't stand the fact that my Civil War and War at Home trades are now non-canon. They could've at least given us an "ending" before the reboot. Back in Black was a pointless arc. It all makes me sick.
I might say I agree with you 100%, but I'm with the secret identity thing more than with the publicly known face.
SpiderMan seriously should have sticked with Stark to avoid such unnecessary story and back in time.

[Wolf Boy2]

I might say I agree with you 100%, but I'm with the secret identity thing more than with the publicly known face.
SpiderMan seriously should have sticked with Stark to avoid such unnecessary story and back in time.
Would it have been so hard to have Stark give him a new identity? I guess Marvel didn't want to go there; wanted to keep the "Peter Parker" name in the comics for nostalgia and simplicity's sake. The thing is, the FF have always been public and Iron Man is still public. I find it a little stupid that it works just dandy for them but is a catastrophe for Spider-Man.

Even if Spidey is still an Avenger, every relationship he had in the Avengers is now erased, since none of them have ever known his identity. His entire role in "Civil War" never happened. Aunt May and Jarvis never happened either. Actually, I doubt very seriously that he even is an Avenger, since Iron Man doesn't know his identity, I doubt they ever had the father/son relationship they had in the pre-Brand New Day comics.

In all honestly, I would've preferred to get JMS's version where continuity was reset starting with a specific issue in 1971. That way, when reading older material, we would know exactly where "canon" ended and began. As it stands, continuity is EXTREMELY murkey and unclear. Quesada argued that resetting continuity from 1971 onward would have too many ramifications on the Marvel Universe as a whole, but so does making his identity completely secret again. The changes are so confusing! I just hope to God the other titles ignore this crap and avoid crossovers with the "new" Spidey. Because the Civil War still happened, and removing Spider-Man would muddle things too much.

Like most sales stunts, I figure this will eventually be retconned away. There are too many clues, like the fact that Aunt May was willing to die, the daughter of Peter and MJ and the fact that both will slightly remember their marriage (MJ might even remember it completely) indicate that this story can be completely undone if need be. Sad, isn't it, when they begin retconning the retcons?

I am looking forward to the inevitable Elsewords story that will show us an alternate world in which Peter and MJ did not make the deal with Mephisto, and offer some resolution to Tony and Peter's lingering story arc from Civil War. If it doesn't suck, I will most likely accept that story into my mental canon. Granted, the story hasn't even been proposed or written yet, but we all know it will happen at some point (just like that recent story that showed Cap and Iron Man as being on opposite sides of the War from their 616 counterparts).

[Joe Wagner]

I am an Iron Man supporter and I favor registration. Peter would've been better off (IMO) standing with Tony. If Peter had never switched sides, Aunt May wouldn't have been shot. By being a "hero" (aka Vigilante) Peter was breaking the law. Sure, I'd love to go out and stop crimes also. But that's not the way a civilized society works. Tony could've given May and MJ new identities or extreme security.

I've gotta agree with this 110%. I always thought it was odd that Peter was so quick to move against Tony after everything the two had been through. I'm not sure MJ would have been able to effectively have a new identity due to her popularity as an actress/model but I would have loved to have seen some further storylines with Peter serving as Tony's right-hand man. However, that's neither here nor there.

During the fourth interview Joey Q. gave he tried to make the example that if the devil came to Spider-Man and said he would kill a citizen on the street if Spider-Man didn't give up his marriage, that the comic audience would look at Spider-Man differently if he allowed Mephisto to kill the person in question. However, the question should have been asked - when did Spider-Man get to play God with every citizen in the Marvel U? Will this be a continuing element, where everytime he isn't able to save someone, he makes a deal with Loki or Mephisto or another entity so he doesn't feel guilty. The thing that made Spidey special was he was just a man who was granted with special powers, made the wrong decision, and has been attempting to live up to the responsibility his power has brought with it. By no means did he or should he have the right to play God with the decisions and lives of others. He isn't Superman. He can't be everyone at once and he shouldn't feel guilty for things he can't control.

Joey Q. used the example of Mephisto might give the citizen cancer. Unfortunately, cancer kills thousands of people every year. Should Spidey now feel personally responsible? What about the fire on the other side of NYC that he wasn't able to reach in time - is that now his fault? Or the mugging in Central Park. Should JJJ now run stories about how he wasn't there to protect the victim? The logic in use by the EIC is completely without merit - but it allowed him to have Peter make a deal with the devil and erase one of the pivotal moments in Spider-Man history, so apparently, it's completely acceptable.

On the plus side, I think dropping Spider-Man will allow me to pick up Blue Beetle on a monthly basis. As a long time Spider-Man fan, I would recommend the title to anyone not reading it. It really does a nice job with the power and responsibility themes while adding some great dialogue.

-Joe!

[HellCat]

Civil War was a mess. They promised a balanced view but then went and made Cap's more left leaning side look heroic and Tony's more right leaning side look like monsters. I sided with Cap's team but even I could see they didn't even give Tony's a chance. They were up to so many wrong things that it would have been impossible to have 'everyman' Peter honestly side with them knowing about all of it.

In general, comics need to dump these constant giant crossovers and 'Internet shattering' events. They're usually just cheap gimmicks which are poorly plotted and retconned within a year. Go away and come up with some credible, interesting stories. Not more lame crap because a higher up has a bee in his bonnet.

[Russkafin]

Like most sales stunts, I figure this will eventually be retconned away. There are too many clues, like the fact that Aunt May was willing to die, the daughter of Peter and MJ and the fact that both will slightly remember their marriage (MJ might even remember it completely) indicate that this story can be completely undone if need be.

This is probably giving them WAY too much credit, but something just occurred to me... what if that was their plan all along?

Remember when DC replaced Bruce Wayne with Azrael? They never intended it to be permanant... Denny O'Neal was quoted as saying afterwards "We were relieved when the hate mail started pouring in."

Joe Quesada said many writers and fans have always had mixed feeling about the Peter/MJ marriage, and that this storyline would resolve things once and for all. But what if it's not the way we think? It *does* seem like they built in ways to undo "One More Day." Maybe that is their intention all along... maybe when all is said and done, OMD/BND is supposed to prove that the marriage IS a good thing, and that the fans do want it, much like Knightfall was supposed to prove that Bruce Wayne is the one and only Batman?

.....Wishful thinking?

[Jacob T. Paschal]

This is probably giving them WAY too much credit, but something just occurred to me... what if that was their plan all along?

Remember when DC replaced Bruce Wayne with Azrael? They never intended it to be permanant... Denny O'Neal was quoted as saying afterwards "We were relieved when the hate mail started pouring in."

Joe Quesada said many writers and fans have always had mixed feeling about the Peter/MJ marriage, and that this storyline would resolve things once and for all. But what if it's not the way we think? It *does* seem like they built in ways to undo "One More Day." Maybe that is their intention all along... maybe when all is said and done, OMD/BND is supposed to prove that the marriage IS a good thing, and that the fans do want it, much like Knightfall was supposed to prove that Bruce Wayne is the one and only Batman?

.....Wishful thinking?

We can only hope you are right on this.

[Dogbert]

This is probably giving them WAY too much credit, but something just occurred to me... what if that was their plan all along?

Remember when DC replaced Bruce Wayne with Azrael? They never intended it to be permanant... Denny O'Neal was quoted as saying afterwards "We were relieved when the hate mail started pouring in."

Joe Quesada said many writers and fans have always had mixed feeling about the Peter/MJ marriage, and that this storyline would resolve things once and for all. But what if it's not the way we think? It *does* seem like they built in ways to undo "One More Day." Maybe that is their intention all along... maybe when all is said and done, OMD/BND is supposed to prove that the marriage IS a good thing, and that the fans do want it, much like Knightfall was supposed to prove that Bruce Wayne is the one and only Batman?

.....Wishful thinking?I'd love for you to be right, Russkafin. But, for that to be true, it would mean that the writers & editors are lying to us in their interviews. They haven't outright said this is permanent, but their justifications for it all strongly imply it. If it's true that they believe more stories can be told with a single Peter, then they wouldn't make it temporary. If they don't like the marriage, then why dissolve it just to prove how important it was.

Plus, would that mean the Civil War unmasking is back? I really them saying (though this may have just been speculation) that the unmasking was only done because OMD/BND would undo it. Were they lying about that too, or would the undoing of OMD/BND conveniently put everything back in place except that. Again, I'd love for your prediction to be true, Russkafin, but I just don't think that's where this story was intended to go.

Of course, if sales drop, it might not matter where the story was intended to go...

[Wolf Boy2]

Of course, if sales drop, it might not matter where the story was intended to go...
Sales are what it's all about. They will make whatever sells, so if anyone dislikes it than they should vote with their dollar and not buy it.

To me, everything I've seen of Brand New Day is like an "It's a Wonderful Life" senario proving just how good the previous continuity was. Jobless bum Peter is an absolute nightmare -- like a bad dream to show just how good off married Peter was.

[HellCat]

http://www.toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=242&itemid=12279

[masteroftheeast]

Coming soon from Marvel Comics: 'Brand New Life!' What happens when Peter Park looses just not his memory of the past fifteen years, but also has his age reduced by fifteen years?! It's all in 'Brand New Life' written, drawn, and edited by Joe Quesada!

How long will the delay between issues be?

[Joe Wagner]

How long will the delay between issues be?

Look for a July launch, with delivery just in time for Christmas 2009.

-Joe!

[Ducard]

Oh my. This one's a keeper:

http://shortpacked.com/d/20080107.html

[Xurk]

Heh, that last link really is funny :) Do you think those first few panels are traced [as they do seem familiar, as a regular reader of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane]? If not, the artist did a good job of replicating Miyazawa's art!

[Conan-san]

I dunno, he's been a dab hand at drawing allsorts, from Transfromers:Animated (god, I wish they went with the heros name, it was a lot more better) to batman.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

The only good thing for me is that Spiderman wouldn't be dead, and no other.
Be pleased Scorpion fans because no symbiote means the McGargan will be the only loveable Scorpion from now on. And forget Marvel Secret Wars and the alien costume and the clone saga. Judas Traveller was never made the criminal from the clone saga

[Xurk]

Be pleased Scorpion fans because no symbiote means the McGargan will be the only loveable Scorpion from now on. And forget Marvel Secret Wars and the alien costume and the clone saga. Judas Traveller was never made the criminal from the clone saga
Eh? Where are you getting this information from? Retconning the "Secret Wars" away would make no sense and retconning the symbiote out of existence wouldn't either... it would be almost as much a travesty as what they've done to the marriage! And it's totally unnecessary as well.
Also, if the Clone Saga was to be retconned, Judas Traveller wouldn't even exist, as he didn't appear outside of the Clone Saga, not before and not after. So not only would he not be a criminal, he wouldn't exist :p

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Eh? Where are you getting this information from?
(Spiderman's secret identity is a secret from all, no one know's it.) That's what is the new issue of one of Spiderman's title, this definitely means at least there is no symbiote to bond with Eddie Brock.
I think my information's are quite messy, please forgive me

[HellCat]

(Spiderman's secret identity is a secret from all, no one know's it.)

Not even Peter? Sheesh, poor guy. All those blank spots in his memory. And what's this fruity costume doing in his laundry?

:p ;)

[wonderfly]

(Spiderman's secret identity is a secret from all, no one know's it.) That's what is the new issue of one of Spiderman's title, this definitely means at least there is no symbiote to bond with Eddie Brock.
I think my information's are quite messy, please forgive me

Okay, I'll take a stab at what I think he's saying: If the new status quo is that no one knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, then that means that Eddie Brock shouldn't know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man either. And the only way that makes sense is if the Venom symbiote never merged with Eddie Brock. Thus, if there's no Venom symbiote, then "Secret Wars" never happened. Heh, makes about as much sense as anything else... :p

[Xurk]

Aha! I understand ;)

But I would be really surprised if they went THAT far in retconning things... I have a feeling they're going to settle for the "people know that they knew his secret ID at one point but just can't seem to remember anymore" bit, seeing as it's been stated that everyone remembers Spidey unmasking, but can't remember who was under the mask.
In the case of the Venom symbiote, it might have a fuzzy memory of its former host's identity as well all of the sudden.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

At least only spiderman didn't go to the ship that took him to Beyonders planet in Amazing#251, and he stayed home like cat and vision.

[Conan-san]

So lemme get this stright. According to the Wiki, the unmasking happned but for all intents the world became blind from the moment Peter unmasked to the moment the mask went back on?

You know what?

Come back, Autobots, your needed to strike a blow right through this BS of the grandest order.

[Wolf Boy2]

I don't think anything has actually been changed, only people's memories of it. All these people did know Spider-Man's identity, but Mephisto made them all forget. After all, if Tony never knew his identity, than the Civil War unmasking wouldn't have happened.

Undoing the marriage wasn't actually nesscessary to save Aunt May from the sniper or to give Pete his secret identity back. It was Mephisto's price to make both Peter and God suffer (because Peter needs a wife and loving marriages are pleasing to God). The unmasking and everything else DID happen, but before Mephisto's mind wipe.

But won't Peter remember the Civil War and the unmasking? Thus remember his friendship with Iron Man? **winces** There are SO many plot gaps in this story. I can't imagine that Peter (and a lot of other people) won't start to question it and realize that they are living in a false reality.

I wonder if this "brand new day" is actually set in the real Marvel 616 or a splinter universe.

[Spider-Man]

We don't know how far-reaching this "no one knows who Peter Parker" is because there must be some fine print in here somewhere. I'm not sure how it will all turn out but it's going to be interesting when they establish the new continuity with characers like Venom. Alot more characters are affected by this. Much more than Joe Q. thinks, and the ending to One More Day is just the tip of it. There's so many plot gaps that "It's Magic. We don't have to explain it" just doesn't fix.

[Joe Wagner]

It's funny, but I've been reading a lot of the history of the Clone Saga lately and Peter was presented with a similar situation back in Amazing Spider-Man #402. During this time, Traveller, told Peter that he had captured Aunt May's soul and that Peter could free her soul or even bring her back to life if Peter selected 100, 10 or even one person to die in her place. At this time, Peter rejected the offer. With OMD, we saw Peter willingly make a devil with the devil.

I think Brand New Day should also include some of the people that no longer exist as a result of One More Day. If Harry can come back from the grave, who's to say that someone didn't meet an untimely end as the direct result of the decision made. Maybe Peter wasn't where he should have been as a result of being single and someone dies as a result. I wonder if Marvel will even touch on these possibilities....

-Joe!

[Matt Hazuda]

I think Brand New Day should also include some of the people that no longer exist as a result of One More Day. If Harry can come back from the grave, who's to say that someone didn't meet an untimely end as the direct result of the decision made. Maybe Peter wasn't where he should have been as a result of being single and someone dies as a result. I wonder if Marvel will even touch on these possibilities....

-Joe!Kraven perhaps? He's like Spidey's biggest baddie who has stayed dead outside Eddie Brock (who may or may not be dead).

[Conan-san]

The Nerd has shown me the light. I'm treeting the entire Marvel time line like I treat the Zelda timeline from now own.

It's a shame that most Marvel stuff isn't that hot enough to stick like Zelda stuff but it's just about the only way I won't go insane.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

to make both Peter and God suffer (because Peter needs a wife and loving marriages are pleasing to God).
This sentence shouldn't have been made, just Peter suffering is alright, but the rest is wrong

[Shawn Hopkins]

I just don't understand how Peter fits into New Avengers, now. That team now only exists as a seperate entity because they were anti-registration. If Peter doesn't remember unmasking or his relationship with Stark, what does he remember about Civil War or why he stayed with the New Avengers? Does he remember being anti-registration from the start? Were events changed so that he was? If not, wouldn't it be awkward if Peter thinks he was at Cap's hideouts the whole time and other people don't remember that and there is evidence he wasn't. How does Civil War even work without the galvanizing effect of a major hero unmasking?

Spidey-mon, whether you like it or not, I think what Wolf Boy said was the point of the story. I'm not the best source because I read it in a Borders, but I think I remember Mephisto saying something to that effect, even.

I thought Spider-Man was supposed to be smart, by the way, and maybe reasonably well read. But when the devil shows up and offers him a deal, he doesn't even seem to seriously consider that there's probably a nasty twist coming. That's only happened every single time Mephisto has done this in the history of the world and in most fictional account of deals with the devil.

[Ed Liu]

How does Civil War even work without the galvanizing effect of a major hero unmasking?

"It's magic. We don't have to explain it."

:evil:

And let's be perfectly clear that all of this stuff, starting with "House of M" and running all the way to now, was all planned out FAR FAR in advance to make sure that it all tied together into one massive, multi-year narrative of epic scope and heartbreaking genius.

:evil: :evil: :evil:

(And before anybody asks, no I am not serious about the latter part. If anything, I think when people start asking questions it reveals exactly how poorly thought out DC and Marvel's much-vaunted crossover events really are, and how many of them grew way bigger than anybody expected them to initially.)

And I should REALLY REALLY stop giving in to the temptation to make fun of something I've only heard about secondhand. The devil makes me do it :evil:.

-- Ed

[Conan-san]

How does Civil War even work without the galvanizing effect of a major hero unmasking?By apprently pulling a demonic version of the Laughing man incident. Everyone that saw it knows it happened but they can't see the face.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

Simply Pete is out of the new Avengers
Unless of course he still show face regularly there

[Shawn Hopkins]

Simply Pete is out of the new Avengers
Unless of course he still show face regularly there

Even if they kick him out after the current story arc, this post-Civil War story arc still happened and the Avengers should remember it. It doesn't make sense.

[Xurk]

According to Steve Wacker over in an interview at Newsarama (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=142504), Spider-Man is still a member of the New Avengers, here's the part specifically on that:


NRAMA: Aunt May getting shot, and the resultant angst - still happen?

SW: Yes.

NRAMA: The Other and the acquisition of the organic shooters - still happen?

SW: Yes. But Pete’s back to his classic powers now (except his newly acquired Sinestro ring.).

NRAMA: Is Spidey still with the Avengers?

SW: Yes. See #555 in April.

NRAMA: Did he have a period where he was in the Black Costume?

SW: Yep.

NRAMA: Are Spider-Man and Tony Stark/Iron Man still at odds?

SW: Yes.

[Joe Wagner]

And I should REALLY REALLY stop giving in to the temptation to make fun of something I've only heard about secondhand. The devil makes me do it :evil:.

-- Ed

It's cool - when a story is this bad, poorly contrived and completely out of character it's perfectly acceptable to mock it as much as possible. Next, Marvel brings Captain America back from the dead and makes him an agent of new Russian agression. Look out world - Captain Communism is on the march.....

-Joe!

(Hmmm......Maybe I should trademark that name before Marvel gets any ideas.....)

[Miyamoto Musashi]

I love issues before McFarlane's style the most

[danreyes1]

I'm a bit late to the party, but here's what I think. I gave up on the Marvel universe almost entirely after Civil War. Spider-Man was the only title I still read. That is no more. Marvel is dead to me.

[Miyamoto Musashi]

I read now days spiderman comics before the civil war (excluding the Osbourne/Stacy twin kids), I'll ignore him entering the avengers because to me; Spiderman is still as Reed Richard called him in his ever first annual:
"A lone wolf"

[wonderfly]

I've decided to finally get around to posting my thoughts on the ending of "One More Day"...

In a nutshell: The script was touching, and was filled with several tender moments...but all the good was undone by the contrived plot twists.

Let's be fair here: Quesada was right, JMS's idea for ending "One More Day" was a bad idea. Going back in time and changing Marvel history DOES erase 30 years worth of stories, and I don't know about you, but I don't want my comic book collection rendered null and void just because JMS doesn't give a damn about continuity.

The problem is, Quesada's idea isn't much better.

What Quesada's basically done is applied the Sentry's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentry_%28Robert_Reynolds%29)"deus ex machina" continuity solving problem to Spider-man, (in the Sentry's comic book, we learned that he was a former Marvel hero whom everyone in the Marvel Universe forgot about due to a mindwipe of massive proportions). Unfortunately, it doesn't work with Spider-Man. The Sentry was a new creation, inserted into the back history of the Marvel Universe. Spider-man's a character who's been front and center for the Marvel Universe, you can't just ignore the last 20 years of comics and pretend they didn't happen.

As has already been pointed out by JMS, not only does Mephisto erase people's memories, but he's erasing video footage of Spidey unmasking, he's erasing the scar from Aunt May getting shot, he's rebuilding Aunt May's house, he's bringing Harry back from the dead...this isn't erasing memories, this is altering reality!!!

So why go to such crazy lengths to end the marriage when a divorce would've been more coherent?

Let's be clear here: Joe Quesada's concern was in national news headlines, (much like when Superman "died"). Corporate Marvel didn't want Spider-Man's marriage to end up as a punchline on the Tonight Show. "Divorce" is something the mainstream press would've picked up on and mocked with open derision. Quesada, loyal company man that he is, wasn't about to let Marvel be dissed. Plus, there's the fear of parents who've never read a comic book in their life who would've heard about this from the mainstream media and who would've not let their kids have a Spider-Man action figure, ("he's a bad role model").

So yeah, a deal with the devil and a continuity mindwipe is much more easy to push: the mainstream audience doesn't understand it, so therefore the media doesn't bother to report it.

Such is the way of things, I understand it. I've advocated (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=150374)for characters to grow old and mature (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=148592) before now (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=58906), and I'll do so again.

But on the other hand, I also grow tired of those who say "I'll never buy a Marvel comic again!" and don't like it when others who hated the story don't drop the comic as well. I'm on board for "Brand New Day" and I have plenty of problems with "One More Day". Should I let my problems with "One More Day" keep me from enjoying "Brand New Day"?!? Maybe that makes me a Marvel Zombie, willing to buy whatever Marvel shells out. Or maybe I'm one of the "true" fans who cares enough about the characters to see if the writers of the next story can redeem the faults of the last, crappy story.

I have a friend who was a big X-Men fan who stopped buying Marvel comics in the mid 90's. He claims that everything after X-Force #1 came out, (the beginning of the Liefeld era) was a travesty of justice, and no one could return things to the glory of the Claremont X-Men 80's!! In my opinion, he's simply robbed himself of good stories. Yes, there's been crap, but if you stick around long enough, the plot will change again, and you might find something enjoyable in the next storyarc. To swear that you will never buy another Marvel comic just because you hated a current storyline is somewhat short-sighted, in my opinion.