I have to agree with you Wolvie25th...
I mean, ya I've been reading Spidey and basically marvel for what, about 17 years now and I'd have to say that only the last few years have been pure **** for me. I enjoyed the Clone Saga, etc. Only when they first tried to kill off MJ and then Byrne's run was I starting to get a bit peeved, but it seemed to get better again. I mean, it seems to me that the only time I really found reading Spider-Man to be more of a chore than a pleasure was when specific editors and writers decided it was time for MAJOR LIFE CHANGING EVENTS THAT WILL ROCK THE MARVEL UNIVERSE TO ITS CORE!
Take Infinity Gauntlet for example. THAT is one of the greatest Marvel Universe Events ever, imo. So was Age of Apocolypse. Even Onslaught was pretty cool. But those events were FUN. They were interesting. And most importantly, they did NOT break the true characterizations of the heroes and villains within. Everyone was written, for the most part, as true to their established characterizations.
When JMS first came aboard and started the mystical totem storyline, I thought, "OK, I'll get on board with this and see where it goes, it sounds interesting and new." But, quite frankly, I feel he completely ****ed it all up. Instead of keeping the mystical stuff ambiguous, he decided to cement it within Spider-Man lore, which was a mistake, imo. And then Sins Past, then New Avengers, then Civil War, and whatever hell there is to come.
I'm all for great storylines that showcase the strengths and weaknesses of the characters I love so much. I'm NOT in favor of change for no reason, there is no reason whatsoever to try and bring the Marvel Universe into "reality" by trying to explain to us how it would "really" be if we had super powered individuals running around. We all KNOW how it would be. And guess what? It's BORING. Goverments and laws and regulations and registrations, etc. are BORING in the world of comics. I don't want to read about that, I wanna read about the FANTASY of a comic book world. When I want to read about beurocratic nonsense, I'll open the newspaper.
Marvel has taken the best thing about comic books and stripped away their entire universe of fantasy and fun of it all in order to make it "realistic". It's a comic book, it's not supposed to be realistic. If this nonsense was happening when I was 12 years old, i never would have bothered getting into comics in the first place, because it is BORING.
Anyhow, went a little longer than I wanted to, sorry.