6/5/2008
Mr. Quesada also forgot Peter and Mary Jane WERE also a married couple in college. It happened after Peter became Spider-Man again when Ben Reilly died and it came to an end before "Chapter One" began. It became lost in the shuffle, though, when Norman Osborn set up Spider-Man and he became a wanted criminal and had to don four other identities (Dusk, Hornet, Prodigy and Ricochet, respectively), and it was later abandoned. So they did try, it's just that they forgot to keep it up, because after the relaunch, Peter was at TriCorp, Mary Jane was an actress/model again and being stalked, while they acted out of character -- M.J. was a jerk and Peter was a lying idiot.
Now then, what's this?
Even with declining sales, ASM would have to average out at 65k per issue to just break even with the total monthly Spider-Books sold prior to BND, so while it's natural for sales to dip (especially during tough economic times, when ALL comic sales are dropping), the 80k+ average at this point is doing well, and it will stabilize at some point (like most books due at some point), so this new era won't be ending anytime soon.
I know it won't, but I'm trying to push it so that it ends sooner rather than later. Mr. Quesada said recently all of Marvel's stories are planned until 2010, but that could change if the sales continue to drop.
So if what you say is true, that while there are as many people who like it as there are people who dislike it, then this whole drama queen comment was all for naught, because you focus on what the NEGATIVE people are saying with great detail, but you fail to mention some of the FANTASTIC things the POSITIVE people are saying... I know you're obviously biased towards one direction, but to have validity in your point, you must express both sides of the coin equally, especially when you claim that there are "just as many" on both sides.
Wow, never had any of my rants called a "drama queen comment" before. Kind of funny.
Of course I'm focusing on the negative, because I DON'T see anything positive about this from my point of view. From what I've read online, this stuff has been done before? Robbie quits the Bugle? He did that before in the late-90s. Peter quits the Bugle? How many times has he done that before? Someone else takes over the Bugle? I thought Norman Osborn owned it once before. Jonah will get it back. Mary Jane is back, but not back? Yeah, we've had that before too. Many times.
And there are just as many people that like "Brand New Day" as there are that don't like it. Just look at the message boards of SHH, Counting Down, Marvel's website, Spider-Man Crawl Space, the Wizard Universe Message Board, the list goes on and on.
If you knew I was focusing on the negative, why do you think I'd focus on the positive comments of something I don't like? Besides, the only positive comments I've seen have mostly been from Joe Quesada than monthly comic readers. Although, if I could remember any positive comments about the monthly comics, I would've used them. But I'd prefer to let the fans that DO like the "Brand New Day" comics say what they like than to have me speak on their behalf.
I'm not sure who exactly is comparing the death of Gwen Stacy to the "sad example" of Spider-Man being married... but I have seen people (myself included) compare the tragic losses in Spider-Man's life... just as the aforementioned Gwen Stacy, the loss of MJ as his wife is just as tragic. And I believe that's a valid point.
The main difference between that and the retcon of the marriage is that PETER DOESN'T REMEMBER IT. Peter remembers that Gwen died, but not that he lost his marriage. Mary Jane remembers, apparently, or at least that's what it's hinted at from what I was told. It's not the same when it's a sad example for Mary Jane, not Peter.
But that's life in comics... things change all the time... I'm sure fans were outraged in 1973 when Gwen was killed, but sometimes, even bad things can happen to our favorite heroes and we just have to either accept it and keep reading or drop the books and move on.
Move on? Uh-uh. Clearly you didn't see any of my comments post "X-Men: The Last Stand" when my favorite character, Cyclops, was apparently killed off-screen. I'm still livid that it happened and I haven't moved on.
I'm not the kind of fan that accepts big changes like this, and the big difference between 1973 and 2008 is the internet and how outspoken the fans are now. They have more ways of telling Marvel that they don't like what's going on and monthly sales will ultimately decide if the "Brand New Day" Spider-Man stays or goes and, with no disrespect intended to those that like BND, I'm trying to make sure it goes.
So, the short answer for this is don't expect me to move on anytime soon.
Due to the iconic culture these two characters have been through (especially the movies), it's inevitable that Marvel will reunite them... maybe not as a "married couple", but a couple nonetheless.
And I'm sure it will be a bumpy ride getting there.
Why should we see them as a couple when they were already a married couple? Why should Mary Jane have to date her own husband, especially if it turns out she DOES remember?
Also, I hate "bumpy rides" in comics. That's what they said in 1996 before Peter Parker donned the costume again in the "Revelations" storyarc. That's also why I'm not reading the comics. There's nothing TO read in the "regular" Spider-Man comics.
Spider-Man has become an event, not a character.
Every time he changes, good or bad, it never lasts. He's been the main character and/or the one who is affected the most over the past few years ("House of M", "Secret War", "Civil War", etc.), and he's always reverted back to some previous state afterwards. He went from a married mid-20s married man being in college (post-Ben Reilly's death) to donning four other identities, to quitting and returning with a new supporting cast that didn't last long (the Mackie/Byrne relaunch), had his wife die and then return only to split up with him, had a Spider-Totem incident (man, that was BAD), to being reunited with his wife, to Sins Past to, *deep breath*, having his eyeball eaten, died, return from the dead with new powers, unmasked in front of the world, registered with the Superhero Registration Act only to switch sides and be on the run, have his Aunt May shot, go nuts and don his black costume again for a while, eventually make a literal deal with the Devil Mephisto, and become a single man with another new supporting cast, have money problems, have an icy relationship with ex-fiancee Mary Jane, have his best friend come back from the dead but how has yet to be revealed, and quit his job.
*pant, pant*
Did I miss anything?
The point is, when you look at all of that in an TWELVE YEAR TIME PERIOD (1996 to now), Spider-Man has changed and changed again but not all of the changes have been good. The only GOOD "major" change I liked in the last twenty years about the comics was the Spider-Marriage and now it's gone.
Thanks for listening...
You're welcome. Like I said, we can agree to disagree on the current comics, but the one thing we can agree on is that we still like Spider-Man, the character.
Thanks for reading,
Stuart Green
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lol
