Comics If you could/had to reset Spidey continuity, where would you start?

[Eye Doc]

I know many of you hate the idea of continuity being rebooted. But, if you had to pick a cut off point in Spidey's history and rewrite everything that happened from that moment on, where would you start?


Personally, I'd start at the end of Tom DeFalco's first run on AMZ (circa AMZ 285 or so). I think Spidey started to suffer creatively when the original Hobgoblin storyline concluded (or appeared to conclude) in issue 289. From that point on things were never quite the same. I've always liked MJ, but the wedding really was rushed. Peter had just broke up with Felecia, now he's ready to committ to a woman he really hadn't dated in years.

If I had to keep the marriage intact, I'd start with the 30th anniversary issue of AMZ. At that point neither the character or the continuity were broken and the era of bad stories had yet to begin:

1)Spidey making deals with Venom
2)return of the robot parents
3)the clone saga
4)gathering of the five
5)Sins Past
6)The Other
3)

Where would the rest of you start?

 

[November Rain]

i would have shortened the clone saga and made it clear that his daughter had either died or been kidnapped

I'd keep reilly alive but his encounter with the goblin starts a slow degenerative process and i would have also made him wheel chair bound for a few years to recover from his injuries.

as someone who started reading in the 90s, nothing was the same for me after that arc.

 

[wolvie2020]

I'm intruiged by your opinions and would like to subscribe to your newsletter

 

[shinlyle]

I'd restart it after ASM#350.

That would rid us of Carnage, good-guy Venom, the robot parents, and the Clone Saga, all the way through the crap-tastic Other/Sins Past/JMS-and-Joe Q- want to leave their marks period.

Besides...nothing majorly note-worthy happened from ASM 351-364...aside from Bagley taking over ASM.

 

[Spider-Fan]

After issue 400. Aunt May dies, then go from there.

 

[storyteller]

Gwens death

Revitalize the Mary Jane and Peter Parker thing.

 

[Dangerous]

After issue 400. Aunt May dies, then go from there.

Il take that too.

Though Venom is one of my fav’s, I would not choose #350 just 'cause he was still good then.
He was destined to become lame because of how popular he was.

So for a preferred continuity reset I'd opt for ASM#400, for a recent one I'd choose ASM#508 to be the new starting point, because after that is when things really began to go down the s-hitter.
What would rule is if OMD wipes everything outta existence from then onwards. From out of MU history, not just someone’s memory.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

'Gathering of Five' and the Byrne-ing is when it all went downhill for me. That's where we would start over.

 

[iamlegend]

Hmm. Interesting question.

Defintely before Carnage ever came into existence. But I'd still want Pete to go through his mini-transformation, because Spider-Man's power needed to be increased a bit in order to be brought up to speed, so to speak, with the rest of the big time Marvel heroes.

 

[farmernudie]

If i absolutely HAD to reboot it, I'd go much farther back then others here...and write an ongoing alternate timeline series...giving myelf plenty of room for a varying spidey timeline, not for the sake of undoing bad choices over the years specifically, (Sure-there are lots of things more RECENTLY i would not repeat in ANY form) but to reboot it just for the fun of having a very different spidey world where won't go the same this time through at all.

My reboot would happen RIGHT before Gwen died, but my reboot would start out with Spidey saving her and then go from there.

Heck, if were to do an alternate timeline, I might even go ALL the way back...and have Aunt May the one murdered, and "sparking spidey mythos" and develope him growing up around Uncle Ben.

Who knows!

But, if i did reboot, i'd keep a current Spidey timeline around too, but would fix that up too, and solidfy the marriage and bring back some sort of supporting cast and writers who do not equate the marraige to a handicap.

My reboot would be OUT of continuity.

 

[Doc_OCK_4MUGEN]

l'd reboot before Sins Past... or shorten the Clone Saga.

 

[ragingdemon155]

I would shorten the CloneSaga but honestly I would probably just reboot before the entire JMS run. Now, I actually enjoyed some of it. Some of the arcs were actually good and he wrote the Peter/MJ relationship so well. However, some of the ideas that he presented were just absolutely stupid from "The Other" to "Sins Past" to the whole "I'm the chosen one" notion....I hated it all. The "Totem" storyline started this whole mess with stingers and so on. I hate it all.

Everything before that, while not perfect at times...I could live with. I'm actually one of those rare fans that enjoyed the 90's a great deal.

 

[WolfCypher]

Right before the 2nd Clone Saga. Around ASM 380-390. I wouldn't erase the clone saga from canon, but it would have turn out a lot different. And ASM 400 would have either been 1) The death of Aunt May (only this time May would really die, and not some genetic impersenator of Aunt May) or 2) The death of Eddie Brock (seriously, David Micheline wanted Brock to die 100 issues after his introduction, and I'm very interested in seeing how it would have been done).

I'd also would have not included Kaine, Traveller, Spidercide (or all those other excessive clones), I wouldn't have killed off Doc Ock or depowered Spider-Man, and the Jackal would have stayed around longer.

 

[Dangerous]

It was the real May that died in ASM#400, that's what DeMatties intended anyway. It was only later when Mackie was running s**t that the ret con came into effect that it was in fact an impostor that died. Quite ******ed really.

Still, I’d take Mackie’s crap over over JMS anyday.

 

[ragingdemon155]

Right before the 2nd Clone Saga. Around ASM 380-390. I wouldn't erase the clone saga from canon, but it would have turn out a lot different. And ASM 400 would have either been 1) The death of Aunt May (only this time May would really die, and not some genetic impersenator of Aunt May) or 2) The death of Eddie Brock (seriously, David Micheline wanted Brock to die 100 issues after his introduction, and I'm very interested in seeing how it would have been done).

I'd also would have not included Kaine, Traveller, Spidercide (or all those other excessive clones), I wouldn't have killed off Doc Ock or depowered Spider-Man, and the Jackal would have stayed around longer.

No Kaine!?!?!?!

Kaine was badass!

 

[freemadison]

No Kaine!?!?!?!

Kaine was badass!

i read that, was shocked, and immediately scrolled down to the bottom of this thread so i could say "But Kaine is AWESOME!"...and i saw that you beat me to it. Good work team. t:

 

[Kevin]

Clone Saga.

 

[Dragon]

ASM #121. Gwen lives.

 

[arachnid-guy]

ASM #121. Gwen lives.

Now that's an event I wouldn't reset. Just the CONSTANT-EVERY-FEW-MONTHS-TRIP-UP-TO-THAT-DAMN-BRIDGE scenes we seem to be getting recently.

 

[3dman27]

i would have done it so the jms storyline [the boston public knockoff and the others ]wouldn't have happened ,petes a PHOTOGRAPHER NOTa schoolteacher .as for the personal assistant job he might take it but NOT be a total flunky.
unmasking pete would respectfully decline since the stamford incident was NOT his doing nor his responsiblity,and he would also consider the SHRA unconstitutional and take legal step to stop the goverment from harrassing him

 

[SpideyInATree]

Unlike the decision makers at Marvel during the mid to late 90's I have balls and am not greedy.

Ben Reilly would have stayed the one true Spider-Man, plain and simple. Peter Parker and Mary Jane would have given birth to baby May and lived happily ever after. Ben Reilly would have continued his adventures as Spider-Man and you would have had a single Peter Parker without killing Mary Jane, without divorcing Mary Jane from Peter, or without any of that bad stuff.

Peter and MJ would have, of course, stayed in the books as main characters. Peter always giving Ben advice on some of the villains and the other heroes that he'd interact with. Lots of visits between the three as Ben Reilly will want to visit his "niece" from time to time.

Fans can complain all they want. But the fact of the matter is that Ben Reilly being the one true Spider-Man is one hundred percent more logical and better than Gwen Stacy banging Norman Osborn. It's a hell of a lot better than Peter Parker dying, shedding his skin, and becoming Super Spider-Man. It was a hell of a lot better than pissing all over Amazing Spider-Man # 400 because someone was too afraid of Aunt May being out of the books.

That's just what I'd do. It's not the most popular opinion around here but that's why I'm me and that's why I freakin' rule, baby!

 

[Joker]

If i absolutely HAD to reboot it, I'd go much farther back then others here...and write an ongoing alternate timeline series...giving myelf plenty of room for a varying spidey timeline, not for the sake of undoing bad choices over the years specifically, (Sure-there are lots of things more RECENTLY i would not repeat in ANY form) but to reboot it just for the fun of having a very different spidey world where won't go the same this time through at all.

My reboot would happen RIGHT before Gwen died, but my reboot would start out with Spidey saving her and then go from there.

Heck, if were to do an alternate timeline, I might even go ALL the way back...and have Aunt May the one murdered, and "sparking spidey mythos" and develope him growing up around Uncle Ben.

Who knows!

But, if i did reboot, i'd keep a current Spidey timeline around too, but would fix that up too, and solidfy the marriage and bring back some sort of supporting cast and writers who do not equate the marraige to a handicap.

My reboot would be OUT of continuity.

...so essentially, you'd do Ultimate Spider-Man??

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

I would have rebooted after ASM Issue# 400 or shortly after so that there would be no clone sage or a shortened Clone Saga, etc.

 

[Green Goblin 1964]

Clone Saga....

 

[farmernudie]

...so essentially, you'd do Ultimate Spider-Man??

I dunno???...i guess you could say that. Although what i would write doesn't make me think of it that way.

I am thinking "MORE" alternate...Ultimate to me, ...is TOO close to regular continuity. More of a "young" spidey. They wanted to go different, i think, but keep too many things the same, imo.

But yeh, It'd either start out before Gwen's death or at the beginning.

If i was to take the time to reboot and do things differently...i say go all out, FAR BACK, and do things VERY DIFFERENTLY....that's is, if it were ME...lol...