Originally posted by Spider-Gnome
OK, first, I have to say, the "I Am the Spider," which followed the horrible return of his parents is my personal "Jump the Shark" for Spider-Man. Before this we had classic Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita, death of Gwen & Goblin, the Ross Andru era, original clone story, Hobgoblin mystery, Black Cat, gang war, black costume, wedding, Venom, Kraven's Last Hunt. Then the whole I am the spider, just felt like jumping on the whole dark gritty Dark Knight thing of the day. That's fine for Batman, not Spider-Man. I felt there were no quips during this arc.
Since then, we've gotten the Clone Saga, Gathering of the Five, reboot, blow up MJ, separate Pete & MJ, magic origin, Sins Past, the Other, turning into a giant spider (again!), unmasking, OMD, BND. Not that there weren't some good things sprinkled in there, but it seems I find more enjoyable stories pre-I Am the Spider than post.
Sorry for the side track. And yes. I like my Spidey making jokes durning battles like "Worst slumber party ever" and " Oh yay! Ninjas!" That was one of the things that attracted me to the character when I first watched the 60's cartoon and what is really missing in the Spider-Man movies. I think the problem with these lines in New Avengers was it was running currently with Back In Black and it made no sense that Spidey was even taking place in these adventures considering what was happening in his books.
What this boils down to, is I enjoy the funny Spidey even when the chips are down. I also like mature when the plot calls for it (death of Gwen for example). But, just because he is married, it doesn't mean he has to act so mature as to not crack jokes. And the marriage does not make the character responsible. Uncle Ben (& Aunt May) did when raising him. So, since responsibility is essential to Pete's character, marriage it totally logical.