Comics Missing users...

[Ben_Reilly]

What happened to:
JJs Ulcer
StillANerd
HobGoblin

I know there are a few others that posted quite a bit, but It's been a while since I was last here and cannot remember all their names off the top of my head.

 

[Will Nolte]

Most of them probably stopped reading Spidey as I have. I still hang around but I haven't seen much reason to jump back into the books. StillANerd is writing a Spidey blog currently and he appears over on the Crawlspace once in a while too.

 

[Ben_Reilly]

I will say, I miss my old join date...
I was back during tthe golden years when this place was known as Spider-ManHype.com

 

[UltimateWebhead]

I think JJ's Ulcer is a banned user.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

I stopped reading all the Spidey titles and stopped watching the cartoons... they've all gone off the cliff, as far as I'M concerned... so I just satisfy my fix for Spidey with the occasional read of the Ditko and Romita years and I'm a happy camper...

JJJ's Ulcer DID get banned... ManOfBat and Donald Thomas occasionally post but not so much anymore...

 

[The Infernal]

This section has become a dead one essentially. It used to be more frequented by more users, but then people use to read Spider-man. Now all we see are the couple of users who remember this section exists and read Renew Your Vows because it's a throwback to before Marvel screwed the Peter & MJ relationship.

 

[ItchyWebShooter]

It does suck how unpopular a book ASM is now. Even the guys who work at my comic shop have dropped it.

 

[Ben_Reilly]

I think JJ's Ulcer is a banned user.

He is.
Any idea what happened?

 

[UltimateWebhead]

I stopped reading all the Spidey titles and stopped watching the cartoons... they've all gone off the cliff, as far as I'M concerned... so I just satisfy my fix for Spidey with the occasional read of the Ditko and Romita years and I'm a happy camper...

JJJ's Ulcer DID get banned... ManOfBat and Donald Thomas occasionally post but not so much anymore...

Hey Thunder. Have you checked out the Renew Your Vows vol.2 yet? It's only 4 issues in but is a pretty nice series thus far. If you're at all interested, check out the thread in the this (comics) section. But otherwise I agree and I'm not happy either with the current state of the main Spidey title. You're more of an 'old school' fan than I but I totally understand how you're put off. I do the same--read some Ditko, Romita, Stern, etc. whenever I want a good story.

This section has become a dead one essentially. It used to be more frequented by more users, but then people use to read Spider-man. Now all we see are the couple of users who remember this section exists and read Renew Your Vows because it's a throwback to before Marvel screwed the Peter & MJ relationship.

What are your thoughts? I don't remember you posting in the RYV thread...I'd be interested to hear your opinions.

It does suck how unpopular a book ASM is now. Even the guys who work at my comic shop have dropped it.

It sucks indeed. But...Marvel has made their bed and now they have to lie in it. They rely too much on gimmicks imo. DC got squashed in the same manner when they did their, um, can't remember the line/series but anyway they came back with Rebirth and look how well they're doing. Back to good, quality stories and ideas. Marvel is probably about to have yet another reboot this year--a whole new set of number 1's. And it doesn't bode well imo when they let writers like Slott drag characters thru the mud.

He is.
Any idea what happened?

I remember it happening but I don't remember the reason. Sorry.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

Hey Thunder. Have you checked out the Renew Your Vows vol.2 yet? It's only 4 issues in but is a pretty nice series thus far. If you're at all interested, check out the thread in the this (comics) section. But otherwise I agree and I'm not happy either with the current state of the main Spidey title. You're more of an 'old school' fan than I but I totally understand how you're put off. I do the same--read some Ditko, Romita, Stern, etc. whenever I want a good story.

to be honest, no, I HAVEN'T taken a read of RYV and given it a chance... I'm all for the marriage between MJ and Pete, always HAVE been and I'm glad to see it happen in this series, but the only thing I'm having a REAL problem wrapping my head around is that the entire family is spider-powered... I just don't buy into the concept... married with child yes, but the whole family super-powered?... no way... and as for the art of Stegman, I know I'm going to piss off his defenders, but despite what everyone here thinks and says and praises, iMho, I really don't think his art is all that... it's more preferable than Horrendous Ramos, but definitely not all that... and don't get me started on Slott...

 

[The Joker]

Hobgoblin's a friend of mine. I have him on Facebook. He got married last year, and has been devoting more time to his personal life. It's why he stepped down as a moderator.

 

[The Infernal]

What are your thoughts? I don't remember you posting in the RYV thread...I'd be interested to hear your opinions.

I actually haven't picked it up yet. I don't read much comics these days, but I have liked what I've heard about it and that solicit for the crossover with the classic X-men makes me really want to pick it up. My only nitpick from looking at covers and solicits is that I'm not a big fan of MJ's costume. I'm fine with the family being superpowered as long as MJ & Peter are back together though.

 

[Ben_Reilly]

to be honest, no, I HAVEN'T taken a read of RYV and given it a chance... I'm all for the marriage between MJ and Pete, always HAVE been and I'm glad to see it happen in this series, but the only thing I'm having a REAL problem wrapping my head around is that the entire family is spider-powered... I just don't buy into the concept... married with child yes, but the whole family super-powered?... no way... and as for the art of Stegman, I know I'm going to piss off his defenders, but despite what everyone here thinks and says and praises, iMho, I really don't think his art is all that... it's more preferable than Horrendous Ramos, but definitely not all that... and don't get me started on Slott...

Well, MJ really isn't powered. She has a suit that grants abilities.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

to be honest, no, I HAVEN'T taken a read of RYV and given it a chance... I'm all for the marriage between MJ and Pete, always HAVE been and I'm glad to see it happen in this series, but the only thing I'm having a REAL problem wrapping my head around is that the entire family is spider-powered... I just don't buy into the concept... married with child yes, but the whole family super-powered?... no way... and as for the art of Stegman, I know I'm going to piss off his defenders, but despite what everyone here thinks and says and praises, iMho, I really don't think his art is all that... it's more preferable than Horrendous Ramos, but definitely not all that... and don't get me started on Slott...

Well, there's not much I can say about the art as it's such a subjective thing, either you like it or you don't. I think Stegman's art is very pleasing to the eye and his colorist on this series, Oback, is doing a splendid job. I remember Stegman's art from Superior and he's definitely improved since then, imo. But we can both agree on Ramos. His stuff is just plain ugly. And not the ugly, cause it's stylized or just off from center or even ugly like a train wreck, it's more ugly as in gives me a headache or makes my sock start crawling up my leg. His art ruins stories. I almost didn't make it thru Spider-Island.

If you are a fan of MJ and the marriage in particular, I'd say at least give the series a shot. It's really great seeing Peter and MJ acting like they should be acting. Their daughter Annie is superpowered from receiving Pete's genetic coding but like Ben said above MJ isn't exactly superpowered on her own. Without spoiling much of the story, she receives powers thanks to a tech that Peter utilizes from a villain in the volume 1 RYV series. He basically does this so she can protect herself from threats. And if you want my opinion, MJ makes a fitting superhero. She has excellent character traits. But, the story plays out really well and imo comes across like The Incredibles movie. It's good stuff. I highly recommend it. If you're at all interested, I would check out the thread I created. Good info.

I actually haven't picked it up yet. I don't read much comics these days, but I have liked what I've heard about it and that solicit for the crossover with the classic X-men makes me really want to pick it up. My only nitpick from looking at covers and solicits is that I'm not a big fan of MJ's costume. I'm fine with the family being superpowered as long as MJ & Peter are back together though.

I think I was intially nitpicky about MJ's suit but it has grown on me. The series is worth checking out imo. Like I said above, it's really great seeing Peter and MJ as they should be. Their dynamic along with their daughter Annie is well done. Conway is great at grasping the human element and the warmth.

 

[Themanofbat]

After 40 years I just stopped reading.
Of course, the lack of continuity and gimmicks/events along with ridiculously high prices just made dropping the hobby easier.

 

[ItchyWebShooter]

After 40 years I just stopped reading.
Of course, the lack of continuity and gimmicks/events along with ridiculously high prices just made dropping the hobby easier.

The saddest part about this comment is, in its heyday in the 1980s, you were exactly the type of customer Marvel targeted. Everything in 80s Marvel intertwines and connects through shared continuity and a beautiful editorial approach.

Now all Marvel cares about is refreshing every quarter or so to find that mythical "new reader" that obviously doesn't exist in the numbers they think they need them in. Sigh.

 

[Mace Dolex]

The saddest part about this comment is, in its heyday in the 1980s, you were exactly the type of customer Marvel targeted. Everything in 80s Marvel intertwines and connects through shared continuity and a beautiful editorial approach.

Now all Marvel cares about is refreshing every quarter or so to find that mythical "new reader" that obviously doesn't exist in the numbers they think they need them in. Sigh.

Marvel at this point is just doing whatever they feel like as the live action movies take precedent over anything else, they can just stop publishing comics and let the merchandise, theme parks sell themselves.

I was never a diehard Spider-Man fan as I casually read the McFarlane title but stopped just in time to avoid the dreaded Clone Saga.

 

[Ben_Reilly]

I was never a diehard Spider-Man fan as I casually read the McFarlane title but stopped just in time to avoid the dreaded Clone Saga.

1- That's fighting words around here!
2- Don't insult something you never even bothered to read!
It just makes you look like an ass.

 

[Mace Dolex]

^ well Wizard magazine told me the Clone Saga was awful and I mean they were a legit monthly periodical right?

 

[ItchyWebShooter]

The Clone Saga of the 90s was downright AWFUL in spots, but it had many redeeming qualities--especially character work done on Ben Reilly (the clone). There's a reason why he's still a fan favorite to this day. But yeah, it's no pinnacle of storytelling by any means.

 

[Themanofbat]

It was just too long.... marketing told writers to stretch it out because sales were great, but the stories suffered because of it imo.

 

[C. Lee]

He is.
Any idea what happened?

He accumulated 10 infractions.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

the two things I remember when I was reading it when it first came out back in the day was... WTF?!? and when the f*** is this EVER going to end?!?... the whole thing just got stretched out over a couple of years, if I remember correctly... so anytime I hear about Spider-Man and clones in the same sentence, I automatically ignore it, as it was THE worst storyline up until that point in Spidey mythology...

 

[ItchyWebShooter]

The actual idea behind the Clone Saga (both the original and the 90s) is brilliant in both its simplicity and depth. Everyone has identity crises (especially at the age Peter was in the 70s story) and struggles with their sense of self, what they are and are not capable of. This takes that to a meta level and allows those subconscious thoughts to be staged in real life. It would make for great entertainment if done correctly. (Just look at the finale of Spider-Man TAS for an example). That's why the 90s Saga has so much potential and so many fans. The pathos, the intrigue, and the good idea are there--and sometimes they even expounded on them. Just not consistently enough IMO.

And it was definitely stretched on too long.

 

[Themanofbat]

The incessant back and forth just made it unbearable towards the end...