Comics Peter David explains himself...

[Chris Wallace]

I figure a lot of you are really pissed about the alternate Uncle Ben story. Well, I talked to Peter David at the con & the way he sees it, May is the emotional and spiritual anchor for both Peter and Ben. While Peter & May handled the loss of Ben pretty well-they survived, they held it down & kept on truckin'-the loss of May would destroy the two men.

 

[Dragon]

But that's a crock. Peter is who he is because of Ben's guidance as well as May's love. May not being there doesn't mean that suddenly Peter and Ben wouldn't be the men that she loved anymore. Ben was that man for 60 + years. He's going to lose everything in 2 or 3 years? He and May were advanced in their years. Both had to know that their time was running short. And if Peter were that close to May, then he'd want to live up to her expectations of him, just as he's lived up to Ben's expectations. It makes no sense.

Once again, Marvel's writers reflect their limited view of human relationships.

I think the problem is this: They need to stop hiring comic book fans as writers. Stan Lee wasn't a comic book fan. He based his ideas on classic literature and so forth. These comic fans/writers just don't seem to be able to think beyond the comic book page.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Well, Dragon-you may have something there.
Stan wasn't a comic fan b/c all he really had to go on was the DC books, & he seemed bound and determined NOT to do things their way. He structure dhis storytelling on what made sense to him. Which is why Marvel characters are more like real people, while DC's are idealized visions of what people would like to be.
Peter also said to another fan that he'd not too long ago gotten divorced, & was now remarried "to a woman that's actually sane". Given your remarks, this wouldn't speak well of his relationship experiences, which are what shapes one's view of relationships.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Don't generalize. I'm a comic fan and a writer and I do damn fine in th' human interaction department. No, th' ones to blame are th' guys who keep gettin' gratified fer every bonehead idea instead of bein' slapped upside th' face and told to snap out of it.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Don't generalize. I'm a comic fan and a writer and I do damn fine in th' human interaction department. No, th' ones to blame are th' guys who keep gettin' gratified fer every bonehead idea instead of bein' slapped upside th' face and told to snap out of it.

I'm a comic fan & an aspiring writer. I think I have the advantage in seeing what the pros have done right and what they've done wrong.

 

[Chris Wallace]

But to be honest, sometimes being a comic fan hurts your perspective. How many posts do you see on these boards that rip the movies apart just because it deviated from the comics? Or didn't fit THEIR vision of the character?

 

[Dragon]

Don't generalize. I'm a comic fan and a writer and I do damn fine in th' human interaction department. No, th' ones to blame are th' guys who keep gettin' gratified fer every bonehead idea instead of bein' slapped upside th' face and told to snap out of it.

Of course, I was being a bit facetious. I too am a comic fan and writer. What I really mean is, comic book writers need to remove their focus or point of reference from comic books. It's okay to refer to the comics for the fantastic. But for the everyday stuff that grounds the characters, look beyond comics. Look to literature, plays, hell, read some psychology books. Have trouble writing marriages and so forth? Read up on relationships, marriage counselling and so forth.

I'm just saying these guys need to think outside the box.

I mean, the archetypical examples of just how unskilled these guys are in writing people came from JMS- Wolverine making a pass at MJ to bring her out of her grief or Peter's "death"? Can anyone see someone doing that in real life? Or JMS' surprise that a schoolmate that he hadn't seen in 30 YEARS was different from the way he remembered him?

 

[Kevin]

i'd like david to explain the flash thing. that's what's really pissing me off, but not really.

 

[Chris Wallace]

I do, however, agree that Peter & Ben would not have handled the loss of May as well as Peter & May handled the loss of Ben.
What "Flash thing"?

 

[Cyclops]

Really pissing you off but not really?

 

[Chris Wallace]

Huh?

 

[Kevin]

Really pissing you off but not really?

ok, part of me still cares about spidey (well any comic in general now) but like my ex-girlfreiend/best friend, i could care less if she got hit by a car... ok, went too far. my point is that i was really mad at one point, but over time it has lessened (wow... i'm making even less sense than before)

 

[Kevin]

at this point, people should realize that i never make sense, so it'd be best to pretend i didn't say anything.

 

[spider greg]

at this point, people should realize that i never make sense, so it'd be best to pretend i didn't say anything.

We already do that ................Just funnin' ya.