Ok, I admit it. I like ASM. Sure, I didn't like the whole "deal with Mephisto" thing, but for those of us long-time ASM readers who remember the world BEFORE the daily comic strip dictated a not-in-character marriage to about the least likely person Pete would marry, I dedicate this thread. THere was no foundation for the marriage, especially not for a marriage with MJ. His personal sense of responsibility would not have let him marry. He chose the life of a freak instead of the life of a "regular guy." That tension between his desire for normalacy and his responsibity to being a hero caused a great deal of the tension in the books. But marriage to anyone? Especially to a supermodel? I am not here to flog that dead horse however.
I have liked most of the stories post OMD. I think the creative teams have been great, the writing and stories a step up from a lot of the wackiness of the last couple of years (the Other, the Goblin Twins, Back In Black In Black Again Part VIIIX). Things have been on the upswing (pardon the pun).
THe one thing that still bugs me is that Pete has been driven into near-irrelavency. He used to be an edgy, almost paranoid character. As imagined by Ditko, he was a counter culture, subversive icon. Over time, popularity has dumbed him down and made him "safe." I want a return to a character that actually makes a difference, one who is socially relevant, and not just designed for the side of school lunchboxes, fist bumps with the President, and Saturday morning kiddie cartoons. Pete's popularity killed him. Made him safe for kids. Made parents feel like their kids could read his comic without worrying that little Bobby or Janey might become "upset." And I don't mean just the bogus blood and guts of the Punisher and his ilk, I mean the freshness of a character that made you think. A character who had the balls to call out campus protesters, who questioned authority, who embraced the counter culture. A character who would have felt at home in the Watchmen, not the Teen Titans.
Make Pete relevant again. Don't relegate him to Broadway musicals.
I have liked most of the stories post OMD. I think the creative teams have been great, the writing and stories a step up from a lot of the wackiness of the last couple of years (the Other, the Goblin Twins, Back In Black In Black Again Part VIIIX). Things have been on the upswing (pardon the pun).
THe one thing that still bugs me is that Pete has been driven into near-irrelavency. He used to be an edgy, almost paranoid character. As imagined by Ditko, he was a counter culture, subversive icon. Over time, popularity has dumbed him down and made him "safe." I want a return to a character that actually makes a difference, one who is socially relevant, and not just designed for the side of school lunchboxes, fist bumps with the President, and Saturday morning kiddie cartoons. Pete's popularity killed him. Made him safe for kids. Made parents feel like their kids could read his comic without worrying that little Bobby or Janey might become "upset." And I don't mean just the bogus blood and guts of the Punisher and his ilk, I mean the freshness of a character that made you think. A character who had the balls to call out campus protesters, who questioned authority, who embraced the counter culture. A character who would have felt at home in the Watchmen, not the Teen Titans.
Make Pete relevant again. Don't relegate him to Broadway musicals.
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