Comics Steve Wacker asks the fans what they want...Already?!

[nobndfan]

Wasn't there an issue of the Fantastic Four a few years back where the FF went to Heaven to get Ben back from death, and they met god, and it turns out to be Jack Kirby?



While I was raised Catholic, I see things spiritually in a more pagan style of belief system nowadays, as I see too many "faults" within christianity, and I do respect other people's creeds, but nonetheless, making Jack Kirby "god" in the Marvel Universe is a stroke of genius.

Actually, there is so much to back the Bible up that if you do a thorough investigation of it, you will find that there is no way it CANNOT be true. Honest. May I suggest a book by Josh McDowell called "A Ready Defense." You will be astonished. There are no flaws in Christ or Christianity. People have many flaws, however, and that is, perhaps, what people see first, unfortunately.

Sorry, back to topic, couldn't resist!

 

[farmernudie]

I've read many of Josh's books....and went and saw him speak live once!

It was really cool!

 

[Hobgoblin]

My letter:

Hi Steve,
Long time reader. By and large I stay with Spidey even if I dont care for a story, the reboot in 1998 being the exception. I understand that a writer will have his own ideas about how to write a comic, ideas that may not be the same as mine. Thats fine, viva la difference. I dont expect to like every single story I read.

However, a minor difference of opinion (a continuity error, a character's left field personality quirk) is very different from a major change in a character. As readers, we dont care for sudden 180 degree turns. Especially one that doesnt make sense. Thats what One More Day felt like. And personally, thats my problem with the new agenda. It wasnt just one jarring 180 turn, there were several. Harry is alive, MJ and Peter were never married, the Parker house is re-built, etc.

We want well told stories, not huge mega events. Character stories. Human stories. Stories like the ones written in the early to mid 1980's, such as Peter getting cold feet before his wedding and having Flash and Harry talk him down. Personally, I prefer Spidey dealing with New York, street level crimes, not world wide mega events. Smaller, not bigger. Thats the key.

Thanks for listening.
Dave Sippel

 

[Themanofbat]

Actually, there is so much to back the Bible up that if you do a thorough investigation of it, you will find that there is no way it CANNOT be true. Honest. May I suggest a book by Josh McDowell called "A Ready Defense." You will be astonished. There are no flaws in Christ or Christianity. People have many flaws, however, and that is, perhaps, what people see first, unfortunately.

Sorry, back to topic, couldn't resist!

I've done a great deal of personal research on the Bible, and I still find many flaws in the history... the ideas are nice, and it would be nice for people to be kind and respect one another... but the story of Jesus makes much more sense to me if I read about him as a man as opposed to an alledged son of god.

Just my opinion though...

 

[Miken Ayers]

Actually, there is so much to back the Bible up that if you do a thorough investigation of it, you will find that there is no way it CANNOT be true. Honest. May I suggest a book by Josh McDowell called "A Ready Defense." You will be astonished. There are no flaws in Christ or Christianity. People have many flaws, however, and that is, perhaps, what people see first, unfortunately.

Sorry, back to topic, couldn't resist!

If you're so confident in your prophet. Then you'll have no problem reading this.

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jeff_lowder/jury/

 

[Miken Ayers]

I've done a great deal of personal research on the Bible, and I still find many flaws in the history... the ideas are nice, and it would be nice for people to be kind and respect one another... but the story of Jesus makes much more sense to me if I read about him as a man as opposed to an alledged son of god.

Just my opinion though...

Let's not forget that as Christianity went west it STOLE from other religions to make it easier to convert. By the way the Pagans want Easter and Christmas back.

 

[Blader5489]

Let's not forget that as Christianity went west it STOLE from other religions to make it easier to convert. By the way the Pagans want Easter and Christmas back.

So the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus were all originally pagan traditions?

 

[Themanofbat]

So the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus were all originally pagan traditions?

The date of Jesus' birth was not in December, as many theologians think it was more in the Spring. According to Old Judaic Laws, all jewish Kings must be born in September, but Joseph couldn't keep his pecker in his pants and knocked Mary up out of season, hence the controvery of Jesus being the real King of the Jews amongst Jewish Elders... but Konstantinople decided to pick the Pagan celebration of Sol Invictus (winter solctice) to help draw in the flock...

And the Pagans/Jews celebrated Easter(Eostre)/Passover many years well before Jesus allegedly "died" during that time, and the celebration had nothing to do with him... until Konstantinople decided to use it as a symbol of ressurection for his new-found Christian figurehead.

Whether or not Jesus died that time is also up for debate, one that I'm not willing to jump into at this time... I'm not one to debate someone's creeds... if you want to believe that he was ressurected, then that's great.

But the Winter/Easter Celebrations of his birth/death were taken from much older non-christians celebrations.

 

[Finlandman]

There's discussion about God in community forums.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Man oh man... am I sorry I ever wrote "Uh ... who says there's a heaven?"

Talk about opening the wrong can of worms in the wrong forum. Enough with the back and forth about Easter and Jesus and flying spaghetti monsters.

Let's go back to talking about what Steve Wacker should do, not WWJD.

For starters, I think he should start filling in the blanks and clarify what's canon and what's not... did the clone-saga happen? How about the Stacy twins? How could these things have happened if no one including Norman knew Spidey's identity?

 

[Blader5489]

Man oh man... am I sorry I ever wrote "Uh ... who says there's a heaven?"

Talk about opening the wrong can of worms in the wrong forum. Enough with the back and forth about Easter and Jesus and flying spaghetti monsters.

Let's go back to talking about what Steve Wacker should do, not WWJD.

For starters, I think he should start filling in the blanks and clarify what's canon and what's not... did the clone-saga happen? How about the Stacy twins? How could these things have happened if no one including Norman knew Spidey's identity?

The mindwipe isn't retroactive; it's not like Mephisto went back in time and prevented Norman from ever learning that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. They've simply, as of now, forgotten Peter's identity and they forget ever knowing his identity. The events didn't change, only the memories have.

As for your examples, both the Clone Saga and Sins Past still happened. The former is proven by Norman being back, Ben Reilly being dead, and other slight references to that era; the latter has been proven by a fan who asked Quesada if Gwen's kids were still in-continuity, to which he replied "yes."

With the exception of the wedding and Harry's death, everything is still the same.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

The mindwipe isn't retroactive; it's not like Mephisto went back in time and prevented Norman from ever learning that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. They've simply, as of now, forgotten Peter's identity and they forget ever knowing his identity. The events didn't change, only the memories have.

As for your examples, both the Clone Saga and Sins Past still happened. The former is proven by Norman being back, Ben Reilly being dead, and other slight references to that era; the latter has been proven by a fan who asked Quesada if Gwen's kids were still in-continuity, to which he replied "yes."

With the exception of the wedding and Harry's death, everything is still the same.

That brings up another question... What about the events leading up to Harry's death like "The Child Within" when he started going nuts?

And how did these events occur (Norman's agenda against Peter involving the clone-saga and the Stacy twins) if he did not know Peter's identity?

 

[Themanofbat]

That brings up another question... What about the events leading up to Harry's death like "The Child Within" when he started going nuts?

And how did these events occur (Norman's agenda against Peter involving the clone-saga and the Stacy twins) if he did not know Peter's identity?

He DID know it at the time... every story invovling someone knowing Peter's identity still occured because they knew his identity at that time... but currently, since OMD, they have simply forgotten.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

He DID know it at the time... every story invovling someone knowing Peter's identity still occured because they knew his identity at that time... but currently, since OMD, they have simply forgotten.

lol... see this is why BND is so confusing to me. It's worse than explaining the clone-saga to someone.... trying to explain Spider-Man's new history, what people remember, what happened, didn't happen.

If Peter knows nobody knows his identity, then what are his thoughts about the existence of Ben Reilly? What of his shared past with Norman Osborn? How has Peter's brain been rewired? What answers does Peter come to when he reflects on these events?

See... for every answer, two more questions arise.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Server lag. Double post.

 

[farmernudie]

The bad guys, such as Norman, orignially did the things they did still, but now just don't remember anything as to why, related to PEter and motivations. Their minds are swiss cheesed...with holes in it!

So, there are a lot of villians (black cat too, and others) running around with memories NOW that don't really make sense at all. Their motivations and memories are incomplete now.

And we know that everyone remembers Spidey unmasking, but no one rememers spidey unmasking (the details).

However, i am still trying to figure out if PEte is the ONLY person on the planet that DOSN"T remember he unmasked?? Because he is not swinging around in shock everytime a person doesn't remmber him, or saying anythng about how good it is for people to not know him. Nothing. Nada. MAkes no sense.

Also, not a single superhero or villian in ANY comic book title yet, is complaining about their swiss chessed memories!! That annoys me! You've got a whole world that can remember bits and pieces of events and not remember it all, even current events (related to spidey) and not ONE person is phased or bothered that they can't remember things clearly.
NO ONE LIKE REED OR PROF X is doing RESEARCH TO FIND OUT WHY THEIR MINDS HAVE GAPS! Logically, if someone did this to anyone's mind, and left SOME knowledge in, and not a COMPLETE MINDWIPE....there would LOGICALLY be QUESTIONS GALORE from people.

 

[Toxin]

Seriously doubt they'd print something that long.

And here's my letter.




Well I can only speak for myself on this subject, but hopefully you guys will take this letter among all other under consideration if you're asking what it will take to be please us.

Through JMS's run on Spider-Man and on various lower tier Spider books during that time period (Peter Parker, Spectacular, Unlimited MK/Sensational, and Friendly Neighborhood) I for the most part was satisfied. I even enjoyed certain stories that didn't receive warm receptions such as Sins Past. I also loved that in the past few years Spider-Man's significance with the superhero community and the Marvel Universe has increased. That only made sense since he's Marvel's flagship character.

Now on the subject of One More Day and Brand New Day. From the beginning I dreaded this story being told. Joe Quesada once again made comments about doing away with the marriage and bringing Spider-Man back to his roots. Don't get me wrong I'm indifferent about Mary Jane and the marriage as a whole, but I also felt that without it really hurting the stories that it would be bad for anyone to go out of their way to break them up. Mary Jane seemingly died in a plane explosion a few years back, and people just kept asking when she'll be back. I also feared that with the talks of Spider-Man going to his "roots" would mean regression to his character and status quo. This is the same man that said that as long as he's in charge Ultimate Spider-Man will stay in highschool. He would also use Ultimate Spider-Man as his rationale to keep him single. He also said at a panel at Wizard World in 2006 that if he's dating Kitty Pryde in the Ultimate Universe there's no reason he can't do that in the Marvel Universe.

Well, why would I need to continue reading USM when I'm getting more of the same three times a month with Amazing Spider-Man? Comics aren't getting cheaper, so maybe I should just drop Amazing altogether when it's just cheaper to read Ultimate Spider-Man. This is just like Vince McMahon ressurecting ECW, and treating it like an alternat product, then just making it the third WWE brand.

So now we've got three versions of Spider-Man (Marvel Adventures also) that for the time being won't grow or evolve beyond a certain status quo, when this is a character that since the beginning was all about change and moving forward. Well he's back to living with his aunt, taking pictures for the Bugle, and single but his romantic escapades won't add up to anything to the story since we know any girl he's with won't last.

Also why take away his new powers from The Other? Not only were the majority of them not given any attention since the last issue of that crossover, but such a big deal was made out of it in the months leading up to it. Yes, I admit the wrist stingers might've been a bit much but writers don't always have to undo things they don't like just not give that so much focus when telling the story. The same with the marriage.

And on to undoing the unmasking. This I think causes the most problems due to it not being a self contained event, but something the entire world saw. To say that everyone remembers Spider-Man unamasking but not who it was just doesn't fly. The fact that people remember it happening, but no one remembering who did it should have them questioning why they don't recall it. And this sort of manipulation on a worldwide scale. Also after Aunt May got shot, I felt Peter did a good job of establishing he wasn't someone to mess with. I know that wouldn't stop the occasional nut coming after his loved ones, but enough of Spider-Man's villains knew who he was and went after friends and family from time to time. What about the new identity Peter set up for himself in Friendly Neighborhood? Ofcourse people knew Peter was Spider-Man, but it wasn't common knowledge that Peter was Ben Reilly.

Next Harry Osborn coming back. Why? I read a quote or two from Quesada saying the book was more fun with him around. Really? I always saw him as just another of Peter's friends only this one was fashioned to become a villain after his father's death. After he died he still had a few traps set, Spider-Man overcame them, and everyone's since moved on. If Harry's so badly missed by editorial why not have some more surprises for Pete pop up every so often?

Now that I've expressed my views on what's been changed as far as what's been done with said changes doesn't make it any better. First off despite Harry being back, and his two lady friends not being featured all that prominently, the stories themselves are nothing special. Spider-Man dealing with a fellow female vigilante that's being teased as a love interest is nothing new. Also him being up in her face and not able to determine if she's Mary Jane or not is just bad. We have a Goblin based supervillain shrouded in mystery. This too has been done more than a few times. The funny thing is so far three out of the four writers that have been used have all written stories I love. But the book leaves a lot to be desired, and I've read enough older Spider-Man stories from Dematteis and Stern on top of being an avid Waid fan that I'm not really holding my breath with this new direction.

Michael Ayers
Bear, DE

 

[Miken Ayers]

Seriously doubt they'd print something that long.

Don't care if they print it. Only care if it's read.

 

[iloveclones]

I didn't read it either. Too long.

 

[Themanofbat]

I stopped reading after...

Well I can only speak for myself on this subject, but hopefully you guys will take this letter among all other under consideration if you're asking what it will take to be please us.

Through JMS's run on Spider-Man and...

 

[Miken Ayers]

I didn't read it either. Too long.

I didn't write it for you. Besides it shows that this early in the game with BND I already found so much wrong with it.

 

[Miken Ayers]

The bad guys, such as Norman, orignially did the things they did still, but now just don't remember anything as to why, related to PEter and motivations. Their minds are swiss cheesed...with holes in it!

So, there are a lot of villians (black cat too, and others) running around with memories NOW that don't really make sense at all. Their motivations and memories are incomplete now.

And we know that everyone remembers Spidey unmasking, but no one rememers spidey unmasking (the details).

However, i am still trying to figure out if PEte is the ONLY person on the planet that DOSN"T remember he unmasked?? Because he is not swinging around in shock everytime a person doesn't remmber him, or saying anythng about how good it is for people to not know him. Nothing. Nada. MAkes no sense.

Also, not a single superhero or villian in ANY comic book title yet, is complaining about their swiss chessed memories!! That annoys me! You've got a whole world that can remember bits and pieces of events and not remember it all, even current events (related to spidey) and not ONE person is phased or bothered that they can't remember things clearly.
NO ONE LIKE REED OR PROF X is doing RESEARCH TO FIND OUT WHY THEIR MINDS HAVE GAPS! Logically, if someone did this to anyone's mind, and left SOME knowledge in, and not a COMPLETE MINDWIPE....there would LOGICALLY be QUESTIONS GALORE from people.

I went in to the same thing in my letter, but somehow it got deleted. That's why one sentence seems to end abruptly.

 

[iloveclones]

I didn't write it for you. Besides it shows that this early in the game with BND I already found so much wrong with it.

Of course you wrote it for me, otherwise you wouldn't be posting it here. As far as I know, JQ doesn't frequent these forums.

 

[Miken Ayers]

Of course you wrote it for me, otherwise you wouldn't be posting it here. As far as I know, JQ doesn't frequent these forums.

I posted it here after I sent it to Marvel. But it's funny how you keep coming to this thread to talk about a letter you didn't read.

 

[iloveclones]

It's funnier still how you think your letter is going to make more of a difference than the $12 a month I'm giving them.