Actually, only once in my 33 years of reading monthly Spider-Man titles did I stop... right after the conclusion of the Clone Saga and they brought back Norman Osborn as a "quick fix" solution and to make matters WORSE, they said that HE was responsible for practically every bad thing that had happened to Peter since ASM #121...
It was too much... continuity seemed wrecked to me, and I stopped. This was in 1997.
I came back in 2001 when I heard that some writer named JMS was coming on board and he was going to right the ship... make Spidey good again. Of course, once I signed on, it was going to be potentially temporary because I wanted to see what this guy could do. The Morlun arc (great in its first 4 parts, but a somewhat lackluster ending) convinced me enough to give this guy a chance and I decided to keep going. Of course, my collector's mentality made me buy the missing 50 issues in my 4 year absence (I can honestly say that I have 546 consecutive issues of ASM), and as time went on, I signed on the the other Spidey books on the market.
Now I'm faced with the same situation. OMD sucked big time donkey balls, I've made NO secret of that. However, as I'm in my 40th year, I realize that while I didn't like it, I view it as part of the melodrama that has been the life of Peter Parker and that the Spectre of Spider-Man will keep him away from those he loves... we've seen this motif in all eras of Spidey going back to Betty & Gwen... And I could quit one more time... but for what? To simply come back in 4 more years? To come back to an even bigger retconned mess that will poorly attempt to right this ship? One even far more worse than the ressurection of Norman Osborn? I'd rather not see that.
And what keeps me going in this trying time is the fact that despite the terrible thing that was OMD, I see new and good creative writers and I see efforts in trying to bring back that old time soap opera storytelling feel to Spider-Man books that have been missing for almost 25 years. And I've been told that a lot of the new "inconsistancies" will be explained, so I'm willing to keep going and seeing how this plays out.
If it doesn't go in a particular way that I'll enjoy, you & me & Norman Osborn and a few others can all meet for a few drinks and whip out a few Essentials and talk about the good ol' days.
And lastly, I wasn't comparing the Day Gwen Stacy Died to OMD... just their outcomes... that Peter Parker's main love interest was no more... though with this new era, we still have hope that Mary Jane and Peter will reunite.
Thanks for your time with the lovely reply,
Best regards,
Mike