Here’s my list in order of outrage:
10. The “last” issue of Amazing Spider-Man--This of course was Marvel’s attempt at rebooting the titles by publicizing that Amazing Spider-Man, after nearly 40 years, was “ending.” Sure, we all knew he was coming back at the beginning of next year, but still it showed just what a sorry state Marvel was in at the time.
9. Mary Jane’s “death.”--Marvel’s second attempt at trying to make Peter Parker a bachelor and babe magnet was to make him a widower. I’m pretty much convinced that it was this move that put the final nail of the coffin into the reboot. And even though MJ was eventually brought back, Marvel still makes her the scapegoat by insisting that she (not the writers mind you) is why no one can relate to Spider-Man anymore.
8. Moves into a rent free apartment in Stark Tower--Becoming an Avenger is one thing, which I didn’t particularly mind. Moving into their headquarters and once again living in a luxury apartment (you know, what many fans complained about during the reboot) was another story. First of all, if he doesn’t have to pay rent, why even bother working two jobs as a photographer and a teacher? And second, why does being a member of a superhero team have to mean you move you and your whole family into their headquarters? Speaking of which...
7. The New Avengers become his supporting cast--As a consequence of moving into Stark Tower, Peter’s supporting cast, besides Aunt May and Mary Jane, consisted of other superheroes, thereby neglecting--once again--the comics classic supporting cast. In short, this pretty much started the current trend in making Peter not having a normal life apart from his one as Spider-Man. Now I understand that Brain Michael Bendis wanted to make New Avengers the equivalent of the JLA, but that didn’t mean that virtually every Spider-Man book had to become the equivalent of
Marvel Team-Up. And that takes us to...
6. Peter becomes Tony Stark’s b****--From the ugly “Iron Spidey” suit to Peter calling Iron Man “boss” this entire “father-son” relationship was contrived from the get-go, especially since neither characters were never really that close to begin with other than the occasional team-up. And yes, when Spider-Man’s role in Civil War depends upon him basically becoming the tool of somebody else, essentially putting aside all personal integrity and conviction for some token gifts, and not realizing he’s been scammed until it’s too late--all of which risks going against 40 plus years of established characterization--then it’s forced.
5. Gwen Stacy’s one night stand with Norman Osborn--Pop quiz: This moment from Sins Past is bad because:
A. It tarnishes the meaningful relationship Peter and Gwen had?
B. It involves an 18 year-old girl having sex--for the very first time no less--with a 45 year old?
C. Gwen reasoning for sleeping with Norman was for no other reason than Norman’s “personal magnetism?”
D. Upon reading back-issues, you find that there’s no way Gwen’s one act of indiscretion could have possibly happened?
E. It made Peter into a sap, MJ into a liar, Gwen into a careless floozy, and Norman--once again--into a Lex Luthor wannabe?
F. It resulting in the Stacy Twins, which led to the even worse “Sins Remembered?”
G. That Gwen having unprotected, pre-martial sex, abandoning her kids in Europe, and not telling Peter somehow made her a “courageous woman” and was essential character development in the eyes of JMS?
H. That it put greater importance on the idea that the Green Goblin kidnapped and eventually killed Gwen because she jilted him and refused to allow access to their children over that of him kidnapping and eventually killing her in order to make Peter suffer--and likewise absolved Peter of the guilt he felt that it was his fault?
Or I. All of the above?
4. Mysticism DID play a part in Spider-Man’s origin--As long as this was ambiguous, then it was fine by me. But then “The Other: Evolve or Die” came along and pretty much established that not only was the new age, mystical spider-totem crap that supposively played a part in Peter becoming Spider-Man official, but it also meant that the spider that bit Peter (based on Ezekiel’s musings way back in “Coming Home”
was in fact a magical creature, which means Peter would’ve gained spider-like powers regardless of whether or not the spider had been irradiated. And considering how “The Other”(before it became that she-spider thingy) was mystical in nature, this has to be the case. And speaking of which...
3. “The stingers” a.k.a. Spidey’s Wolverine-esque bone spears--Perhaps I should’ve been warned when “The Other: Evolve or Die” had MJ and Aunt May in Iron Man armor fighting Doombots, or when Morlun ripped out Spidey’s eye and ate it. But when Peter went all “Berserker Rage” and had these foot-long spikes pop out of his forearms like a certain Canadian member of the X-Men, this pretty much confirmed for me that this particular crossover was a trainwreck waiting to happen and a sure sign that those currently working on Spider-Man are hopelessly lost.
2. Peter “revealed” to be “the clone” and Ben the “original.”--Not only did this lead to the Spider-Man’s comics decade long decline, not only did this moment invalidate 20 years worth of stories, not only did this move to re-establish Spider-Man status quo ended up satisfying no one, but the way it happened, with Peter backhanding a then pregnant MJ as she tried to stop her husband from killing Ben, is what made the “revelation” even worse. As did this...
1. Peter unmasking himself on live TV--Yes I know we haven’t seen the full impact of this yet, but come on. When you pretty much do something that eliminates the idea that Peter is a relatively ordinary guy trying to balance and maintain an ordinary life separate from that of his other life as a costumed crimefighter you are bound to have problems in the future. Especially since the way it was handled. And no, Peter was not backed into a corner because SHRA did not require him to reveal his identity to the public. And yes, if Spider-Man had been written properly, he would’ve tried to have maintained his secret identity despite the pressure from Iron Man and Aunt May. Then again, this was just another example of a character being forced to comply with the story--besides being an obvious publicity stunt--instead of the other way around. And the proof of that is that Mark Millar admits that it wasn’t originally supposed to happen in Civil War, that it was Joe Quesada’s idea (who then tries to pass the buck to Tom Breevoot).
And as a bonus: the Direct Market, or why your comics continue to go up in price.
