Comics What If? Spider-Man: Back in Black

[Spider-ManHero12]

This was really interesting, IMO. Overall, it was a very enjoyable "What If?" issue. The "I never should have married her" line I didn't really like, but other than that, it was a good issue.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Finally picked it up and read it. Was looking forward to it based on some glowing reviews about it in this thread. Unfortunately, was not impressed.

The characterization was off. Peter's wife was just murdered, everyone is gunning for him and knows who he is, he just broke a sacred oath and killed a man... and he's cracking jokes about videogames and other stuff?! (If you want to see how Pete acts under real emotional duress look at the aftermath of his burial by Kraven, his robot parents, his fake clone revelation or even the JMS part of the 'Back in Black' saga... he's silent and no jokes. Just rage) And Aunt May totally throws Peter under the bus at the end. And then leans on Iron-Judas for support! That's not the Aunt May I've read about for years. The art was inconsistent and too cartoony for the dark tone of the story. I read it in about five minutes and was left with a total "meh" feeling. Plus, to end on a nitpick, the 'What If' stories today really lack something without the Watcher's narration.

It was just crap. Nothing offensive and totally disposable, but nothing worth my money either.

 

[TwilightPro101]

Sounds beyond painful.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Peter also makes no attempt to save MJ. He goes after the guy who shot her. He doesn't take her to the hospital. Then when he comes back to the hotel room, he just declares she's dead. No attempt at CPR, no sobbing over her body, not even a half-hearted delivery to an emergency room. He instead has a mind-numbing two page exchange with Aunt May about what to do next. Painful indeed.

 

[TwilightPro101]

Thanks JJJ. You've definitely just saved me a trip to the shop. This stuff is making me long for the old WHAT IF series.

 

[Themanofbat]

Mike... c'mon! I know you love BND, I know that. But seriously...

You know that would never have happened.

I said it sounded "crazy"...

Happy New Year.

 

[Jamh]

Peter also makes no attempt to save MJ. He goes after the guy who shot her. He doesn't take her to the hospital. Then when he comes back to the hotel room, he just declares she's dead. No attempt at CPR, no sobbing over her body, not even a half-hearted delivery to an emergency room. He instead has a mind-numbing two page exchange with Aunt May about what to do next. Painful indeed.

That's not true, the first thing he does after she's shot is run to her (which is when he realizes she's dead) and takes a bullet to the shoulder from the shooter while holding her body. After dealing with the shooter he comes back to have a 1 page conversation with Aunt May about what to do that ends with him back in black and chasing down the Kingpin.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

That's not true, the first thing he does after she's shot is run to her (which is when he realizes she's dead) and takes a bullet to the shoulder from the shooter while holding her body. After dealing with the shooter he comes back to have a 1 page conversation with Aunt May about what to do that ends with him back in black and chasing down the Kingpin.

Don't make excuses for it. It was handled terribly. There are certain stages of grief. He seemed to race through them faster than the Flash. You don't start lamenting over whether your wife can have a funeral or not and what Spidey should or should not do 30 seconds after your wife has been shot dead. I'm pretty sure any realistic person would still be in denial that their most loved person in the world has been murdered and trying desperately to resuscitate them (even if the effort is in vain). MJ was laying there, body still warm, and Aunt May and Peter were having a philosophical conversation about what kind of a person Spider-Man is. It seemed so canned and phony. This issue is a must-miss.

 

[MrShifty]

Finally picked it up and read it. Was looking forward to it based on some glowing reviews about it in this thread. Unfortunately, was not impressed.

The characterization was off. Peter's wife was just murdered, everyone is gunning for him and knows who he is, he just broke a sacred oath and killed a man... and he's cracking jokes about videogames and other stuff?! (If you want to see how Pete acts under real emotional duress look at the aftermath of his burial by Kraven, his robot parents, his fake clone revelation or even the JMS part of the 'Back in Black' saga... he's silent and no jokes. Just rage) And Aunt May totally throws Peter under the bus at the end. And then leans on Iron-Judas for support! That's not the Aunt May I've read about for years. The art was inconsistent and too cartoony for the dark tone of the story. I read it in about five minutes and was left with a total "meh" feeling. Plus, to end on a nitpick, the 'What If' stories today really lack something without the Watcher's narration.

It was just crap. Nothing offensive and totally disposable, but nothing worth my money either.

I agree with you there bro. I feel as though if JMS wrote this, it would have been better. It also had to be rushed so I cant blame the writer so much. And I know Pete's supposed to be angry in this, but it still seems out of character. I mean we've seen Pete angry in other stories and such and it all seemed in character. This for some reason just didn't.

 

[USMC]

I said it sounded "crazy"...

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year TMOB.

 

[Jamh]

Don't make excuses for it. It was handled terribly. There are certain stages of grief. He seemed to race through them faster than the Flash. You don't start lamenting over whether your wife can have a funeral or not and what Spidey should or should not do 30 seconds after your wife has been shot dead. I'm pretty sure any realistic person would still be in denial that their most loved person in the world has been murdered and trying desperately to resuscitate them (even if the effort is in vain). MJ was laying there, body still warm, and Aunt May and Peter were having a philosophical conversation about what kind of a person Spider-Man is. It seemed so canned and phony. This issue is a must-miss.

I'm not saying it was handled as well as it could have been, but I can understand the need to rush when you only have 1 issue to tell a complete story. Anger is only the 3rd stage of grief though, so I don't have much of a problem with him breezing through the first 2 in just a few pages.

 

[SpideyZERO]

The short of length of the issue killed it imo, should have been a lot longer, or even a mini series

One good thing about this issue is the kick ass cover

 

[RAMORE]

This whole story was just meant to further tarnish their relationship period.