Well...I'm cautiously excited anyway.

Posted by skagandboneman on 2008-01-02 16:16:51
Something about Harry's expressions in those three panels made me chuckle aloud, even without the dialogue.
I'm too young to have ever read about him when he was alive the first time and I'm really looking forward to seeing the younger Osborne in action now. (Even if, to appease the haters, I don't completely love the route that was taken to bring him back.)

Posted by adaniller on 2008-01-02 16:21:24
good luck
Wacker, I hope you have a thick skin. You have about the worst job in comics right now. You have to convince thousands of looooonnnnggggg time spidey fans like me that Marvel hasn't royally screwed up our favorite wall crawler - again. I sincerley wish you all the luck in the world.

Posted by bstobin on 2008-01-02 17:38:34
Gotta hand it to you...
Not only are you guys bending over all of your loyal fans with this terrible storytelling crap, but you're charging a dollar more for the service!

Steve, I don't know what confused you about the bitching that's going on over OMD, but you aren't instilling much confidence by spinning things (because you DO know it's garbage storytelling), or by not being smart enough to notice that the RESULT (yes, the scenerio that you are now involved with) is what has people upset.

I mean, just because you're involved in a dumb storyline that only a retard would have come up with, doesn't mean that the readers are retards, too. I'd hate to be in your position and have to keep my mouth shut and be a good soldier because they'll fire you if you're not.



Posted by Dusty. on 2008-01-02 17:41:11
Guilty of being a clog in your blog
I really hope that I end up falling in love with Spidey all over again with the 'Brand New Day'. With the terrific move of unifying all of the titles into Amazing so that it will drop three times a month while keeping Peter's stories coherent and then putting such remarkable creative talent on the book I feel like I should be more excited for Spidey's adventures than I have been in years. I would really like to be but the means by which we readers were taken to the new starting point ended up being such a bitter pill to swallow that it has effectively killed my enthusiasm. I hope that you and the rest of the team turn me around.

Posted by ed2ward on 2008-01-02 17:47:25
It's a shame. I love Slott's work but I wont be buying this due to OMD I have no intrest in AMS anymore

Posted by sickboy_ukuk on 2008-01-02 18:12:22
Hope your up it
Wacker,
I'd hate to be in your shoes right now OMD royally screwed us readers, but hopefully you can bring back the spidey we all love. We'll all giving you a shot please don't disappoint us any more than we already are. I just hope you can find away to fix spidey and MJ and all the other characters so that we can believe in them again.

Posted by mach37 on 2008-01-02 18:25:58
Did you delete my post?
I'm sorry, but I don't see it anymore, so I'm assuming you deleted it, and want to ignore anything that tells it like it is...

Fine...

Steve! I can't wait for AMS. It's coming out 3 times a month, but I'm buying multiple copies and giving them out to friends and enemies!

Is that what you prefer to hear?

Posted by Dusty. on 2008-01-02 18:42:22
I seem to recall about six months ago hoping, in light of the creative team announcements, that Spidey would be de-married when they took over... my wish has been fulfilled. And we get Harry back as a bonus! (As great as his death story was, it was pretty wasteful to kill off such an interesting character.) The preview page looks amazing and I can't wait for #546. (When I first looked at it I assumed it was a page from THUNDERBOLTS; it'd be interesting to see how the Osborns are interacting these days...)

Posted by Fetsur on 2008-01-02 19:17:38
I think it's sad that people are talking about stopping reading Spider-man now that Straczynski is gone. I stopped reading while he was writing, not after. To stop reading after he's gone is an insult to the teams that are taking over. Sales were good while he was there so they might bring him back if everyone stops reading now. I'm excited that after years of garbage there's actually a chance of something good coming from Amazing Spider-man. I just hope that Wacker isn't planning on using gimmicks to sell books, too. Look on the bright side, things can't get worse than the past five or six years.

Posted by fishstickman on 2008-01-02 20:00:48
On a somewhat related note, I really like Deodato's art, but I wish he would start drawing characters instead of actors. I'm getting tired of seeing Tommy Lee Jones instead of Norman Osbourne. Deodato is too good for that.

Posted by fishstickman on 2008-01-02 20:03:20
I have to say this is a shock. To break up Peter and MJ after all they have been though, poof just gone as if it never happend. MJ was the rock that stood by Peter in all the tough times. Their marriage is what kept Peter human and from going crazy of being Spider-Man 24/7. Not only that, I think it was very uncharcteristic of Peter to go to Mephisto, a being that is viewed as the devil, to have this happen. Hope you guys are prepaired for the backlash of this. Next to Cap, Spidey was one of the constant good guys. For him to got and make a deal with the devil, won't go so smoothly for alot of people.

Posted by TimeGem07 on 2008-01-02 20:38:06

That might be Deodato's best artwork to date. Is it just me, or is that James Franco + nappy hair in the role of Harry?

Posted by Dusty. on 2008-01-03 00:20:24
Count me in!!!!
and as one of the few who apparently liked and enjoyed OMD!!!
Mr Wacker I am most looking forward to Brand new day!!
Just one small question will you show as the relationship between Harry and Norman?

Posted by S3ntry on 2008-01-03 04:02:48
As a looong time (since 1980) reader of the Spider-Man books, I have to say that I am glad the marriage is over, as I didn't like it when Peter and MJ got married when I first read it back in 1987.

Am I happy to have a single Peter Parker back again? Yes.

Do I like the way Marvel did it? No.

I would have much rather they killed MJ or just let the couple get a divorce. All this mystical retconning leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth. I'm also not very happy that Harry Osborne is back, but I predicted he'd be back from the dead as soon as he featured in the first movie. (I'm actually quite surprised that Marvel only brought him back after he was killed off in the movies.)

However, as much as I disliked elements of the 'One More Day' story... the long and the short of it is that I have 'my' Spidey back again after suffering the marriage for two decades and I'm very excited to read his new adventures. The new creative teams had nothing to do with 'One More Day' so it's ridiculous to hold any aspects of that story we didn't like against them. Let's just step into the new chapter and enjoy it for what it is.

(We all know that if enough fans dislike the marriage break-up it will be reversed a few years down the line anyway... nothing is forever in comicbooks. Even BUCKY came back from the dead, for goodness' sake!!!)

Posted by Paulymorph on 2008-01-03 04:32:08
Dusty, I'm one of the people who flagged your
Dusty,
You may have had a point to make. But you didn't make it well. Name calling-- especially one of he offensive words you were using and over-using-- is not a way to get your ideas across.
Passions may be running high about the last issue of Spider-Man, but there's no reason why things can't be discussed in a way where people treat each other with respect and civility.

Posted by harveytherabbit on 2008-01-03 05:25:11
First Time I've been Excited
For the past year I've been buying comics (been reading off and on for the past few years) this is honestly the first time I've been excited for a Spider-Man comic to come out. BND looks amazing and it's sad that there are people that can't get over a fictional marriage in order to enjoy it.

Posted by doncorswhazie on 2008-01-03 05:53:17
Back to the Future
Although I'm confused about how it happened (I'm 35, so maybe this retcon stuff is too new-school for me), I'm glad to get the Spider-Man I know and love back. Peter and MJ will eventually get back together; it may take a couple of years, but it's inevitable. I wish someone would explain how Harry Osborn is back. Is he back infested with the Goblin formula? Is that "look in his eye" because he's really Mephisto "watching" over Peter? And why, oh why, didn't they update his hairstyle--lol! I'm looking forward to BND, and seeing where Spidey goes from here.

Posted by bjason316 on 2008-01-03 08:29:30
I'm on board, dispite OMD
Steve: the enthusiasm that I've gotten from you and Dan Slott is, more than anything else, what's keeping Amazing on my pull list. I never cared one way or the other if Spider-Man was married or not, just want compelling stories. That's what I hated so much about OMD. I know that there was a decision made to get Peter back to point A, but the route that was taken just seemed so lazy and out-of-character. I'd have preferred the bullet just hit MJ and that was that. But I digress...

I have to admit that at the end, when the smoke had (literally) cleared and the surprise party was underway, I found myself kinda excited to see what was going to come of all this. What exactly IS the status quo? That's where your team comes in, obviously. I'm really hoping now that the pill has been swallowed and OMD is behind us, we can move Spidy forward again. I'll be along for the ride, at least for the foreseeable future.

Best of luck to the whole BND team. I'm rooting for ya.

Posted by macwagen on 2008-01-03 08:39:42
challenges for the new creative teams
Because of the way the marriage was undone, with a mystical retcon, it is almost impossible to determine in any logical way which stories from the last 45 years of comics are still considered
in continuity or not. If Harry Osborn is back from the dead, what other characters are back? Kraven, Ned Leeds, Betty Brant's brother? You have an enormous butterfly effect to play with here if
you want to.

The problem with using magic as a plot point is that you can change anything you want arbitrarily. There's no logical reason
why Harry would still be alive just because Peter and MJ aren't together as husband and wife. Unless Harry never found his
father's body and took the Goblin costume back in Amazing Spiderman vol1 #123,
he would still become the Green Goblin, subject himself to the chemicals his father took and eventually die in battle with Spiderman.

However, the writers and editors wanted him back so he's back. It's no worse than Dr. Octopus being raised from the dead by the hand
I suppose. I'm sure they feel they have some stories to tell with the character. It does make you wonder about all those other goblin spin off characters though. There have been a lot including
Harry's psychiatrist at one point but they would seem to have no
basis if Harry never became the Green Goblin.

There are elements of the Clone story that can't have happened at
least not in exactly the same way. And as others have pointed out
there are huge chunks of stories from the last two years that make no sense if Spiderman never revealed his identity. One could make the argument that neither Bill Foster nor Steve Rogers would be dead (except you do not want to annoy Mark Millar when he's
about to take over your flagship title.)

These are all potential story points for the months ahead and I hope that they are used rather than swept under the rug under a tide of Skrull crossovers.

Posted by izzatrix on 2008-01-03 09:41:42
Burn the Fans at all Cost$!!!
As by the title to this message, that is the feedback that I've seen from about 98% of Spider-Man fans. While I still have faith that One More Day and Brand New Day are a "dilemna in the life of Peter Parker" and not a "fix to the Spider-Man comics".
I've read all of the ASM comics. The artwork today is very good. The stories are thin and short. OMD could have been covered in about two pages of an ASM from the 70s and for about one tenth the cost. The depth of ASM is gone and what's left is flash. Yes, comics need flash, but without depth, its a great waste of time and $. Looking at the last few years in ASM, there have been some good stories and some "hair-yankers" such as "Sins of the Past". What do I mean by "hair-yankers"? I get the impression that story writers are afraid that Spidey is getting boring, bland, etc. so they try to "spice things up" with "astounding plot twists" and end up trying to keep readership by grabbing them by the hair and giving a good pull.
Spidey has a good 40+ years of stories left in concrete. Look at how MJ was left as a mystery girl for years. Remember the look on Betty Brant and Liz Allen's face when they get a look at her.
Remember how Pete and MJ's relationship grew over the decades until their reunion during the time that the Rose enlisted the Hobgoblin and the revelation about MJ's secrets and knowledge of Peter's dual identity. That major twist fit the storyline and strengthened it. Having read ASM from issue 1 after reading that pivotal issue, I was astounded that there was no indication of MJ's ignorance.

I am continuing to read ASM, despite the extravagent and ridiculous cost...at least for a while. One might say that the stories have depth, but they lack the detail from decades past. For instance, it can take me a good half hour to read an ASM comic from the 70s and it took me, in total about ten minutes to read all of One More Day. That's pitiful. My imagination tells me that the powers that be were trying to stretch the story to read a time deadline, ie, "have BND start during the new year".
Please listen to Spidey's fans. There is a lot of stink in people's noses.
My recommendation is try to push and portray Brand New Day and the "marriage obliteration" as a dilemna to Peter Parker and not a "fix to that whole Spider-Man being married thing." From what I've seen from the readership in the boards is that the single most important event in the entire Spider-Man storyline has been Peter and MJ's marriage - more important than Gwen Stacey's or Ben Parker's deaths.
I know the story-line's on the boards for a while now, but if I were in charge at Marvel and I wanted to keep the fanbase, I'd say in a very J.J.Jamesonesque voice "What in the blue blazes were you thinking! We've got a readership base! Never in the history of the Daily Bugle have we had to print a retraction, but you've turned my paper - MY PAPER - into a rag!!! I think my bird has written a definite clear opinion in his own version of the letter to the editor when I put this fiasco onto the bottom of his cage! Get that retraction into the next issue or you're FIRED! Miss Brant, get me an aspirin."

Posted by Big Thunder on 2008-01-03 10:02:32
BYE BYE MARVEL
I've been a faithful Marvelite of Spider-man and other characters for 15 plus years. Believe me when I say that I've seen my fair share of craptacular stories as-well-as some great tales too. The end of OMD is the culmination of what is the worst maggot-infested garbage in Spidey history since...well... it really has no equal (not even the clone saga was this bad). So it is with a sad heart (but a relieved stomach) that I say "adieu" to marvel until it gets its act together. I encourage all of you to please do the same. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE STORIES THEY'RE CRAMMING DOWN YOUR THROATS, DON'T BUY THE DUM BOOKS!!!!!!!!!! A lag in sales will hopefully bring them back to their senses. Bye everybody.

As for BND, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU TRY TO SPIN IT, THESE NEW STORIES ARE SIMPLY AN EXTENSION OF THE OMD CRAPFEST AND AS SUCH ARE NOT WORTHY OF MY TIME OR MONEY. It's like taking a piece of crap (i.e. OMD) and smooshing it into little squares and calling them brownies (i.e. BND).

Posted by esoto on 2008-01-03 13:55:14
i Quit
im not really a massive Spidey fan, i just dont like seeing years of story wiped out in an isntant, by ignoring all the stuff ur ignoring u do to things.
A)tell us that our old collections of comics no longer have any relevance on the new Stories.
B) ruin continuity, by wiping out what u have how do explain his interactions between other characters during the that time period.

and for those 2 reasons im quiting Marvel Comics until its fixed.

one idea would be simply turn around and say, Aunt may is dead and everything that is happening since is all in peters head and a Trick from Mephisto.

I mean what kind of a Message is it having one of the best Hero's making a Deal witht the Devil?

Good Bye
till u make mine a Spidey i can believe in, dont make mine Marvel

Posted by c4darkmane on 2008-01-03 14:28:51
i Quit
im not really a massive Spidey fan, i just dont like seeing years of story wiped out in an isntant, by ignoring all the stuff ur ignoring u do to things.
A)tell us that our old collections of comics no longer have any relevance on the new Stories.
B) ruin continuity, by wiping out what u have how do explain his interactions between other characters during the that time period.

and for those 2 reasons im quiting Marvel Comics until its fixed.

one idea would be simply turn around and say, Aunt may is dead and everything that is happening since is all in peters head and a Trick from Mephisto.

I mean what kind of a Message is it having one of the best Hero's making a Deal witht the Devil?

Good Bye
till u make mine a Spidey i can believe in, dont make mine Marvel

Posted by c4darkmane on 2008-01-03 14:29:30
I can't believe they tore up the Lois & Clark of Marvel!

WHY??????!!!!!!

Posted by OptimusPrime114 on 2008-01-03 14:38:30
love/hate
I am geeked about BND and have been since it was announced. BUT, I absolutely hate the method editorial picked to get there. I think it is sloppy and cheap, and I don't buy it. BUT I want BND to succeed. Here's my wish. I wish I could be mindwiped of all Spiderman comics and pick up BND as a fresh reader, unaware of OMD. Joephisto? Are you out there?

Also, I think Wacker is brilliant for being able to stay at least two steps away from JMS and Joe Q. "We didn't have anything to do with it. It's out, it's done."


Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2008-01-03 15:32:54
Because Marriage is Evil
That is why they tore up the Lois & Clark of Marvel! I mean it has to be damn near impossible to write a story with a married superhero, that must be why the book has sucked for 10 years (though I did enjoy a lot of what JMS was trying to do, to bad it all got flushed down the drain because of corporate mandate, Thanks JMS for at least giving it a shot at being original, and sorry they treated your ideas like crap). I spent over 3500 in comics alone (with 75% of that being Marvel based), not including movie tickets to Spider-man 3, Fantastic Four 2, and both video games of the same name (whoops on that FF2 game, what crap!), plus numerous statues, busts, action figures, poster books, and Marvel themed attire/items. Spider-man was my favorite hero since 3 years old, I'm now 26 and I'm done with Spider-man stories until they revert it back to normal, this Brand New Day won't get a shot from me, and I'll quit the rest of marvel except for Daredevil & Captain America (because they both still kick ass). Good luck with BND, you're going to need it.

Posted by Jaguar8481 on 2008-01-03 15:46:46
Because Marriage is Evil
That is why they tore up the Lois & Clark of Marvel! I mean it has to be damn near impossible to write a story with a married superhero, that must be why the book has sucked for 10 years (though I did enjoy a lot of what JMS was trying to do, to bad it all got flushed down the drain because of corporate mandate, Thanks JMS for at least giving it a shot at being original, and sorry they treated your ideas like crap). I spent over 3500 in comics alone (with 75% of that being Marvel based), not including movie tickets to Spider-man 3, Fantastic Four 2, and both video games of the same name (whoops on that FF2 game, what crap!), plus numerous statues, busts, action figures, poster books, and Marvel themed attire/items. Spider-man was my favorite hero since 3 years old, I'm now 26 and I'm done with Spider-man stories until they revert it back to normal, this Brand New Day won't get a shot from me, and I'll quit the rest of marvel except for Daredevil & Captain America (because they both still kick ass). Good luck with BND, you're going to need it.

Posted by Jaguar8481 on 2008-01-03 15:51:53
Spider-man 545
This is, hands down, the worst retcon job I have ever read. It goes against everything the character has ever stood for. It's maudlin and simply a travesty.

If your desire to royally screw up your flagship character was your goal, congratulations. You've succeeded in spades.

Posted by Colossus498 on 2008-01-03 17:10:45
Brutal
Man, you guys are brutal...brutal! $12/mo. is chump change, give it half a chance.

Posted by Zamdrist on 2008-01-03 17:45:51
harveytherabbit,

I prefer to insult intelligences directly. Marvel chooses to insult intelligences indirectly. Personally, I'd prefer that they called us retards instead of treating us like we are. I respect the direct approach much more.

Posted by Dusty. on 2008-01-03 18:17:38
Brutal due to being Burned
Tough to be anything but brutal given Marvel's history of continually screwing up Spidey. a host of bad decisions and "quick" hits of killing off characters or dropping huge plot bombs without respect to long term implications have brought us to the god-awful OMD. I'm still in despite it all but at least allow us the small release that this blog allows. It's better than ripping up the 518 issues of ASM I currently have. On second thought, I'll definitely keep all of them up to just over issue 300, that's when it started to slide real bad.

Posted by bstobin on 2008-01-03 18:19:09
What do Stan Lee do?
Heres the biggest question of the week. If I had a chance to ask Stan Lee what he thought about OMD. I'm pretty sure he would say that it ruined his beloved spider man forever and then he would proceed to kick every person involved with OMD in the teeth. That being said I really hope marvel gets its act together because a the majority of fans are really p***ed off about OMD. I said it earlier good luck with BND because its going to be an up hill battle.

Posted by mach37 on 2008-01-03 20:18:34
Doen as well
Quesada and Bendis and JMS have finally done what my ex-wife couldn't do. Get me out of Marvel comics. The death of Cap, Fury going undergorund, Tony Stark headlining SHIELD. the Red Skull winning, She Hulk becoming serious, Bucky is the new Cap, and now the one character with real change and surprises suddenly is back to 1987. His identity a secret once again. Does that mean Civil War didn't happen?

This is a sad day. You've turned the Marvel universe into DC.

Make Mine Dark Horse!

Posted by Lycaeon on 2008-01-03 20:34:49
will try to ride it out
Wacker, my sympathy i know you have to do customer relationship save the sale if you can thing, i've been through it i know what its like. i'd be amped for this if it were another AU spidey title like ultimate but its not its amazing with years of continuity and marvel just undermined a lot of peoples faith, i'll do my best to get over it heck i'll buy bnd #1 at the least but don't expect people to just get over this and do expect a rough couple of months

Posted by SpideyBeatsBats on 2008-01-03 23:12:02
Marvel has turned into DC
S much for respect of a character and long term fans. Anyone at Marvel thinks this wont affect sales are fooling themselves. I was at my local shop yesterday, and the shop owner told me as i waled in the door that "If I was coming in to cancel my Spider-Man orders that he would cut me deal." Thats bad. Over 1/3 of his Spiderman readers had cancelled there orders, and others he said were going to wait out brand new day first. But hey atleast the writers can write about Spidey single and we can have fun guessing wich events happened in his life and wich ones didn't over the last 15 years. Heck now the writers dont have to address the "OTHER" storyline, or May's 2nd orthird...lost track... death but heck she's what 80 now, so im sure we will get another one soon. But hey Spiderman Unlimited wasn't enough for there writers to have a clean slate. Might aswell stop selling Civil War trades, or anothers since none of it now means crap. And on top of it all OMD such a good moral lesson, make a deal with the devil. For God Sake bring Stanlee back before this gets even worse.

Posted by MattDS on 2008-01-04 09:17:42
Hey Steve think ...
maybe you've been brought in as the scapegoat for when the sales go in the tank? After all if the Dolphins football team can
fire their head coach after 1 bad year still owing him millions I'd imagine Marvel would have no trouble kicking you to the curb if the sales on ASM drop significantly. I've got to believe that the flack from OMD has to be worse than whatever it was at DC that made you bail out of there.

Posted by izzatrix on 2008-01-04 09:29:55
one more day...bulls@#$
What you did to spider-man and to his readers was sick. Of all things to do you took the cheap way out not realizing the headaches that will follow, house of m , civil war, everything now don't exist. Y stupid bastards, get ready to start losing readers again.

Posted by chuckpri1972 on 2008-01-04 09:41:57
I know is lack of creativity but....
I really love spiderman story. What I cannot believe is the ending of One more day. What now Marvel is condoning a deal with the devil to fix things up! I don't thing this should have been fixed this way. I mean I started liking the way it was going on with the Scarlet Spiders giving the press conference and giving Face to the public that Spiderman was not really Peter and he was just helping out.... well you had to take the easy way out and erase everything with one of the ICONS taking a deal with the devil. Even if it was MAry Jane that finally agreed to it... The moral issue is there if the current writter or as you refer to yourselves creator were really creators the story should have been better. You might as well do a crisis of infinite earths to erase everything. I though Marvel was the House of ideas. Now what? Peter is going to start school taking pictures adn lacking money again? Where is the originallity of that you are just going back toi basics and it really bites.
The ongoing struggle with Civil war and all was a great story now thrashed, with the end of it all just to save aunt May?
Honestly I believe that we could have more and better stories if they did not involve an elderly woman.
Him being married is another step to responsability.
Now days families are taken apart and you fix this with a deal with the devil(mephisto)
Now waht you going to have him dating again?
Make him gay?Bi ? Just to justify lack of creativity.
I thought that Ultimate spiderman and Marvel Adventures apidermand was to appeal to other readers, now you turned the continuity into another one of thoe books ruining marvel continuity altogether.
Sorry but Nuffsaid just doesn't cut it this time.
Better get them back together before you get teenagers and kids trying to make deals that cannot get reversed in the hope that it will fix their lives.
Yes comic books are that important, they sometimes if not moretimes built a person's character.

RL

Posted by Alfredoreneangel on 2008-01-04 11:49:28
No, thanks.
I appreciate that your excited for BND, but Peter making a deal with the devil, going back on his marriage vows, disregarding Aunt May's wishes, and turing into a selfish wimp has ruined the character for me. He is no longer a hero I can respect. Also, the fact that the unmasking was reverted before it even had a chance to tell any good stories was poorly executed.
This was a chance for Peter to really step-up and show what a hero he is. Saying no to the Devil, that Aunt May would rather be with her Ben then having her life saved by Satan. The extra bit where Peter's future daughter was erased made me smile, I actually thought Peter deserved that after his selfish decision.
Sorry Steve, Spider-Man is no longer a hero I can respect.

Getting a divorce is a lot less damning then Dealing with the Devil. Someone should tell this to Joe Q.

Posted by Deadpond on 2008-01-04 12:46:23
No, thanks.
I appreciate that your excited for BND, but Peter making a deal with the devil, going back on his marriage vows, disregarding Aunt May's wishes, and turing into a selfish wimp has ruined the character for me. He is no longer a hero I can respect. Also, the fact that the unmasking was reverted before it even had a chance to tell any good stories was poorly executed.
This was a chance for Peter to really step-up and show what a hero he is. Saying no to the Devil, that Aunt May would rather be with her Ben then having her life saved by Satan. The extra bit where Peter's future daughter was erased made me smile, I actually thought Peter deserved that after his selfish decision.
Sorry Steve, Spider-Man is no longer a hero I can respect.

Getting a divorce is a lot less damning then Dealing with the Devil. Someone should tell this to Joe Q.

Posted by Deadpond on 2008-01-04 13:02:35
I was thinking
since spiderman has made the deal with the devil and the devil has brought him back to 1987. This deletes 20 years of spiderman stories and well since I a 20 year old who has grown up on the spiderman stories, comics, movies, and cartoons over the past 20 years this story leaves with nothing. Thanks a lot marvel for destroying my childhood, but I guess that really doesn't matter to you guys because as long you can make peter parker single again. Thanks for nothing marvel. The only thing I can hope for is that this is all a dream and peter parker wakes up from it soon. I'm really disappointed marvel you've very thing I've grown to love.

Posted by mach37 on 2008-01-04 13:23:12
With Great Power Comes....
Apparently no responsibility, since Spider-man's number 1 responsibility was to his wife, who he throws away because of his dying aunt. (Stop twisting the logic that it was because of Spider-man she got shot, I distinctly remember Peter Parker discussing it with Aunt May and Mary Jane during Civil War, and them both agreeing to it and pretty much pushing him unmask....Ah, what short term memories they have at Marvel). As mostly everyone here has stated, Spider-man is no longer the hero that everyone looked up to and enjoyed reading (except in New Avengers, where even though he is in the black costume, he still cracks jokes and has a good time, though this is the time that his aunt is supposedly dying) Brand New Day will lose in the end, regardless of writers/artists. (Hopefully the numbers aren't spun like them saying "300,000 copies of BND shipped in January", and that number represents all three weeks, instead of just one single issue). finally, the number one insult to fans is that Joephisto's idea that just saying it was magic is enough to accept it. JMS's version still sucked, but was 100times better then the "Don't worry, it was just magic, and even though Doctor Strange knows all the magic in the world, he also falls under the 'magic' spell". I'll be back in 2 or 3 years when you decide to retcon this crap story, and MAYBE, just maybe, I'll continue buying Marvel books (especially Spider-girl, yeah JoeQ I do buy that, but not because the characters are still together ass, but because it actually has good, solid story lines.....and maybe stick with Ultimate Spider-man too). While some are actually wishing you luck in succeeding with BND, I will not offer any luck, because honestly Marvel doesn't deserve it. Great Work to the former Spidey team for killing spider-man, I didn't believe it could actually be done.

Posted by Jaguar8481 on 2008-01-04 13:24:55
Even more disgusted than I was
After seeing 8 pages of the first BND issue, I've become even more disgusted than I was at the end of OMD. As much respect as I have for Dan Slott and Steve McNiven, I feel as if I can not pick this issue up. I was reading Spider-man before he got married and he was never portrayed as the loser/moocher he is here. Unfortunately the fault for this does not rest on Joe Quesada or JMS's shoulders, but yours as well as the new creative teams. This has the feeling of the infamous Howard Mackie/ John Byrne reboot of 1998, only not done as well. I am eagerly awaiting the day that the true Spider-man returns, because this ain't him.

Posted by scooter1a on 2008-01-04 13:46:44
Scooter1a
Hey man, where did you read the first 8 pages? And what are the contents of the story? I'm dying to know how the first few pages portray this "Brand New" Crap...

Posted by Jaguar8481 on 2008-01-04 14:34:09
A lot of this reaction just seems crazy to me. The last twenty years have been back-and-forth changes and retcons. People are calling for evolution in the comics instead of retreads but nothing has evolved at all since Peter got married. If you compare Peter from 1963 to 1970, 1974 to 1979 to 1984, there's massive evolution of the character between each period. But when you take 1988 Peter Parker and compare him to, say, 2003... there just isn't any evolution there because the marriage got in the way, and almost every writer and editor involved since day one has been throwing their arms up wondering how to get rid of it.

So at long last Marvel has people with the balls to actually get up and do it. At long last Peter Parker's life can move forward, instead of with the brakes on like it's been for most of the past twenty years (where every "change" has been superficial and temporary). I know that Brand New Day will be the better without the baggage of the weakest continuity from the last twenty years of Spider-Man titles.

Posted by Fetsur on 2008-01-04 15:53:57
Escape Route
Hey Marvel got an easy out for You . Simply Show both storylines, when were the fake Spiderman made the deal and the events there of, and the REAL one where he told the devil to shove it up his.......opens up all kinds of ways to save face and bring in alternate future baddies to current storyline, otherwise best of luck in ayear of horrible reactions/sales and long lasting hurt of fans. Too only have to suck up when you undue this later........I cant say enough how much this BND concept is CRAP!

Posted by MattDS on 2008-01-04 16:04:23
Hey Fetsur.......
You are joking right? Nothing happened to Spider-man because of his marriage? You mean like Aunt May finding out about his secret idenity? Spidey joining the Avengers? Spidey unmasking? Spidey gaining organic webshooters? These aren't character development stories? Last I checked Superheros like Reed and Susan, Superman and Lois, Flash and whomever he is with, has also hurt those books for many many years too huh? If you believe the character hasn't developed, then it is the writers and Marvel's fault, not the fault of the marriage. How about you stop tooting Marvel's horn, and realize that it has been MARVEL who has ruined Spider-man the past 20 years, and they even ruined him more with this "ITS MAGIC!" trick to get him back to the early 70's stories. So you really look forward to a late 20's early 30's man, still living with his aunt, single, always late for dates because he has to be Spider-man (wow, how original that will be, such HUGE leaps in character development that will lead to), runs out of web fluid and will almost plummet to his death (only for the 1,867,387,964 time! ANOTHER GREAT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!) If you like the stories from the early 80's back, heres an idea.....go buy the trades or the CD-rom that has every Amazing Spider-man comic. Give me the current New Avenger spider-man, you know the one who is still married and cracking jokes a-plenty while he is kicking bad guy @@@@!*@ all over the place (when was the last time there was a good Spider-man wise crack in Amazing Spider-man????)

Posted by Jaguar8481 on 2008-01-04 16:25:30
Best thing that (n)ever happened...
Frankly, I found OMD to be the best thing that's happened to Spider-Man in a long time. Why? Well, for one thing I haven't found Spider-Man readable since Roger Stern was removed from the book because afterwards, dumb thing after dumb thing kept being done in the Spider-Books that showed tremendous creative and editorial incompetence, including things like the Clone Saga, the death of Harry, Kraven's Last Hunt, Venom stories ad nauseum, the David Michiline/Todd MacFarlane era, the unmasking, the Avengers, the entire run of JMS's stories and yes even the marriage.

Now before I even begin ranting let me say the marriage wasn't a bad idea-it was just the fact it was never really set up proper that's bugged me for years. If I recall editor Jim Salicrup married Peter and MJ off in the comic because Stan Lee did so in the Spidey comic strip. Well, that may have been fine and dandy in the strip as I can only assume Stan was responsible enough to build up the relatonship to make marriage a reasonable outcome, but that was never done to a great extent in the comic. NEVER. The decision to marry them in the comic came off as hurried and even unconvincing. Worse was how MJ's character changed afterwards when she became a one-note doting wife, and readers were constantly subjected to stories when she was put in peril or worse the dull pursuit of her various efforts at a career. With no firm basis for having these characters married from a creative standpoint, especially with the lack of maintaining character to generate creative opportunity, the marriage was doomed to be uninteresting. Had the editors and writers back 20 years ago or so took the time to develop Peter and MJ's relationship more, they would have had something that would have worked out. In that respect I hope that these new developments provide the opportunity for this to happen.

And aside from this opportunity I got no problem with the worst of the Spider-Man continuity being trashed as it's needed to be done for a long time, because, people, IT'S BEEN HORRIBLE! I've never been impressed with JMS's efforts-I was annoyed with his choices in story content, like whole issues dealing with Spidey helping the kids in his class (god, bring in Electro for Pete's sake) to the horrendous pacing and padding of stories with 5 page scenes of MJ talking with another actor about boring crap or Captain America spouting pages of quotations so these comics read like TV scripts and not comics (editors, please whittle this stuff down! Stan Lee could tell a whole story with one page dedicated to subplots and still make a fulfilling inpression). This is the same JMS who took 3 pages to tell the mailbox joke in the recent issue of Thor, when it could have been done in less. And apart from bad storytelling, there were bad stories, utterly horrible stories that brought Spidey down, like the Gwen Stacy/Norman Osborn tryst (simply hideous). I'm glad that's likely gone and I actually had more respect for JMS when I thought when he did OMD he had the intent of fixing the things that were gross mistakes, but now that I'm hearing he's lamenting his involvement without being repentent for those mistakes, I'm glad his efforts are consigned to obscurity.

And the other horrible stuff? The organic web shooters are gone as well as I hope the nonsense of the spider-totem thing; the reprehensible Flash Thompson sub-plot that he didn't remember his friendship with Peter, made more despicable that it was explained as brain damage and Peter ultimately did little to help his friend suffering from this condition (a rare misfire from Peter David missing an opportunity to explore mental illness). And the lousy idea of EVERYONE knowing Spidey's identity (even before he unmasked, this was getting out of hand). The whole unmasking thing that made me ask the logical question of why he'd need to even bother wearing the costume at all anymore, leaving me feeling Marvel had made the mistake of mistakes as there was no longer a logical basis for the character to continue and me to read a comic book called Spider-Man. Also, with the identity issue there was the tremendous loss of the relationships he's had with his supporting cast. He would really have no reason to asociate with these people anymore and their like would never be used functionally in a comic again. With these changes the best supporting cast in comics has potential again and I'm glad.

As for the Avengers? I hate Bendis's efforts and can't get past the fact Spidey's mask got torn off (and an arm broken by jigsaw no less...JIGSAW?) in a fight. No basis of convincing me this was a good idea and I hope Spidey is out of that mess too.

Again, I'm utterly fascinated by the possibilities OMD has now set up, like with Harry, Funny thing, a good week before the last OMD came out I was missing Harry Osborn and what he used to be for this series before becoming a Goblin ( another silly creator mistake) and how his character gave much needed grounding for Peter different from Aunt May or MJ or other members of his cast. I think a lot can be done with Harry, kind of the same way whole nuances were given Superman when Ma and Pa Kent were brought back. And the questions that come up: What about his wife Liz Allen and their child Normie? It's possible they're still married, but the marriage to Harry made Liz and Normie more accessible i being part of Spidey's cast. And even more interesting, what about the ramifications outside the Spidey titles, like for Norman Osborn in The Thunderbolts? THAT'S GONNA BE INTERESTING! Because, now one wonders if Norman's public outing as the Green Goblin has also been eradicated (I hope so 'cause that too was a dumb idea).

I can't comprehend the reaction being so adverse to this story as many of the examples I cited here were far more damaging to Spidey than anyone wants to admit. Going beyond the hype that permeated things like Civil War or whenever some Hollywood bozo comes on board a book and takes a job away from a comic professional, you had creators do destructive things more to shock and outdo some other bozo at the cost of the character to gratify an ego. That's all Spidey's, IN FACT ALL COMICS, have been for a long time now are these stunts, and you readers lapped it up, whether it's Spidey's marriage or killing Sue Dibny or whatever! And something is now done admittingly using the same hype and stuntmaking you people gushed over not once, not just with Spider-man, BUT EVERY EFFORT MADE IN COMICS TODAY and actually did what it promised "changing everything you knew" and you bawl about it! What's even more hypocritical is that the same logic, that excuse given by the crummy examples of comic writers today, these Hollywood scriptwriters, of the possibilities a shocking turn of events would provide creatively (like a public unmasking, a changing of powers or costume, etc), changes you fanboy people raved over and never batted an eye over, is exactly what OMD promised to do and achieved!!!!! This says more about what modern comic book readership is like, this hypocracy, and that's as damagaging to comics as crummy talent is.

I can't wait for the upcoming issues-as far as I'm concerned I've been waiting 20 years (20 YEARS, YOU TODD MACFARLANE-LOVIN' BLANKITITY BLANKS!) to be excited over Spider-Man. And after 20 years of the hyping of questionable changes, the dubious talents, the poor editorial-decision making, it's due.

Posted by zarafausta on 2008-01-04 17:22:10
zarafausta...
I need to drink your Marvel kool-aid....Hey, you know why you thought those stories sucked? That is because the writers sucked, not because of a marriage that was forced. The marriage didn't drag them down, and while you hated everything the past 20 years, not everyone feels that way about EVERY story. Oh, and since we live in the year 2008, which I assume everyone in the Marvel universe currently lives in, what with all the technology....it be pretty damn hard for Spider-man to keep his identity, what with all the blood and stuff he loses during fights....I'm fine with the public not knowing, but people have got to know (especially mindreading powered mutants.) Also the biggest complaint deals with how it was done....YOU WANT SPIDER-MAN MAKING A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL? Are you serious? That isn't exactly taking RESPONSIBILITY is it? And as I said earlier, MJ and May both agreed to the unmasking that lead to May being shot, so there was no need to take everything back. By the way, read up on the Gwen Stacy/Norman Osborn tryst, you'll find that it was Joey Q who decided on Norman being the father instead of Peter (yes, it still would have sucked....but not as much). Finally, everything was solved by simply saying "ITS MAGIC, WE DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN ANYTHING!!!", that is the biggest load of crap ever....how about Doctor Strange, isn't he like magic supreme man or something? and even he couldn't do it, and is also duped by this "ITS MAGIC" scenario....the story was crap, BND will be crap (YAY, MORE MISSED DATES, MORE FALLING FROM HEIGHTS BECAUSE OF NO WEBFLUID! WHAT A BRAND NEW DAY, IT HASN'T BEEN DONE IN OVER 5 YEARS!) Sorry dude, you are just blind to what this truly is....the worst Spider-man story ever....'Nuff Said!

Posted by Jaguar8481 on 2008-01-04 18:04:34
Embarrassed
The best marvel could do is "a wizard did it". I really liked the changes Peter had gone through and was enjoying the demasking, it had a lot of potential. However, instead we get the worst ret-con ever, "it happened but nobody remembers it". Ridiculous. Too bad the new writers were stuck with the situation, it might have been fun to read but I will vote "no" with my wallet..

Posted by ssegura on 2008-01-04 20:09:03
I just have 2 points to say:

1) During an interview in CBR, Quesada said, that, Spidey being married is a mistake, because it makes younger people not to indentify with the character. Then: a) what's the whole point of the Ultimate line? (or is it just magic and you don't need to explain it?) b) If you can't really tell good Spidey stories when he's married, then why the Super*** titles are SO good right now, when not only he's married, but also has an adoptive son? I don't think it's only a matter of the marriage being "wrong" or "right": there might be good elements and bad elements about it. So, WHY are the Super*** titles working, and the Spidey ones not?

2) I don't think comic books are a matter of absolutes. Marvel doesn't suck and DC is great, or viceversa, per se. In the same way, Marvel sometimes releases good books, and sometimes bad books. Yeah, it sounds TOO OBVIOUS. But maybe a lot of people don't get it: You might think that OMD (or some other part of JMS run) was awful. I think so too. I HATE a lot of decisions Marvel has made recently, but I can't judge them as a whole: there are great books, and the ones people made by people like Slott or Wells make are among my favorites. If you think so too: why can't you just give the guys a chance? It's obvious that they didn't make OMD. It's PRETTY OBVIOUS that Marvel is not only Joe Quesada, but a BIG group of creative people, and even if he were some kind of evil dictator, he just can't write all the books by himself.
I think the only BIG argument you can say is that Marvel has messed up a lot with Spidey during the years, and even if this new run proves to be great, the will mess it all again. Yeah, there are a lot of elements to think that way. But that can be said about most superhero books nowadays! Again: there are sometimes when they release good books and bad books, when there are good writers or bad writers doing Spidey, or any other character. If you like the way Slott does things, WHY DON'T GIVE THEM A CHANCE?

To all the people in charge of BND: The fans are angry, the fans want blood. But this is also a great chance to prove us wrong. There can be, not only good, but GREAT Spidey books, and there are lots of good reasons to think that you are up to the task. Please, don't fail us.

Posted by kanami on 2008-01-04 21:18:33
Kanami
well said. I think OMD was a complete failure and wasn't worth the $4 I spent on it, but I'm going to give BND a shot, but I really hope they don't drop the ball on this one

Posted by mach37 on 2008-01-04 22:40:01
What A Waste
Marvel, you really had a chance to step up and you blew it. I am very disappointed with OMD. You had a chance for Peter's character to continue to grow and face the death of Aunt May. Showing how he could handle life and continue to go on - even growing from the experience that hits us all. Put no, you took the cheap way out. How many times is Aunt May going to have a heart attack, be in the hospital, die & come back?!?!? If Peter is as strong and responsible as I thought the character was, he would have stepped up and not left it all on his wife to decide what to do. Resetting every thing is a cowards way out. I hope you do fix things quickly or I will be one of the long time fans (over 30 years) that will drop you like a bad habit!! Start a new title (gee like Ultimate Spider-Man) if you want to retell the story and capture younger readers. But fix ASM if you want to keep the old timers!

Peter deserves better than to be a weak, cowardly wimp living in his Aunt's basement & under her apron. Will he ever truly grow up or do you want to keep him in high school forever?

Posted by jwest88 on 2008-01-05 00:38:07
Do we need a backup story, etc?
That OMD ending still has me confused. I'm really hoping they pull it together well in the new series. I just wonder, do we need a 3 page backup story and other filler for a dollar more? I know I don't. I'm fine with just the regular story for regular price and I've been fine with it for YEARS.
I really hope all of us complaining are proven wrong. I hope Peter can finally become a man. It's time his Aunt dies, for good this time. I was fine with his marriage. She was in his corner for better or for worse. I was enjoyed the twists and turns Peter was going through to save Aunt May and when Mephisto arrived I thought surely Peter is going to let his Aunt go and accept that we all die. Nope, we get an anti-climatic ending instead.
Now it's all gone and we get one title. I've only been reading ASM as the story telling in the other series had too many ups and downs for me to drop $3 on monthly. I hope we get solid writing and art out of the new beginning.
So yeah, here's to hope that this turns out a success and not a failure. (Like Civil War was in my opinion.) Best of luck, you still have me as a loyal fan for the time being!

Posted by Defleshuary on 2008-01-05 02:58:03
Maybe
OK, when Doctor Strange said that all people will die, Peter reply by saying: "Yeah, but not like this way". Maybe marvel put some point there, means that they will kill May, but with natural deaths, not by a bullet. Than the desperate Peter will trying to find someone that he can lean on, and than he search for a woman to be married? Just opinion.

Posted by dnieltjhin on 2008-01-05 06:32:37
Don't be fooled... or Guesses and Maybes
I really think Joe Q was expecting these negative reactions. You know how Joe Q loves to break the internet in half, well more than half.

They had everything planned for OMD and BND except maybe they forgot to tell/explain it to Joe S. for whatever reason. Maybe Joe S didn't know what the true plan really was for BND since he was already leaving ASM that's why he was just told to use "magic", no explanation.

Maybe BND was set in the immediate past after the "marriage" or maybe like "heroes reborn", a packet universe, an alternate reality for Peter created by Mephisto, Not affecting the present continuity of the Marvel Universe.

I'm guessing MJ won't appear in any of the Marvel comics except ASM since we still don't know the conclusion to BND. I guess no other writer will be using MJ in their comic books for a year maybe. BND appears something finite to me, it will appear 3 times a month for say 12 months, that means about 3 years worth of ASM stories compressed in a year. Peter enjoys being single but I guess in the end he sees something missing, and that is MJ. I'm guessing at the end of BND,
Peter with MJ and/or the MU will be battling Mephisto. Could be a major event for next year. And MJ and Peter will be back together again (most probably married), while Aunt May dies (eventually Peter letting go or accepts the reality of it) and Mephisto, finally beaten (maybe w/ the help of doc strange).

But those are my BIG guesses, my BIG maybes... (hoping)

Someone's trying to fool us, it's tearing us apart, maybe Joe Q or maybe Mephisto himself, and it's working :)

Posted by rumpel on 2008-01-05 09:21:16
Looking Forward to It!
I am counting the days for the next issue of Amazing Spider-Man. I haven't been this excited about this title in a long time. I am glad that the cover price will stay at 2.99 after this issue, but it does look like there will be some very cool extra material in there in the coming issue. I find it sad that people have decided to express their negative uninformed opinions about the new stories based off the past one. Especially since they have not have read a single issue of the new story. Their loss.

Posted by wolviebeserker on 2008-01-05 10:17:27
Funny Thing
As I read the minority of those who are excited about the new direction, the dominant voice is those who started reading Spidey before the marriage. Kind of goes against Joe's argument that it is the old timers who want Spidey to grow with them. They (like Joe) want the Spidey of their youth. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of us who grew up with a married Spidey are kicked to the curb. Future generations my (place where webs come out of in spiders).

Posted by theazor on 2008-01-05 11:29:50
Disappointed in Marvel
Mary Jane makes a deal with the devil? I always thought deals with the devil were a bad thing.

Then everyone forgets everything, 20 years has not been undone, its just forgotten and did not happen the way the characters remember it or the fans who bought books remember it. I have never seen sloppier story telling, I thought DC's crisises were bad, but this tops it.

So now we have a loser spider-man living with his aunt again. I guess Joe Q assumes every comic reader can relate to living at home with mom in your twenties. Sorry Joe, some of us grew up and we enjoyed a Spider-man that did too.

Harry Osborne? Do I really want to read a Harry-Norman Osborne story again? He was not interesting back then and he still is not.

Sorry to the new writers, but I beleive if you dont like where something is going you should save your money and not support it just to "see what happens". There is plenty of other comics out there that dont beleive a character is only sellable if he is a trwenty something loser.

Posted by jefseg77 on 2008-01-05 12:11:10
One more Thing
So if the last 20 years happened, but Peter and MJ were not married, then Peter knocked up Mary Jane and did not marry her? Thats not very responsible Peter.

Posted by jefseg77 on 2008-01-05 12:24:37
login2
I've been into comics for about 20 years, dealer and reader. They've taken me through (and paid for, in the dealer aspect) a lot of bad things but I have never seen such horrible, unoriginal storytelling as this. Yes, I've read pre- and post MJ, all the way up. But that doesn't matter.

Firstly, to the older readers - its lost too many. I haven't been able to sell Spidey consistently at all for years. My father, after being there since AF 15, dropped out. Can't take it. As has a family friend. And more and more I find myself fielding questions from newer readers wondering what the bloody heck is going on. In all due respect - nice cop out. But then again, what can I expect after "No more mutants" apparently translating to "OK, almost all the mutants will go, yet mysteriously all you X-Men that keep pushing sales, you can keep your powers." And don't get me started on Civil War.

But thanks a lot. It took decades to completely erode my faith in a character that I looked up to as a child. Spidey brought me through the worst time into my best and now he's nothing, a joke on my late night news and in media hype mags. Younger folks not being able to identify? Um, no. He's in his 20s already, how much younger should he be? Did I like MJ? Not really, but she serves a purpose - a former party airhead to strong willed gal in a world beset with female stereotypes. Lots of times I sold an issue to a little girl because it had MJ on the cover, who can they identify with now? I like Norman, I'll admit that, but MJ and Harry's death served a purpose, part of a higher accountability known as character development and storytelling. All the accolades in the world combining the books. Brilliancy at its finest. But what do people have to look forward to? You had better prove the masses wrong. I can't tolerate it anymore, storylines are too rushed, too poorly done for me to enjoy and I can't sell them either. All the power to those that do like the current tread but come on, one has to admit a visible minority here. Keep up with and continue to get what's pre requested for this year but that's it. Spidey doesn't shape up before 09 I'm out. Thanks a lot Marvel.

Posted by login2 on 2008-01-05 15:18:58
What about Loki?
I really hope Rumpel is correct in his guesses. I don't see how the other creative teams at marvel aren't also having problems with this if it is supposed to be the new continuity. Spidey has been tied in to everything. Lately Marvel has been having a lot of problems with continuity and if they thought this would make their lives easier they really didn't think it out.

But I have faith that they will resolve this in some manner.

A thought though - Doesn't Loki owe Parker one? After helping Loki's daughter Loki said he owed him and gave him some talisman to use. Why wouldn't Parker use that before going with Mephisto?

Also - this doesn't really get rid of anything - the spider-totem and other and such. Those things still exist and have been establish and now parker is going to have to deal with them again.

Well - I have been collecting for 25 years and will continue atleast to see how this plays out.

Posted by Spider-law on 2008-01-05 17:11:43
I "grew up with" the married Spider-Man, but I have gone back and read the pre-marital stories... and they really are much better comics without it. In twenty years of Peter Parker's marriage there's only been a couple of great writers on the books - Peter David, JMS and JM DeMatteis - every other writer has been scared off by this mess of a marriage. "Best of Enemies" and "The Conversation" were great stories, but "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut", "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man", "Death of Jeanne DeWolff" (that's not a spoiler, she dies on page 2), "The Final Chapter" (ASM #33)... there's so many more great stories that can be found before that watershed moment than after. It beggars belief that it's taken Marvel twenty years to get rid of this marriage. And the worst thing they did during those twenty years was kill off the existing characters without providing the means for Peter to befriend any new ones (much simpler when your social bubble stems from the girl you're potentially dating).

Posted by Fetsur on 2008-01-05 18:06:37
Give young readers more credit
Its a reboot, the second attempted reboot of the character, the first being the aborted clone saga. Its been planned for some time, at least since the unmasking. Doing away with the secret identity drama was never in the works. The unmasking was just to be able to portray the family in an unhappy and untenable situation to contrast it with relative happiness living with Aunt May again. This second reboot is being done for the same reason the first was attempted: because the company thought Peter was getting too old, and therefore the readers couldn't identify with him. He has to be kept young and single.

Is there someway of rebooting the company? Does everyone there really believe that young readers (probably true that they're the bulk of the readers) can only identify with young characters? Superhero characters in their teens and early 20s have always been in the minority. Even if it were true, since when did Marvel's business plan depend on kids buying comic books? The 80s? "Gee golly gosh" young characters is not what the general public, much less today's young people, are going to identify with.

I'm going to date myself. I've been reading Spider-man comics since I was a kid in the 60s. You know what has always interested me most about the character? Not eternal youth. Its the way the character was developed and matured, going from high school to college to grad school, to losing a love to gaining another and marrying. That's something that everyone, yes even kids, can identify with. Spider-man has always been a soap-opera with superheroes. That's why the franchise is a success, not because the character is young.

You folks are making a mistake not letting development continue on into his 30's, where he can easily stay for another century of stories. There's a decade's worth of stories where Peter is pursuing a doctorate in biology research. Lots of scifi and angst there. Want more drama? Have him married with a baby on the way while he's in grad school. Everyone will like it, including the teen demographic.

Posted by Oldmanmike on 2008-01-05 22:25:28
Waste of Anger
Really what's the point of posting here? They know fans are angry, the dont care. They knew we would be

but the "risk" was worth it. They consider online posters only a small portion of there fan base and

demographic, It doesn't matter that polls on places like newsarama show an 82% dislike or hatred of the

storyline. They Expect a rebound in sales, and even higher sales long term. And hey they love to hear us

complain because that promotes attention to the comic and increased publicity and sales. So what if they

have to spit in our faces to do it. It works. That's what being a good EIC isn't it. It's certainly not

good story telling and fantastic art work and loyalty to a character and fan base. Its about shock value

and hype. Kill of a character , bring them back, Have the character unmask, take it back. Have the

character develop new abilities and new depth to a character, take it away.

You get interviews stating that people are not looking at the clues in OMD and are freaking out because

history was changed and they say no it hasn't. Yet May never got shot, house didn't burn down, no organic

web shooters, Harry is alive, but those events dont change history. Magic what a wonderful excuse. So I

wander what hero will agree to a deal with the devil next. Oh i know MJ made the decision, and its not

like Peter sought him out, but hey I'm fairly certain "BOTH" had to agree, so cant use MJ as the excuse

for this mistake yet again. But lets face reality BND is coming out and we will have a whole new Spidey

since the one I grew up with died. Guess 20 years of comic reading was good enough, now Marvel can have

all new fans jump on board and in 20 years retcon again, im sure the devil will still be around like an

old friend. If anything Marvel EIC has proved Spiderman is a tool to make money, and the bottom lne

theywant to be able to milk that forever, so its best if everyone gets used to the idea that there is no

loalty to long term fans and I'm sure this wont be the last childhood hero to be taken away. Heck they

might awell start at issue #1 again. That always works so well. Is it Amazing Spiderman Vol 1 or 2 I can

never remember.

It is good to know that they "understand" why some wont continue to read, I can only hope for the day

there all sitting around the table discussing how the heck there gonna fix Marvels image and regain the

loyalty they have lost. SO when my kids ask me where MJ has gone and I try to explain to them a Hero is

someone of sacrifices his love to save someone's life he has caused to end, I'm sure they will understand

what a noble sacrifice it was. And when they get older they can read the the Truth that Marvel didn't

want bad press about Spiderman getting a divorce, or having someone he loved die...again...since that

caused so much backlash the last time, that they figured they would make him seem young again and dating

and that way they could spend another 20 years building the rushed relationship between them, for the

second time, just so spiderman could be around forever never getting older, becuase marvel EIC cant come

up with decent storys that invalve a 30's Peter Parker. Heck a single dad trying to be a hero and raising

a little girl , nothing to work with there. MJ dying and becoming distant for along time and dating

someone younger..nope not interesting. New villians, well that can oly work if we first undue history,

oops I mean forget the house burned down and wife and aunt had to move into Stark Towers...wait..see i'm

confused already.

Good Luck Marvel your EIC has destroyed all of the faith your fans had in you for along time. But i'm

sure your new fans will still pay there money till you do it to them.

Posted by DS2008 on 2008-01-06 00:09:16
Enough!
I've had enough with the complaining about OMD that I just have to post. The story arc screwed no one, not even spidey. Spidey experienced everything up to this point the way it played out (every Amazing published to this point is still a part of his life and ours). With Mephistos meddling, spidey is now going to experience new things with changed memories. He may now be living through a life in which his marraige never happened and Harry never died, but guess what, those things did happen at one point. Spidey lived through them and so did we. Changing time and reality doesn't change the fact these things were experienced by spidey at points in his life (especially since Mephisto forgot to change our lives and memories, thank god. We will always remember).
Many will find my logic flawed. But let me say this. Was I entertained and moved by this story? YES. Was I impressed with Joe's artwork? YES. Did I feel I was a part of a very momentous part of Spideys life? YES.
I'm disapointed in Wacker above and some JMS comments i've read elsewhere, trying to distance themselves from this story (your just hurting Marvel, spidey and the fans who did enjoy this story).

Kudos to all involved, especially to Joe Q, for having the guts to push the envelope and to continue to entertain me as only Marvel can. Can't wait for Brand New Day.

For those who don't realize it's just a comic book thats been around for 40+ years, and the storytelling needs to continue to shake things up in order to ensure it's life for, hopefully, 40 more years; for those who don't realize that MJ is still around and (I have no doubts) will eventually marry Peter again; for those who would give up on Spidey because of a story that may not have been the best or a pinnacle in spidey's long life; for those that don't see this for what it is, I say that maybe comic books aren't for you.

A big THANK YOU to Marvel and especialy Joe Q. for keeping me entertained! 'NUFF SAID!


Posted by bfraga4 on 2008-01-06 02:57:18
I'm really excited about BND.

The OMD story arc "screwed" no one, not even spidey.

Spidey experienced everything up to this point, the way it played out (every spidey comic published to this point is still a part of his life and ours). With Mephistos meddling, spidey is now going to experience new things with changed memories. He may now be living through a life in which his marraige never happened and Harry never died, but guess what, those things did happen at one point. Spidey lived through them and so did we. Changing time and reality doesn't change the fact these things were experienced by spidey at points in his life (especially since Mephisto forgot to change our lives and memories. We will always remember).

Many will find my logic flawed. But let me say this. Was I entertained and moved by this story? YES. Was I impressed with Joe's artwork? YES. Did I feel I was a part of a very momentous part of Spideys life? YES.

Kudos to all involved, especially to Joe Q, for having the guts to push the envelope and to continue to entertain me as only Marvel can. Can't wait for Brand New Day.

For those who don't realize it's just a comic book thats been around for 40+ years, and the storytelling needs to continue to shake things up in order to ensure it's life for, hopefully, 40 more years; for those who don't realize that MJ is still around and (I have no doubts) will eventually marry Peter again; for those who would give up on Spidey because of a story that may not have been the best or a pinnacle in spidey's long life; for those that don't see this for what it is, I say that maybe comic books aren't for you.

A big THANK YOU to Marvel and especialy Joe Q. for keeping me entertained! Bring on BND!
'NUFF SAID!


Posted by bfraga4 on 2008-01-06 06:11:33
Keys to Success
Despite all the neagativity about how it came about, most of us will stick with Spidey to see how BND goes. I would suggest two things are crucial to its success and winning back fans:

1. Wacker and the rest of the creative teams need to take "ownership" of spidey, meaning they have to really really care about the chractaer and what happens to him and realize that a decision made to make some three issue story arc "monumental" is going to have reprecussions for years to come. JMS definitely took ownership of Spidey but most of his decisions about the character, his shistory, his supporting cast and where the character should be headed were completely wrong. That leads me to the second point:
2. Stay true to Peter Parker/Spiderman's character. There is no need to change his origin to make it like he was pre-destined or try and make him mystical. At this core he is still a guy who got powers unexpectedly, made a tragic mistake in thinking he was better than everyone else and has been trying to make up for it ever since. He's a good guy trying to make things a little better.

One more thing that I beleive would really help the series is the return of the sub-plot. Back in the day you would have a scene in the book where a character was introduced or a seemingly innocent event occurred that would be added to in subsequent issues on a small scale until Bam! major event revealed. I miss that in the book. Everything now is "Arcs" Three four issues and everything is wrapped up and there is no mention of it ever again. I think that mnakes it easy for writers to screw up the character as they are only concerned with their "arc" instead of the long term consequences.

Posted by bstobin on 2008-01-06 12:39:22
New characters
Look i am all for Brand New Day and frankly can't wait for 3x the spidey i just want one small question answered since you brought back Harry from the dead. Who else is next? I am going to vote for the much hated Ben Reiley i know alot of people hated him and frankly i could not care less. His existance drove spidey to the dark side and nearly broke his brain in half and frankly i am sick of those cheap clones of MVP masscarading as the Scarlet Spider. Bring him back or at least give me more Venom.

Posted by Venom7585 on 2008-01-06 16:09:12
secret invasion
Hey, does anyone else think this is just a cheap way to take spiderman out of the mainstream marvel universe and make him a skrull on the new avengers. (if anyone else has posted this sorry just signed up here and havn't read everything or very much)

Posted by Farmer123 on 2008-01-06 19:52:03
one more day
One more day is proof that there is no god, because there is no way that God would ever let that abomitation ever see the light of day. Thank you for turning me into an atheist.

Posted by adodd on 2008-01-06 20:22:29
did anyone
notice that the new harry looks like James Franco with the old Harrys hair cut and yes I think that marvel will make spiderman into a skrull.

Posted by mach37 on 2008-01-06 22:03:29
Hang in there. I know it must be tough to follow One More Day.

Posted by couch85 on 2008-01-07 09:36:41
looking for clues
I've been reading and re-reading OMD, trying to search for clues as to what BND, or even post-BND, has in store. There are the appearnces of the doves throughout 544, and the tagline of whether the universe ever listens to the sound of a single soul in pain. Before OMD, in the last Sensational Spider-Man, Peter talks to "God," and we get the picture that Peter will be happy with his "family". Is the sound of the pained soul only answered by "devils" like Mephisto? Will "God" step in sometime during BND to clear this all up? Or is this all a "be careful what you wish for" admonition (is Joe Q even smart enough to give us that kind of allegory)? I guess we'll all have to wait and see. Personally, I'm willing to give BND some time and a little slack. I can understand those who want to leave; I don't want to think 20 years of our time and money was wasted.

Posted by bjason316 on 2008-01-07 10:49:23
I'm on board, dispite OMD
I may still be onboard but maybe for a limited time. I agree, but I really think it is time Aunt May was retired. I really find it silly to end the comic by getting rid of their marriage. Don't you think there is enough of that going around in today's society? Why not do it to FF, maybe marry Iron Man off, bring Betty back from the dead for the Hulk, oh aI can't use Bucky anymore.... grumble grumble...? I do not understand why all of the sudden Mephisto takes such a big part in this scheme. I really think that this was a huge let down. How many times does Aunt May have to be brought back from the dead? Why not bring back Peter's parents. I know that JQ never liked MJ but isn't there a better way to write her off. I am very dissappointed... bring back JMS at least he knows how to write a story... Sorry but this is too much of a cop out and I do not like the new line. I will give BND a try but if this isn't at least half as good as anything JMS wrote I may have to unload AMS and I have been reading it for going on 30 years now.. Very tough pill to swallow. Again sorry guys, but good luck... you will need it.

Posted by Phytoplankton1 on 2008-01-07 12:49:44
Dropped
This book is dropped. I won't be buying anymore Marvel. I'll try to to find it free on the internet. I'll still read it but I won't buy another Marvel Book.

Posted by rondog on 2008-01-07 12:55:48
The twelve?
One a month, odd, interesting, very odd, very interesting.

:)

Almost to odd.

:)

Posted by Celestial on 2008-01-07 15:01:47
It's sad
that the Marvel Folk look at all this direct response to their poor scripting skills as the ravings of a vocal minority. On Newsarama on 1-4, Spidey editor Steve Wacker says it quite plainly:

I’ve been on message boards since the early ‘90s and all of us here know deep in our hearts that nothing said here represents a “large portion” of the readership. A “large portion” of internet posters perhaps, but a large portion of internet posters would argue with me if I said I was right handed.

So, all of the lucid critiques above (and the vitriolic screeds as well) are instantly relegated to the trash, because you can't possibly present anything that a"large portion" of readers might agree with; you're disqualified by the act of writing in!
Okay, got it now; the boards are here to allow us to vent and feel better; don't ever think they'll change anyone's mind at Marvel.
Hey, maybe the Tooth Fairy will come through and change things instantly so Marvel takes its Vocal Minority seriously?

Posted by miles55 on 2008-01-07 16:44:29
More Kool-Aid?
Hey, Steve, this is the first comment I've seen from anybody at Marvel about this crap-fest that WASN'T so smug and holier-than-thou that I wanted to take one of the many unsold copies of OMD from my local comics store and give everybody involved really awful paper cuts on the tongue. Thanx for not being completely condescending. But I'm still not drinking the magic Kool-aid, and I'm gonna use the $12 I saved to buy DC. At least they're up front about it when they pull this retcon crap.

Posted by Lazlo_Toth on 2008-01-07 17:20:23
Whata Joke
OMD has ruined spiderman forever. A kindergarten with down syndrome could have written a better story. I am happy to say I have cancelled my subsription to ASM and I hope it fails miserably for screwing the readers. Joe Q you are a joke. "Nuff Said"

P.S. Just a word to the wise-Charging an extra dollar for the same crapy garbage is not guna help it sell

Posted by hockeyguy19mtm on 2008-01-07 17:37:40
What really ticks me
is that for some reason marvel seems to think that a 20 something year old broke unemployed bachelor living in his 120 year old aunts house is easier to relate to than a 20 something year old married man whos aunt has died and is on the run from the law with is wife and future child. I don't know to me the latter seems not only easier to relate to, but would make for better stories. Oh well because the only real person that truly relates to this story is Joe Q any way.

Posted by mach37 on 2008-01-07 18:53:17
It's sad
that the Marvel Folk look at all this direct response to their poor scripting skills as the ravings of a vocal minority. On Newsarama on 1-4, Spidey editor Steve Wacker says it quite plainly:

I’ve been on message boards since the early ‘90s and all of us here know deep in our hearts that nothing said here represents a “large portion” of the readership. A “large portion” of internet posters perhaps, but a large portion of internet posters would argue with me if I said I was right handed.

So, all of the lucid critiques above (and the vitriolic screeds as well) are instantly relegated to the trash, because you can't possibly present anything that a"large portion" of readers might agree with; you're disqualified by the act of writing in!
Okay, got it now; the boards are here to allow us to vent and feel better; don't ever think they'll change anyone's mind at Marvel.
Hey, maybe the Tooth Fairy will come through and change things instantly so Marvel takes its Vocal Minority seriously?

Posted by miles55 on 2008-01-08 08:04:33
unimportant story
at the very end of this article: http://www.nypost.com/seven/01072008/news/nationalnews/spideys_smooch_scandal_165956.htm

Quesada says this is "just a story." I think that's really all that needs to be said, and anyone that pays extra for "just a story" is a moron. Either way, I'm done with spider-man for a while, at least until they start actually trying to impress again.

Posted by cleff00x on 2008-01-08 09:02:27
OMD -- Incredible Story!!
Wow. I really could feel the tension during OMD as Peter start to slip to the dark side -- especially his fight with Iron Man. This was as good as DC's Identity Crisis (not all DC's stuff is junk). I was really into this new twist and wondered how things would turn out for Peter, Aunt May and MJ, but then you idiots had to mess it up!! An eight year old kid could have written a better ending!
Peter has been more of an everyday hero (besides a few mystical elements here and there), so having Mephisto pop up and null the marriage and history was too out of left field.
Well, you cannot erase the memories of the readers, and the majority of us remember and refuse to buy the book anymore.
Good-bye, Spidey! Have a nice life! (What you remember of it.)


Posted by Enigmatic_Man on 2008-01-08 12:45:25
Get over it!
Well, consider the internet broken in half!

I got BND 1 today and guess what? It looks great. The sky hasn't fallen.

Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2008-01-08 14:28:05
back in the olden days
if you lunk heads were real marvel fans then you would listen to what the writers have to say. in the most recent issue of Marvel Spotlight the writers for Brand New Day say that the reason they had One More Day was to make spider man more like the good old day's with the tag team of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee with drama but not as much with these big world never the same specials. the current issues have a pattern of peter saving eather mary-jane or may from the brink of death. ps before you post from now on do your dag research. nuff' said

Posted by marypeter on 2008-01-08 16:32:53
BND
As a "real" long term marvel fan I think its sad that the majority of supporters of OMD/BND say give it a chance it will be good, its the good old days again, they just dont get it. If the story had not undone continuity to make the changes that it did, and had not invalved the devil deal it would be easier to take. I'm reminded of something I heard on a show when i was young. If you took a person into a room with atable with there favorite foods and deserts, and then turned up a garbage can lid with crap still staining the cover and told the person to eat what they wanted but they had to use the lid as there plate, for the most part, noone would wanna eat anything no matter how good it might look. Thats how BND comes off to fans. Myself, i'd rather May die, devil told to stick it and MJ die or leave him whatever, have Doc strange remove the pain, memories whatever and go to BND if need be. As it is I wont support marvel again, until this is retconned and a huge apology to fans. And I think JMS should be allowed to set things right. But to those of you that look at it like a tv sitcom where nothing ever changes and its just a fun thing to read for the brief entertainment I respect your opinons but I dont believe you to be capable of understanding that for some they grew up with the character, and now feel that charcter is gone and an imposter now wears the suit.

Posted by DS2008 on 2008-01-08 20:26:20
BYE BYE SPIDEY
That OMD was the worst story ever told..it really insulted me. i will continue reading other marvel titles but sure NOT amazing spider-man. i m stoping after 22 years...i m really ashamed for you who did that OMD stupid story

Posted by Antiokhos on 2008-01-08 23:47:43
I am not interested in deals with the devil
As a collector of Spidey for over 30 years, I passed on Spidey today. I am not interested in a Spidey that makes deals with the devil and undoes his marriage.

FIRE JOE Q NOW AND GET RID OF THIS CRAP!

Marvel has ruined Spider-Man.

Posted by HiddenVorlon on 2008-01-09 13:05:52
well, they made him, so they can ruin him.

Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2008-01-09 13:54:50
13 more issues.....
ive have been reading comic books for as long as i can remember and spiderman has always been my favorite.But i am completely stunned at what you idiots have done to my favorite superhero in OMD.Mary Jane has been such a crucial part of the whole Spiderman legacy and you just wiped it all the way like it was nothing!!!!!!!!!! Ive enjoyed reading these comics and seeing the spiderman character grow and develop over the years and you guys just want to turn him back to being an immature dork who lives with his aunt.

With respect to the superhero that i have grown up with and respected since i was a child,i am willing to wait the 13 more issues left in my subsciption to see if you guys come to your senses and fix this mess that you have made.If not.......well not only have you lost a loyal customer,but i hope the losing of many readers who have been true beleivers,not to mention seeing your stock plummet will make stan lee fire you guys and fix the problem himself.

Good luck guys...........you will need it.

Posted by spiderfreak20 on 2008-01-09 14:27:57
one more thing......
thanks to you guys the "amazing" spiderman isnt amazing anymore.

Posted by spiderfreak20 on 2008-01-09 14:30:22
No way!!
After what has happened there is noo way it going to work, I have been a Marvel fan a long time and doing what they did to spidey mess everything up! Bring the dead back for no reason, come on. Harry is dead, so everyone forgot that also? And please tell thats not Gwen Stacy with him. So basicly this is like House of M and nothing is the right way! I always thought Marvel was better than DC in that they didn't mess things up this bad, guess now we will have a Criss here to. Very upset, but you are not bringing Steve Rogers back right!!!!

Posted by maxx36 on 2008-01-09 17:53:04
so long spidey
This is the worst mistake ever in spiderman comics even the clone saga is better than omd I dont know how can you do something like this to all us long time spidey fans and dont come to me with the crap that younger fans didnt know a single peter parker because they have the ultimate spiderman comic for that so I will miss Spiderman but I will not buy any spiderman comic from now on until everything gets back to normal I think I better stick to vertigo and forget all the crap marvel has done in the last year so long

Posted by raistlin1976 on 2008-01-09 18:00:59
No matter what your position is on OMD/BND...
This is really funny:
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/01/09/violence-breaks-out-at-funnybook-signing/#comments

Posted by ed2ward on 2008-01-09 18:45:07