Friday, March 21, 2008

And the Drama Continues...

You know, I want to leave this alone, I really do, but they won’t let me.

Amazing Spider-Man #554 came out this week, and well, I bought it. As you can guess, I had some issues with it (one being the whole scene were Spidey (after a battle with his new villain, the ever morphing Freak) where his mask gets torn to shreds, decides that embarrassment is the better part of valor, and completely sheds his clothing, dons a (dirty) lab coat from inside the meth lab where he and the afore-mentioned Freak were battling, and walks out into the waiting of the cops.

Now I can believe a lot (that a man can fly, that being bitten by a radioactive (genetically altered) Spider will give you powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men; and even that being exposed to gamma radiation will turn you gray, er, green, ah, gray, no, green, wait, red... oh fudge it!), but somehow Peter coming out of the burning building without any clothes on, pretending he wasn’t Spider-Man thing was the stupidest thing ever, “Honest officer, I was taking pictures of Spidey, fighting that guy, and then the building caught fire, so I decided that it was a good idea to take off all of my clothes, save my camera, and put on this, meth-stained lab coat and walk out into the street, because I simply didn't have enough time to just RUN OUT THE EFFIN DOOR!”

Well, if that wasn’t enough, I’m still confused over the whole (the only thing that has changed is that Peter’s Marriage to MJ never happened, except Harry is now back from the dead, and apparently The Tailor who repairs costumes for both Marvel heroes and Villains no longer makes costumes for Spidey. Next week I’m sure it will be something else.

You would think that this would be an important bit of continuity to maintain, but what the heck do I know. I thought That Pete was still married to...Ah Fudge, what was that redhead's Name again???

14 comments:

Reggie White Jr. said...

Robert, how could you buy an issue of BND?! HOW?! BDN is dreck, dreck, I tell you! If you're gonna read ASM new, Byrne-steal it! I do. It's the American way. =)

So Pete actually got a stained coat from a meth lab? I think I just killed off a couple of brain cells pondering Peter's stupidity.

I know what you mean by wanting to let go but it feels like the specter of screwed up Peter is everywhere. On the net, in the comic shops, EVERYWHERE! BND should burn in comic book hell for all eternity.

rjsodaro said...

“Byrne-steal it”

Ah, not familiar with the term. Please ‘splain.

Reggie White Jr. said...

Oh, Byrne-stealing means when you read a comic at the shop. Some shops (mine) let you do that. =)

rjsodaro said...

Thought so. Is there a back-story to the reference?

Reggie White Jr. said...

Ha ha, matter of fact, there is. John Byrne thinks people are stealing when they read comics at the store instead of just buying them.

rjsodaro said...

Ah, yes, I believe that I have heard of this no that you have explained it.

Very funny indeed.

Tommy said...

Hmm...

...Is it me, or have they made Pete at a level lower than when he was in High School?

Cause in High School, he used his head and took on a plethora of villains while dealing with High School jerk-offs and tough finances.


Yet, from the last issue I got (#552), we get pages of exposition when he's trying to deal with a simple robber, who is the current villain of this piece.

I mean...seriously...this is what, Grade-school level Spidey intellect or something. And even then, I'd probably be insulting Elementary school students with that insinuation.

If you don't want to web someone's legs cause they'll fall and get run over, then you do a double web-shot.

One for the box with money so it doesn't fall out (hell, you could probably just yank it out of the guy's hands and problem solved).

Two, you shoot a line to the guy's upper back and yank him up. If it worked for Nick Katzenburg (dig out your Spec. Spidey issues), it'll work on this guy.


F' Mephisto. Despite Mary Jane trying to get him to make a world where Pete would be happy or whatever, he made a world where Pete is, dare I say it, a mortal!

I.E. to err is to be human and to be human is to be mortal ergo when I say mortal I mean idiot!

Fear it!

rjsodaro said...

Tommy, you are absolutely correct. We are dealing with sub-par writing of a sub-par Spidey.. He was way better than this when he first started out.

Spidey is currently being handled by a bunch of guys who either have no clue as to he is, no clue how to write a compelling story (worse) or are simply to spineless to tell their management team that the idea simply isn’t working.

I hate to say it but I believe that we’ve entered into a new Bronze age for Spider-Man. Joe Q. wanted to turn the clock back 20 years, and he has done just that and more, he has actually turned the clock back 30 years, because the post-Stan Spidey stories of the mid-‘70s/early ‘80s were pretty effin, ghod-awful, and well, so are these BND stories.

In the words of our soon-to-be-ex-president...

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Reggie White Jr. said...

Tommy, I too concur with what you've said. Peter was much smarter and more experienced than this imbecile running around in BND. He can't even catch a common thug without screwing up. Pitiful. Any other Ultimate Spidey, Spidey Family Spidey, Marvel Adventures Spidey, all of these versions are packing more intelligence than this editorial mandated version in ASM.

I is Joe Q's influence still hanging over the writer's heads in BND because I've never seen Peter written like such an idiot.

Mephestio not only screwed Peter but us as well.

rjsodaro said...

Heh, I love you guys!

I’m also glad to see that it isn’t just old farts like me who hate this crap.

Now if we can only get editorial to listen.

Reggie White Jr. said...

Oh rest assured, Robert, Joe Q has alienated quiet a few Spidey fans who are in their 20s. Heck, I read on a message board than a teenage didn't like the stuff going on in BND.

As for getting editorial to listen, well when Joe Q stops marching to the sound of his own drummer, then maybe we'll get somewhere.

haroos said...

I stopped reading spiderman 4 weeks ago.
I don't like to read about a guy who can lift 10 tons (or is it still 15) who gets robbed by a lousy street punk.
I don't like to read about a guy who can outrun a bus, unable to chase a drug addict.
I don't like to read poorly written comics, that I have outgrown on the day I learned what vagina looks like (and it was early on).
and most of all, I don't like to read comics where apparently the reader's response is falsifies, and an insult to my inteligence.
goodbye spiderman, maybe one day you will be written for adults, or at least not for little boys.

rjsodaro said...

Wow, that is easily the harshest blowback to BND that I have heard thus far. Sorry to see your leave, haroos, I know that many fans are like you. I can only hope that the growing exodus that I’m seeing will result in lower sales for the series, and will ultimately alter the editorial perceptions of this character, and reverse how badly they are currently mishandling him.

haroos said...

the thing that broke the camel's back to me was the reader's response in the post BND issues.
apparently every reader LOVED the BND spiderman.
I just don't see that as real, it's a plain out lie, and they (marvel team) know that we know that they know that we know (and so forth).
they just don't care.

in the past there were all kinds of "what ifs" and spiderman reign, where they showed pp as a loser in his older years.
whether it's as an underachiever (and for a genius, that is hard to swallow) or as a lonely old bitter man on the verge of insanity (if not beyond).
now they make the whole what if's theme into the main theme !

now I admit, that I want my favorite hero to be a little more than a constant loser.

and marvel ... they just don't care.
so i'm out.

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