BND/OMIT (Another Spidey rant)

OK, I finally got (almost) caught up with my Spidey reading, which means that I’ve finally read the travesty that they are calling One Moment In Time. First of all the thing that makes it a travesty is that it took them two years and four issues to tell this story, Second they made us suffer through yet another padded out explanation of why Pete and MJ never got married, and explain away the truly horrible travesty that was Brand New Day and the inexplicable deal with the devil, er, Mephesto that was foisted on us loyal fans as a truly horrendous example of a bad idea followed by flawed writing and worse execution. (I really don’t have the time to go into all the reasons for the preceding, you’ll just have to take my word for it.)

Anyway, let me say this about OMIT, it was a bad story for many reasons, but especially because it was totally unnecessary. Partially because Dan Slott solved Peter’s identity problem as an incidental part of Avengers, The Initiative issue #7, and partially because it simply danced around the entire deal with Mephesto.

I’m willing to admit that I enjoy the return of Harry Osborn especially as he has gone back to being Pete’s best friend. I love that Flash is also back, especially as the returning hero (I’m sorry that he lost the use of his legs), I hate the way the story was told, and I hate that it was a forced story rather than something that was organically grown out of the series as it was progressing. I also hate the fact that setting the clock back to the ’70s is editorial’s attempt at moving it forward.

Personally, I would have done things differently, still, no one asked me.

Anyways, I just wanted to say, that even though I really hated BND, what lead up to it, and OMIT, I did however like aspects of this final arc in ASM #647 (especially American Hero, the story with Flash). Truthfully, while I hated the concept and execution the story itself was much better than most of the past two years. I will also admit that the new storyline Big Time is also much better than most of BND, which is baffling, because, if they had writers that could write this good, and stories this worth telling, why in the name of Steve Ditko did it take them this long to get around to telling them?

It is enough to make me want to read Indie comics...Oh wait, I do!

Through a mirror, darkly...

We just learned this from Bleeding Cool.

Bleeding Cool has previously reported that the book will become a fortnightly Dan Slott title, but whatever the future, they’re going out with a bang. Issue 647 will be written by Brand New Day writers Dan Slott, Bob Gale, Joe Kelly, Mark Waid, Fred Van Lente and Zeb Wells and drawn by, well, pretty much everyone, in a 64 page special for $4.99.

So while we are not entirely sure what to think, we can’t help but to feel that — given how badly our favorite hero has been treated over the past couple of years — we’re not entirely sure if this is better or worse.

Happy Pre-New Year

I'm working off my laptop, right now (the wife is on my computer because the laptop she uses is...never mind, it's a long story, and not really worth the telling), so I don't currently have access to all of my art. Therefore I can't post the couple of Spidey-related Christmas images that I forgot to post last night.

Yep, not only do I have a couple of more Spidey presents, but, well, as everything was wrapped in Spidey paper. I kept that to! Plus, I got the remainder of the roll as an additional "gift".

In the mean time, I want you to look at this classic Spidey & MJ Christmas gift set that I found on ebay.



No I didn't buy it (I received one as a gift several years ago), and is packed away somewhere).

Personally, I think that Pete should marry that girl...why is that thought so familiar...mmmmm

Anyway, have yourselves a Happy Spidey New Year!

Whatever happened to Spider-Man?

I’m trying to be fair, I really am. I mean, I love the character, and in spite of what I think about most of the stories in Amazing Spider-Man’s post Brand New Day world (any one else notice that editorial has stopped referring to Spidey’s life in that fashion. I can only guess that want to stop bringing attention to the fact that these aren’t real Spidey adventures, as they are the result of a Mephisto-induced world).

I really don’t go out of my way to publicly state how much I hate most of the stories, but lately, I have to say the past couple of issues of ASM have had what can only be described as some of the worst art I’ve ever seen in a Spidey comic in my entire life (and I’ve been reading since Amazing Fantasy #15.

The art in ASM #611 (with Deadpool) blew chunks (no disrespect to the artist, but his style just does not belong in Marvel’s Signature series. It looked rushed, muddy, and amateurish. And when did Deadpool become such a jackass. I mean I know that he is a smart-mouth mercenary, but seriously, the writing was crap too. I mean, When John Byrne was writing She-Hulk, and all that goofy crap was going on in that title (the silly stories, breaking the 4th wall), that was all fine and good, but when she appeared in any other title, it was business as usual and things operated pretty much they way they did in the “regular” marvel Universe. Here Deadpool’s stupidity exploded all over the pages of Amazing, completely ruining my reading pleasure).

Then in ASM #612, the back-up tale with Pete, MJ and that girl reporter from Front Line, the art there was equally bad. I mean, after the atrocious (and confusingly badly-written) Who Was Ben Reily? storyline (ASM 608–610), this title is seriously hitting the skids (there is even a retcon in #612 regarding events in 600/601, it just makes me shutter.

Now I’m not telling anyone to stop buying this title. I want everyone to make up their own minds, but the writing of late is just bad. I am urging everyone to write into the Spidey offices to tell them what they thing (bad or good), as this is the only way that anyone in that office will know what we really think.

This Week’s Funnybooks

I’ve been reading the Avengers/Invaders mash-up this past decade or so (actually, it has only seemed that long with the ponderous and meandering storyline that Writer Jim Kruger has been trowling about. Seriously, after all this time, nothing of note has occurred (OK there were two minor linchpins that get pulled out at the end, but seriously, This whole thing could have been told in a Giant-Sized special, and told much better.

By comparison, let me tell you that I sat through two hours and 42 minutes of Transformers which had way less storyline than did Avengers/Invaders, but seemed to take up way less of my time. No I realize that it my not be fair to compare the two, but seriously, A/I (which contained characters that I love), just seemed interminable while Transformers (about which I care not in the least), was really enjoyable. The only thing that i can think of was that Kruger had a point to make and then decided what size sledge hammer he needed to pound it in, while Michael Bay simply wanted to entertain me.

Needless to say, I hate Norman Osborn with the whit-hot passion of an exploding sun (hate hate hate), yet I've been reading Dark Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis (who I consider to be a very talented hack — no offense Brian) but is certainly writing the Hell out of this series, and actually is making me care about Osborn as a person (and I totally hate Bendis for doing this. I want to hate Osborn, but for the first time in like 40 years, I actually feel sorry fo the guy — Osborn not Bendis)

Now that is seriously good writing!

Ms. Marvel is a hit-and-miss character for me, but the last couple of Spidey appearances in her book (#40 being the most recent) have been pretty decent, and I’m enjoying her storyine as we wind through the Dark Reign scenario. (Oh, can anyone tell me if the Moonstone/Ms. Marvel we’ve been seeing in the Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers is the same Moonstone from back in the day who was the bald chippie in the Avengers during the Celestial Madonna storyline? Just wondering.)

I want to see what’s up in Captain America (Yeah the Steve Rogers is back hype got to me, and while I still think that Marvel missed a way-cool opportunity to put Sam Wilson in the suit, I still want to be there when Cap comes back.

Also, while I’m still on the fence about the whole Timestorm thing, I can’t help but to point out that the 2099 Universe into which Spidey and Wolverine have been pulled isn’t the same one from way back when. Not sure if I’m liking this, but it isn’t entirely bad, and I want to see where they go with it (Plus it is way better than A/I)

Haven’t read the Sinister Spider-Man (staring Scorpion/Venom) or Mr. Negative minis yet, and well, I’m still POed about BND, but with #600 of ASM coming up, I’m hoping that they will put the whole thing to rest (Still, I’m not afraid that they are going to wait until #666 to put a fork in it, which will seriously wind my clock.

OK, time to get back to (paying) work.

Top Ten Ways Spider-Man J Is Better Than Spider-Man A

OK, OK, truth to tell, this is not my post, a buddy of mine from SpiderFan sent this over to me, and, well, quite frankly, it was just way too funny to not post here and re-link.

You see — for those of you who are not familiar with it — Spider-Man J is an authorized Japanese version of Spider-Man, only, well, (as my good buddy Chris B points out), blows chunks. That’s right. Spider-Man J is nigh-unreadable. Seriously, I can’t make heads or tails of it, and Stan knows I’ve tried.

Still — as this poster points out — it is still way better than Post BND Spidey, and well, after reading his post, I just have to agree.

Sorry Stephen.

What’s so new about this...?

A couple of years ago when Spider-Man was invited to join a new line-up of Avengers (and the invitation was extended by none other than the most august personage of Captain America himself), I was totally wowed. I thought it was perhaps the coolest thing that could have happened to Spidey. I figured that finally, he was going to get the respect he so richly deserved, and for about a year or so he did.

Then came Marvel’s Civil War Event. At the time, I had stated that I wasn’t sure that I was going to enjoy the world on the other side of the Event, but I was really enjoying the ride to get there. Well, after Civil War, there was Back in Black (not so horrendous), but then came One More Day, and Brand New Day, and well, you already know how distraught I am over that.

Now, I’m reading New Avengers, and the Secret Invasion storyline, and well, here again, I'm sort of interested in what they are going to screw up do here. So I come to New Avengers #40, and what do I see, not a New Avengers story, but a Skrull history story — not so bad, but seriously, as I just said, I bought this comic to read a New Avengers story. This so clearly wasn’t what I wanted to read, that I was irritated (yes, even more irritated than I usually am these days). Sure Spider-Woman appeared at the end of the story, but these days, she’s with the Mighty not New Avengers, so that really didn’t do anything for me.

At this point I can’t help but to wish that all of these endless “event” stories all tumbling into one another turn fandom off so badly that most of ’em stop buying the comics, that way Marvel (and DC, by the way) can go back to just telling stories. without having to resort to trickery to get us to buy the comics.

Will the real Spidey please do what a Spider can! (pretty please)

I just finished reading Ultimate Spider-Man 121. Prior to that, I read Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #38, and in both books the 15-year-old Spider-Man, acted responsibly, intellectually, and heroically, three things that are inexplicably lacking in the post BND-Amazing Spider-Man.

In Marvel Adventures #38, the young Peter used his scientific knowledge to defeat Swarm, and in Ultimate Spider-Man he (in seven short pages) beat the stuffings out of Omega Red (who, I believe, in the Main Marvel Universe has given the X-Men a serious run for their collective monies). Meanwhile, in Amazing, Spidey has let a pair of non-powered street muggers escape, hasn’t had a solid win over a single bad guy, torn his uniform, lost his web shooter, and, well, you get the point.

It isn’t that either of these books are being written brilliantly (which is not to say that they are not being well-written, they are), it is to say that there is way too much editorial interference being exerted on Amazing. What we are seeing in Amazing is a perfect example of the old adage that too many cooks spoil the broth. Management should see this, step back from the mix, and trust the very talented creators that they’ve hired to work their magic.

I realize that this current approach — at its core — is supposed to be a “Back to Basics” approach, but it simply isn’t. It is the worst sort of fixing what ‘ain’t broke. I still say that I would have loved to have experienced a Post-Civil War Marvel Universe where Spidey was on the run. I still feel that we were cheated out of a slam-bang punch-out between Iron Spidey and Iron Man (Stark wouldn’t have had a chance). I still think that Dan Slott’s most amazing “fix” to the Spidey’s identity woes (as depicted in the brilliantly-written Avengers Initiative #7) was inappropriately and cavalierly tossed aside too quickly (although I spoke briefly with Dan at the recent NY Comic Con and he told me that that will still figure largely into what is to come, I can hardly wait).

Finally, lest someone read the above and think that I’m mean-spirited or simply a nay-sayer, that is so not the case. I love this character. I have always had (and still do) a huge fondness for Spider-Man, and I really don’t need him to be written “my” way. I would love for him to grow and evolve as a character. What I object to is that the current editorial team simply won’t allow that to occur. It is as if they that want to see him stuck in some weird 1960 time loop that will simply not allow the character to evolve and achieve his true potential.

I can only hope that editorial and/or management will ultimately see that allowing this travesty of a storyline to end, and let Peter Parker come back from whatever pocket-universe Limbo/Hell in which he is currently trapped. For I know the truth. The Peter Parker I know would NEVER had made a deal with the devil, not to save Aunt May, not to save MJ, not to bring back Gwen from the dead. He is one of the most morally straight characters ever conceived; and the deal with the Mephisto so completely goes against the fundamental core of what drives this character — “With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility” — there is nothing responsible about dealing with the Prince of Lies, for any reason. Ever.

Think I’m wrong? then pick up a copy of Avengers Classic #11, read the back-up story (an encounter between a young Spidey and a newly-revived Captain America) and then tell me I’m wrong. You won’t be able to do so. This short piece is as wonderful a story about Spidey as I’ve ever read, and supports my own personal theory that Spidey is my generation’s Captain America.

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???

>Brand New Day, an Update of sorts

In light of the comments I’ve made about this topic, both here, over at Cuppacafe (my “other” blogspace), PopThought and on Newsweek.com I want to weigh back in with not only some personal observations, but what some of my fellow Spiderophiles feel on the subject.

No, I haven’t changed my mind on the topic, even after having read Amazing Spider-Man #546 (unavoidable aside; if that last link doesn’t work it is only because the ASM reviewer for SpiderFan hasn’t posted it by the time I’ve posted this. Swing back in a day or two and it should work just fine by then.) Truth is I’ve finally forced myself to actually read the issue (and yes, I do mean forced — it sat on my desk for a couple of days as I pointedly ignored it, then it was everything I could to to sit still through reading all the words. Painful doesn’t begin to describe the tension and anxieties I felt during the read.

No, I’m not kidding. I felt that everything that I read during the past two decades become unraveled as I read. It hurt. Spider-Man is no longer being written by fans, he has become a corporate entity being controlled by a faceless, soulless corporate entity who cares not one whit for the character but only for the bottom line. (Hell’s Bells, I’m almost surprised that they didn’t turn him into an African-American, Muslim in the process, I mean, there’s an entire demographic that they are not reaching with depicting Peter Parker as a white male.)

But, (in the words of Peter David) I Digress.

I still haven’t Read Amazing Spider-Man #547 or the Marvel Spotlight One More Day/Brand New Day, but I’ve been chatting with the folks over at SpiderFan, and I’m now willing to go out on this limb:

I think that we are being taken for a ride.

Think about this, (I’m about to go all Spider-Geek/fanboy here, so bear with me for a bit). With the conclusion of One More Day, Marvel canceled the The Sensational Spider-Man, and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (the other on-going Spider-Titles) and changed Amazing Spider-Man into a three-times-a-month title. This means that Amazing (currently at issue #547) will reach issue #600 in 18 months, rather than in something like four-and-a-half-years. The reports that I am seeing indicate that this storyline will last 18 months. Anyone starting to see a pattern?

This is what I think. The entirety of Brand New Day is either taking place in the mind of Peter Parker, or Mephisto has moved him to a pocket universe (Think Heroes Reborn)

As stated, Mephisto is to be considered Marvel’s equivalent of Satan, (who has often referred to as “The Prince of Lies”). Hence he is not to be trusted. Further, it has never been demonstrated that Mephisto has the ability to undo time on this level. Quite simply; he does not have this much power. His sole abilities are essentially smoke and mirrors. Hence this is a trick.

Where does that leave us? Well, in limbo so to speak. This storyline will be used to test the waters to see if history can be unmade, and to see how it will reflect in sales. With issue #600 things will revert back to the end of the Civil War, with Spidey shoved back in the main timestream. As to whether or not his marriage to MJ will be restored, or Aunt May will survive, I’m not sure.

I have nothing at all on which to base any of this information save for 45+ years of reading comics in general and Spider-Man in particular. Plus there have been a couple of clues that lead me to believe what I say is true:

*** SPOILER ALERT *** SPOILER ALERT *** SPOILER ALERT *** SPOILER ALERT ***

In Amazing #545 (post Mephisto) we have Pete making the following comment “Well, you know what they say, Harry, speak of the Devil and he appears”(click image to left). This is made at a party where the long-dead (since Spectacular #200, May 1993) shows up after apparently detoxing in Europe instead of being, well, dead). We were told that the only change to continuity was the marriage itself, yet here is Harry Osborn. WTF? Seems like someone is playing fast and loose with the concept of “only.” My feeling that it is either Marvel editorial, or Mephisto, personally, I’m currently leaning towards Mephisto (the afore-mentioned “Prince of Lies”).

Next up, we see Harry respond to this toast with a curious gleam in his eye.



Then, in Amazing #546, in one of the back-up stories, we have Harry making the following comment (see image to right). I have to be honest, this is not the way Harry talks, er, talked. (He’s dead, remember?) Seriously, the Harry I remember was pretty much of a poser and a pansy. He was a mama’s boy being raised by a wealthy, over-bearing, disinterested, megalomaniac father, who was more interested in killing his son’s best friend (Spidey) than in raising his own son (Harry). This Harry is something of a spoiled rich brat than the confused, down-to-earth, drug-addict we all remember.

This is not Harry. This is Mephisto injecting himself into Peter’s delusion, so as to add to Peter’s pain and suffering. (Mephestio, as you may recall, is all about the pain and suffering of others, so this is actually entirely in character for Mephisto.)

*** END OF SPOILER ALERT *** END OF SPOILER ALERT *** END OF SPOILER ALERT *** END OF SPOILER ALERT ***

The only real problem is that I neither trust Marvel to pull this off (The Clone Saga started out just fine — exciting, in fact — then eventually degenerated into a long, overly-drawn-out, mishandled mess) Need more examples? The Other, Sins of our Fathers, That storyline with the Sider Queen, The whole attempt to retcon Spidey’s abilities into a more pseudo-mystical-based abilities? The past several years of Spider-Man have been one discarded storyline after another. No wonder Joe Q. wants so desperately wants to return to the Glory days of Spidey, because no one seems to know what to do with the character.

Needless to say, if editorial could stop mucking around in his life, and let the very talented writers they have hired actually write some interesting stories rather than mandating then abandoning “event” storylines perhaps we’d have some powerful storylines (like The Tablet storyline — a personal favorite of mine). Which brings me back to where I started. I think we are being fed a bill of goods, and all of this is just one more “event” that is designed to waste time and be a big buildup to sell more books. I could be wrong, but I’m not so sure.

The thing of which I am sure, is that Marvel will somehow lose its nerve and screw the entire thing up, and then be forced to scramble around in order to find a way to fix yet another travesty in bad editorial management and direction.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

~~~~~~
I would like to thank my buddy Patrick over at SpiderFan for his invaluable help in hunting down several bits of Spider-Trivia while I was writing this column.

Oh, yeah, I’d also like to include a link to what someone else has to say about this style of what he calls “top down” editing