Defending the indefensible

I don’t normally blog like this, but I just read most of an article on Comic Book Resources (CBR) that reported on a Marvel panel at the Emerald City ComiCon. Most notably at this panel was Marvel EiC, Joe Quesada, who fielded some questions about the current non-state of Peter and MJ. Personally, I really wish I had been there, because I have some follow-up questions that I'd like to posit to him.

The first question Quesada was asked was:

To what level do I have to debase myself to get Spider-Man and Mary Jane back together?” The fan then threw out a couple of suggestions, including “I’ll even take a guest spot on ‘Heroes.’”

His response was that he acknowledged the controversial un-marrying of the couple and indicated that Marvel have no plans to undo the undone. He then explained:

“We worked too hard to get Peter to this point. I can understand why some of you want to see the characters grow old, but we have to manage these characters for the future – a future beyond you and me. A married Peter Parker – as cool as that may seem – from a creative standpoint, it handcuffs the character. It’s a very problematic thing for Peter because it cuts him off and makes Peter the oldest person in the book.”

OK, let’s parse this for just a minute. “We worked too hard to get Peter to this point...” A valid point, but how about the 25+ years of work that it took for the previous creators took to get Peter and MJ to the alter, and the 20 years that they spent as a happily married couple? What gives you the right to simply undo all of that?

“...from a creative standpoint, it handcuffs the character...” Doesn’t making him a white male from a working, middle-class, Christian background also handcuff the character? Not to mention loading him up on such high moral standards? Why not make him more like Wolverine and have him simply gut bad guys? Well, that because that‘s so not who the character is. You‘ve set the rules, now you need to abide by them.

“it cuts him off and makes Peter the oldest person in the book.” Ah, Joe, do you read the book? Aunt May? Joe Robertson? Ben Urich? JJJ? Seriously, your answers are making less sense than some of the silly crap I’ve heard attributed to Stan (and I really like Stan).

Joe continued with ...

“It’s very tough to write because you want to see Peter and M.J. happy, and in a book where, really at its crust, is a soap opera about Peter’s life, the minute he gets everything he wants and life is happy, the stories get boring. So how do you create [the conflict the drama needs]?” OK, that’s a valid point, but my counterpoint to this is, if you can’t find writers who can write interesting stories based on the parameters of the character, then, well, you need to hire writers who are more talented.

John Byrne once told me that, when writing Superman, he really needed Superman to utter a curse word, only, Superman simply doesn’t talk like that, so it required John to challenge himself to write believable, powerful dialogue that conveyed the same range of emotions without using the epithet. To my way of thinking, if your writers can't write compelling stories, stop making excuses for them and admit they are simply not talented enough, and you need better writers.

When the fan countered that reading the current spate of stories of a single Peter Parker felt like the character was treading over preexisting territory. Quesada responded by saying,

“I totally understand. But while it may feel like a retread to you, if I talked to a ten-year-old right now who just started reading Spider-Man a year and a half ago, this is totally brand new. And when you look at every iteration of Spider-Man out now – the movies, the cartoons – he’s a single guy.”

Again, is Joe Q. that far out of touch with his fan base? I truly believe that if you spoke to a 10-year-old about Spidey, they would all know who he is, but you would be hard-pressed to find one that was actually reading the comic. I’ve said it over and over, but Joe is not only pitching the book to an audience that simply does not exist, but to one that hasn’t existed in the better part of a decade-and-a-half. Further, isn’t that why the Ultimate and Marvel Adventure universes created? To appeal to a younger (more diverse) audience?

Sure you’ll find youngsters who go to the movies, play the videogames, and watch the animated adventures on TV, but few (if any) of them are actually buying the comic (if they were, sales of the comics would be at those over-inflated ‘80 & early ‘90 numbers, instead of where they currently are today).

No, I'm not buying the company line that Spidey has to be perpetually younger, not when the same folks who are buying Spidey are buying comics featuring adventures of adult characters, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, etc. Also, Peter is one of the most moral and upstanding characters in the Marvel Universe. He would never make a deal with the Devil (completely ignoring that any deal with the devil always ends badly for the person making the deal, as well as the fact that my own moral upbringing prevents me from acknowledging that Mephisto has that much power).

As I’ve told Spidey editor, Stephen Wacker, I’m too much of a fan of the character to boycott the book, and I’m too professional to get mad at the creators to yell at them in public, so I’ll keep reading the title and hope that eventually editorial will come to their (spider) senses and simply fix the book. ‘Til then, I feel that it is my own moral imperative to continue to remind them that “With great responsibility...”

Mary Jane, meet Thomas Jane (sort of)

OK, so this is the coolest thing (Hey, I’m a Spider-Geek, so yeah, it is the coolest thing). Last week when I stopped in to Magnum Comics in The Bronx to meet Chris Torres, one of the guys at the shop pointed out to me that The Punisher (released April 16, 2004) showed up In Spider Man 2 (June 30, 2004).

Don’t believe me? Then check out this clip.



Now do you think its cool? I thought so. If you want to patch into some other Spider-Man movie trivia, you can go here. Still, I’m quite entertained by the Punisher showing up in Spidey, especially when you consider that the character was originally introduced in the pages of Spider-Man (ASM #129, to be precise).

Yeah, loads of cool stuff going on in the background, if you just know where to look.

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!

Comics for Girls?

I’m sure that there are comics for girls, I’m equally certain that (unfortunately) this isn’t one of them. Oh, sure, I do believe that the people who developed and produced Models, Inc. certainly intended it to be a comic for girls. I just think that they failed miserably in their attempt to do it.

Ostensibly, the story is about Patsy Walker, Milly the Model and a bunch of other Marvel fashion stars who are simply attempting to further their fashion careers. (Which begs the point, where the heck is Super-Star Fashion Model, Mary Jane Watson (nee: Parker?) I can understand why Janet Van Dyne-Pym isn’t there, she died at the end of Secret Wars) Well, anyway, the story really doesn’t read mush like a comic that girls would be interested (Archie comics, Spider-Girl, certainly others, but not this).

Further, part of the selling point on this comic was including Fashion Guru Tim Gunn in the back-up story (where he is designing superhero costumes for Fashion Week, then gets to don Tony Stark’s armor to beat up some bad guys).

Now you would think that if Marvel was going to do a tie-in with Fashion Week, and Tim Gunn, they would make a big deal about it (which they might have), but outside of Gunn’s appearance on The Daily Show, I saw not one bit of press about this.

Sure, sure comics are for kids, but did Marvel even try to get a story in W or any of the high-end fashion mags? I’m not sure that they did. All of which goes to prove my point that we are a dead industry because no one seems to understand that if we keep (marketing comics to only a comicbook audience), then where will the next generation of comicbook readers learn about how cool comics really are?

Your guess is as good as is mine.

And I’m happy to say that I’m one of them also.

Have a happy (Spider) Mother’s Day

OK, OK, so I’m running a tad late with this particular post, but Hey, I still got it up here (and I did spend the day with my actuall family, my mom, and the mother of my kids), so give me a little slack!.



HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, LADIES!

Spidey, Spidey, Spidey Everywhere!

So, this past week I picked up my comics (as usual), and I was surprised by the presence of not one, but two over-sized Spider-Man anthologies. King Size Spider-Man Summer Special and (Brand New Day) Amazing Spider-Man Family #1. Both of these comics give us several new Spidey stories (that take place both within and outside of continuity) as well as a reprint of an older Spidey comic.

First up is King Size Summer Special; which delivers a couple of cartoony Spidey episodes Un-Enchanted Evening and Take a Seat (both by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover). The first one deals with Mary Jane Watson-Parker (yes, they are married in this story) where MJ, & Millie the Model (along with Patsy (Hellcat) Walker, Marvel Girl, She Hulk, Clea, and the Scarlet Witch) are all drawn into a throw-down with the Enchantress and Thor. The second one is a two-pager that has Spidey going up against MODOK. The next story is a continuity implant that has Spidey hooking up for (apparently the first time) with The Falcon. Finally there is a Chris Giarrusso Mini Marvel story (reprinted from Giant Size Mini Marvels #1.

The Tobin/Coover stories are very entertaining (especially the first one) and I really don’t care if they are considered as part of continuity or not, as they are so clever. The Falcon team-up is also quite good and (I assume) occurs in-continuity (even though it seems to contradict Captain America #’s 137 & 138). Again, the story here seems saturated with old-time Marvel spirit, that I’m willing to overlook any possible discrepancies. Finally we are presented with Giarrusso’s Mini-Marvel tale, which is always a welcome event, especially when presented in long-form as it is done here. I personally think that Giarrusso is under-used, and would look forward to regular appearances of his work in stand-alone form as Marvel currently does with the on-going series of Franklin Richard one-shots).

Spider-Man Family, which started as a series of one-shot, was re-launched as an on-going title, has now been re-imagined in a post Brand New Day world. This title delivers an Untold Tale form our hero’s past, a prelude look into the upcoming Marvel Apes title, Mr. & Mrs. Spider-Man (Peter & MJ in the M2 Universe while May is an infant); a story about Aunt May working at the F.E.A.S.T. Soup Kitchen, and a reprint from Amazing Spider-Man # 300 (the first Venom story).

The untold tale relates the first 48 hours after the death of Ben Parker; The Marvel Ape story has Spidey re-enacting that classic sequence from ASM #32, Mr. & Mrs. Spider-Man has Pete and MJ helping out the Connors; while the Aunt May story gives a glimpse into a day-in-the-life of May while working the soup kitchen.

Here again, the untold tale reads quite well, and — given how throughly this area has recently been mined (in With Great Power) and elsewhere, it comes off exceptionally well. The Ape story is goofy but fun, so I’ll let it slide (for now). The Mr. & Mrs. tale is told by Tom Defalco & Ron Frenz, so it reads like a cross between their classic Spider-Man stories and their Spider-Girl stuff, so that it is most excellent is a given. Seeing Aunt May walk alone is always fun, and I hope to see more of these type stories as this series progresses. Then there’s the Venom reprint which serves as a great jumping on point for the new Venom Dark Origin series.

If you are a Spider-Fan looking for some fun episodes, an old-time who has fallen away, or someone who just wants to see what all the fun is about, check out these two very fine issues.

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.

Is he or isn’t he?

Well, If you were to ask me, I’d say that my favorite hero is married to ah, whatshername. Only I’m told that these days, not only is he not married, but he never actually was. Only, if My pal Petey isn’t married then who is this red-headed hottie that is snuggling up to him.



Her name is on the tip of my tongue, only I can’t quite remember...

Oh yeah, and then there is this bit of marital silliness...



You can find these tidbits and more over at The Amazing Spider Blog that is managed by my good buddy, Mike Podgorski, who (like me) is also a reviewer over at SpiderFan.

Seriously, what is her name???

Matt Ryan Rules! So too does Mark Mazz, but we’ll get there in a minute.

This past weekend, my good buddy and collaborator on Wülf Girlz, Matt Ryan handed me what was easily the coolest piece of comicbook art that I’ve ever received. Yep, cooler than than the Stan Goldberg con sketch of Jughead, cooler than the con sketch I have of Betty Anderson. Hey it is even cooler than the page of original art by John Constanza from my first published comic strip — which John drew.

(OK, OK, it still takes second place to the Gwen Stacey illustration that was drawn for me by John Romita, Sr. back when I was 17 or 18, but it is a close second.)

Matt, as I’ve said, illustrates Wülf Girlz, and does a beautiful job doing it, I might add. Well, Mark (another good buddy of mine as well as the creative director of Guild Works Productions) commissioned a piece of delightful art from Matt knowing that I would not only instantly love the art, but be inspired by it as well. (Today I penned a pair of story pitches to the Marvel Adventure line.)

Sure enough, I was both. and I’d love to show you that art now:



Is this the coolest picture or what?

Truthfully, I only have one small problem with it. I just can’t remember who that girl in the picture is with Spidey...

One More Day is a Bad Idea, Executed Badly

I think that this is what irks me the most. Joe Q. keeps saying that he wants to bring Spidey back to what made him great. Well one of the things that made him great was his humanity, and that, ostensibly, he lives in the real world (anyone out there besides me remember Stan’s comments about his heroes living in the “Real” world? Hence New York rather than “Metropolis,” “Gotham City,” et. al.?) Well then, how many people do you know that make a deal with the Devil to annul their marriage? To save the lives of their aunt?

No. This is plain and simple a bad idea, executed badly. So it really doesn’t matter how well any stories that follow it may or may not be written, they are based on a sloppy premise. Any truly talented writer can spin a story out of pretty much anything. Any truly talented writer would have figured out a better way to work this out.

Personally, I really don’t have any major objection to the dissolution of Peter and MJ’s marriage. My problem is to the off-handedly cavalier way it was done. It violets the precepts of who the character is, and one can only assume if Aunt May knew what Peter and MJ did to bring her back,m she would have bitch-slapped the both of them

Protest One More Day Now...Avoid the Rush!

Well boys and girls, I hope you all had a happy year-end festivities (It is Festivus for the Restofus!) I know I did. Spent the last six or so weeks of the year working on a big project for a brand-spankin’ new client of mine (racking up a ton of hours sos I can pay for my own little shindig)

Well, all of that aside. I have a new rant that I want to lay down on you all, and as you can see, it is about the latest crap being foisted on us by Marvel in the absence of any real story content. Yes, I mean One More Day. As you all know, this is a retcon (or retroactive continuity implant) that is being gengeneered by Marvel, or — more specifically — by Joe Quesada who has long held that Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane Watson was a mistake.

All of which is fine, but instead of simply having the two of them break up, separate, or get divorced (some of these storylines have already been explored in the series), he had Mephisto — Marvel’s literary substitute for Satan — neither of which are Spidey villains) pop in to “trade Peter’s marriage” for the life of May Parker. That’s right, he had Peter cut a Faustian deal with the Devil.

OK, let’s ignore for a minute that utilizing Mephisto as a (if you’ll pardon the expression) Deus ex Machina to “fix” a problem that only Joe Q seems to have is a not only a huge conceit on Quasada’s part, but something that comes out of nowhere for the character and fans (especially the utilization of a non-cannon character to manipulate the events). Let us also ignore that cutting a deal with “the Prince of Lies” is, well, stupid beyond belief.

Yeah, yeah, I know that Peter was desperate because the bullet that put May in a coma was meant for him, and yea, it was because he (wrongly) sided with Tony Stark during the Civil War Event, and then stupidly revealed his identity to the world before switching sides and taking up with Captain America. (All of which was manipulated, but again let’s ignore all of that.) Let’s talk about the fact that this ending (the use of Mephisto) was considered and then dismissed as unbelievable as a possible ending for The Clone Saga.



*** SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING ***

Joe Q. has stated that the only thing that The Mephisto Deal has effected is the actual marriage of Pete and MJ. He has indicated that they have spent the past several years together as live-in lovers, but never actually got married, OK, that’s all well and good, but then why, at the end of Amazing Spider-Man #545 did the long dead Harry Osborne show up? Does this mean he never died? Did he ever marry and have little Normie? Are there any other inconsistencies in previously-established Spider-continuity? At this point, we don’t know.

*** END OF SPOILER WARNING *** END OF SPOILER WARNING *** END OF SPOILER WARNING *** END OF SPOILER WARNING ***

What we do know is that this is a seminal and earth-shaking an event as the death of Gwen Stacy The one important difference is that the Death of Gwen moved the series forward, this moves it backwards, and we are all the poorer because of it.

My suggestion is that you read the book and make your own decision and write to Joe and Marvel (as well as post on whatever blogs and board to which you regularly post) and let them know what you think.

If you haven’t as of yet patched into what I think, here it is. I think that One More Day is a bone-headed, badly conceived, poorly-executed, sloppily written act of self-indulgent, intellectual masturbation that disrespects us fans, the pros who have been writing Spider-Man for the past couple or three decades, and is the ultimate form of cop-out that loudly proclaims to the world that not only has Marvel run out of ideas, but that it’s writers and editors really can’t write themselves out of a paper bag.

It is a really bad idea that is so bad it really isn’t an idea as much as it is the admission that no one has an Idea, and anyone that actually does, simply isn’t to be tolerated, and will be asked to leave the room.

This entire dirty episode is such a reflection of what is going on culturally and politically in this country that it is an effin shame. Still, that topic is the subject of an entirely separate rant. For now I’m done, and will move on to other topics for a bit.

I thank you all for your indulgence, and respectfully ask that you leave comments expressing your own views, observations, and concerns. Personally, I’m going to have a strong drink, shake the dust off my dry bones, and hope I live long enough to see this contemptible mockery be put to rest and Spider-Man be reverted to his former glory.



UPDATE *** EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! *** UPDATE

This just in, I’ve been quoted by Newsweek on this storyline. Yes, you read that right, Newsweek!

How Wicked-Cool is that, eh?

Today I’m In Fanboy Heaven!

That’s right kids, I went on the Comicvine Dating service to see which comicbook character I’d be compatible with, and look who I got on my first try!

Tiger. It looks like I just hit the Jackpot!

(Personally I always thought of myself ad a Gwen kind of guy!)

Can you say Ewww?

By now it is all over the Net, and well, it should be. Marvel has just released a new Mary Jane statue, and well, it not only plays into all of the pre-pubescent fanboy geekiness of the industry, but it is (considered by some) borderline soft porn. Over at SpiderFan, there are a few folks up in arms, but personally I saw the statue some months back and simply considered it lame.

Hell, I don't even buy the way-cool Spidey stuff. That could be because I mostly care about the comics themselves, and leave the Spider- tchotchkes to my family to buy (which they do, on end).

Here is the image, and links to fans riffing on it, but, like I said, I like to save my outrage for stuff that really matters.

The Spidey Reprints are in! The Spidey Reprints are in!

That’s right boys and girls, the NY Post has resumed issuing the Spider-Man reprints. The current issue is Vol. #19 (reprinting the first half of Amazing Spider-Man #9, staring Electro).

As always, the read was refreshing, entertaining, and brought me back to my youth. Just so you all know, I’ve been collecting a second set of the comics and at Christmas, I gave the first 18 issues to my 12-year-old nephew Tony-o, who has gotten into reading comics over the past few years. Well, I hope that Tony-o is enjoying these comics as much as am I.

If anyone out there is reading this and wants to introduce their kids (nephews, nieces, grandkids, whomever) to comics, and want to be assured that the comics are going to be a) enjoyable, and b) “wholesome” then I would suggest the following Marvel titles:

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane: This book is told from MJ’s point of view, and really doesn’t so much follow the established Marvel Cannon but is more of an off-shoot of the two Mary Jane prose novels that Marvel issued a few years back. Think Betty and Veronica with superheroes, and you’ll get an idea of what this series is all about. Writer Sean McKeever does a most excellent job in capturing teen girl angst in a superhero world.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (also available in Avengers and Fantastic Four): Here again with the Marvel Adventures titles is a re-interpretation of classic Marvel re-told in an up-beat, modernized way All fun, all-in-one issue stories, where there is no need to worry about continuity or what has gone on before (or even after) these three series are modern-day classic stuff.

In all three series, whatever you generally remember from Silver Age Marvel is essentially true, only the stories place the characters squarely in the modern era (cell phones, computers, etc.) only these items don’t so much detract from the story or enjoyment of the books, but add to their accessibility. As far as the Avengers go, the writers freely pull from virtually all variations of the group, assembling a team that never really served together (including Cap, Spidey, Wolverine, Hulk, and Iron Man, thrown in for good measure are X-Man Storm (who was never an avenger) and Giant Girl (who is actually a Young Avenger).). Still, the stories work, and are quite fun.

I have to say that I’m really happy that Marvel is remembering (finally) that if they don’t do something to engage younger kids in comics, that eventually the only ones in this field will be adults, and there will be no one to carry on this great tradition.

Hopefully some new (younger) readers will discover Marvel and then go not only back and collect the older stuff (either in its original formats, or in the reprint graphic albums), as well as move forward, collecting the newer stuff.

As fans and parents, we can only hope.