DouglasMcc
Super Freak
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2005
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Okay, this is a discussion of the ending to Spiderman's much hyped One More Day story arc. The last issue came out this week, and ... well, I can't say much more without getting into Spoiler territory so here's your warning:
SPOILERS BELOW:
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Okay, the entire book is worth a read, but here is the "money shot" if you will:
Quick recap, Aunt May was critically shot when a villain came to their house gunning for Peter (remember after Civil War, everyone knew Peter was Spiderman). Peter turned to everyone he could think of, including Iron Man in what I found to be the best part of the arc, in an attempt to save her. In the end, he turns to Mephisto (Marvel used to call him the Devil ... now they treat him like some other dimensional being ... think the Beyonder from Secret Wars) for help. The only way Mephisto would agree to help him is if he and MJ agreed to have their marriage "wiped away."
I really am torn at this point. The entire 4 issue story arc was interested, emotional, well-written .... but MAGIC again? This whole situation goes back to the popularity of 2 properties: The movies and the Ultimate Spiderman book. Marvel has been talking for some years now about how Spiderman doesn't connect with the kids because he's married, etc. So, they have been looking for a way to "fix" that. I honestly never saw that as a problem. This is the Spiderman I grew up with. Why can't "my" Spiderman reflect the perspective of a 32 year old grown-up. The kids have the Ultimate line to get into. Don't get me wrong, I like those books too, but come on, why do they have to be carbon-copies? But, as I said, this has been in the works for some time, so I knew it was coming. They suggested many things ... divorce, Mary Jane's death, etc. Those 2 options could have been great if well written. I never expected them to go with divorce, since that removes the character of Spiderman even further from the kid/teenager demographic, so I figured it would be death. If handled well, that could have been a great year or 2 of story lines. He already had to deal with the death of Gwen, how would he handle losing the 2nd love of his life. But, this ending ... I can't express ...words ... just MAGIC again? I knew the moment Spiderman took off his mask in Civil War, they would find a way to reverse it. Hell, my friends and I joked that he would steal Iron Man's brain washing satellite to erase everyone's memory (true story arch there people). But, I never dreamed they would go with the Mephisto magic eraser. Much like bringing Jean Grey back killed the impact of Dark Phoenix Saga, this pretty much hobbles the enjoyment I got from Civil War. Spidey's unmasking was a big event, now it's gone. I would be lying if I didn't admit I am curious how they will handle the post-MJ story lines. It's just the magic card was a lazy plot device that pretty much let them have their cake and eat it too - Pete wakes up and it's like his marriage never existed. MJ is still in his circle of friends, but she's mad at him "for what he did" ... some plot device I guess we will learn about in the future. My point is that some writer can always put them back together which would pretty much invalidate this arc as well. Sigh ... if they were so set on changing the setup, they should have just killed MJ and given us a shattered Peter dealing with the changes. This just feels lazy.
So, like I said, I am torn. I don't know exactly how to feel. How say you other Marvel Fanatics?
P.S. To those I argued with during Civil War about the unmasking lasting - I told you so ...
SPOILERS BELOW:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay, the entire book is worth a read, but here is the "money shot" if you will:
Quick recap, Aunt May was critically shot when a villain came to their house gunning for Peter (remember after Civil War, everyone knew Peter was Spiderman). Peter turned to everyone he could think of, including Iron Man in what I found to be the best part of the arc, in an attempt to save her. In the end, he turns to Mephisto (Marvel used to call him the Devil ... now they treat him like some other dimensional being ... think the Beyonder from Secret Wars) for help. The only way Mephisto would agree to help him is if he and MJ agreed to have their marriage "wiped away."
I really am torn at this point. The entire 4 issue story arc was interested, emotional, well-written .... but MAGIC again? This whole situation goes back to the popularity of 2 properties: The movies and the Ultimate Spiderman book. Marvel has been talking for some years now about how Spiderman doesn't connect with the kids because he's married, etc. So, they have been looking for a way to "fix" that. I honestly never saw that as a problem. This is the Spiderman I grew up with. Why can't "my" Spiderman reflect the perspective of a 32 year old grown-up. The kids have the Ultimate line to get into. Don't get me wrong, I like those books too, but come on, why do they have to be carbon-copies? But, as I said, this has been in the works for some time, so I knew it was coming. They suggested many things ... divorce, Mary Jane's death, etc. Those 2 options could have been great if well written. I never expected them to go with divorce, since that removes the character of Spiderman even further from the kid/teenager demographic, so I figured it would be death. If handled well, that could have been a great year or 2 of story lines. He already had to deal with the death of Gwen, how would he handle losing the 2nd love of his life. But, this ending ... I can't express ...words ... just MAGIC again? I knew the moment Spiderman took off his mask in Civil War, they would find a way to reverse it. Hell, my friends and I joked that he would steal Iron Man's brain washing satellite to erase everyone's memory (true story arch there people). But, I never dreamed they would go with the Mephisto magic eraser. Much like bringing Jean Grey back killed the impact of Dark Phoenix Saga, this pretty much hobbles the enjoyment I got from Civil War. Spidey's unmasking was a big event, now it's gone. I would be lying if I didn't admit I am curious how they will handle the post-MJ story lines. It's just the magic card was a lazy plot device that pretty much let them have their cake and eat it too - Pete wakes up and it's like his marriage never existed. MJ is still in his circle of friends, but she's mad at him "for what he did" ... some plot device I guess we will learn about in the future. My point is that some writer can always put them back together which would pretty much invalidate this arc as well. Sigh ... if they were so set on changing the setup, they should have just killed MJ and given us a shattered Peter dealing with the changes. This just feels lazy.
So, like I said, I am torn. I don't know exactly how to feel. How say you other Marvel Fanatics?
P.S. To those I argued with during Civil War about the unmasking lasting - I told you so ...