Comics are Awesome III

[Dominic]

Am kind of annoyed that Peter and MJ are getting back together after Slott made such a big (and good) point about her getting away from him at the end of 'Superior Spider-Man'. Wonder how much longer Slott's going to be on Spider-Man, or if 'Spider-Verse' is going to finally end his run.

Might be time for you to drop Spider-Man and pick up another book then. So long as Marvel keeps Slott in the mix, all will be well.

I agree that bringing MJ back in is a bad move though, especially after all the trouble they went through in '08 to get rid of her.

"Time Runs Out" is already infuriating me with its annoying "Gabbo!"-esque hype campaign, us knowing basically nothing about it save for "It's an event!". Though I suppose we can reasonably guess that this is the Crisis on Infinite Marvels event that the writing is on the wall for (This week's issue of 'Inhuman' had Maximus all but pointing out that the sky was turning red).

If it does turn out to be a Marvel "Crisis", then the hype is justified. But, if it plays out any other way, I will be very annoyed.

Every single part of this sentence is a different reason to hate comics.

Yup. When Pratt got dis-membered to begin with, my first thought was "if they undo this, I am done". Never thought they would actually undo it. (And, why the hell are they undoing it? The book is getting cancelled inside of 6 months? It is like DC is trying to make me miss "Earth 2" as little as possible so as to soften the blow.)

I will buy the remaining issues I am obligated for. But, I ain't looking forward to reading them.

[Sparky Prime]

I agree that bringing MJ back in is a bad move though, especially after all the trouble they went through in '08 to get rid of her.

It was a mistake to get rid of her and the marriage in the first place. Bringing her back is the best news Spidey has had in years.

[Dominic]

It is just one more example of feckless editing and things going back the way they were before the last time they went back the way they were before they were the way they were later that they are now being set back to.

[BWprowl]

See, I couldn't care less about One Moar Day, that was before I really even got into the book (but for the record, when I heard about it, I thought it was stupid as fuck). But the finale of 'Superior' made a really well-articulated point of MJ going "Hey, Peter, if you're going to be getting possessed or mind-controlled or having family-attacking robots coming after you every week, maybe getting overly emotionally invested in you and thus just waiting around for something horrible to happen because of it is a BAD IDEA." and having her move away because of that. It was smart, it made sense, and it capped off a series of events that had befallen Peter's close friends and allies in the wake of the 'Superior' story. So to see them not only going back on that, but running headlong in the opposite direction by giving him a daughter on top of it, just comes off as stupid. ESPECIALLY since the backup in the last issue of 'Amazing' just showed that being related to a Spider-Person is a really good way to wind up killed.

If Slott's on it, I'll probably stick around, since he generally has a plan and seems to thrive on turning stupid ideas around and making them work really well, but if it's anyone else in charge of it, I'll probably be out, and just read whatever Slott moves onto (along with anything Yost is on, as usual, plus the few other Marvel books I'm reading). Oh, and I'm also totally going to be reading that Spider-Gwen book that was announced, so there's that.

[Sparky Prime]

But the finale of 'Superior' made a really well-articulated point of MJ going "Hey, Peter, if you're going to be getting possessed or mind-controlled or having family-attacking robots coming after you every week, maybe getting overly emotionally invested in you and thus just waiting around for something horrible to happen because of it is a BAD IDEA." and having her move away because of that. It was smart, it made sense, and it capped off a series of events that had befallen Peter's close friends and allies in the wake of the 'Superior' story. So to see them not only going back on that, but running headlong in the opposite direction by giving him a daughter on top of it, just comes off as stupid. ESPECIALLY since the backup in the last issue of 'Amazing' just showed that being related to a Spider-Person is a really good way to wind up killed.

I'm sorry, but that's a terrible development given everything MJ has already been through with her relationship with Peter. She's known for a long time that being involved with him comes certain risks and dangers, yet she's always been willing to stay with him through it all. Even making a deal WITH THE DEVIL and sacrifice their marriage to protect him from feeling guilty for Aunt May getting hurt because he revealed his identity. If she was willing to go that far for him, why would she suddenly completely go against that just because Doc Ock briefly took over his mind? Like they haven't been through worst together already? For them to have MJ move away for that reasoning flies in the face of what they've already established for the character.

[BWprowl]

I'm sorry, but that's a terrible development given everything MJ has already been through with her relationship with Peter. She's known for a long time that being involved with him comes certain risks and dangers, yet she's always been willing to stay with him through it all. Even making a deal WITH THE DEVIL and sacrifice their marriage to protect him from feeling guilty for Aunt May getting hurt because he revealed his identity. If she was willing to go that far for him, why would she suddenly completely go against that just because Doc Ock briefly took over his mind? Like they haven't been through worst together already? For them to have MJ move away for that reasoning flies in the face of what they've already established for the character.

And see, that sort of thinking in superhero comics in general always came across as stupid, to me. Having MJ, in the face of this latest ridiculous crisis, finally go "Yeah Peter, I understand you were brain-jacked by Doc Ock. That sort of thing happens all the time and THAT'S A PROBLEM." and thus take herself out of that situation because she rightfully realized it was a really good way to end up kidnapped and thrown off a bridge? It was a smart, observant development that capped off a whole series based around analyzing the things Spider-Man could do better (and things he was better for not doing). Carlie Cooper left for the same reason.

So to have her, after that, go back to Peter, and also have a little kid added to the equation (remember that the last time the Parkers were expecting, a supervillain managed to kill the kid before it was even born)? It comes across as really idiotic. If it's Slott doing it, he may have a plan of some sort and something he actually wants to do with the idea in spite of it seemingly flying in the face of a major point of his previous run. If it's an editorial decision or a writer besides Slott, then they just managed to completely miss that point, or they're willfully ignoring it because "Wah Peter and MJ need to be together wah".

[andersonh1]

Civilians in these comic book universes are about as likely to die whether they're the significant other of a superhero or not, with all the universe-spanning catastrophes that come along. I'm not sure MJ is any safer away from Peter than she is with him.

[BWprowl]

Civilians in these comic book universes are about as likely to die whether they're the significant other of a superhero or not, with all the universe-spanning catastrophes that come along. I'm not sure MJ is any safer away from Peter than she is with him.

For what it's worth, she also moved out of New York City at the same time, which was a major factor, I'd say. Aunt May and her new husband had moved out earlier in Slott's run, with similar reasons invoked (at least with Peter being relieved that they'd be further from harm's way).

It's an interesting point about that status of modern superhero comics. Back in the day a hero could have a girlfriend and a teen tagalong that hung around and knew their secret identity and even helped out occasionally, because the bad guys were simpler and less vindictive against the heroes and their loved ones, and things were kept to a small, street-level scale where the city wasn't getting uprooted or the universe sucked into a life-killing void every week or what-have-you. Now? Every villain that gets out of jail the first time wants to go and kidnapmurder the hero's loved ones and there's some catastrophe erasing EXISTENCE ITSELF every weekend, so getting any civilian characters as far away from the superpowered happenings as possible is the best course of action.

Yost actually went into this in Scarlet Spider: Houston was relatively quiet and comic-catastrophe-free initially. Then Kaine showed up and started super-heroing and all hell broke loose, to the point that he left at the end because he realized everyone there was in way more danger just by him being around.

[Dominic]

but running headlong in the opposite direction by giving him a daughter on top of it, just comes off as stupid.

I can live with one run of a book refuting the previous run. From what I have seen, Taylor's "Superior Iron Man" might well be refuting Gillen's "Iron Man" run. On page, there is some reason or another given. But, the practical effect of the upcomign book is going to be that "Tony Stark gives out extremis upgrades like candy in a major metropolitan area despite just having spend a significant amount of time and effort trying contain extremis and other dangerous tech".

This is okay as long as the new comics are good.

ESPECIALLY since the backup in the last issue of 'Amazing' just showed that being related to a Spider-Person is a really good way to wind up killed.

You are referring to the MC2 characters getting slaughetered?

In any case, I agree that being related to a Spider-whatever is not a good idea. That has been a recurring thing since Gwen Stacy did a header off a vaguely identified bridge in NYC.

So to have her, after that, go back to Peter, and also have a little kid added to the equation (remember that the last time the Parkers were expecting, a supervillain managed to kill the kid before it was even born)? It comes across as really idiotic.

It also re-ages Spider-Man, which Marvel seemed to want to avoid doing. (The point of "One More Day" was to effectively de-age Spider-Man after readers moved on from the marriage.)

Back in the day a hero could have a girlfriend and a teen tagalong that hung around and knew their secret identity and even helped out occasionally, because the bad guys were simpler and less vindictive against the heroes and their loved ones, and things were kept to a small, street-level scale where the city wasn't getting uprooted or the universe sucked into a life-killing void every week or what-have-you

It was a question of variable scale. Venom was a lethal threat, but only to Spider-Man or those who were directly between him and Spider-Man. Magneto would slaughter humans and make respectable attempts at adult X-Men. But, he would go after mutant children. Some of Spider-Man's enemies were mob hitmen. But, they were not blood-drunk killers. (Killing was a way to make money. But, it was work.) Other guys really were just bank robbers with eccentric costumes. (Remember the Silver Fox? Nah, nobody does.)

[Sparky Prime]

And see, that sort of thinking in superhero comics in general always came across as stupid, to me. Having MJ, in the face of this latest ridiculous crisis, finally go "Yeah Peter, I understand you were brain-jacked by Doc Ock. That sort of thing happens all the time and THAT'S A PROBLEM." and thus take herself out of that situation because she rightfully realized it was a really good way to end up kidnapped and thrown off a bridge? It was a smart, observant development that capped off a whole series based around analyzing the things Spider-Man could do better (and things he was better for not doing). Carlie Cooper left for the same reason.

But then that's the whole point of why the heroes generally have secret identities, so that villains aren't going after their loved ones. Actually, it's a lot more common for a villain to target someone connected to a hero out of coincidence than anything actually relating to the hero themselves. Uncle Ben just so happened to be killed by the same burglar that Peter had let escape earlier that night. Doc Ock once tried to marry Aunt May because she was about to inherit a nuclear power plant that he wanted to get his hands on and for some reason actually tried to get a stake in the ownership legally. Nothing to do with Peter or Spider-Man. There are a few villains that have learned his identity, but they are the exception, it's not the sort of thing that happens all the time. So obviously there is some degree of risk that comes with being involved with a super hero. The thing is, someone like MJ knows full well those risks but her love for Peter outweighs that. It wasn't a smart or observant move on Slott's part, when he ignores the character's motivations for staying with Peter in the first place to make it work.

So to have her, after that, go back to Peter, and also have a little kid added to the equation (remember that the last time the Parkers were expecting, a supervillain managed to kill the kid before it was even born)? It comes across as really idiotic. If it's Slott doing it, he may have a plan of some sort and something he actually wants to do with the idea in spite of it seemingly flying in the face of a major point of his previous run. If it's an editorial decision or a writer besides Slott, then they just managed to completely miss that point, or they're willfully ignoring it because "Wah Peter and MJ need to be together wah".

Well the death of the baby has been debated a lot over the years considering she was shown to have survived at one point, but was quickly buried by the creators trying to ignore as much as they could with that entire story arc. Not to mention, the MC2 universe was created as a result of fans wanting to see What If Peter and MJ had raised that child. But regardless, Slott was ignoring elements of the story to make his story work in the first place.