Rating:  -
Dear Marvel,
You may get a lot of "I've been reading Spider-Man since ..." This one is a little different. I've started reading the comic book when I was literally a geeky teen in high school and really related to the picked on, nerdy character. He had his problems, his worries and trying to make ends due. But that was the reason why he was so lovable. Since it was 1990 that I seriously started reading comic books, Spidey was already married and though I knew and related to character from the days gone by from the 70s and 80s, it was the fact that he was married that kept me reading. He made me realize that even the geeks can get the girl. Sort of made me push harder at work and studies to be where I am today. Spidey saw me growing up through med school, residency and finally becoming a full fledged board certified dermatologist.
When I did get married, literally to a bombshell, she was my Mary Jane. I made my wife read all the stories, old and new where Peter's and MJ's love shined. I bought her the hard to come by Wedding issue, even the death of Gwen Stacy just to spark a debate of who's the best girl for Peter. She did laugh at me saying this was just a comic book, she knew how serious I was as to how married life is. They were our beacon to keep fighting no matter where life takes you. Each month when Amazing came out, it was another chapter in married life. Ultimate Spidey made me smile seeing Peter going from one teen mess to another, but it was the adult Peter that all of us related to. The readers had the best of both worlds. The stories became complex and more encompassing but we, the readers, stuck through. The Clone saga came out and I loved it (though not many did not). I felt it was another part of the Spidey mythos. JMS came onboard and he developed new character, new powers and sales still rocketed. We felt that Spider-man was rightfully evolving. He was unmasked, much to our surprise, but we were still intrigued. This all was happening until the story "One More day".
That one story completely erased my faith in the character and that with a blink of an eye things can just drastically change in comics. It was as if we, the readers, received a slap in the face for the 15 years of character development and growth. It was like going to square one in such a selfish, cowardly way that has truly shaken my belief. It was like erasing the work of many greats like Howard Mackie, JM DeMatteis, David Michelinie, Danny Fingeroth, Terry Kavanaugh and JMS to name a few. Spidey has no more new powers, he was masked again, but what hurt the most is that he was not married anymore. It was like what I read through all these sleepless nights in between my study breaks was irrelevant.
I read the last chapter of "One More Day" in a hotel room away from my family attending a dermatology conference. I knew what was going to happen and I kept it deep down in the stack, in hopes that the story might not happen if I don't read it. After reading the last page, I called my wife with a heavy heart and told her "Peter and MJ are not together anymore and have never been married". She thought I was crazy for calling her just to talk about that, especially since it's "just a comic book", but I felt so compelled to tell her that I loved her and miss her. To this day, I'm still in shock and the thought of Spidey not married, just gnaws at me.
Not everyone knows what die hard fans go through and how we relate to certain characters and certain storylines. We're not kids anymore. A lot of us are married, have kids and relate to the character different than in the past where comics were read mostly by kids. If Marvel wanted MJ out of the picture, there were already titles out there that had Spidey not married to the character. Marvel Age, Ultimate. New kids, if Marvel decides to believe that kids actually read comics in between their video games, can read those titles, but we old 30 something year olds grew up with this nerd, who grew up to become a man, falling in love and marrying this beautiful woman. Because inside each one of us is a Spider-Man...
I don't know how I will read Amazing again. The feeling of apprehension that whatever I read can easily be blown away in the dust leaves me insecure and scared to attach myself to the character the way I did before. I apologize for the long letter, but I really had to put my thoughts into this.
Rating:  -
If you take the controversy away from the story, it's actually a well crafted story. You can't help but have your eyes water just a little when it fades to black on Peter and MJ. Not to mention that this story leads into Brand New Day, which to me is the Spider-Man book I've been wanting since I started reading comics.
Rating: -
Well I'll be honest I don't read spider man often. or marvel for at matter, so the whole thing with revealing their identities for some law is new to me. I just randomly got this book and gave it a read. Though I love Dr. Strange and he shows up in here, which is a plus right away. I won't go into the story much since everyone else seems to have done that in their reviews. I just think that this is a good story about possibilities and fate and compromise. Giving up what you have to get back what you think you want, and refusing to let go of things that make you happy. But in the long run, wind up losing something that is going to be of more value than what you gave up. He makes a deal the devil and loses something very important to him (peter that is) and gets what he thinks is what he wants. He saves aunt may's life. But the telling of this story is really what is great. It's got a little of the "this could be your life" element in it, it's got dr strange in it, and then of course the devil himself. Definately worth a read. You may not agree with the ending, in fact I would hope you don't. He doesn't do something silly like sell his soul, and besides that's been done to death. He goes deeper and worse. And that's what may this a great read for me.
Rating:  -
One more day wasn't that bad. It doesn't deserve all the one stars everyone gave it. You can't hate the writing skills of J. Michael. You may not like how it ended but I thought it was pretty good and the artwork was great. The ending was rushed and yeah, the conclusion wasn't the best butI think it's worth getting, especially if you just read Spiderman and Peter Parker Civil war TPB. Like I said, One More Day is good, but Brand New Day on the other hand...
Rating:  -
So, Marvel's devil-baddie Mephisto made a deal with Spidey to rejigger his reality so that all the bad stuff that's happened to him (secret identity revealed, etc.) never happened, but the price is that Peter Parker "never married" Mary Jane? Golly, how long will *that* last?
Is Superman still dead? Are the Fantastic Four still broken up? Is the Hulk still banished into outer space? Do we still care anymore? These days it seems like Marvel is just ping-ponging from "big story" to "big story" trying to make every issue part of some mind-blowing story arc that you "have to" read in order to keep up. Yawn. Enough with the endless parade of gimmicks and reality-altering plotlines - that's not what's going to save the superhero franchise in the long run. If they'd just tell GOOD STORIES, I'd keep reading them. The "Ultimate" alternate reality stories were fun at first but now they, too are sinking into shoot-'em-up medocrity... All I want are fun, intelligently written, well-illustrated stories - big-concept "events" are a turn-off. (Slipcue book reviews)
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