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Amph 2010: The Year of Spider-Man

Discussion in 'Archive: SF&F: Books and Comics' started by Jedi_Johnson, Jan 5, 2010.

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  1. Jedi_Johnson

    Jedi_Johnson Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2002
    Marvel has proclaimed 2010 to the year of Spider-Man. This is surprisingly big news since Marvel has dedicated a lot of books and advertising to promote Spidey in the past few years. In order to promote the Spidey stories of 2010 Marvel has gradually been releasing puzzle pieces of a large promotional picture advertising the events of Spider-Man in 2010. Now the whole image has been released.

    [image=http://nerdsoftheroundtable.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/spidey-2010.jpg]

    I can tell you one thing, it looks like there is a lot going on in the picture. But could this maybe be the beginning of the return of the Peter and MJ marriage? My thoughts are about 2 options

    1. I?m sure what most people are thinking is that Marvel will potentially be resurrection the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane that was dissolved in the Brand New Day arc. If you recall the marriage of MJ and Peter was sacrificed so that Aunt May might survive. Once Brand New Day began Peter?s identity was secret and the marriage gone. However, instead of MJ and Peter being married they had just lived together for years. Events of an unknown kind had occurred between the two that caused their wedding to be cancelled. One possible thing that may happen know is that somehow Peter will find out about his marriage having been destroyed and will try to find a way to get back his old life.

    2. Another possibility for this picture is that they will finally explain the events that caused Peter and MJ?s wedding to be cancelled in the Brand New Day world. In all likelihood this will be due to Peter?s role as Spider-Man.

    I've got a lot of other theories on parts of the picture but I wanted to bring up the controversial marriage angle first.

    Via: Nerds of the Round Table
     
  2. Dingo

    Dingo Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 23, 2001
    I might be a little behind on some of the current Spidey stuff so maybe the image has a different connotation now, but the baby in the top centre.

    Could they be doing more than just getting MJ and Peter back together, could we actually be getting a pay-off to Alison Mongrain's actions in kidnapping their child in the 616 universe?
     
  3. Yodaminch

    Yodaminch Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2002
    It's been pretty much alluded to that this is NOT Peter and MJ getting back together. Rather, it is showing how in this post OMD universe, their engagement ended as you indicated.

    Frankly, I couldn't care less about Spidey lately. His series has been disappointing. More specifically the actions of Peter Parker have turned me off the series. While I would like to see this mess cleaned up, there seems to be no indication that this will happen anytime soon and probably not this year.
     
  4. Spider-Fan

    Spider-Fan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2008
    For all the criticisms of OMD/BND transition, the complaints of problematic/ridiculous plotlines, and almost out of character Parker choices/behaviour, I have to praise the new Spidey direction for a few things.

    Notably its made the secondary cast relevant again. The very best eras of Spider-Man, while focusing on the character, were always supported by the peers of Parker, and made each and every issue a treat to read. Regardless of how great the villain may or may not be you could usually count on the Supporting Players to provide you reason to come back for more. In recent years this was sorely missed. MJ and Aunt May are great but not the same as the Paper staff and various relationships Parker deals with on a daily basis. I give them major points for having brought this back.

    Second, they seem to have started weaving a broader series of storylines throughout the series that to me feel very much like the old Spidey issues. The episodic nature of so many arcs that are almost self-contained with only a hint of a larger arc is something that really turns me off of so many comics these days. So many arcs seem almost irrelevant in the grander scheme of things and rarely if ever come back. When they do it seems equally episodic. The nature of the series now is that stories don't really begin and end they keep going, with consequences reaching beyond an issue or two, events still having relevance ten issues later. IMO it makes the series more engaging and more interesting to read. It becomes less about the villain of the week/month and more about the story, where it feels more like a larger series of events rather than just a one off here or there.

    Frankly I am grateful for both these elements of the new series and have been eating my words about OMD ever since. I have issues with the direction on occasion and there are things I am not happy about but once I let those go I saw a great deal of attractive and appealing elements to the new Spidey direction. I am especially grateful that its only one book I have to pick up, as I always lost interest in anything other than Amazing Spider-Man.

    So I am somewhat looking forward to 2010's year of the Spider-Man stuff. I won't hold my breath that it will be amazing, since Marvel tends to oversell anything they do and its usually largely disappointing. But if the series over the last two years is any indication I look forward to more twists and stories to add to the larger tapestry.
     
  5. Gamer_4_life

    Gamer_4_life Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 16, 2009
    I don't think 2010 will be the year of Spider-Man, Any way I'm not that very interested
     
  6. Duragizer

    Duragizer Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 23, 2009
    "2010: The Year of Spider-Man"

    If only I cared.

    I haven't followed the Spidey comics since they killed off Ben Reilly, and with the Brand New Day trash I can guarantee I never will again.
     
  7. PeteTB

    PeteTB Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2002
    I don't care if 2010 is the year of Spider-Man, I just more J. Scott Campbell covers and art!
     
  8. Spider-Fan

    Spider-Fan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2008
    I have to wonder how many people have actually read BND Spidey before dismissing it.
     
  9. Raven

    Raven Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 5, 1998
    OMD was quite possibly the worst Spider-Man story ever told. BND has been excellent, some of the best Spider-Man story-telling in years. I hate how the universe got into its current state, but in its current state Spider-Man is one of the best books showing up on shelves each week.
     
  10. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Last week's (two weeks ago?) AMS with Rhino was one of the best Spider-Man stories in a long, long time.
     
  11. Spider-Fan

    Spider-Fan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2008
    That pretty much sums up my feelings. I can understanding swearing off the brand in disgust of OMD. In fact I did for over a year. But to dismiss the current stories without having read them based on that disgust seems foolish to me.

    And for the record I am now regretting having missed those issues because I am having to hunt them done to fill out the collection.
     
  12. FlareStorm

    FlareStorm Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2000
    Dang, I thought 2010 would be concentrating on the return of the Real Avengers/Cap, taking down Osborn, and sticking it to Registration.

    If Osborn goes down, I'm sure Spider-Man will be the focal point. Which I disagree with, as he's been set up as a universal foe rather than just a Spidey villain.

    I hated OMD because it was just a reset button, after some serious stuff in the Spidey-verse. Just really seemed like a cop-out because they didn't know where to go with it.

    I agree that BND is good storytelling, but its hard to get past the resentment. Can't say I concentrate on him lately, I'm into Dark Reign arc. But I do like him when he's involved.
     
  13. Ghost

    Ghost Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2003
    So I really haven't followed Spider-Man since I learned what would happen in "One More Day." Have heard just a bit about Harry being back, new villains, that alien invasion, Osborn now in charge of Shield/Hammer, but that's it. So what's happening?
     
  14. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Lately Spidey has been going through a meta-arc called "The Gauntlet" where he is facing a lot of his classic rogues. Kraven's daughter seems to be pulling the strings in the background. Peter Parker was recently fired for doctoring a photo of The Vulture attacking J. Jonah Jameson. Pete was there as Spider-Man but was unable to take pictures of the event so he photoshopped some old pics together. Not the most ethical thing he's ever done but not too bad because he was recreating an actual event. Spider-Fan may have a better answer. :p
     
  15. Ghost

    Ghost Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2003
    Kraven did get around, with all of these children popping up wanting revenge! :p I remember reading about the Grim Hunter, then Kraven II, now a daughter? Well at least Kraven was cool, and they're not resurrecting the character. :D

    Too bad about Spider-Man making yet another poor decision...

    Have they resurrected Doctor Octopus yet, or are they still using his purple-haired daughter?

    Anthing happening with Venom, Carnage, or the other symbiote offspring? I remember collecting action figures of Scream, Riot, Lasher, Hybrid, and the rest of Venom's children as a kid.

    And what exactly is the deal with the Osborns?

    Has anything big happened to any of the other classic villains since the end of the Clone Saga?
     
  16. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Doc Oc showed up in #600 IIRC. He's a little worse for wear and has brain damage. Who'd have thought that years of being beaten up by a man with the proportional strength of a spider would cause lasting damage? :p

    Venom has been mainly wrapped up in Dark Avengers and Carnage is still dead since being ripped in half by the Sentry way back in the first arc of New Avengers. In fact, AMS has been symbiote free since New Ways To Die when Venom left Mac Gargan and tried to re-merge with Eddie Brock. Eddie became a "good guy" named Anti-Venom (insert groan here) and may have had a mini series that I didn't read.

    As for the Osborns, well, there was a story called American Son where Norman tried to turn Harry into a superhero. Harry balked when he found out that his girlfriend was pregnant with Norman's kid and infected with the Oz formula which turned her into a Goblin named Menace. Norman pretty much disowned Harry at that point and now he's on his own.
     
  17. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    The Anti-Venom mini-series was pretty awesome.

    I haven't read most of BND, but I really didn't care for any of what I've read outside of New Ways To Die. It just felt cut off from the rest of the Marvel universe, in a lighter, campier style I didn't care for, and I just can't support the results of OMD's decision, which just stagnates the character.
     
  18. Spider-Fan

    Spider-Fan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2008
    Actually I wouldn't call it light. There was some pretty serious brutal stuff in there. But its Spider-Man. There is always going to be an air of camp and humour. However, I would hardly call it cut-off from the rest of the Marvel Universe, since someone seems to cameo or appear every other issue.

    What bothers me about the relationship of Spidey and the rest of the U is that they made great efforts to take Spidey's book back to its roots, but they are doing the same old thing with him in other series, putting him in situations he doesn't belong, letting him drift back into a role of almost solely comic relief. He feels almost one dimensional when I read him in other books. So why use him? Then you present a scenario where one of his chief villains has almost unlimited power and crosses a big line creating a huge conflict, and Parker is barely involved. His solo book for Siege was him fighting Scorpo-Venom...and he needed help?!

    Clearly I am biased on the matter, but it drives me crazy that they choose to use him in these events but don't do anything with him. Once upon a time he was Marvel's flagship character, the anchor of their company.
     
  19. JoinTheSchwarz

    JoinTheSchwarz Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2002
    On post-OMD Spidey being light and fluffy... I'm guessing you didn't read last week's issue with the Lizard. [face_worried]
     
  20. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Eh, when it comes to Marvel, the "flagship" characters seem to change every decade or so. For the 2000s it's been the Avengers, in the 90's it was the X-Men, etc. I'm sure Spider-Man will get his day in the sun again.
     
  21. Spider-Fan

    Spider-Fan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2008
    Even when other titles were more popular, you could usually count on Spidey being represented somehow. And he doesn't need to be front and center, but if you are going to use the character in every book at the very least use him for a reason that makes sense for the character.
     
  22. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    He's been pretty heavily represented this decade though- one of the things that became problematic for the JMS run was it kept getting derailed by Spidey's involvement in cross-overs like Civil War (where he was essentially the main character).
     
  23. Spider-Fan

    Spider-Fan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2008
    My issue isn't the representation of the character, apologies for getting carried away with that tangent. My problem is the misuse of the character that was at onetime the company's bread and butter.

    Civil War was three years ago, and sadly that was the last time I can remember him being necessary or even relevant in the larger stories. I don't expect him to be a major player in every event (in fact I'd prefer him not to be), but what's the point in involving him if he doesn't do anything outside of making the usual playful banter. In the larger U he's become little more than comic relief. Which is a absurd when one of his most significant villains is bringing hell on earth to the doorstep of all his friends. Yet he's only peripherally involved??

    The experiment of him being a team-player was fun, but its time to either start doing something with the character once in a while or drop him from the team line ups.
     
  24. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    I think the problem there is that Norman made so many enemies it's hard to say that Spider-Man needed to be in the center of it.

    I mean, Fury, Stark, Cap & Phobos had about an equal right to taking down Norman- and Thor is owed some dibs by the nature of Siege too.

    Don't really need to add a personal stake in it for Spider-Man by that point.
     
  25. Spider-Fan

    Spider-Fan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2008
    Other's have stake, but who better to consult about stopping Norman than the guy with an extensive and very personal history? He doesn't need to be front and center, but he was barely involved. And if so many others were the focus of the story, why have Spider-Man involved at all?? Leave him out of it. At the very least address his perspective on the matter, watching one of his oldest most personal rivals take so much power and to go so far to hurt his friends. It seemed so incredibly out of character for him not to get involved. That's like Superman sitting willfully on the sidelines as the rest of the JL takes on Luthor.
     
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