This thread's for the Spider-Man comics and spin-offs, whether they're decades old or brand new.
- Apart from the main Marvel Universe titles, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man "What If?" stories, crossovers, guest appearances in other books, Alternate Universe tales and things like Marvel's manga adaptations are all on-topic here.
- Spider-Man 'family' books are on-topic (as are their own crossovers, guest appearances etc.) - e.g. Spider-Man 2099, Miles Morales, Spider-Woman, Silk, Spider-Gwen, Venom, Carnage, Black Cat, Red Goblin and Spider-Verse.
- Characters and comics that originated in Spider-Man but are no longer directly connected to the spider-franchise (e.g. Punisher, Silver Sable) are not on-topic, unless you're discussing historical connections and crossovers. If in doubt, check before you write a long post. If this isn't the right place, there's a more general Marvel Comics thread
which covers them.
Technically, Marvel's Infinity Comics (and their predecessors, Infinite Comics) are webcomics, not comic books, but it's fine to talk about their Spider-Man stories here.
Discussions that are only about Spider-Man adaptations in other media (films, video games etc.) are off-topic, but discussing the differences between the adaptations and the original comics is fine - as long as spoilers for the adaptations are tagged.
Please follow the spoiler policy rules
- tag spoilers for the latest issues, for any previews or content leaks, and for off-topic comics. When including spoiler tags, try to write so that tropers can make an informed decision before viewing them (e.g. which series and issue will they spoil?).
Edited by MacronNotes on Jul 10th 2023 at 10:58:13 AM
And I'd like to make a point of saying that ever since that event happened in the Rent a Girlfriend manga, there's been a significant increase in Cuck Arcs all across fiction.
Though nothing will top (Xenoblade spoilers): Xenoblade 3 having a DOUBLE CUCK ARC in the SAME SCENE
But anyways lets get back to Spider-Cuck, I mean, Spider-Man.
Edited by TheMageofFire on May 30th 2023 at 10:49:14 AM
Its so ironic Gwen was killed off for being the bland love interest in favor of the unattainable firecracker MJ because the writer found her to be more "interesting" for Peter.
Now MJ is thought of as boring to the writers for Peter limiting his story potential by tying him down to a serious and stable relationship. In favor of the sporadic and unstable relationship with the sexy and free spirited Black Cat.
Meanwhile Gwen thanks to her AU version is overexposed to the point she's seen as the trio of Spider heroes with Miles and Peter. But retains none of her original character.
Here's a nice bit of trivia: In the 1980s, Bill Mantlo pitched a story in which Peter and Felicia Hardy had a baby. Both the Spider-Man editor Danny Fingeroth and Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter shot this down because they felt having a baby out of wedlock would tarnish Peter's image. The more things change.
There was also Spider-Man: The Gilded Cage, a canceled mid-80s graphic novel that had Spider-Man get mowed down by a machine gun and be nursed back to health by Carla DelVeccio, a mob boss's wife, and eventually romance her. Jim Shooter approved the story but the artist team was delayed so much that by the time they got to work on it, the editor had changed to Tom DeFalco, who killed the story. What remains of the story can be found as a rough draft
, a Cracked article
with some pages colored in, and a summary
with some black-and-white pencils.
Well, today's the day, finally we can rip this band-aid off and move on.
At least Kamala 'ships Peter with MJ, despite all this, she still calls Pete MJ's boyfriend and MJ of course has to say "he's not my boyfriend" in the most Tsundre manner possible, further indicating Wells is setting up the two getting back together eventually
And ASM #26 is out.
Kamala impersonates MJ to distract Rabin, who then kills her. She's surprised that the stab wound won't heal. Paul is revealed to be the son of an alternate Rabin, trying to atone for not stopping his own father from annihilating a world. Rabin completes his ritual... but as he's offered the wrong sacrifice, thinking Kamala was MJ, it destroys him. The kids are revealed to be Rabin's creation, which is why they resemble MJ and Paul. They fade away...
Largely as leaked, unsurprisingly.
Edited by Mrph1 on May 31st 2023 at 9:05:00 AM
Wow the art in this book looks bad
.
Is romita normally like this ?
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."![]()
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Here's the thing why would why would Peter take MJ back after all this? She cheated on him with a man she knows is responsible for mass murder, blames said cheating on him despite her pushing him through the portal that trapped her and is overall just a bitch to him when he's trying to make sense of this situation
If the intent was to derail MJ as a love interest they've done so as the only to "fix" this is to say MJ was brainwashed or all just a dream.
This is worse character assassination then Cassandra Cain becoming a villain and Gwen Stacy in sins past.
Edited by FKJ10 on May 31st 2023 at 6:11:38 AM
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There is no visual evidence on the pages of either ASM#25 or ASM#26 that Mary Jane 'cheated' on Peter, the nature of her relationship with Paul remains ambiguous, we're drip-fed things like she understands him, but she's never declared love for him...and she wasn't going to disrupt her family life just to make Peter happy, plus she was bound to the children by mysticism, meaning we don't know if she ever had a choice in the way she acts around Peter
She's unshackled now, so we don't know if her and Paul will have anything in common now that the kids are gone, I don't think MJ will just immediately abandon Paul while he's grieving, but the very nature of Paul's origin means he has a darker side to him now which could build towards a split, I also don't think she'll be as hostile/cold towards Peter anymore either, especially if those rumours about the Felicia/Peter/Jackpot triangle are true
This is not the first time post-OMD that MJ has acted cold or bitchy to Peter, or even the first time she's tried to move on from him, all of that, however, was rendered moot by a few lines of dialogue at the start of Spencer's run, and can easily happen again. Wells has said in numerous interviews he has never intended to introduce long-term or lasting changes to anyone, nothing that can't be fixed.
So chill, just because YOU don't see a way out doesn't mean there isn't any, and as proven in the past by many runs, there usually is.
Stop overreacting to everything 'in the moment', because moments pass.
By the way, those examples you cited? Cassandra and Sins Past? They were undone, so I don't know why you even bothered. THOSE were moments, and they passed.
In Sins Past case, Peter actually forgave Gwen's memory by the end of the story
Edited by Zarius on May 31st 2023 at 7:42:04 AM
The Cassandra turning evil stuff was retcon'd that she was brainwashed by Deathstroke. It wasn't really foreshadowed, it was clunky, and it killed all the interpersonal drama in the storyline because Cassandra had no choice in the matter and the heroes didn't know that. But at the same time, it allowed Cassandra to be a hero again with way less drama and even then it took time for readers to warm up to her again.
If they explain that M.J.'s action were solely the result of brainwashing from sending Peter back to the main universe all the way until they get back, it would basically be the same thing i.e. cluncky and kill most of the interpersonal drama. But at the same time it would remove a lot of the baggage on M.J. character. I don't know if it would be the correct move because there could be some interesting story lines exploring the fallout from their relationship breaking up.
And at the same time this does not have to be the end for M.J. and Peter. A talented writer could come in and write a great series between the two of them and show their relationship as supportive and wholesome. However, currently their relationship feels kind of toxic and I don't know if I would want to read that kind of wholesome story at this moment.
Edited by Freshwater on May 31st 2023 at 7:51:31 AM

The thing I said is a Tenchi Muyo reference. Although a lot of harem stuff has a bunch of girls move into a dudes life and then hit him. It is peak comedy, probably
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