This thread's for the Spider-Man comics and spin-offs, whether they're decades old or brand new.
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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.
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Edited by MacronNotes on Jul 10th 2023 at 10:58:13 AM
Remember when Catwoman and Batman married in the golden age because Selina was only a villain because of amnesia.
Now we have Selina leaving Bruce at the alter, being emotionally abusive in the Harley Quinn show and just turning the Batfamily sans Damien against him in the latest run.
TBF Jason didn't need that much convincing or Dick and Barbara depending on how badly Bruce fucked up that time
But Cassandra? Bruce all but adopted her and she's the one of the most committed, but writers barely know what to do with her.
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That in of itself is kinda funny because I think Zeb Wells writes (wrote?) for Robot Chicken and don't tons of people like to say that show's not funny too?
Yeah, what's up with that? It's like a lot of them are scared of writing her for some reason...
Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Oct 5th 2023 at 7:36:33 AM
I remember when Peter David tried to retcon an entire Spidey story as a dream because Hulk was on a plane in one scene and he thought that was out of character.
Reasonably, what will happen is this run will be ignored for a decade, except in the broadest strokes.
Judging by the way Carlie was used in recent years, they'll probably have Paul just around in group scenes for a while before making him date White Rabbit or something.
EHRMAHGERD Zeb was a Robot Chicken writer!? That explains SO much. True, it does have some good moments, like any time Star Wars characters or Weird Al show up, but 90% of its humor is "Beloved nostalgic person or fictional character does something horrible. This is somehow funny."
Not a fan myself.
I think part of the thing that drives people so crazy about this run — and most of the Post-OMD stuff in general — is that the story REFUSES to acknowledge how utterly pathetic it’s made Peter. Spider-Editorial wants to convince everyone so hard that this is the “real” Spider-Man and that this is how he’s meant to be. That he’s a happy single swinging dude without a care in the world beyond Relatable Teen Problems (that are happening to a man who should be pushing forty by now). But they fail at doing so and fail catastrophically, making Peter’s life look like a dysfunctional mess and Peter himself a total loser at best, an unlikable scumbag at worst, and in either case he seems incapable of even functioning in day to day life or having healthy relationships with other human beings.
They can’t return to the so-called roots without taking away all of Spider-Man’s progress in life, but you can’t do that without making Peter’s life a living hell in a deeply uncomfortable and fucked up way that is not enjoyable to read. You can’t write Spider-Man losing his marriage to the literal Devil in exchange for forcing his decrepit aunt to live longer for HIS OWN benefit while being taunted about how his actions have ensured his daughter will never be born and then jump right to “woo hoo hoo, he’s a party dude who bangs hot ladies every week and goes on wacky science adventures”. You can’t write shit like Grim Hunt and Shed and Superior and Dead No More and Dark Web and so on — all these stories that seem mostly built around just undoing prior stories — and then pretend like this return to the “old ways” is for the better because the way you go back to the old ways is the most fucked up and traumatic shit imaginable.
The fact that they didn’t learn this lesson when they tried and failed to kill off MJ in the early 2000s by putting her on a plane crash and immediately followed it with Peter going out on the town to date speaks volumes. And the fact that the vision of an “evergreen” Spider-Man that they are obsessed with is one that has NEVER existed in any prior comic history and is entirely the invention of the editorial’s weird Nostalgia Filter that is permanently trapped in the 1970s at latest speaks even more so.
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Nah do the sins past fix. AKA it was all just a hallucination.
Because here is the thing about cheating plots. There is no going back after that because it completely damages the character.
A character that was trustworthy, loyal and respected as much as they loved their SO is now the opposite.
MJ saying she's a "big girl" and "no one took her away from him" when Evil!Peter went on a rant about the affair and her leaving him was the biggest foot in mouth line Wells has written for both characters.
It makes Peter come off as whiny and just makes MJ come off as she's proud of the affair uncaring how much it hurt Peter.
Edited by FKJ10 on Oct 5th 2023 at 8:25:16 AM
Well at least we get something good soon (Next month) even if it's a retro tale. That being again Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars Battleworld.
Also again, Ben Reilly Spider-Man and Spider-Man The Lost Hunt come recommended as Clone Saga stories that get the characters right, plus patching in some story holes.
I feel like live blogging OG Spider-Girl just to cheer this thread up.
I've been having a blast with My Hero Acadamia, and I went there in the first place because of how bad this run got.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"

She could hang out with Catwoman as fellow love interests who were made toxic by writers.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"