Spider-Man Post Brand New Day

[Anwar]

You liked American Son? Frankly I found it a waste of time that it was just another case of Norman screwing with Peter and Harry, in the end all that's changed is that Harry is no longer rich.

I also thought it was dumb that this is the ONLY story in the current run to even refer to Dark Reign and the fact that Norman Osborn is ruler of the Earth by now. Really, that should've been a background thing as soon as it started.

I would've liked it more if it had a permanent MAJOR change to the MU: Harry accepts Norman's offer and becomes his Captain America on the Dark Avengers, while in secret Harry is working to undermine Norman's power from within. That way we get more of a gradual and surprising power struggle (Harry doing effective plotting?) in Dark Avengers than Moonstone screwing everyone.

 

[Christopher]

I loved the JMS run on Spidey (up until the last few storylines, but that was when executive meddling screwed it up), but I enjoy this too. They're very different, but that doesn't mean that one has to be bad for the other to be good. They're good in different ways.

I also liked the Paul Jenkins stuff that was running simultaneously with the JMS run on ASM. Jenkins worked within the married-Spidey continuity but had much the same kind of lightness, wit, and large-ensemble storytelling as BND. Which leads me to believe we could've had something like BND without the whole Mephistophelean reality reset.

 

[Gojirob]

As for the Ezekiel&Morlun stuff, I would point out that, even within the storylines, it was always made clear that the mystic stuff was a possible explanation for Peter's life, not the definitive one. But since it was not well liked, it could have been used one last time in this way : Post-Civil War Peter is contacted by Ezekiel's spirit, who guides him to 'the web of his existence'. He says messing with this can fix up May and his ID, but he better be real careful. Also, using such a fundamental thing will shove all the mystic stuff way into the background to the point all the totem stuff will just fade out more or less permanently. In short, Peter begins playing with the web where he shouldn't, and this causes all the reset. Its still his responsibility, but now it is a failed effort rather than a surrender.

 

[ClayinCA]

I've recently had the opportunity to read the first three Brand New Day trade paperbacks, and though I hate the way they got here, I'm rather enjoying what they're doing. The BND issues recapture the fun of the Stan Lee era, complete with editorial asides and in-jokes and an often-tenuous fourth wall. The storytelling is interesting, with some big things happening that play with long-standing elements of the mythos in unexpected ways -- Jameson losing the Bugle, Spidey's paraphernalia being stolen and used by criminals, Peter becoming a paparazzo, etc. The new villains aren't bad, and it's nice to see the return of some golden oldies like the Enforcers. And it has all the old Lee touches of Spidey having to deal with real-world concerns like damage to his costume, struggling to make ends meet, and so on. The Bar With No Name for the supervillains, with them taking bets on the outcomes of superfights, is a cute idea. And there are some very nice bits of writing here and there; I loved the one with the "mystical blizzard" where Spidey got help from a homeless guy, then tried to get him out of danger by sending him for "reinforcements" -- only for him to show up later with a small army of homeless people who came to Spidey's rescue.

I still think they've lost a lot by erasing the marriage and Peter's teaching job and eliminating Aunt May's knowledge of Peter's dual life. And I still think the way they chose to bring about the reboot was awful. But these are good, entertaining stories.

Couldn't agree more. Hate how they got there, but kind of like where they're going, now they're there.

I also liked the Paul Jenkins stuff that was running simultaneously with the JMS run on ASM. Jenkins worked within the married-Spidey continuity but had much the same kind of lightness, wit, and large-ensemble storytelling as BND. Which leads me to believe we could've had something like BND without the whole Mephistophelean reality reset.

Oh man, I loved those Paul Jenkins stories. I think my favorite was the one about Peter remembering all the Mets games he and Uncle Ben used to go to. A poignant little story that made you remember why you love those characters. (I really need to track down the trade paperback containing those stories....)

 

[coolghoul]

^ I seem to recall a story where Uncle Ben would continue to take him to the Mets games even tho' they would continue to lose all the time. And young Peter gets a little restive with supporting a team that keeps losing. Is that what you are talking about?

My friendly neighborhood library is getting these 3 trade volumes for Brand New Day. Still no sign of The Story That Started It All - I don't see One More Day at all.

Oh well - I will just have to read on...

 

[ClayinCA]

^ I seem to recall a story where Uncle Ben would continue to take him to the Mets games even tho' they would continue to lose all the time. And young Peter gets a little restive with supporting a team that keeps losing. Is that what you are talking about?

My friendly neighborhood library is getting these 3 trade volumes for Brand New Day. Still no sign of The Story That Started It All - I don't see One More Day at all.

Oh well - I will just have to read on...

coolghoul, that's exactly the issue I'm talking about. One of my favourite Spider-Man comics of all time.

As for One More Day, you're not missing anything if you never end up getting to read it. Truly, truly awful.

 

[Christopher]

The issue you're talking about is Peter Parker: Spider-Man #33, "Maybe Next Year." It's collected in the TPB entitled Peter Parker: Spider-Man: One Small Break.

 

[ClayinCA]

Thanks, Christopher! I may actually pick that trade up next time I'm in the comics shop.

 

[DEWLine]

For myself, I decided that I was done with Spider-Man for the foreseeable future once I knew what OMD/BND was going to lead into.

Odd thing...every time Joe Quesada mentioned his desire to make the Pete/MJ marriage go away at Newsarama or wherever, a virtual firestorm of argument would erupt. Actually, not so much argument as a chorus of warnings not to make it happen. And this went on for a couple of years before the fact, if memory serves me correctly...

 

[Gojirob]

There's my greatest problem with OMD, past the handling. DEWLine is right about Emil Johnson's being right--JQ or someone would float 'MJ dead/gone', and the fans, feeling that their opinion was being asked, said 'No Thanks' if not 'No Way', and the issue went down. In fact, several comics people I've read over the years said 'No MJ' was the way. It got to be like a mantra, and I have never seen a greater divide between the comics' creative community and the readers, who tended either actively pro-MJ or least pro-status quo.

Geez, even the hated Tony once used a WWW-thingy to erase his ID from people's minds. He couldn't have done it for Peter, whose life he destroyed? I say Tony destroyed it, because his threat was, if Peter didn't unmask, he would out him anyway.

 

[Mr Light]

OK, I just finished reading "American Son". I'm afraid this one was a bit of a disappointment. Not as good as "New Ways to Die" or "Election Day". 5 of the 6 issues were done by fill-in artists and I'm not a huge Phil Jimenez fan to begin with. It was cool to see Spidey going after the Dark Avengers and Norman directly, but it just wasn't on the level of the two aforementioned stories. Just not that big... I fear that the Dark Reign stories I've read so far feel like they're spinning wheels and stalling for time with the heroes not really going after the bad guys properly.

 

[Forbin]

Ya know, I know I read Amercian Son, but I can't remember a freakin thing about it. It was THAT good!

The whole Dark reign thing is just annoying me.

 

[Anwar]

I dunno, the idea of Norman Osborn ruling the world seems pretty much like the writers' revenge on the authors of Civil War:

"Yo, morons! You wanted the government to do a Superhero registration, this is the end result of such stupidity! Supervillains took over and everyone loves them!"

 

[Gojirob]

I remember distinctly Steve telling Tony : "I'm fine with you. I know you'll run it well. But what about who comes after you?"

Now we know.

 

[Anwar]

Run it well? Steve was wrongola on that one.

What Marvel needs to do is put someone like Wolverine, Steve Rogers or Peter Parker in charge of SHIELD.

 

[Gojirob]

I think Steve may have meant tempered by the others, not quite the uni-view Tony adopted and has adopted in the past. On a basic level, he had no problem with Tony running things, but felt the caution Tony abandoned.

 

[Anwar]

All the more reason to put Steve in charge of SHIELD, to keep those racist baseline humans in check from ruining everything.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I came into JMS Spider-Man late in the game as I has just come off a ten-year break from reading comics, and my first arc of his was the one where Peter, MJ and Aunt May move into Avengers Tower. I kept buying for a few issues after that and then switched to the MK book. I would glance through ASM on the shelf on occasion to see if there was anything there that appealed to me, but I rarely wanted to buy it.

The whole "The Other" thing turned me off JMS' ASM for good except for the last three issues of his Civil War arc.

As for American Son, like I said, I bought it mostly because of the Dark Reign aspects as I'm really enjoying that storyline, but I felt that it was a very strong story for Harry and gave me a strong feel for his place in the new storyline. I liked the bond that Peter feels with Harry and despite Harry's continued bizzare hatred of Spider-Man,

Spoiler: America Son

and his betrayal of Spider-Man to Norman,

I came away from the story liking Harry as a character more than I ever did before his "death".

 

[Anwar]

Yeah, the movies did a lot of work to making Harry more likable as a character. His character since BND is clearly influenced by James Franco.

I do think American Son wasn't very good and should've been used to permanently make Dark Reign a part of the Spideyverse with Harry accepting Norman's offer, being on the Dark Avengers and averting the whole "Norman slept with Lily" BS.

 

[Trek4Ever]

Hmm, first Gwen, now Lily, that Norman really gets around doesn't he? How many kids has he fathered already? Four?