He's A Spider-Man!?

[SiorX]

^I'm sure it depends on the run one grew up on or something, but the reason most of my friends hate BND so much is because for them "do not fuck with Spidey & MJ" is a sacrosanct part of the lore. Spidey spins webs, makes quips, suffers from self-doubt, carries responsibilities beyond his years, and loves Mary Jane.

 

[Anwar]

Thats part of the problem. Peter shouldn't have a long running love interest.

Sue and MJ aren't equivalent. At best, MJ is Alicia.

I'd say he should. His own creator wanted him to get married and grow up. They didn't introduce MJ at first because her appearance was a running joke until they DID meet.

Seriously, this whole "Sue works because she was there from the start" thing doesn't hold water. Spidey's the story of Peter's life, meaning there's nothing wrong with him meeting the love of life when he's NOT a teenager.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Thats part of the problem. Peter shouldn't have a long running love interest.

Sue and MJ aren't equivalent. At best, MJ is Alicia.

I'd say he should. His own creator wanted him to get married and grow up. They didn't introduce MJ at first because her appearance was a running joke until they DID meet.

Seriously, this whole "Sue works because she was there from the start" thing doesn't hold water. Spidey's the story of Peter's life, meaning there's nothing wrong with him meeting the love of life when he's NOT a teenager.

Sue is a main character in the FF, not a supporting character. One the four in the Fantastic Four. The running joke started after the the book began. I don't think Stan or Steve were holding back till the right time. These books were written without much forthought in the beginning. I think he did meet MJ when they were Teenagers.
No idea what Stan's thoughts on marriage and aging Peter are. He left the book 1971 when Parker was in college and his aging had slowed to a crawl. Though I think he has stated his intention was that Gwen Stacy was the love of Peter's life.

 

[Anwar]

No, he met MJ when he was at ESU. After he met Gwen and Harry.

Stan stated his intention was to marry Peter and Gwen, but she got killed instead because someone at management was uncomfortable with the idea.

Frankly, Gwen's death was when Marvel lost their balls. In a two-parter they killed off his love interest AND his archenemy. They shouldn't have stopped there, they should have continued with genre defying stories like that by never bringin Norman back and continuing to make huge changes to the series, changes that couldn't be undone just like that.

 

[A beaker full of death]

No, he met MJ when he was at ESU. After he met Gwen and Harry.

As I recall, Aunt May and her friend Anna Watson introduced them.

 

[Nerys Myk]

No, he met MJ when he was at ESU. After he met Gwen and Harry.

Stan stated his intention was to marry Peter and Gwen, but she got killed instead because someone at management was uncomfortable with the idea.

Frankly, Gwen's death was when Marvel lost their balls. In a two-parter they killed off his love interest AND his archenemy. They shouldn't have stopped there, they should have continued with genre defying stories like that by never bringin Norman back and continuing to make huge changes to the series, changes that couldn't be undone just like that.

And how old are you in college? Usually between seventeen and twenty one. Half your time there is spent as a teenager



I thought Stan was "management" at that time. Wasn't he EIC or Publisher when that story was published? I've heard many versions about the behind scenes of "The Death of Gwen Stacy" but I cant say it being an alternative to marriage is one of them.

ETA: Though in reading an article on wiki I see it did factor. They saw the Gwen/Peter relationship as having to end in marriage or a breakup. FOr some reason they saw the break up as being "unrealistic" and marriage as being not compatable with the character of Spider-man.(it would age him ) So they came up with option three: killer her! This was from the writer, editor and artist, not "management". They though it enforced the tragic elements Spider-Man's life.

In retrospect they were short sighted. Peter and Gwen could have remained unmarried for ever. Or they could have broken up. Not too hard to create a reason. Funny that the folks in charge opted for marriage in the similar case of Peter and MJ.

 

[A beaker full of death]

They though it enforced the tragic elements Spider-Man's life.

Not to mention his actually being responsible for her dying!

 

[Davros]

Had he aged at a normal rate he'd be closing in on 70 these days.

 

[Davros]

They though it enforced the tragic elements Spider-Man's life.

Not to mention his actually being responsible for her dying!

Had he not webbed her she still would have died.

 

[A beaker full of death]

well then, I'm sure he felt no guilt at all.

 

[Hermiod]

^Yep, moved straight on to the next girl.

(Ignoring the part where he donated the money a mob boss gave him for protection to a library which they named after her as a result.)

 

[Anwar]

They though it enforced the tragic elements Spider-Man's life.

Not to mention his actually being responsible for her dying!

Had he not webbed her she still would have died.

Actually, they did a later story where the same thing happened with some dude being tossed off a bridge and Peter managed to save him by making the web more stretchy like a bungee cord and not straight rope like he did with Gwen. The flexibility of the second web kept the guys' neck from snapping like Gwens' did.

So yeah, he could've saved her with the web.

 

[Hermiod]

^Could have, if he'd known in a moment of sheer desperation that his webbing would have had the effect it did. That's asking a bit much.

 

[Anwar]

I agree, but the whole thing does add a harder edge to Peter's guilt(s). Norman actually rubbed this in Peter's face when he broadcast the Gwen thing to the whole city and pointed out "Spider-Man's web killed her, if I were that poor woman's boyfriend I'd hate Spider-Man..."

 

[Hermiod]

^There's nothing to indicate that Peter doesn't feel guilty though. IIRC, there was a story during JMS' run where a mob boss paid Spider-Man a significant amount of money to protect him.

He gave the money to a school or a library in Gwen's name. MJ supported him for doing it and it was clear that she understands and is okay with the fact that Peter still misses her.

 

[barnaclelapse]

are there good stories to tell about Spider-Man at lets say...30ish???

I thought that was his current age in the mainstream Marvel comics (or 616 reality as its known by). The marriage years definitely felt like late 20's / early 30's to me (especially the Stracynski run).

Of course, then you have stuff like Spider-man: Reign which features Pete in his 50's; it's essentially The Dark Knight Returns for Spider-man.

I didn't even know such a thing existed, although I guess I shouldn't be surprised.