Spider-Man: The Other

[Ragna "D" BloodEdge]

So all this talk about the whole Superman Red/Blue thing supposedly screwing with the character's icon status got me wondering about a similar storyline Marvel did back in 2005.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-man_the_other

Not quite as extreme as what was done to Superman, but did anyone else think this was too much? I thought the concept was pretty solid, but now, with this whole Brand New Day garbage that went on, all the powers he got from that seem to be gone.

 

[Demi-Fiend]

The storyline of how he got the powers was far more dramatic then the powers themselves. It wasn't a big deal really, but then civil war and OMD happened and before we knew it, the storyline never even happened. It was overshadowed by other events, by the time Back in Black occurred I forgot that it even happened. All in all, it was like a filler crossover. Something that seemed important at the time but was forgotten almost immediately after.

 

[Blue Saint]

While I may have taken issue we the news powers, which were stupid, the problem was this and BND betrayed the spirit of the character. Spider-Man is always going to be everyman, forced into world that he has no control over while trying to overcome and survive in his personal life. More than that he is also a casualty of chance, for lack of better term. But with these stories he made out to be some important figure in a bunch of mystical nonsense to the point the devil himself has a personal interest in him. I am sorry the great thing about Spider-Man is that he is nobody, he is just some guy who just happens to have weird **** fly at him more often than not. And I doubt any higher-up at Marvel will read this but his marriage to MJ was great, if anything your brilliant idea of him joining the Avengers and working for Stark for that little bit did more damage to him in a few years than decades of being with MJ.

 

[Brick Prior]

This storyline was the beginning of the end for me as far as comic book collecting goes, as it would have been okay as it was if Peter never bought into the animal totem pole power BS, and realized that he was just an ordinary guy with spider-like powers. Not to mention that there was a lot of really dumb stuff in this arc too- Aunt May and MJ in Iron Man suits? Give me a frickin' break. Plus, the whole "I AM THE SPIDER" line of thinking as far as Peter Parker is concerned NEVER goes over well- this is how they got rid of MJ the first time before JMS's run (he kept diving deeper into his "spider" persona, they broke up, a plane with MJ on it may or not may have blown up- typical 90's shenanigans)... so I have no idea how they thought it'd be a good idea this time around.

That being said, I did like the new powers for what they were- if the X-Men were going through "secondary evolutions" around this time in the comics, then Peter (with his genetic makeup having been mutated) could have easily gone through one too. Oh well.

And don't get me started on the JMS Gwen Stacy storyline. Yeesh.

 

[Skyknight]

MJ didnt leave Peter during the "I am The Spider" ****, she took a vacation...and Chapter One occured before Howard Mackie's run, so technically we've went through THREE batshit continuitys that may or may not really count, that's been the biggest problem I've found, Spider-Man becoming more and more like Hawkman as the characters depart from their traditional status quoes.#

Tom DeFalco's vision of Peter and MJ raising Mayday should never have been tampered with. The good news is that Marvel have more or less worked everything else AROUND Spidey to function very well, but Spidey itself is a collosal elephant in the room

JMS's Spider-Totem story was riveting stuff, but Marvel were trying to pull in some playground politics with Cival War and their haphazzard attempts at commenting on The Illumanti and NWO police states USING SUPERHEROES (like we NEED any more of that being advertised) meant all that great work on existionlism took a back seat and became a gimmick more than character growth

Marvel know full well that BND has been a failiure, Dan Slott considers ASM more or less a "television series in comic book form", and they somewhat teased that Peter and MJ would be together again before OMD began (The Angel meeting Peter in the bar showing him a vision of him and MJ with kids), I don't have much doubt this is one big masterplan gone horribly wrong, much like The Clone Saga

Spider-Girl's been the best representation of the character since 1998, though Marvel are finally putting that title to rest...if they do, they end Spider-Man's story for good, at least the original version...and maybe that's what they want, to finally have "closure" and move forward with a new take on things, I wouldnt be surprised ifD.C became the marraige capital of comic books as they basicly knock Marvel down a peg or two in the next few years, with JMS adding some delicate touches to Lois and Clark, finally giving the Super-Marraige some LITERAL quality time, Iris and Barry Allen have focus, Aquaman's getting back with his wife, and Beast Boy and Raven are the new Peter and MJ in terms of opposites attract=cute gold