If you go WAY back on this blog, you’ll find a whole series of articles I wrote lambasting Marvel Comics’ handling of Spider-Man since the Early 90’s. They’ve attempted so many “fixes” the character is now barely recognizable. First, they had the Clone Saga which hurt Spider-Man fans to their very core with the twist that we had been following the adventures of Spider-Man’s clone for two decades. A few years later, the series was rebooted by the man who brought a more modern Superman to audiences everywhere, John Byrne, who promptly turned the series into a joke until what was thought to be the answer to all our prayers, Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski took the reigns. His Spider-Man was a huge improvement, but still suffered from some of the same ailments that troubled the character since the Clone Saga. Those ailments being the seemingly self-destructive need to continue “changing the status quo” by altering Peter’s past and whole reason for being Spider-Man. And in 2004 when Straczynski transformed the once innocent Gwen Stacy into a tramp who would let herself get knocked up by a man twice her age, his run on the title finally “jumped the shark”.
Then in 2007, Jose Quesada and what was left of Jose Quesada decided it would be really neat to destroy another two decades of Spider-Man’s past with “One More Day”. Straczynski, who felt pretty guilty over what he did to Gwen Stacy was told that he’d be afforded the opportunity to correct that mistake during One More Day…a hope that was dashed by Editor in Chief Joe Quesada who took over the storyline to deliver us a more complete reboot of Spider-Man than ever before. And with that, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson’s marriage was erased. Fast forward about a half decade and Marvel decided to “kill” Peter Parker by having Doctor Octopus take over his brain(Yeah, I just said that). “Superior Spider-Man” was born. I predicted at the time this reboot would last only as long as the increased sales did. And lo and behold, when sales dropped, so was the “Superior” version dropped in favor of the original.
A new Amazing Spider-Man #1 was released with about 100 different variant covers. A record that would only be broken by Star Wars return to Marvel this year. Does Marvel have any shame at all? To force us completists to buy 100 different covers is tantamount to extortion. But, I digress…
Enter 2015 and a new story hits SuperheroHype…Marvel is using their new status quo changing crossover event(Those words have become so common from Marvel now, hasn’t it become the company’s status quo to change the status quo?) “Secret War” to bring back Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage! YAY! FINALLY! Whoo HOO! Everyone go dance in the streets the original Spider-Man is back! I mean, just check out this poster:
Wait. Who’s that on Spidey’s shoulder? Looks like a four year old girl. A redhead. Wait…May? Mayday Parker? Their daughter from the futuristic series “Spider-Girl”? Didn’t their baby die? Ohhh, that’s right, they left that open. So, not only are we getting a married Peter back, but as a dad as well.
OK, I can deal with that…as long as the series gets back on track. Surely it will. Who did they get to write this back to basics reboot? Roger Stern? Tom DeFalco? Straczynski? Bendis? Errr, John Byrne? Uh….no. Seriously? Dan Slott? Wait, I thought we were moving away from the madness of the past eight years? Wouldn’t that mean a new creative leader? So Marvel’s solution to the mistakes made since 2007 is to rehire the same freaking writer????
OK, I’ll preface my remarks from here with the fact that I have to admit I’ve never read a word Slott has written. I stopped reading Spider-Man from the moment I read Gwen Stacy cheated on Peter with Norman Osborn. Still, considering that under Slott’s watch I’ve seen the series go through some serious ups and downs and now supposedly back up(again), I would have thought Marvel would bring in some new blood to truly move Spidey into a new golden era. Sticking with the same writer through all of this tells me one of two things: Either Slott is just that good and they really want to see where he can take the original version OR….Slott is a yes man and Marvel wants to be in full creative control of the character moving forward. Especially considering the news the new Spider-Man Movie series will take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they don’t want take a chance on anyone taking Spider-Man into any stories that are not sanitized for public consumption.
Since I’ve yet to hear how great a writer Slott is from pretty much anyone, I’d have to lean toward the latter possibility. To which I say this: Grow some freaking balls, Marvel! You didn’t get where you are by being a conservative company. And no, not the type of balls to kill the character off temporarily, or change him into one of his greatest adversaries(again temporarily). No, the balls to bring in a writer that might actually bring us a Spider-Man that shows reverence to the stories of the past(as in pre-1990) while introducing us to new modern villains and supporting characters that FIT INTO THAT WORLD. And the balls to STICK WITH THAT DECISION no matter how good or bad sales get. Good stories will win out in the end and even if you have to go through some lean months or even years, the character will be better off for it in the end.
Or, stick with Slott who will continue delivering slickly produced stories and events from the boardroom that will temporarily(there’s that word again) drive the bottom line rather than drive the character to new creative heights that should be anything but temporary.