Spider-Man One More Day Spoilers

[The Toyroom]

Usually I'm not one to believe every internet rumour/spoiler I read and I'm not so sure I believe this one but if it is true it's exactly why I don't read that many Marvel Comics, especially Spider-Man who hasn't been my beloved webslinger for a looong time now....

SPOILER:

It's pretty much what we all suspected. The marriage will be erased from history due to a deal that is offered to Peter. He has to undone some points in history that led to the unmasking in order to save Aunt May. While he is pondering the ethics of the choice made to him, MJ secretly makes the deal for him. Because she was instrumental in his choice to unmask, she chooses to go back and never reveal she knew he was Spider-Man. This undoes the marriage. As a "gift" due to her bold choice, she is granted powers and becomes Jackpot. She is warned that if she reveals the past to Peter, who has no memory of it, then it will create a timeline shockwave. As a result, Peter is back to status quo, single and with a secret identity. Aunt May doesn't know who is either (originally posted on Newsarama)

If this is true it just shows me yet again that Marvel is flying by the seat-of-its-pants with nothing more than shock-value going for it lately. Kill off a character, get mainstream press, only to revive said character a year later (or less). Captain America is probably getting ready to pop out of that grave shortly (I do like the current Cap arc by Brubaker though!)

[samurainoir]

I'm generally willing to roll with most things as long as it leads to some great compelling storylines. What Ed Brubaker is doing with Bucky/Winter Soldier recently in the pages of Captain America is a good example. I think it's currently one of the best reads on the comic stands every month on a consistent basis.

On the other hand, I'm not really a big fan of any of the writers coming onboard for rotating arcs on Amazing Spiderman in the upcoming Brand New Day run. I'll pass.

[thunderbolt]

so, Superboy Prime's punches affect Earth M? That's about the stupidest thing I've heard. Glad I no longer follow Marvel. DC's not far behind. Bruce Wayne is rumored to be on the chopping block next summer.

[jwyblejr]

And they wonder why comics don't do so well.

[The Toyroom]

They'll never kill Bruce Wayne...Bruce Wayne IS Batman....accept no substitutes!

[thunderbolt]

LITG had the Wayne demise in the latest column.

[The Toyroom]

What's LITG?

[thunderbolt]

Here ya go. http://comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=13

[The Toyroom]

Thanks...never came across that guy before. Not much to go on in that blurb though...

[jds1911a1]

I think the biggest issue (pun intended) with Marvel and DC is trying to write books only for their aging up audience. "Since kids who read comics in the early 80's are now in thier late 20's and 30's lets write story lines they relate too". That's all well and good except for me at least comics were an escape. I liked that the heroes lives never really evolved. when they began to have too many adult problems It was a little too much like my own problems. While as a child SPiderman having to worry about his homework, dating etc was great as a 20 year old the trials of how to keep a job for a superhero were too much like my own job search.

I know it's hard for them they can't simply say every 15 years "new canvas start over" for a new audience (oh wait DC already does that they just can't commit to a complete reboot it's always retconning) but I do think the lack of a reboot has now made marvel even more ungainly than DC's universe. Much like DC in the 80's Marvel now has 50 years of history to manage for characters who haven't aged much. Coupled with a lack of managing vision for the characters (too much rollover in talent)

[samurainoir]

I think the biggest issue (pun intended) with Marvel and DC is trying to write books only for their aging up audience. "Since kids who read comics in the early 80's are now in thier late 20's and 30's lets write story lines they relate too". That's all well and good except for me at least comics were an escape. I liked that the heroes lives never really evolved. when they began to have too many adult problems It was a little too much like my own problems. While as a child SPiderman having to worry about his homework, dating etc was great as a 20 year old the trials of how to keep a job for a superhero were too much like my own job search.

I know it's hard for them they can't simply say every 15 years "new canvas start over" for a new audience (oh wait DC already does that they just can't commit to a complete reboot it's always retconning) but I do think the lack of a reboot has now made marvel even more ungainly than DC's universe. Much like DC in the 80's Marvel now has 50 years of history to manage for characters who haven't aged much. Coupled with a lack of managing vision for the characters (too much rollover in talent)

With Marvel and DC, comics are now mostly just the R&D department for licensing. That is pretty much where the majority of profits flow in these days. The "new canvas" for a new audience now takes places outside of the floppy pamphlets. The new canvases you speak of, occure when they launch a new animated series or movie franchise or release a new video game. As far as I can tell, more kids now are into Spiderman, Superman, and Superman as much as they have ever been in any other era and it's all because of the Cross Horizontal Integration of the Media and Marketing Machines. Why do they need comics to hook the kids anymore? The answer is they don't. Why not leave mainstream comics for the aging grown ups then?

One other thing to remember, we here as Superhero fans have a very narrow view on "comics". Archie still has a pretty substantial kids audience doesn't it? Heavy on the girls?

And I keep saying it... kids dig Manga. Just 'cause it don't look like Dad's Comics, doesn't mean it ain't comics.

[jds1911a1]

The new canvases you speak of, occure when they launch a new animated series or movie franchise or release a new video game. As far as I can tell, more kids now are into Spiderman, Superman, and Superman as much as they have ever been in any other era and it's all because of the Cross Horizontal Integration of the Media and Marketing Machines. Why do they need comics to hook the kids anymore? The answer is they don't. Why not leave mainstream comics for the aging grown ups then?

And I keep saying it... kids dig Manga. Just 'cause it don't look like Dad's Comics, doesn't mean it ain't comics.

I agree that more kids are learning of the characers from other media sources. And I am not one to say they need to keep art style of the 60's 70's early 80's. What I am saying is if these other media are the hook if/when I kid decides to buy the comic it doesn't fit what they learned from the multimedia source, so odds are they won't keep buying the comic.

I think the big 2 publishers and Major league baseball are making the same error - "market to adults they spend money" forgetting that A kids spend their parents monwy and if kids don't get engaged in the product then there isn't a long term outlet.

[ctc]

>"Since kids who read comics in the early 80's are now in thier late 20's and 30's lets write story lines they relate too".

You're essentially right; but that sort of thinking started in the early 80's.

>I know it's hard for them they can't simply say every 15 years "new canvas start over" for a new audience

They can, and they do. They always have; but it used to be every 3-5 years. That was the "life expectancy" of a fan. Then they grew up, discovered the opposite sex, etc. At least that was the attitude of the publishers. Not ENTIRELY true; but that was the template. Read any old comic series and you can see it. So... suddenly Superman works at a TV station, and who're all these new X-Men...? We didn't notice 'cos we were still young and cared more about the comic itself than the process.

But in the early 80's there was an independant boom; and it was discovered that *gasp!* a lot of GROWN-UPS read comics!!!! (I gasp 'cos if you read any interviews with the early Marvel guys THEY were all surprised to discover... back in the 60's... that a lot of their fans were 20+) So the big two had to do SOMETHING to compete with this disturbing new trend. So they added hardcore continuity. Like a lot of the independants. Unfortunately continuing stories don't work so good when marketing demands ensure that you can't actually have any lingering effects.

But they TRIED, God bless 'em! Death/rebirth/repeat. OH NO! BadGuy X is actually my long lost father/brother/clone from dimension 7. Even though this seems to contradict a lot of our history! NEW COSTUME!!!! A STARTLING new chapter in the life of hero Z!

Much of the bad stories of today are the legacy of the 80's. The result of a broken machine forced to run WAY too long....

>One other thing to remember, we here as Superhero fans have a very narrow view on "comics".

Yes, you guys do....

>Archie still has a pretty substantial kids audience doesn't it?

One of them digests has a print run of 180,000 copies a month. A popular Marvel comic probably has 65,000 these days.

>kids dig Manga. Just 'cause it don't look like Dad's Comics, doesn't mean it ain't comics.

Between the Japanese stuff and Archie, comics are doing very well. Just not the comics you guys like. I can't see how any publication with an average run of 180,000 per month is reeling 'cos of "video games, the internet, and increasing competition from other media." I was at a book store this morning, and they had THREE DIFFERENT SECTIONS full of Japanese comics: two spinner racks in the kids section, two full bookcases in the young adult section and four more in it's own section.

The local bookstores also carry tons of them Tintin and Asterisk compilations. I wonder how well THOSE sell?

>What I am saying is if these other media are the hook if/when I kid decides to buy the comic it doesn't fit what they learned from the multimedia source, so odds are they won't keep buying the comic.

You're 100% correct; but you're looking at it the other way around from how the producers look at it. Sadly, they don't CARE about the comics, since they're actually the low end of the revenue chain. The books themselves have become ads for the movies, toys, etc. Not verse-vica; like it probably SHOULD be.

Don C.

[Earth 2 Chris]

This plot was pretty good...when Geoff Johns used it in the Flash 4 years ago.

Chris

[mitchedwards]

So Marvel is stealing old Dallas Plot lines. Unbelievable.