Impy

Spider-Man (of the Peter Parker variety) is by far my favorite comic book character. I have read the first 7 volumes of Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man and many more comics from a bunch of different runs. Peter Parker is a great character and I enjoy reading ASM.

But I'm having a hard time understanding all the vitriol about Superior Spider-Man that I've seen in my months lurking here. I will say that I do enjoy reading Superior Spider-Man and I think the writing is normally great. I understand the problems people have with the writing. I agree that Mary Jane has become quite stupid. Ock can be exaggeratedly pompous. I do think that Peter's death (not the one in ASM 700, the one in SSM 9) should have been a bit more dignified. But what I don't understand is why everyone is so attached to a fictional character that this much emotion is shown when the fictional character fictionally (and reversibly...) dies. It seems very irrational to me, so I know there must be more to it. I have a genuine desire to understand this sentiment in the context of the individual.

So please tell me: why has a fictional character's "death" elicited this emotional response from you, personally?

@humanrocket: You're talking about simple heroes and villains, correct? In my original post I was referring to superheroes and supervillains. Good points though. :)

So I was trying to post a review on Amazing Fantasy #15. I had written the review, rated it, titled it, and made sure I had listed the exact issue under "Reviewed Item." Well, I submitted it, and the page reloaded, telling me that I needed to select an object for that field. I tried using multiple different comic books and even a movie under that field, but I got the same thing each time. Anyone else have this problem or know what's going on? EDIT: screenshot added

@laserlambert: No, not at all. I don't even read Superman. The only Superman I've read is from the late 50s-early 60s. That gave me nearly incurable anti-Superman bias. The only good thing there was the Mr. Mxyzptlk story. You wouldn't happen to have any bias antidotes on hand, would you?

My definition of a superhero or supervillain is any hero or villain who has superhuman abilities; abilities that have supernatural origin, mutations, or skills that cannot be learned by a normal human. Pretty simple. But I've been wondering lately, because definitions seem to vary widely. For example, I've seen the Chameleon being called a supervillain. And even though Batman has no super-powers, he is often called a superhero.

So what do you guys think? What differentiates a superhero/villain from just a plain hero/villain?

@innervenom123@lvenger@moonchilde:

Sorry peeps. I should have been more clear. My main point was that he actually comments about the sales issues on those forums. As he is an "insider" in the comic book world, I feel that what he has to say deserves some recognition. Basically the gist of what he says is that every single comic book series can expect steady sales drops from issue 1.

Yes, he is very funny. The people on those forums probably make it a blast for him to do that. Unlike the "haters" on these forums, who actually make good points, the people on there are often just plain stupid. All they do is whine.

@innervenom123@lvenger:

Here's one of the threads he posts on: http://fans.marvel.com/go/thread/view/108222/29605923/IF_YOU_HATE_THE_ENDING_TO_SPIDERMAN_700_POST_HERE_AND_LETS_GET_PETER_BACK_NOW!

You guys should go and check out the Spider-Man forums over at Marvel.com. Dan Slott actually has an account on there and posts rebuttals to things like this. I won't say that I agree with him, but it's worth reading what he has to say. Great work, thanks for a neat chart!

@ellie_knightfall Don't scare me. Despite my fearsome and imposing appearance, I'm quite easily frightened.