thecomicscove

@Squares: You're welcome to your opinions, of course, but my beef isn't as much with how they're dressed, it's how they're portrayed. Most of the characters I listed in the former examples are blatantly objectified, and often written to appeal to male sensitivities and desires. Dress certainly factors into that, whether you admit it or not. Admirability is based on overall portrayal, as I believe I pointed out with Felicia as an example, with good points and bad.

Male heroes simply aren't going to be as interesting to my sister, because my sister is not male. They will not have many important, fundamental things in common with her, which is of incalculable importance when looking for interesting characters to whom you relate. I say this out of observation as much as common sense. I'm not saying she should only find female role models, and there are plenty of good male characters out there, but I don't see any threat in having an equally plentiful cache of women characters to admire in the same way.

I'm actually surprised that Kitty Pryde didn't come to me sooner, but I think she's not particularly interested in X-Men (yet, hopefully). Storm would work as well. Sue Storm would be okay, but... I don't know. Maybe I need to read more Fantastic Four (working on this), but she just doesn't stand out based on what I know about her. I'm willing to learn of course, but if you know any stories in which she (or any other suggestions listed) shines particularly, please tell me.

She did LOVE Runaways, and after reading the first three volumes, I can understand why. I will read just about anything BKV writes!

I never said Jean was a good role model. ;) That whole Phoenix-world-star-system-ending thing really counters all the good she tries to do.

I really think everyone needs to chill about this.

What everyone here seems to be conveniently forgetting is the effect of dramatic irony on our perception of the story. We the readers have been aware of the Parker-Octavius switch for about a month at this point. The characters of the Marvel Universe, aside from Ock and Peter, have absolutely no awareness of what's actually happened. What's been portrayed in the comics with the new Spidey could be condensed into a week or two. Not only do we have the advantage of knowing what the characters don't, but I think it's a fair argument that these events aren't occurring at the same rate of time for us as they are in the comics.

How many issues has the new Superior Spider-Man been portrayed in at this point? We can count them on one hand. (seriously, 5 issues. ASM 700, AvSM 15.1 and 16, Daredevil 22, and SSM 1)

This is the kind of thing that will take time to work out for those who don't already know what's going (i.e., anyone who isn't the reading public). They are missing a VITALLY important piece of information, and are needing to work things out. I don't think it's mere coincidence that in the few appearances of SSM, he's been placed alongside those with enhanced senses, like Wolverine and the X-Men, Daredevil, and so forth, all of whom have noted the surface differences in his personality, but who couldn't prove anything conclusively, because things like his scent, heart rate, and other personal signatures remained the same as when they knew him previously. If these people, with their enhanced senses, can't see a big enough difference to act on it, then why should MJ? It was only when faced with the possibility of Rachel Grey, a psychic, scanning his mind that SSM panicked, and put on a show to "prove" he was the real deal.

(Personally, I can't wait for a psychic to scan him. I think Octavius's fears are well-founded here. He'd be outed in a hot minute.)

Which brings up another point. Octavius, while arrogant and often dismissive, isn't stupid. He uses what he has to rather brilliant effect, including his knowledge of Parker's personality and quirks. He has the ability to cover for his lapses, and at least at this early point in time after the switch, it should be enough.

I also take issue with people's charges that MJ is being written as some vacuous, unobservant moron in the wake of all this. I think if anything, MJ has noticed his changes, and commented on them appropriately. Given that, from her and the rest of the world's point of view, Peter has just dealt with the death of an old foe, it's not inappropriate that she may be withholding judgment of these new quirks for a little while. She commented negatively on his drinking, had to call his attention to her when he was staring at her chest, and has made at least a couple of remarks noticing the differences in his speech. While we may not have seen her fully developed reaction to all of this (yet), I don't think it's fair to get upset because she hasn't kicked him to the curb immediately or called the Avengers to investigate him. Peter is, after all, very close to her, and she feels she owes him the benefit of some time and dialog.

I'd also point out that MJ doesn't exactly seem thrilled about telling Carlie that she's thinking of getting back together with Peter in the panels featured above.

Plus, remember that Carlie is one of the few to encounter Peter when he was in Ock's dying body in ASM 700. He TOLD her that he was Peter Parker, in Ock's body. It was shown that she didn't believe him at the time, but since he mentioned both her and MJ in that little snippet, I'm thinking it might be a possibility that she'd mention that gem to MJ during this conversation. If that happens, you can bet it will affect the existing relationship MJ has with Octo-Spidey in a HUGE way.

We as readers need to give this story time to develop and stop panicking that OMG EVERYTHING IS BEING RUINED!! Hang on and enjoy the ride. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Dan Slott will not fail us.

Wow. Really?

Worse than OMD?

Not by a far and away longshot.

Personally, I think there's room for both print and digital in the long term. It's certainly cool to have access to both. It basically comes down to the question of what's more important to you: the information (ie, the stories in the comics) or the artifact (in this case, the physical comic). In short: are you a reader, or a collector? Or both?

I'm feel I'm a hybrid of the two.

I'm a big fan of Marvel's free digital copy with their $3.99 or higher titles. I get a lot of them on my pull list, and then download the codes and read them on my Nexus 7. That way I've got the best of both worlds: the portability and virtual access of digital, and the collectibility and persistence of print. The print issues are bagged, boarded and stored for me if I ever want to read them later. :)

I'm also not willing to pay the same cost of a print comic that I would for a digital one. I know the publisher is making even more money off me (since digital costs less to put up and lease access to), AND I don't have the perpetual access I'd have if I'd gotten it print. It just doesn't seem worth it to me. If they lower prices or throw in some other benefits to digital in the future, I'd be willing to revisit this, but for now, digital kinda sucks for new issues.

One thing digital IS good for, however, is archival access. I can get a lot of back issues to read for much cheaper then they were originally made for, and likely worth today. I can read Amazing Fantasy #15 for $1.99 through the Marvel Comics app, which I'm pretty sure finding an issue at a comic shop would indeed be more expensive--which is fine, if you're a collector and want to buy it for a collection and/or investment. But if all I'm interested in is reading the stories for the sake of knowing the content, digital is great.

A carefully managed print collection, however, will always trump digital in terms of accessibility. Assuming you take care of it and catastrophe doesn't strike, you're guaranteed access to those stories. Because they're yours. You've bought them and keep them. Access to digital, I've found, is too tenuous to rely on it as a collection tool. That can always change in the future, but so far I've yet to see it.

@CounterShock: Agreed. Creating your own "unique" hero has been done to death in all too many games, most recently DCUO. Give me and MUA-style online game, with lots of leveling, gear, skins, power sets, and interaction and I'll be happy.

I've got a lot of hopes for this game. Definitely the right IP for it.

Met him at Comicpalooza just a couple months ago. Took a brochure for his school, and shook his hand. He will be missed. :(

Wow, comments this quick. Who'da thunk it?

@8bitGangsta Thanx!

@danhimself: I'm just a guy who writes reviews and posts them on here, in addition to my blog. No one too special. Haven't done it in a couple months, and just happy to be doing it again.

@joshmightbe: Did you read the entirety of the post, bro? It was a JOKE post. If you thought I was writing this in earnest, perhaps you're the one who needs therapy. :P

@spideyfan69: Nevar!!!

Everyone else: Thank you so much for your reactions, quirky comments, and laughter. Obviously Norman isn't a love interest so much as an actor of psychotic obsession for Peter, but I figured I'd pop off an off the cuff article in response to G-Man and Babs's pieces. Glad you enjoyed it. :D

I'm normally all for giving someone the benefit of the doubt, but given DC's horrendous track record with how they've handled their women characters (not just Earth 2; Starfire, Alex DeWitt, Catwoman, Lois Lane all come to mind...), I don't think it falls on the readers at this point to give DC the benefit of the doubt. They need to show fans a little more respect on this issue.

So, would companies like Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Dynamite and Boom! be considered independent? They're companies, but they're major-ness could be reasonably argued, especially when compared to the Big Two.