The Amazing Spider-Man # 545 - One More Day, Part 4

I am in Limbo with this one… Spiderman, no, no, Peter Parker is the most selfish hero this year. Ya See, Spider man with the whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing (which I’m getting tired of hearing by the way) would have never made a deal with a villain. Let alone for the price of his love with Mary Jane, the woman he has been chasing for over 20 years (in our world at least). I mean Evil, pure evil literally, says you have something that “He (GOD by the way for all you heathens)” holds dear, True Love. And I want that in exchange for your Aunt May to live. On top of that he says that you only have this choice, I mean in a world where time travel is possible I think not. But he is pressured into this deal and MJ only agrees because who would want to live with this guy anyway. He has been a total maniac lately. Mind you, that Aunt May is the only real family he has and death is harder for some. But hello MJ is also your family. They both agree to give up love. On top of that MJ makes a side deal or gives him some thoughts to sweeten the deal. What was said we haven’t found out yet? And it is done; she tells him he hit the jackpot?!?!??! Are you kidding me!!! He hits the jackpot and we get further confused, thanks…. Then we are whisked away to some time in the past I think, and Parker is happy not knowing he is missing out on all the things he has missed. Where does that leave all the events we know? Did they happen or what? So we see that MJ is in his life, like “Friends” when Ross and Rachel are not together, but they are still all friend s and it awkward whenever they get close. Does she know or what? And Parker is cool with Harry Osborn again and life is sweet? I don’t buy it. Where are we going with this? Plus who are these new women???

I have been reading amazing spiderman since issue 64 and I have always enjoyed the characters

rich history and cast of villains. I have always identified with his real life problems and his sense of right and wrong. I have seen Peter Parker through his ups and downs but I always thought that things would get better for Peter. I always pictured him getting married, having

kids and a career. Marrying Mary Jane was a giant step forward in Spidermans life, Mary Jane has been the best thing to happen to this character. She brought a sense of maturity and responsibility to spidermans character. I patiently waited for more milestones in his life so we could all celebrate them but now it seems like that will never happen. Issue 545 totally takes Peter Parker back to square 1. Its like the creators are trying to turn him into a teenager again with no responsibilities in order to have a "fresh start". What is so fresh about Peter not having enough money to pay the rent, what is so fresh about him moving back in with his aunt may, what is so fresh about him not having a job or a girlfriend, what is so fresh about Peter having to crawl back to JJ Jameson to pawn off more pictures in order to scrape out a measley living? I mean really, who wants to read about a character who is pushing 30 and has no real accomplishments in his personal life.

Issue 545 has shown me that I must move on with my life without my favorite wallcrawler. Its been an amazing ride that I have enjoyed immensley. There are no hard feelings or regrets. I still have my huge Spiderman back issue collections to enjoy but until Marvel starts to treat amazing spiderman with more respect I will stay away and stop spending my hard earned money on a character that seems destined to never move out of his aunts house.

Obviously everyone is pretty steamed about what JQ did to Spidey. I'm honestly not upset about the ending of MJ and Spidey's marriage because it gives them opportunities to bring other characters into the mix (hmmm, maybe a little more Black Cat with Spidey?) but I do see where this whole thing would anger the fans. There are other ways to end their marriage rather than pushing the big red Staples "Easy" button. Since magic rarely needs to be explained the way science does, it's just too convenient for writers to use it as a way to retcon a really crappy outcome coughCivilWarcough they backed themselves into. There was a reason Dr. Strange was left out of the Civil War - because uber magic would be too easy as a resolution and the war would have been started and over in one issue rather than 25 (with crossovers and special releases).

I was also quite surprised that Peter chose to save Aunt May again and end it with MJ. Maybe I'm far too villainous for my superhero self but let's face it: Peter has had to save this old broad for the last 40 years or so. I know he's usually the reason she's fighting for her life but at the point we were at, Aunt May was a dear old woman who had lived a rather full life. He could have realized that this is one time he couldn't save her. That would allow him to stay with MJ and have that daughter they got a glimpse of. And considering Spider-Girl was originally started as a "What if Spidey & MJ had a daughter story" well, it seems logical.

And what the heck was up with MJ's secret pact to Mephisto on the side? It seemed to me that she was bargaining herself to him as a betrothed but it wasn't revealed and may just be something that the writer and editor are sticking in their back pockets for now so that in a year when they need to undo this undo they can whip it out and say, "Oh wait! MJ has this deal with Mephisto that..."

As for the unmasking, well we all knew it was mistake when he did it in the first place. Does this mean that none of CW happened? If so, where is Steve Rogers? How can a chunk of people be hurled back in time but not the rest of the concurrent Marvel U? It makes no bloody sense.

I heard JMS was so appalled with the script that he wanted his name removed but was begged to stamp it on there. He didn't write any of it though his name is in the credits with Joe Q. They probably threw enough money at him that he was willing to have his name attached to this cheap theatric.

When I was younger I collected many comics of various characters. Most of them I was first introduced to in the spider titles like punisher, venom etc. After some time I cut the titles down that collected considerably but never wavered from getting to the comic shop to pick up the latest issues of spiderman.

Well there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said, but I’ll go ahead and say it anyway. The reset button has officially been pushed and we either get on with it or get out. Part 4 was rewritten and rushed into production and it shows. Peter and MJ accepting Mephisto's deal is not believable in the slightest and Peter especially comes across as selfish and a tad mentally unstable. Then again, with all the crap that's been happening to him lately, it is natural for Peter to want to retreat back to a simpler time and Mephisto provided a way for him to do so. This wasn't about Aunt May so much as it was about Peter and Mary Jane's desire to escape from the hell that had become their lives. At least this way one of them would have a chance at happiness. After all, May literally told Peter to get over her death in a recent issue of Sensational when Madame Web allowed him to enter May’s mind. But no matter what the temptation accepting a deal from the devil is downright stupid as Peter soon found out before Mephisto altered his life.

I just don't see the logic in erasing the marriage. If Peter and MJ are meant to be together then let them stay married! Any relationship Peter will develop in BND won't mean anything because we all know that sooner or later he'll wind up back with Mary Jane. Then they'll find a way to get separated again and the process will repeat itelf. One of the reasons Spider-Man is such a great character is because his relationships and his world have evolved over time. This is a huge step backward for the character and his supporting cast and an insult to long time fans and writers who have invested so much in these characters.

Unless the last scene of OMD takes place in the past and BND starts years after then Harry Osborn is back from the dead. I really don't see the need to bring Harry back; his storyline reached its logical conclusion some time ago. Let's hope the BND writers have something new cooked up for him. If you ask me, they should have resurrected Gwen Stacy. Now that would have been interesting.

Quesada’s artwork was awesome. I liked his use of shadows and the spread near the end showing various scenes from the marriage.

Ugh. Well, things can only get better from here right? I will not be dropping Amazing despite what a slap in the face this story has been. It was like having a tooth pulled out, the tooth here representing the marriage and Quesada the dentist. It hurt, and it’s messy, but now the healing can begin. It’d be great if BND lives up to the hype and if it’s a massive failure then I’m sure Joe “Retcon” Quesada will fix it soon enough.

Being a big Spider-Man fan and have been since my age was single digit, I'm obviously outraged by the direction that Joe Quesada has decided to take Spider-Man. I've stuck with Spidey through the highs (Death of Gwen, symbiote Spidey, Kraven's last hunt, death of Harry), and through the lows (Death of Gwen lol, The Other, Sin's Past, Clone Saga although I liked it, they stretched it too much). And I have seriously never been more outraged over a comic before this particular Spider-Man story.

Now, I know JQ and a bunch of other Marvel execs were not fond of the Peter and MJ marriage, and if they truly wanted to rid Mary Jane from his life, there are plenty of other ways then to make a lame deal with Mephisto. This begs the question, why do they hate MJ so much? I remember reading an interview somewhere that said they didn't like MJ because she made Peter seem older, and how can a nobody like Peter Parker land a hot model for a wife in MJ. But I digress.

Everyone knows this is the ultimate scape goat for retracting the fact that Spidey unmasked himself. But that's not all Marvel wanted to do, they obviously were like "hey might as well get rid of MJ too since we hate her." No matter how much the Marvel execs hated MJ, isn't this story taking it a little too far? MJ may not have been a suitable wife for Peter (argument for Gwen Stacy supporters), but MJ was there since the beginning too and has tons of fans. Now, I want you to know that I hate it when writers give in to the fans, because it could stop writers from pouring out non-biased ideas. But this is different, JQ and some Marvel execs hated and always will hate that marriage between Spidey and MJ. Not to mention they are literally erasing 20-30 years worth of Spider-Man stories.

Anyways, I've calmed down in the past few days. I'm willing to see what they decide to do with Spidey. If it gets ridiculous, I'm going to stop reading Spider-Man comics until Marvel gets a new Chief-in-Editor who will fix all this crap back. One thing I'm really interested in right now is the opinion of Stan Lee. What does he think of this? He wasn't a big fan of MJ either and have always wanted Peter to marry Gwen.

Ok, I'm going to start by saying that I have Never been a fan of MJ and Peter. My Spider Man was a Single Spider Man, he was the Guy I could Relate to. I could not relate to Peter landing a Model as a wife. Pete was supposed to be like me, the Every Man, and I could never have landed a Model

(My current Girlfriend has made me reevaluate this by being , well downright beautiful, so perhaps Everyman can meet and get involved with a woman as Pretty as MJ - or prettier in my case- )

All of that being Said, as much as I have been for YEARS a devoute Married Peter Hater

This is about the Dumbest Story idea to come out of Marvel since Onslaught

Ok so Peter is Given a Choice

Aunt May.... or Mary Jane...

and he Chooses his Aunt? has he been hit one too many times in the head with the Venom? Come on kid your waife said it herself "People Die" it was Aunt May's time, let her go join Ben, let her go to that place where she and he will be happy together, if you start feeling nostalgic, go to the Baxter Building and Borrow Reeds Time Machine.

The Editors and Writers at Marvel are going to loose alot of fans over this and I already know two they have lost.

i did. they get rid of mj and the past years worth of fantastic writing in one fel swoop. i thought the unmasked/civil war and back in black stories were the best ive read in years. those were tales fifty some years in the making. and now its all for nothing.

and one of the things is that anyone and everyone could have seen this coming. which is why i thought it had to be going in a completely different direction. but then they went and did the obvious. bravo boys.

A lot of writers seem to miss the fact that Spidey is supposed to have problems, not have his entire life turned upside down every nanosecond. when does peter ever get to be happy?