Truly Stan-tastic!

Okay. Now there is absolutely no sarcasm attached to that title. Why? Because in today's strip, Stan revealed that Peter and MJ's marriage is intact. He's just gone back in time to tell previously untold stories that took place before the marriage.

And that I can approve of.

:)

Stan-tastic!

It's hard to be sarcastic and cynical towards Stan Lee. I mean the man practically created the entire Marvel universe. And while I do wish he had a little more backbone and stood up for his characters, I do have to respect the guy.

His newspaper strip is taking the Brand New Day approach, it seems. Though he seems to be just starting over, by-passing the whole deal-with-the-devil thing.

Which, honestly, I like better. It doesn't sully the character in any way. It just lets the writer tell the stories he wants. The more this unfolds, the more I wish Marvel had just done that.

I wish they had told one last big epic story that tied off the entire Spider-Man run. Then, took a few months off to get their crap together. Then come back, with Peter Parker the lowly college or high school student. They could keep their flagship character and we wouldn't have to deal with all this Satanic alternate reality crap.

Here's hoping there's a happy ending in this for Peter somewhere.

Say It Ain't So, Stan!

Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man and the one solely responsible for the Peter and Mary Jane marriage, seems to have gotten on board with this Brand New Day Marvel is forcing down our throats.

I'm not sure what newspapers carry it (mine doesn't), but Stan Lee and his brother have been publishing a daily Spider-Man comic strip for what I can only guess to be decades. Well, starting today, January 1st, 2009, Peter Parker is no longer the man he grew up to be. Nor the husband. Instead he's a college boy, living with Aunt May. Again.

I Called It!

Almost exactly three months ago, I called it.

I said the only (real) plausible way for Harry to have come back from the dead was to have him healed by the same Gobline serum that saved Norman oh-so-many years ago.

I thought me being able to call it from so long ago would actually make it not happen. I mean, yes, I knew Harry was back. But I thought Marvel writers were cleverer than me. I thought by saying "goblin formula regeneration" that would force Marvel to say "Thanos" or "Mephisto" or "Ben Reilly."

But no. The answer actually was goblin formula.

And the truth of it is that it actually doesn't bother me.

Sure, I like Harry better dead. I think his character has served its purpose and bringing him back now is just to tug on the ol' nostalgic heartstrings of comic book readers older than 30 (you know, people who remember him before he became a drug addict). I also think this is the final nail in the coffin of The Osborn Tragedy. Bringing him back now doesn't seem anyway to revitalize the books, especially since his return demands a divorice or an anullment or . . . some marriage thing that Marvel usually just hocus-pocuses away.

Also, I like continuity. I've been waiting for this moment ever since Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75, in which Norman revealed that as soon as he was impaled by his glider, the goblin formula began healing his body. Thus his death was only his "apparent death." This obviously opened a revolving door in the lobby of Those Killed While on Goblin Formula (paging Doctor Hamilton -- Doctor Hamilton, you're wanted in the lobby).

Harry's return was only a matter of time. Especially with the Spider-movies doing so well and with Harry being such a loved character in those movies. Why not cash in on that? But now the timing's all wrong.

I would have rather had Harry come back a couple of years ago, maybe just before Spider-Man 2 came out. Sure, it would have looked like a cheap cash-in on the movie, but I'd prefer that over this. Because now, it just looks like they're trying to sweep Mephisto and his marriage-ending schemes under the rug.

Let's not forget it was within just a handful of pages from Mephisto splitting the Parkers up (and destroying years of Spider-continuity) that it was revealed Harry was alive as well. And do you remember Marvel's mantra at the time?

"When you make a deal with the devil, you get what you want, but you also get something you don't want. Peter and Mary Jane saved Aunt May -- but now Harry's back. What's that going to mean?"

The Spider-books are stained. They're tainted. And my Lady MacBeth-like wringing of my hands isn't getting it out.

OMD: One Year Later

Has it already been a year? I can't believe it, really. I've been so busy spending my Spider-bucks on Batman and Superman books that I forgot that it had been a year since I gave Marvel a single dollar!

(Okay, that's not true. I have been giving them money for Runaways. I love that book.)

All my Spider-books, however, I have purchased second-hand. Because I love Spider-Man. I do. He's my favorite of the heroes. I can't quit him. But I stand by my stance that what Marvel has done to him is unforgivable.

And I have better things to do with my life than to wait for things to get better. That's why I don't watch Fringe. I don't trust the writers or the powers-that-be to turn this thing around (no matter how brave Stan Lee says they are).

But. I still hold out hope. If they do turn things around, I might come back. For right now, I just can't. So until they do make mine . . .

DC?

Oh, I feel so dirty . . .

Register to Vote!!

We need to take a small break from this debate to stress the following:

Register to vote! Every state has different days for the deadline to register is, make sure you register if you haven't already!

For all my fellow Tennesseans:

Monday (October 6th) is the last day for you to register to vote! If you want to vote this year, you HAVE to be registered to vote! If you don't do it on Monday, you're going to have to wait another four years!

Put it on your to-do list on Monday! Do it before work, or after work, or during your lunch break or just call in sick and call it your Patriotic Mini-Day of Vacation. If you're in school, skip class.!

If you're one of my many non-Tennessean friends, here's a Rock the Vote site that will let you know when your state's deadline is. Mark it on your calender in red and be sure to get out there and register before the deadline!

They say it every election, but I do believe that this election may very well be the most important election of our time!

I don't care which way you vote.

I just want your voice to be heard.

The Problem With MJ

As I continue to wrap my mind around the concept of "a single Spider-Man is superior to a married one," I've tried to put myself in the writers' shoes. What would it be like to write the current Spider-Man? What would it have been like three years ago (pre-OMD)? What would it have been like in the very beginning? And I've realized something.

Mary Jane doesn't lend herself to the Spider-stories the way, say, Lois Lane can compliment the Superman stories.

In the Superman books, it's not uncommon for Lois and Clark/Superman to be fighting the same fight. While Supes takes on the giant robot/alien/Lex Luthor, Lois is on the ground, using her investigative journalism to expose said robot/alien/Lex Luthor plot to the world. Her job and her character go hand-in-hand with action stories. And honestly, her character lends itself well to a wide range of story types. You could put her investigation into the heart of a thriller, a horror, a sci-fi, a comedy, a drama, or an adventure story and it wouldn't be a stretch at all.

Then there's MJ.

You can tell she was created to be a supporting character. She was created to be part of Peter's life for a time and then, in all likelihood, leave. Or marry Flash or . . . Harry or . . . The Spot.

She originally showed up as a party girl. Someone who got bored when the situation became serious. She was there, really, to be a sexy counterpoint to Gwen -- who was a more natural fit to Spider-Man, Peter Parker and the whole universe. MJ went on to become an actress and a model and then (in the hands of Todd McFarlane, I believe), she became a supermodel. Not only was she quickly becoming someone readers couldn't relate to, she was becoming harder and harder to fit into the typical superhero-fights-supervillain stories that are comic books. Despite sharing more and more of the spotlight with Peter, she was still a supporting character. Because that's who or what she was created to be.

When Gwen died, though, everything changed. Some have argued that comic books everywhere changed forever. I can't testify to that, but I can say that the Spider-books definitely changed forever. Because it was then that Mary Jane stepped up and began to show some real character. When Peter was mourning the loss of their friend (his girlfriend), it was MJ that stuck around and tried to comfort him -- something that had never happened before. Thus began her journey towards becoming something bigger and something better.

She grew, but perhaps not in the way she should have. To be incoperated into the story more, she needed to find an occupation that would put her in harm's way more often and more naturally. And I'm not saying "so Spider-Man can rescue her" but so that she could carry her own. But instead of becoming a reporter or an activist or a politician, she became a supermodel. I would argue that was the first nail in her coffin (so to speak). But how do you incoperate a character like that into your story without grinding it to a hault? You have Spidey over here, swinging through the city, and then you flash back to MJ, who's on set or at some photo shoot.

I can understand the writers' frustration.

Because, as Peter's wife, you want to give her the best you can. You don't want to relegate the wife as the person Peter comes back to and whines at every night. In 2008 and beyond, you don't want to relegate her to Susy Homemaker. You want her pro-active. So I can understand the frustration. This seems like the constant problem you have in superhero books. How do you give your hero a partner that both fits your hero and the world he lives in? Looking back over the loves of Peter's life, none of them (with the exception of Black Cat) have really fit into the super-heroic world. Betty Brant might have, but people would have called her a Lois Lane knock-off (Black Cat is already seen as a Catwoman knock-off).

However.

This whole situtation reminds me of high school. I used to come home and complain about my teachers. When my grades would come in, and my parents would see a row of C's, they'd ask me why I wasn't doing better. I'd often blame my teachers, saying they weren't interesting or they were unfair or they just weren't challenging me. My dad's response was always the same: A good student will rise above a poor teacher.

A good writer will rise above a poor set-up. A good writer would make it work. A good writer would find a way to spin the story in a new and exciting direction that was also a natural one. While Brand New Day might seem exciting and new, it's not natural. It's an abrupt 180 degree turn.

Even acknowledging MJ's faults, this is still poor and sloppy story-telling.

But I guess I really shouldn't expect more from a comic book. Despite the leaps and bounds of growth we've seen over the years, it's still a medium that depends on sensationalism.