Thursday CBR published an interview with Marvel's Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker, and somehow completely buried the lede! Talking about Spider-stuff after One Moment In Time, Wacker says:
It sort of gives Pete a moment to assess all the stuff that's happened to him for the last 100 or so issues. Beyond that, we've already started talking about the fact that it might be time for a new, or at least better, Spider-Man. I feel like we've done as much as we can do in terms of Peter Parker's time as Spider-Man.
What?!?
Aside from the obvious--if in the two years after One More Day you've already "done as much as you can with Peter Parker," what was the point of that sell-your-soul-to-Satan fiasco?--the big question is, would Marvel really to sneak in such a monumental announcement 4/5ths of the way through a long interview, just before a holiday weekend??
(And, were the CBR author and editor in such a hurry to leave for a long Fourth that they didn't even bother to listen to what Wacker was saying? Or ask a follow-up question? You just let him drop that bomb and go on??)
Well...maybe I'm reading too much into this. There are enough weasel words in that quote--"started talking about," "might be," "I feel," etc--that maybe it's just a tease, or some tentative half-discussed plan.
But then, in the very last paragraph, discussing the forthcoming Spider-Man/Fantastic Four mini-series:
That will give readers a good sense of the relationship between that team and Spider-Man, which will play into some of the stuff we'd like to do over the next year as well, whenever we have our new Spider-Man..."
"Whenever we have our new Spider-Man."
Sounds like a done deal, doesn't it?
So thanks, Marvel, for breaking up Peter and Mary Jane's marriage to make Peter a "better" Spider-Man, and then turn around and have Peter no longer be Spider-Man. Smooth.
Meanwhile, let's prepare to welcome our (no doubt temporary) "new and better" Spider-Man. So--Kaine? Ben Reilly? Flash Thompson? Wolverine? (He can obviously handle the work load)...
Bonus points if it's John Jameson...
9 comments:
I'm thinking Deadpool
Spider-LOL!
Because it worked out so well the last time they tried it.
Maybe if they didn't clog the shelves (sigh, I remember when I would have said "stands" or "racks" here) with so many Spider-Man comics every month, they wouldn't feel so burnt out.
And did I say how much I like the new banner? Well I do. A lot.
The banner is courtesy of Mark Englom, late of the beloved Comic Coverage blog. Thanks, Mark.
Yes, excellent job, Mark.
I read about this (Spider-Man, not the banner) over at Four Color, and I had pretty much the same reaction you did. Besides, we know it won't last long if they do change him. Evolution of characters and timeline are temporary at best.
I'm even ready to make a prediction about the storyline: In order to win back his and MJ's life together from Mephisto, he has to promise to give up being Spider-Man...but after Mephisto rewrites history (again), mysteriously Spider-Man still exists, despite the evil one's machinations...
I knew I recognized those fonts! Cool, Mark.
Back on topic: Not cool, Joe.
First: My pleasure, Snell! Glad you (and Siskoid) liked it.
Second: What the hell? It's gotta be some kinda game Wacker is playing, especially since there's a new Spidey movie ramping up featuring Peter Parker as Spider-Man...unless this is a way Marvel can throw a wrench in the works for Sony (what that would accomplish, I have no idea...just a logical mind grasping at straws to explain Marvel's apparent lunacy).
Maybe there's some kind of hidden sales data we're not privy to that reveals the "Bruce Wayne/Steve Rogers out of the picture" storylines as sales gold....so maybe Marvel's about to embark upon a similar "Peter Parker in exile" kind of thing.
See, it's not enough to just create entertaining stories about a character...we now have this emphasis on sprawling, epic tales that span years and involve some sort of evolutionary process (whether physical, philisophical, or metaphysical) for said character.
On the other hand...I've had similar thoughts myself from time to time: Are there some characters whose "time has come", and whose story arc seems to have come to a logical and natural end? I don't for a second think Spider-Man is one of them...but think about it: Some characters are within spitting distance of the century mark...making them some of the oldest commercial "properties" on the market. It's pretty rare that ANY product is "on the shelves" for more than a decade or two...much less FIVE, SIX, or SEVEN. Are they just supposed to keep going just to keep them going....or what? All the fuss over Wonder Woman lately makes me think it might be best just to pull the plug since she's such a tough concept to sell anymore. Food for thought.
Personally, I'm just taken aback that, less than 2 years after going through offensive contortions to make Peter Parker a "better" character, they can now declare that "we've done as much as we can do with Peter Parker."
Even if it is just spin to set up a new arc, it's a pretty stunning admission of failure and incompetence. No wonder Wacker dropped that little tidbit at the end of a lengthy interview, on a holiday weekend, when everyone was distracted by Wonder Woman.
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