Did they really do it? Has Marvel actually delivered on their promise to bring Spiderman back from the land of “Who Cares”? The events of One More Day were so controversial and many still know if they agree with such a DC-like continuity screw up situation, but now with the first so many new Amazing Spiderman issues out, we can all judge for ourselves. Let’s over view: So in One More Day Peter has Mephisto change history and wipe out his relationship with MJ. Why? Cuz the mutherfucker deals in human suffering, that’s why! It was a trade to save Aunt May’s life. Not a decision many would make, but it serves to bring us to where marvel editorial wanted to be; a brand new day for Spidey! Now he isn’t and has never been married, he still lives with Aunt May and is a photographer for the Daily Bugle again or still… whatever.
The choices made by Marvel and Peter have been weak and quite frankly disappointing for fans who have invested in ol’ Web Head for the last twenty or thirty years. Many would have preferred to see clever writers finding ways to make Spidey cool again without simply taking him back in time to when he was at his most popular and copying that shtick. More interesting however is this; the lame shtick works! It’s been a long time since a Spiderman book felt like a Spiderman book and it looks as though those days may be back. Cancelling the other Spider-titles and consolidating them all into one book that comes out three times a month is a brilliant move. Pete’s soap opera style life is something that people want to read every week and now they have it. The new format of the book brings more of the regular supporting cast of characters back into play and already has a mystery brewing amidst the constant myriad of sky high action scenes! Once again you’re getting caught up in Pete’s life and caring about all the nuances of what makes his life work, from his friends to his work to his family and love life, it simply feels like Marvel has injected life back into Spidey’s book.
As much as I wanted to read this book and shake my head in disgust of what they’ve done to the Wall Crawler, I simply couldn’t. In this case the ends justified the means, I have my Spiderman back! And if anyone dares to doubt the direction of the writers and whether or not they know what they’re doing, there’s a six page Spider-mandate by Editor Tom Brevoort outlining to the writers what makes Spiderman great and how they should use those elements to bring him back. This document is a holy grail for Spiderman and any writer thinking of putting pen to paper on this book should be forced to adhere to its sage council. Thumbs up!
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