Comic fans fume as Marvel erases Spidey-MJ marriage

mjj58 · Comic fans fume as Marvel erases Spidey-MJ marriage

Those who know Spider-Man only from Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in the movies might be surprised to learn that in the comic book, the web-spinning hero has been married for almost 21 years.
That's why the comic world is in an uproar over Marvel Comics' decision to undo the marriage of Peter Parker and red-haired bombshell Mary Jane Watson, reversing two decades of storytelling.

In Amazing Spider-Man #545 last week, Peter and Mary Jane make a tearful deal with the devil-like character Mephisto: In exchange for saving Aunt May's life, Mephisto erases all traces of the Peter-Mary Jane marriage from memory.

In the issue out this week, subtitled Brand New Day, Peter Parker returns to his roots — young, nerdy and single. Aunt May is alive and well and Mary Jane is again just part of the cast. The marriage never happened.

"People are very upset. They erased a lot of stuff that had been set in stone," says John Newman, manager of Ultimate Comics in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Wednesday as customers came in to buy the opening chapter of Brand New Day. To help emphasize the new start, Amazing Spider-Man will go thrice-monthly.

"We knew it would be a very controversial thing to do," says Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor in chief, who believed so much in the project that he drew the crucial issues himself. "Looking into the future, this is really the right thing to do for the long-term health of the character."

Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962, was a hit, connecting with young readers because he was a geeky teenager, shy with girls and uncertain of how to use his powers. But in 1987, Peter and Mary Jane, by then a fashion model, got married. Marvel had instant regrets.

"I remember editors and editors in chief lamenting that a married Spider-Man was not where we want to be," Quesada says. "A married Peter Parker makes for a less interesting soap opera than a single Peter Parker going about his nerdy kind of life."

Writers tried everything: The couple separated for a while. She miscarried. And in a much-criticized story line, Marvel tried to convince readers that Peter Parker had not gotten married, but his clone. That didn't stick, either. Then Quesada took over and insisted the marriage just couldn't continue.

"Nobody wants to read about a married Spider-Man," says Craig Shutt, a columnist for Comics Buyers Guide. "But in the short run, it's a terrible idea. It disrespects the readers by saying everything they read is wrong."

At DC Comics, Superman is married to Lois Lane, disrupting that title's long-standing tensions. DC declined to comment for this story.

Quesada is steadfast that for Spider-Man, the move is the right one: "Ultimately we have to do this to keep this character fresh for this generation and generations to come."

link : http://www.usatoday.com/life/book...-man-marriage_N.htm?se=yahoorefer

John Gibson

I'm not sure what to think of this. I think I'm half and half on this issue. Wouldn't this call for a cancellation to "Spider-Girl"?

Talonluck

This happens all the time. You can only do so much with him married. It seems like they did use up most of their options.

Reboot's happen all the time.

mjj58

Spidey and Mary-Jane have always been good together.This is just wrong.

John Gibson

Could be worse. What if the story turned into an alternate reality where Peter was married to Gwen Stacy, and they carried the story for like 5 years??

mjj58

Why don't they just turn around now and say that Superman has ditched Lois for Jimmy.

Black Flag NC

In the world of comics, this thing happens all the time. It's like Talonluck said, they're just hitting the reset button so they can take the story in a different direction. I haven't read Spidey in years anyway.

launchpad25

Didn't they already hit the 'reset button' with 'Ultimate Spider-Man'? Another way to go about this would be to just end the old series, and reboot it for a new generation with fresh ideas. Sure, characters have to evolve with the times, but erasing what's been established in the main book just dosen't make sense.

John Gibson

I just think we need to stop with creating stories for a new generation, because the new generation is already spoiled enough as far as what they EXPECT from the media (comic books) included. Let's say if comic books went back to the old printed format, where you can see the red dots in the flesh color. Do you know how many people would instantly dismiss the comic in favor of one done in Photoshop, and printed on a laserjet printer, or whatever they're using?

We need to stop revamping, rebooting, resetting, rehashing, remaking, and most of all retelling. Marvel has been known for retelling origins. It used to be done to bring a new reader up to speed, or it happens when the hero has a flashback to his or her origin, or some other significant event in their lives. Now they're taking it too far by retelling entire series, and changing things around.

One day, if I ever get to meet Stan Lee, a dream of mine for many years, I would ask him if he's honestly happy with the direction each of his Marvel characters has taken, and if he has any regrets. I'm sure the Spidey clone story will come into conversation.

To close this up, I feel that if there's such a problem in coming up with new stories for the original Spider-Man series, then they need to let new writers have a crack at it, and see where they take it. There's no need to go backwards, and retell Spidey fighting Doc Ock for the first time. Come up with new characters, villains (don't raise bad guys from the dead, it doesn't work. If they were dead for 30+ years, leave it that way). I think I'm done here.

NecroVMX

Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Girl take place in different realities...

Anyway, the point is not that fans are angry that they're no longer together. As a matter of fact, most spider-man fans have wanted the marriage gone for quite a long time. The reason that "One More Day" and "Brand New Day" upsets people is the whole "Peter makes a deal with the devil to erase the last 20 years of stories" thing. It's stupid.

BJ Wanlund

I think this is the stupidest move Marvel has made in years. My viewpoint on this subject should already have been made clear here. What's the Spider-Man story that doesn't have this crap? I want to buy those, either in TPB or in regular comic form.

BJ

Erikjust

Peter couldn´t do the same things he used to do when he is married................right.

And exactly what would that be screw every girl he meets on his way, knocking them up whit little spider-babies?

Hmm he didn´t really do that before either, it was pretty much one girl at the time and stick whit her.

Well he stuck whit Mary Jane didn´t he, and he still punch bad guys whit no problem at all.

The only thing I really didn´t like was Aunt May yes she was an essential part of his life for many years cool enough.
But things move on I think the whole miscarried thing was a mistake, would have been great if peter and MJ had a child, it could open up new possibilities like the child growing up an saying well screw you dad i am going my way not your way.

Well the child would go solo and as such this new spider-man or girl could be what attracted the younger generations, and the original what attracted the older one.

Hitting the Reset button is stupid no matter what, there is an old Japanese saying that says in a storm some are building a shelter and others are building a windmill.

Well it seems that both Hollywood and Marvel are building shelters and not a windmill

launchpad25

I think this clip couldn't be any more timely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1TcW1MCLT8

John Gibson

Ohh god, I've never seen that one! I'm a terrible Family Guy fan, aren't I?