Trying to make sense of some changes in Spider-Man's life

ShareThis

Many Spider-Man fans are up in arms (and arms and arms) about the major changes Marvel Comics made to the character this month. And I admit to some skepticism myself.Here's what happened: In a four-part story called "One More Day," the Kingpin put out a contract on Peter Parker (whose identity as Spider-Man was revealed in 2006) -- but the assassin missed, and Aunt May took the bullet. After exhausting all conventional means to save his aunt, Parker was offered a Faustian bargain by Marvel's devil, Mephisto. But before he could decide, wife Mary Jane accepted.The deal? Mephisto reset the clock -- by at least two decades! The result:-- In the new status quo, Peter Parker and Mary Jane were once engaged, but their 1987 marriage never happened.-- Aunt May is alive with no memory of being shot, and Peter Parker lives with her in Forest Hills.-- Spider-Man's secret identity is a secret again.-- Spider-Man is using mechanical web-shooters again (instead of the organic ones he got in 2004).-- Parker's pal, Harry Osborn (who died in 1993), is alive.-- Nobody remembers that anything was ever any different (except the readers).Now you may ask yourself, what's the big deal with this "Brand New Day"? It's not as if Peter Parker hasn't gone through some life changes before:-- He started (in 1962) as a high-school student, then graduated to college, then attended graduate school. Fairly recently he wasn't a student at all, working as a high-school science teacher.-- His love life over the decades has rarely been stable. Parker's first girlfriend was Daily Bugle secretary (now reporter) Betty Brant, followed by a flirtation with Flash Thompson's gal, Liz Allan (who later married Harry Osborn), then a serious romance with Gwen Stacy (killed by the Green Goblin) and, finally, a lengthy, and sometimes volatile, relationship with Mary Jane Watson (whom, as noted, he married in 1987). Before the nuptials, there were other short-timers, including Cissie Ironwood (a student), Debra Whitman (a librarian) and Felicia "Black Cat" Hardy (a reformed super-villain).-- Aunt May has been "dead" at least twice before -- before being (implausibly) resurrected.-- Marvel tried to replace Spider-Man with a clone of himself in the mid-1990s. Reader outrage aborted that idea, but for a little while, all stories from 1975 to 1995 didn't "count."-- In 2004 ("Spider-Man: Disassembled") and 2006 ("The Other"), the web-spinner's powers were upgraded, to where he could see in the dark, talk to spiders, project a spike from his wrists, shoot webs organically and a few other things.So what's the big deal with these latest changes?Well, for some, it's misogynistic or just plain tacky to "erase" a 20-year marriage as if it never happened. (Is love that ephemeral? Are female characters that disposable?) For others, it's annoying to have invested so much in the stories of the last few years, only to be told that they no longer "count." Still others are angered that Spider-Man is moving backward (to a previous status quo). Others are disappointed that it shows us the little man behind the curtain, exploding their suspension of disbelief. Others argue that if we want an unmarried Spider-Man, we've already got one in "Ultimate Spider-Man," "Marvel Adventures Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man Family."But the big sticking point is that MJ's trade -- her marriage for Aunt May's life -- was made with Marvel's Satan! Which is A) dumb, B) probably a mortal sin and C) distasteful. And, really, can anything good come out of a deal with the devil? Just ask Johann Faust. Heck, ask Ghost Rider.And Peter Parker went along with it! Does that sound like something Mr. "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" would do?Marvel's editor in chief, Joe Quesada, whose idea this was, told USA Today: "Looking into the future, this is really the right thing to do for the long-term health of the character. ... A married Peter Parker makes for a less entertaining soap opera than a single Peter Parker going about his nerdy kind of life."Well, maybe so. I'm not against the idea in principle.But I do think this was a cheesy way to achieve it. It doesn't arise from a Spidey victory; this is a clean win for the bad guys. And it took some of my favorite characters acting out of character to get there.(Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics(at)aol.com or visit www.captaincomics.us.)