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Oh what a tangled web we weave when we rework Spidey's story

Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 13:27

For three months, Marvel Comics has been following a new blueprint for the "Amazing Spider-Man" comic book, a new framework cover-billed "Brand New Day." Unfortunately, all that "new" feels pretty old.Brand New Day began behind the scenes in 2006, when the Spider-editors were planning a number of changes. The biggest was to erase the 1988 marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, because Editor in Chief Joe Quesada had long felt marriage made Spidey seem too mature.The deletion of Mary Jane from more than 10 years of Spider-stories (including courtship and marriage) meant big changes that had to be thought out. And so was born the "Spider-Man Manifesto," written by top Spider-editor Tom Brevoort as a bible for his new team of Spider-writers and printed in last month's "Spider-Man: Swing Shift -- The Director's Cut."And since there have been eight issues of Brand New Day "Spider-Man," we can now compare the 2006 intent with the 2008 reality. Some highlights:-- Core Idea: "Spider-Man is about Peter Parker," Brevoort wrote. "What made Spider-Man the flagship of the Marvel line was the soap-opera aspect of Peter's life."I could not agree more. "Amazing Spider-Man" isn't a superhero book with a little romance; it's a soap-opera book with the occasional supervillain fight.-- Superhero Side: "Spider-Man is the hard-luck hero. ... This sort of thing tend(s) to humanize him and make(s) him relatable to readers. ... Spider-Man makes mistakes and bad choices."I agree, in general. But the Brand New Day issues I've read have overdone it. Peter Parker has been so unlucky it's depressing. And Spidey's been portrayed as so incompetent, it's becoming implausible he's still alive.-- Best Friends Forever: "Time was, Spider-Man had the best supporting cast in comics, but one by one, over the years, they've either fallen away, been turned into villains, been killed off or have become completely irrelevant. ... This is something we need to fix."Agreed. I remember that great supporting cast from the late '60s, which is my favorite Spider-era. I applaud Brand New Day for bringing back Peter's pal, Harry Osborn (dead since 1993), and I wouldn't mind seeing the resurrection of Gwen Stacy (d. 1973), Captain Stacy (1970), Ned Leeds (1987) or even Frederick Foswell (1967). And sure enough, Flash Thompson, Betty Brant, Randy Robertson and other fallow characters need to be less "irrelevant."-- On aging: "Peter lives and behaves like a young 25-year-old."I'm good with that. But why does Brand New Day have Parker living in his childhood bedroom at his aunt's house? That's a little creepy for a 25-year-old. Back in 1967, Spidey co-creator Stan Lee thought it was time for Peter Parker to grow up and move out on his own when he was still in college. I think Lee was right.-- On Employment: "The classic Stan Lee setup of Peter making his scratch by taking photos for the Daily Bugle is such a perfect structure that I'd like to get back to that."Perfect? For the 20th century, sure. But in the Internet age, "free-lance newspaper photographer" is going the way of "village blacksmith."-- On Villains: "One of the hallmarks of the Spider-Man books has always been the 'mystery villain' -- the crime lord whose true identity and motives are unknown to the readers. ... It can work again."Not for me it can't -- that horse has been flogged to death. Brevoort himself wrote that "part of going forward is to cease the unending homages to the same three great Spidey stories of the past." I think "mystery villain" is one of those stories, and it's time to give that plot a rest.Which is pretty much my point overall. So far the Brand New Day issues of "Amazing Spider-Man" have read, to me, like reprints from decades ago. So while I mostly agree with the philosophy of the "Spider-Man Manifesto," in execution "Spider-Man" seems formulaic and predictable, with a tired "been there, done that" vibe. Frankly, I find it kinda boring.Which I know wasn't the intent. Brevoort himself wrote, when discussing the erased marriage, "the worst thing that can happen is for the aftermath of the 'unmarrying' to feel like it's 1968 again."I agree. Unfortunately, I think that's been the result. And as much as I enjoyed "Amazing Spider-Man" in 1968, I'd like for Brand New Day to live up to its name.(Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics(at)aol.com or visit www.captaincomics.us.)