AP RedBrand New Day (USM is now the true Spider-Man)
September 24th 2008 01:40
Well my first real post is going to be comics based. Let me quantify my criticism/cynicism/whatever other isms I'll display by saying I don't hate the idea of Brand New Day. I hate what it does to Spider-Man and the fans of the character.
Background: Spider-Man is in emotional turmoil because of his actions during Marvel's Civil War (if you don't know, pick up a comic or wiki it) having the consequence of getting his surrogate mother Aunt May shot. He goes from one end of the Marvel world to the other trying to find a way to save her. At the conclusion of the storyline, he ends up making a deal with Marvel's resident devil Mephisto and we get a brand new status quo.
Now forget the fact that using the devil/magic as a cure-all for everything you want to lay the ground work for and takes away some things you didn't like. Forget the fact that it solves an unpreventable death, brings back a long dead character, makes Peter's secret identity a secret again, and ends a marriage they tried to end before.
The way I look at it, it's giving the middle finger to the people that were buying the stories through the years. Sorry fanboy, the stories you liked after Mary Jane was presumed dead in a plane crash never happened. Aunt May finding out Peter is Spidey, a figment of your imagination. J Jonah Jameson confronting Peter after the unmasking during Civil War, it has ceased to be it is no more. Little things that were used to build up his character like watching out for a homeless student may not have happened Fighting alongside the Avengers kinda/sorta/maybe/possibly happened. Storylines like The Other, the Clone Saga, Maximum Carnage, Legend Reborn and anything else written after 1987 get to be picked through and chosen as either happened/didn't happen/happened but with other characters involved maybe.
But don't worry because Brand New Day brought an influx of new readers and new stories. As far as quick sales bumps/fixes go, it has been entertaining for the 2 issues I picked up. Well, I don't care who Jackpot is and I'm not into picking up every issue to figure out how Brand New Day has played out for Flash Thompson, Black Cat and whatever other characters I liked in relation to Spidey. But I can see how new readers and die-hards can pick up some well written, decently thought out issues. But therein lies the next big screwgee.
Somewhere down the road Brand New Day's cause will be nullified and the old status quo will return in some form. Spider-Man will probably keep his anonymity to the general public. Aunt May just won't die. The marriage will return until they try to break it up a 3rd time down the road. And whatever else can further a future storyline will be kept. So now the new fans will probably get an FU as well. But since it would be a planned out FU it probably won't get the same venomous reaction the deal with the devil got.
So eventually fans from 1987-2007 will get a mea culpa for getting screwed with for a couple of years. Patrick Duffy dying will still only be a dream. St. Elsewhere still happened in a kid's snowglobe. And Star Trek is still the brainchild of an African American man from the 1950s.
For a bump in readership you may end up killing your loyal fanbase trying to skew that demo younger. Making sure he isn't married makes your audience younger how exactly? Bro check it out, Spidey ain't married no more. He cool now. We gotta pick up his comic book now yo. I generally float from book to book and story to story anyway so it has no impact on me. Hope it works out cuz it is a timeless character I can relate to. Seeing him minimized as a character so a writer can give a modern day retelling of the Devil and Daniel Webster with a Back to the Future twist just doesn't float my boat.
Till next time true believers. Same spider time. Same spider channel.
Background: Spider-Man is in emotional turmoil because of his actions during Marvel's Civil War (if you don't know, pick up a comic or wiki it) having the consequence of getting his surrogate mother Aunt May shot. He goes from one end of the Marvel world to the other trying to find a way to save her. At the conclusion of the storyline, he ends up making a deal with Marvel's resident devil Mephisto and we get a brand new status quo.
Now forget the fact that using the devil/magic as a cure-all for everything you want to lay the ground work for and takes away some things you didn't like. Forget the fact that it solves an unpreventable death, brings back a long dead character, makes Peter's secret identity a secret again, and ends a marriage they tried to end before.
The way I look at it, it's giving the middle finger to the people that were buying the stories through the years. Sorry fanboy, the stories you liked after Mary Jane was presumed dead in a plane crash never happened. Aunt May finding out Peter is Spidey, a figment of your imagination. J Jonah Jameson confronting Peter after the unmasking during Civil War, it has ceased to be it is no more. Little things that were used to build up his character like watching out for a homeless student may not have happened Fighting alongside the Avengers kinda/sorta/maybe/possibly happened. Storylines like The Other, the Clone Saga, Maximum Carnage, Legend Reborn and anything else written after 1987 get to be picked through and chosen as either happened/didn't happen/happened but with other characters involved maybe.
But don't worry because Brand New Day brought an influx of new readers and new stories. As far as quick sales bumps/fixes go, it has been entertaining for the 2 issues I picked up. Well, I don't care who Jackpot is and I'm not into picking up every issue to figure out how Brand New Day has played out for Flash Thompson, Black Cat and whatever other characters I liked in relation to Spidey. But I can see how new readers and die-hards can pick up some well written, decently thought out issues. But therein lies the next big screwgee.
Somewhere down the road Brand New Day's cause will be nullified and the old status quo will return in some form. Spider-Man will probably keep his anonymity to the general public. Aunt May just won't die. The marriage will return until they try to break it up a 3rd time down the road. And whatever else can further a future storyline will be kept. So now the new fans will probably get an FU as well. But since it would be a planned out FU it probably won't get the same venomous reaction the deal with the devil got.
So eventually fans from 1987-2007 will get a mea culpa for getting screwed with for a couple of years. Patrick Duffy dying will still only be a dream. St. Elsewhere still happened in a kid's snowglobe. And Star Trek is still the brainchild of an African American man from the 1950s.
For a bump in readership you may end up killing your loyal fanbase trying to skew that demo younger. Making sure he isn't married makes your audience younger how exactly? Bro check it out, Spidey ain't married no more. He cool now. We gotta pick up his comic book now yo. I generally float from book to book and story to story anyway so it has no impact on me. Hope it works out cuz it is a timeless character I can relate to. Seeing him minimized as a character so a writer can give a modern day retelling of the Devil and Daniel Webster with a Back to the Future twist just doesn't float my boat.
Till next time true believers. Same spider time. Same spider channel.
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