“It’s Christmas Day!” said Scrooge to himself. “I haven’t missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one night. They can do anything they like. Of course they can. Of course they can.”
And yes, much like Scrooge McDuck- I mean, Ebenezer Scrooge, I too ran down the streets with joy in my heart for a second chance at living. Only this time, it was for Spider-Man and not some mean old guy.
Okay, so A Christmas Carol was a little deeper to the human spirit and didn’t have a damning internet poll the week after it was released, but I think after reading One More Day, we’ve all survived something and hopefully, a little wiser for what we’ve been shown.
The last week of 2007 had the last issue of Amazing Spider-Man under J. Michael Straczynski’s reign hit the stands and the end of what has seemed to be a long, strange and unsatisfying journey into some of the most… well, the polite thing to say is ‘daring’ plots ol’ Web-Head has had to endure. By the time this whole the last story was ready to roll, there was simply no lower Peter Parker could go, except to make a deal with the devil.
And here we were.
Now, I don’t have to sit here and tell you that the crux of the One More Day plot line, that our hero would sign away his eternal love to one of the most untrustworthy characters to possibly exist in the Marvel Universe, was a jaw-droppingly bad idea. Heck, even if Peter Parker was signing away a pair of stinky socks, one simply does not trust the Devil (I mean, a devil or at least an aspect of him- you get the idea) when he offers you one thing for another. Spider-Man has met Johnny Blaze, right? He’s a smart guy and should know how this whole thing works by now. But years of abuse and dictum by the EiC have brought Peter Parker to this, a desperate act from a desperate man who has no chance to think things through, no chance to challenge his place in the world and to outwit the evil presented they way a clever heroic character would do. The outcome was simply predetermined and all we had to do was get there. What was supposed to be a an issue-a-week storyline, like the quick yank of a band-aid, turned out to be an agonizingly long months late tale.
But you know what? It’s over. Done. Finito! No more agonizingly dark Peter Parker! No more complicated tales of totems and spirit-animals and greater forces at work! The black costume and emo attitude? Gone. His identity known? Forgotten. Beating up people in the streets like some dark avenger of the night? Over, done and through. Every single gimmick storyline Spider-Man has been put through these past years, every kick in the pants he’s gotten from tragedy and sorrow that have simply piled up like dirty laundry is just over. And yes, it’s an unsatisfying ending and it’s never going to make everyone happy. There are tons of nagging details that we’re either going to have to wait months to piece together or toss on the pile of dangling plot lines that JMS created during his time. But until then, it’s a Brand New Day.
Like Peter’s final decision, we never got all our answers, but at least now we won’t remember the questions. One More Day comes with its own built-in amnesia button; instead of being promised resolution later, One More Day closes the door behind it and leaves a clean playing field for the next set of stories. I know there’s been talk of coming back to Mephisto’s offer and Peter and MJ’s choice in future stories, but if Quesada is smart (and he’s lasted as EiC for this long, so you can’t say he’s not) he’ll sit back and let the new team work their magic and leave well enough alone. There’s a whole new set of writers, new artists and new ideas and they’re all moving forward with enthusiasm and the motivation to bring Spider-Man back to the people.
Sure, it might be the digital inking or the sudden introduction of color into a rather inky book, but from the moment we swallow the bitter pill of devilish dealings, Amazing Spider-Man already looks a better and brighter than before. Peter even looks a little younger, he’s got a spring in his step and friends long gone back to celebrate the new day with him. It’s a relief that the storyline that got Peter to this point has not only been erased from his memory, but hopefully within a few swingin’ storyarcs in the Mighty Marvel Manner of the new year, maybe it’ll be erased from ours as well.
Brand New Day has promised us better stories, more answers, a back-to-basics approach and a return to what made Spider-Man the cornerstone in the Marvel Universe in the first place. 2007 was a dark year for our Marvel heroes, death and tragedy every month, right on cue; maybe 2008 might have a little more hope.
There’s no reason to drop Amazing Spider-Man. There’s no reason to, and I quote, “never read another Spider-Man comic again”. If Ebenezer Scrooge can see the worst and best of his past, present and future and come away a better man and an eagerness to face the world around him, if Peter Parker can survive the Clone Saga, the Other, and everything that’s toppled on to him this year, what’s One More Day?
Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Great commentary. I had not regularly picked up a Spider-man comic until Back in Black since sometime in the early 90′s. For some reason, things caught my eye, and I plan to stay aboard for the long haul. This was not a great story, nor was it that good a solution to get the results. However, it will definitely be interesting to see how they handle a Spidey with less baggage.
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Thank you for posting this. They just wiped away everything that kept spider-man from being spider-man. It was a crappy (though incredibly creative) storyline but I agree with the editorial decision.
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
This was a slap in the face in everything Spider-Man stood for. I’m going to vote my wallet and not pick up Brand New Day.
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Yeah, they totally retconned all the horrible decisions they made over the past year or two, hooray.
They also got rid of the Peter Parker I’ve known ever since I started reading comics. So to hell with them.
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Ult spidey is still awesome.
just saying.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Excuse me, there is a reason to never by Amazing Spider-Man agian. This was the second time that the character of Peter Parker was negated by Marvel. First was the clone switch, which made the stories be not about the real Spidey and Spider-Man be a hero that did not take responsibility. Now we have a man that instead of fighting and facing problems gives up his wife in a deal with the (a) devil. Give me a break. If I feel that the character has been taken from the people that stood by this company and character through thick and thin then you better believe I have the right to drop this title and mourn the loss of my favorite character.
I think everyone who dislike this story and this new status quo should drop the title, not in hopes of changing minds or getting Quesada fired, but just to let the arrogant editorship know that they did impact the bottom line. I bet if the completist would join in that us long timers would be missed. Maybe then they would want One More Day of us buying their book.
I have been through, I kept up without buying the series, now I know I made the right decision. Why keep buying a book that does nothing but spit in your face every month (or whenever it comes out). Add that I am not picking up three times a month either. It is over, it is over, and I have every right to make that so.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Carla,
Your ability to completely miss the point would be impressive, if it wasn’t so sad.
You see “Brand New Day” as something different from the bad stories that had preceded it, while I see it as being exactly the same thing.
From the “Clone Saga” to the Byrne-and-Mackie “reboot” to the “Spider-Totem Saga” to “One More Day,” everyone at Marvel has been trying to retcon Spider-Man since the early 1990s, and because of that, they were all the worst stories in the character’s history.
Almost everything that “Brand New Day” promises sounds exactly like what Byrne and Mackie promised during their reboot, and while you might say that it’s unfair to judge Slott by their mistakes, the Free Comic Book Day issue that Slott wrote, set in “Brand New Day” continuity, was every bit as bad as the Byrne-and-Mackie issues, for all the same reasons.
Every since I started reading comics, Spider-Man has been married, and Harry Osborn has been dead. That didn’t stop me, a then-young reader – aren’t young readers the ones that Quesada thinks this will appeal to? – from getting into the books.
Moreover, Quesada’s sheer ego in forcing this story upon an audience that doesn’t want it makes me want to see it fail just to spite him. Indeed, the only thing that could possibly make me reconsider my position on the marriage now would be if Quesada suddenly came out in support of it.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
And something else, I’m sick and goddamned tired of the idea, floated by fans and creators alike, that I somehow “owe” a comic book “a chance to win me over.”
Excuse me, but fuck you very much. Even if you’ve written the most brilliant story ever put to paper, I don’t OWE you a single fucking thing, because you are asking for my money. Me being the consumer means that you have to fucking EARN my dollars, not that you’re ENTITLED to them.
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:19 am
Second comment left by K-Box, while more colorful than my delicate ears can handle, is very true.
January 5th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Excuse me, but fuck you very much.
At least he said excuse me.
EDIT: Also, please note I never said anyone owes anything to anyone. The word ‘owe’ is nowhere in my article, nor is it implied. If you’re going to get angry, please get angry about something I said.
January 5th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Taken out of context, Kirk, and I’d read the last line you wrote as telling Carla to fuck off. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re talking in general and not to her specifically, but nothing will make you more unwelcome around here than that.
Drop the F-bombs while you’re at it.