Dan Slott’s message board is confused and, chances are, they’re not the only ones. In the solicitation for Avengers: The Initiative #7, there’s this line:
Spider-Man fans take note: This issue features a VERY important Pre-ONE MORE DAY appearance by Peter Parker!
In interviews about the book, Dan had emphasized the importance of the book:
The way I was telling people about it is this: One More day is going to shake up Spider-Man’s world. There’s no way around it. What happens in One More Day is jaw-dropping. It’s huge. When it’s over, you’re going to want to have your copy of Avengers: The Initiative #7 tucked away that you can come back to. You’re just gonna want it – when you start arguing with people on the internet, you’re going to want your copy just so you can say, “Aha – but in Avengers: The Initiative #7….!” Study it, memorize it. You’re going to want it in your arsenal when you start arguing with everybody. Truuuuuust me.
Only problem is… when the issue came out, and One More Day finished, people didn’t really see what was so important:
“In AVENGERS THE INITIATIVE, Peter Parker assisted the Scarlet Spiders in their mission, and as a way of thanking him, they effectively undid most of the damage the unmasking did. HOWEVER, in “ONE MORE DAY”, Mephisto tells Peter Parker that he will make everyone forget that he’s Spider-Man. And he wakes up in a world that doesn’t appear to remember anything of the last twenty years of Spider-Man books (including Harry Osborn’s wife and son!). So what was the point of that big de-veal, when it’s all been covered up again a month later? And what was so ‘important’ about it to Spider-Man readers?”
Slott responded:
“Let’s revisit this after you’ve read the John Romita Jr. feature in ASM #546… but it was very important. Really. All will make sense soon…”
Of course, once the JRJR feature was released, things got a lot clearer. Okay, not really:
“Ok, so we’ve seen the JRJR thing and it still doesn’t explain the Avengers Initiative #7 thing. Dan, can you explain?”
“I’m still scratching my head on this. From what I’ve pieced together from interviews. The last 20 years of stories did happen. The only difference is Peter and MJ weren’t married. So remove wife and replace with girlfriend. Remove Honeymoon and replace with vacation. The identity thing is confusing though. So basically according to that JRJR spread It was just erased. People done forgot Peter is Spidey. So I wonder if anyone is going to follow up on this?”
“So… let’s revisit…? I mean, I have some idea of how it MIGHT work out… but it would be nice if you could tell me.”
Slott, for what it’s worth, is still playing coy:
“All the pieces you need are there. And in ATI #7. You just have to put on your No-Prize-thinking-cap. There’s a lot of stuff I can’t talk about now. But everything you need is there. Really.”
The question right now might be “all the pieces we need for what?” Foreshadowing for future events, or more hype that didn’t end up playing out as expected?
(At least some people are having fun coming up with suggestions…)
January 18th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Graeme McMillan,
You’re on a roll!
First, you make a misleading blog entry about Tom Brevoort using his quotes out of context to get extra hits from the current OMD controversy: an entry which many posters including Mark Waid called you out on.
Next you reported a false accusation that Amazing Spider-Man was using its thrice-monthly schedule to try to overtake the numbering on Action Comics - and when Dan Slott called you on it you tried to make him look foolish even though he was in the right.
Then you ran a piece by Augie DeBlieck Jr. about OMD (again - natch).And then ANOTHER OMD piece about Erik Larsen’s take on OMD, and now…you’re setting your sights on Slott again with today’s entry. Slow news day mayhap?
Some people see things through rose-coloured glasses, maybe you’ll enjoy life better and have more to talk about in your blog if you take off your OMD hate goggles.
Betsy
January 18th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
uh oh!
January 18th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Yeah Graeme, how dare you, uh, do exactly what you’re supposed to do on this blog and bring our attention to interesting articles about the most talked about event in Marvel’s post-internet history!
Shame on you!
January 18th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I’m willing to cut Slott a little slack on this one, since it was a well-written issue and a good twist.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Wait, Betsy Braddock? Psylocke? Really? This comics internet is a wonderful thing.
Everyone’s still talking about OMD, and not the one that Andy McClusky wishes that we were all talking about. Sorry that I’m reflecting on that.
(And I tried to make Dan foolish in the numbers thread? Dude, I only made three comments, and one of those wasn’t even to Dan…)
Dan C - I think there’s slack to be given, definitely; that’s why I asked whether it was foreshadowing for future events at the end of the post.
January 18th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I assumed Avengers: The Initiative #7 was noteable for establishing Slott’s fanatical devotion to writing overlong, ham-handed expository monologues every time Spider-Man opened his mouth.
January 18th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Hasn’t Spider-Man been doing that for years now?
I have to admit - I don’t dig a lot of the narration Dan’s doing in ASM (The opening of the latest issue seemed very Mark Millar-esque, but maybe that’s just me), but I think he’s got Spider-Man’s dialogue down.
January 18th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
My theory:
The events of AVI7 provide an explanation of why Spider-Man HIMSELF doesn’t wonder why everyone doesn’t think Peter Parker is Spider-Man anymore.
January 18th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Am I wrong in thinking that Spider-Man would be more entertaining if Peter Parker himself didn’t know he was Spider-Man, just suffering the occasional Tyler Durden-esque bouts of sleepwalking and blackouts?
“How did my knuckles get all scraped up? Weird.”
January 18th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Uhm, what did happen in Inatitive 7?
January 18th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
“Am I wrong in thinking that Spider-Man would be more entertaining if Peter Parker himself didn’t know he was Spider-Man, just suffering the occasional Tyler Durden-esque bouts of sleepwalking and blackouts?”
Didn’t they do something like that back when he first wore the black symbiote costume?
January 18th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
“Am I wrong in thinking that Spider-Man would be more entertaining if Peter Parker himself didn’t know he was Spider-Man, just suffering the occasional Tyler Durden-esque bouts of sleepwalking and blackouts?”
I would pay good money to read that, actually. Something that I’m not doing for any other Spidey books right now.
January 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Entirely possible, J.K. I didn’t read a lot of the “current” Spideys when I was in my Marvel Zombie phase in the early-mid-80s (but I ate up the Ditko/Romita/Lee stuff, go figure.)
January 18th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I like that theory a lot, Brack! Spidey not wondering why no one knows his identity even when he revealed it in Civil War is the one thing that really bothered me about Brand New Day.
Also I think Dan Slott was saying Avengers Intiative 7 was important for continuity/comic trivia nuts like himself. Not in terms of importance in a future story line.
January 18th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
BBraddock, I agree with many of the comments you make about Graeme’s recent posts. However, this one seems reasonable. People are asking questions, Dan gave some answers, but people are still a little confused and would like a little more info from Dan about what he’s referring to. Graeme’s summary didn’t seem problematic at all.
January 18th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
It’s surprising that people are still accusing McMillan of taking Brevoort’s blog entries re “One More Day” and “Brand New Day” out of context. Look at how Marvel Editorial personnel generally strive to avoid responding to pointed criticism of any project. If the project is criticized on the basis of Marvel’s publicity (premise), the critics are told to wait until the storyline sees print. If the storyline is criticized while it’s in progress, critics are told to wait until it’s finished. If they criticize the finished storyline, the criticism is dismissed because the project is finished, and Marvel has such wonderful, fantastic, great projects in store for its customers that they want to talk about instead. Add the softball interviews with Marvel personnel, and Brevoort’s constant attempts to depict everyone’s response to story material as like/dislike, rather than serious criticism–the result is an apparent attempt to treat all critics as if they were eight-year-olds who can’t explain why they like or dislike something. One would think that Marvel Editorial personnel never took high school English classes.
SRS
January 19th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Right ON, SRS, right on.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:44 am
Steven, that can’t possibly be a surprise to you. You’re still repeating the exact same arguments over and over, why would you expect anyone else to do differently?
January 19th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Anybody think Jackpot is really going to be Carlie?
January 19th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Have y’all seen Slott’s YouTube video? Crazy stuff:
“If you are a SPIDER-MAN writer, you see things the way they ARE, in all their GLORY, in all their COMPLEXITY… It’s rough and tumble. It’s wild and woolly. It’s a BLAST!
“THAT’s what I want to be and there’s times I’d like to DO that but I can’t because I KNOW… I KNOW!
“We have that RESPONSIBILITY to say, ‘Hey, this is the way it SHOULD be done because we DO it this way and people are actually getting BETTER and let’s get it DONE’!
“Let’s REALLY get it done - let’s have enough LOVE and COMPASSION and TOUGHNESS that we’re going to do it and do it RIGHT.
“It’s our responsibility to create the new REALITY.
“You are either IN or you’re OUT!”
January 19th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Black boys are delicious
Chocolate flavored love
Licorice lips like candy
Keep my cocoa handy
I have such a sweet tooth
When it comes to love
January 19th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
“Have y’all seen Slott’s YouTube video? Crazy stuff:”
Link?
“Black boys are delicious”
Relevance?
January 19th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Slott’s milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, perhaps?
Man, when does the first Wells/Bachalo issue come out again?
January 19th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Was that Slott’s video or the Tom Cruise Scientology one?
January 20th, 2008 at 3:39 am
My best guess of a “crazy” (I’d call it goofy and intentionally amusing, if you fast forward to the 2:10 mark in this) Slott video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iE9NMmUizDM
January 20th, 2008 at 11:43 am
“Was that Slott’s video or the Tom Cruise Scientology one?”
Congratulations.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iE9NMmUizDM
Wow, that was painful to watch.
January 20th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I think they are hinting that all the clues are there for the way they are going to undo the undo. (Wait. “Un-Dew the Un-Dew” sounds like a Pepsi slogan of the future. I hearby claim trademark rights and copyright rights and mineral rights.)
I think what we are seeing from Marvel today is just a lame rerun of Bendis’s “It’s gonna break the internet in half.” ploy.
Yawn, ho hum, and boring.
January 21st, 2008 at 3:13 am
The only way they could possibly redeem this story is to turn it into some epic quest for spidey to get his true reality back from Mephisto, a story I’d like to see actually. If it happens let me know because I won’t be buying till then.
My personal theory though is that Slott wanted people to use Avengers Initiative as an argument against OMD and it didn’t work.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:42 am
One More Day is bad. Mmm’kay?