I’m amused seeing people complaining that the Associated Press article about tomorrow’s Ultimate Spider-Man #160 “spoils” the comic. I’d say more before the fold, but I’m worried that people might think that I’m spoiling the spoiler.
All that the AP article really “spoils” about the end of “The Death of Spider-Man” is that Spider-Man dies – Specifically, according to writer Brian Michael Bendis, “he will die at the hands of the Green Goblin” – which… Is that really a spoiler? The story is called “The Death of Spider-Man,” after all, and the end of #159 left very little doubt that the Green Goblin was the only one left who’d be able to finish him off. Didn’t everyone who was reading the book kind of know that was how everything was going to go down?
(The AP article is a triumph of Marvel PR, it has to be said; this is the second time Marvel has managed to make mainstream media hay from this one storyline, considering the April press surrounding the replacement Spider-Man in the Ultimate U, something that the new AP story seems to be entirely unaware of, reporting that “Bendis said that Parker’s death won’t be in vain and hinted that the Ultimate Spider-Man may not be gone forever. But what exactly is to come, that’s something he’s not willing to share, at least not yet.” Hey, AP! Look and see what Marvel told everyone two months ago for a hint of what exactly is to come.)
There’re a lot of examples of times when storylines do get spoiled by mainstream PR happening in advance of a comic hitting stores – The death of the Human Torch in Fantastic Four being the most high-profile in recent memory, I think – but complaining that someone points out that the final part of a story called “The Death of Spider-Man” features the death of Spider-Man? That’s really, really not a spoiler. That’s just Marvel living up to its promises, for once.
June 21st, 2011 at 12:58 pm
It’s an interesting case, but I think there were a lot of comic book fans skeptical that “Death of Spider-Man” would literally contain the death of Spider-Man. We had a Fantastic Four storyline not too long ago called “The Death of the Invisible Woman,” after all, or it could have been more of an allegorical type situation — like the “death” might have been Peter Parker giving up being Spider-Man, or some such.
June 21st, 2011 at 1:12 pm
Well up until the issue which isn’t even out yet it was still open to debate whether or not “Peter Parker” would die. Certainly “Spider-Man” as we’ve known him for 159 issues would be dead. There was no way Peter could continue to be Spider-Man after being unmasked in #159.
Giving away the final plot point is pretty crappy in my honest opinion. I really robs the finally of it’s emotional impact.
June 21st, 2011 at 1:27 pm
So, at what point does Aunt May sue SHIELD for child endangerment and the violation of Peter Parker’s civil rights, given that they not only allowed him to do the thing that got him killed, but actually ORDERED him into battle at several points throughout the series’ run?
June 21st, 2011 at 3:56 pm
It’s typical for Bendis books–one always wants to believe he’s going to do something other than the staggeringly obvious, and until the story ends there’s always hope. But as always, it’s exactly the most predictable thing. (This is the reason Bendis books always sound ten times better in the solicits than they actually are in the finished trade collection.)
June 21st, 2011 at 5:04 pm
The fact remains that Marvel cares more about spoiler-filled articles from the media than their own books and stories.
And as pointed out, considering Marvel’s last two FF-related ‘death’ stunts with Invisible Woman and Human Torch, one never knows what the result will be… well, until Marvel helps the media spoil it for you.
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:21 am
the AP and everyone else who ran this should be embarrassed to call themselves news outlets. there is nothing, NOTHING, that happens between the pages of a comic book that could ever remotely be considered news. NOTHING. and it astounds me that they can publish spoiler free reviews on a daily basis, yet can’t write an article about a comic book without one. (not that this really is one, but you get the idea.)
I always imagine the outcry if, say, a day before esb came out they wrote an article about how darth is luke’s father. and they would never do that, yet don’t think twice when it’s a comic involved.
June 22nd, 2011 at 9:16 am
Wait… is the Green Goblin in the story Norman Osborn? I stopped reading after the end of Vol.1, but I thought Norman died?
I’m all for death in comics, it just annoys me when characters are seemingly resurrected in the SAME story.
June 23rd, 2011 at 4:58 am
I can’t believe that the character is dying after being published for a decade and he never graduated high school! I wonder what the, “pro-growth, marriage”, crowd has to say about that?!