Comic Books: Spidey’s Brand New Day

Greetings Heroes!

J. Michael Straczynski: “There’s a lot that I don’t agree with (about One Day More), and I made this very clear to everybody within shouting distance at Marvel, especially Joe Quesada… there was a point where I made the decision, and told Joe, that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the OMD arc…..” (Image and quote: Marvel.com)

Well, Mike, we couldn’t agree with you more.

After my last post concerning the recent Spider-Man story arc, One Day More, I decided to go back and explore some of the upcoming ramifications of the Spidey-verse, and what we know now. First off, Mary Jane and Peter Parker are no longer married, no longer friends and have no memory of their past together. That’s a given. Harry Osborn, old friend and foe was also brought back from the dead.

But what else will this loose thread unravel in the Marvel Universe as a whole?

*****(OMD Spoiler Alert!)*****

 

Now that the arc has ended, and we move on to Peter’s brand new day. Here are my thoughts and concerns, but primarily QUESTIONS on how this arc has changed not only Spider-Man, but the entire Marvel Universe.

• Peter Parker’s identity as Spider-Man is secret once more. (What happens to Civil War events?)

During the events of Marvel’s Civil War, Parker made a move that caused the entire comic community to collectively slap their forehead; he revealed his identity. As of One Day More, however, no one remembers it. This may sound good on the surface, but Spider-Man’s unmasking was the event that escalated the Civil War and led many heroes to register and many to fight. If Spider-Man never unmasked, could the War have continued as usual? How will this effect Peter’s relationship with Iron Man? (Like, does this mean Tony never gave him that Iron Spidey suit? Because that would be great if that could be erased from the reader’s mind, as well….)

• Peter’s webbing is no longer organic

The very last page of the final issue of One Day More shows a small glimpse into Peter’s sleeve. Back on his wrists are his trademark web shooters. Meaning, he lost his internal webbing he gained during the Avengers Disassembled storyline when he was swallowed by the Queen Spider…or something like that. Many comic fans were outraged when the traditional webshooters were replaced in lieu of the organic webbing, for the sake of being like the Spider-Man films. I am not opposed to the webbings return; however, Spidey also gained other abilities due to his time with the Queen Spider. What happened to those? And speaking of new abilities….

• What does this mean for Spider-Man: The Other?

Spider-Man: The Other, is a storyline where Peter faces his most powerful foe, Morlun, and actually dies in combat. Due to the nature of his powers, however, he is resurrected by shedding his skin and being reborn in a caccoon more powerful than before. He has increased strength, agility, night-vision, his ability to adhere to a surface expands to any part of his body, and more! With the timeline so drastically altered, does Spidey still have these abilities? Did SM:TO even happen now?

• Spider-Man the Avenger

After the fairly recent story Avengers: Breakout, Spidey joins an re-formed Avengers team, briefly, before the Civil War breaks out. He was, of course, married to MJ at the time and she and Aunt May lived along with him in Starks Tower where May developed a relationship with Jarvis, the butler. Now that the timeline has changed, perhaps Peter was never an Avenger. If so, the Civil War may have never broken out and Captain America might still be alive. The possibilities are infinite! Also, what does this OMD storyline mean for the current New Avengers comic group that contains Spider-Man. Will he go on being a part of it and everyone else “forgets” his identity?

This change puts a large question mark on practically every Spider-Man storyline since Harry died and Peter and MJ were hitched. I wonder if the Clone Saga is still completely intact, though even before OMD, it was mentioned rarely- if ever. I also wonder if Aunt May has gone back to being oblivious to Peter’s identity, but since Mephisto’s spell erased the memory of his identity from the world, I imagine that includes her as well.

Looks like the last decade or so is shot, and Spider-Man is back to square one. Whether or not this is negative or positive, I’ll let you decide. Personally, I can’t wait to hear the retcons!

I do have faith in Marvel to tie up some loose ends within Spider-Man’s continuity. But that doesn’t change the fact that this life-altering event in Peter’s life touches the lives of nearly every other character in the Marvel universe. I don’t see how that can be completely addressed and fixed, and I believe it will lead only to a slew of continuity errors we can gripe about on message boards…or blog about!

Till next time,

STAY SUPER!

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