Amazing Spider-Man

[Jan]

Seems like the latest story arc is causing some...controversy. Can't wait to read the latest!

Anybody here following this title?

Jan

[frulad]

**MINOR SPOILERS**

I'm old enough to remember reading the "Death of Qwen Stacy" storyline when it first came out, but I was, I think, too young to fully appreciate it at the time. It was about more than a decade later, when I reread it (and about a year or two's wirth of preceeding issues) in college that I really felt the impact of the story. Great Stuff!

Now I'm a little annoyed that so many fans are flying off the handle with this story arc, screaming about clones, timelines and such.

Haven't these folks been paying attention to how JSM tells stories? This is a classic JMS mystery with plenty of of red herrings and all, but you can be guaranteed that it will make sense once it has all played out.

Myself, I'm more intrigued about those hints he 's been dropping about Spidey's future from that flashforward in issue #500 to the offhand bit recently where the police detective asking the police scientist to analyze a bit of the webbing...

[Capt.Montoya]

I've actually read most of the Spider Man stories... they were published in a weekly schedule in Spanish translated version in Mexico when I was a child. This run stopped after a few years, but in the 90s it started again, and a friend of mine convinced me to start reading comics again. By the mid 90s they had actually almost catched up and started publishing it every other week as well as republishing stories from other Spider Man comics, especially for cross-overs, and some multi-hero cross-over miniseries (e.g. Acts of Vengeance).
So I ended up "graduating" to reading the original comics (lots of titles are imported into Mexico). I also picked up some X-Men and Fantastic Four titles.

I always loved the Amazing Spider Man stories... until the clone fiasco, and its accompanying Green Goblin story.

I simply couldn't stand that arc. I didn't even wait to the resolution showing that the supposed clone wasn't and all that. Terribly disappointing editorial decision, I was not surprised to find they backtracked from it, but the damage was done.
The Onslaught arc of X-Men killed my reading of Fantastic Four and of a few X-Men titles.
And that was it for several years, beyond occasionally browsing through trade paperback re-editions of some comics in the bookstores.

JMS taking the helms of Spider-Man is the only thing that made me curious about reading it again.
I've liked his stories, but I've only bought the trade paperback editions, not the original comics.
I must confess to reading the comics and some of the paperbacks and not buying them (I'd rather spend that entertainment budget on SF books most of the time), but I've liked the stories JMS is telling.

And the tie-in to the Gwen Stacy storyline promises to be either great or a disappointment.

[CRONAN]

Come to think of it.... Yeah I remember something about a clone in reading Spiderman. So waz up wid dat? Do we ever see the Scarlet Spider in other Spidey comics series!??

Edit: Well, nvm about that. Just found the answer to that ques on the net.

Well all I can say is thats sad. I for one liked that character......

[Capt.Montoya]

I liked "Scarlet Spider" and the idea of what he was supposed to be... until they decided to show he wasn't and the other one was.
I stopped reading, not long after another character that really wasn't died.
So I wasn't reading when they brought back the non-clone and revealed the dead relative to be a clone.
Trying not to be too spoilery, I think those that know that story will know what I mean.

The hints on Spidey's future suit and storyline are interesting, who knows if they'll ever come to fruition or just be another dead end to be erased by editorial decision.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

My wife and I bought the UK Collector's Edition "Astonishing Spider-Man" for a while, which included a lengthy story concerning Spider-Man actually being a guy called Ben Reilly, who was really the genuine Peter Parker, and some other guy called Peter Parker who was a clone.

Is that what you're talking about here?

Myself, I'm more intrigued about those hints he 's been dropping about Spidey's future from that flashforward in issue #500 to the offhand bit recently where the police detective asking the police scientist to analyze a bit of the webbing...

And, of course, that bit where the super-hero tailor handed him a design for a new suit, which looked awfully familiar ...

[CRONAN]

Yes, Ben Riley is the Scarlet Spider. You can run a search on google to find out more, but only if you want spoilers.

Yeah, I thought he was cool too.

[CaptainStacy]

Well, glad to see i'm in good company, age-wise. I was around for the Death Of Gwen Stacy too, although too young to really appreciate it until much later...i think Straz' current storyline is riveting, and ballsy as hell.

I'm loving every minute of it.

[Jan]

Originally posted by CaptainStacy
Well, glad to see i'm in good company, age-wise. I was around for the Death Of Gwen Stacy too, although too young to really appreciate it until much later...i think Straz' current storyline is riveting, and ballsy as hell.

I'm loving every minute of it.

"I, too, was there when Gwen Stacy died. Nothing was the same anymore..." Actually, that's true. It was the first time I saw somebody make a real change and kill off an established main (sorta) character.

I'm enjoying the story a lot, too. Can't wait to see where this development will take Peter. 'Bout time Gwen came off the pedestal.

Jan

[Capt.Montoya]

I read the death of Gwen Stacy in the translated Mexican reprint in the 80s as said above, and also had to grow up to realize and appreciate all it meant.
But it's one of the things that made me a fan of the Spider Man comics: they had the balls to kill an important character and do something that would affect the main character irrevocably. It was handled in a "realistic" way, with repercussions to come for years.
Sadly the success of such a major change may have led to having shocking changes and revelations for their own sake, without thought to consequences... the clone saga would be an example.
I read an unofficial book about Spider Man, published around the time of the first movie, which stated that they made that in a misguided attempt to "go back to the roots" of Spider Man as a loner, moving Peter Parker and Mary Jane away, without realizing that the evolution of the character and his relationship with MJ had become essential... whatever they were thinking they made a big mistake, I'm glad they undid most of it.

What I've seen JMS doing and how it bears on the Gwen Stacy story is commendable IMO. The way he moved MJ out of the picture for a while was also well done.

The recent archived posts mention an interview, it's shock full of SPOILERS, here's the link:

http://www.fanboyplanet.com/interviews/mc-jms1.php

Did I mention it's shock full of spoilers if you haven't read the comics?