Reflections on March 1st Buys #1

Starting it off with Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5, my first question is, when a person with red hair reaches senescence (old age), what color does their hair typically turn?

I'm looking at the ending scenes of the issue, the confrontation between "Spider-Man is stalking me" Woman and Spidey's Widow. Most of the time, the widow's hair is just gray, but there are a couple of panels where it's blondish, just a little darker than the hair Vanna had at the start of the issue. Which of course, set off my panic button. "Holy crap, that's not Mary Jane! They're going to have them break up! Please tell me he didn't wind up with Gwen Stacy's daughter, who happens to look just like Gwen!" OK, so I'm overreacting to what was probably a colorist error, what of it? I've heard things about Quesada. That he doesn't think Peter should be married. And after House of M, I'm a little concerned.

Between Peter realizing his "perfect" life is with Gwen Stacy and not Mary Jane, his "death" and what happened in the hospital just prior to it, and this blood oath with Stark (which I think MJ has more misgivings about than Peter. She doesn't seem to trust Stark as much as Peter does, which I figure could be traced back to the problems with her father. Peter may gravitate towards father figures, I think MJ tends to distrust them. Which is the right instinct here), there seems like there's going to be more stress than normal in the Parker family. Even with Aunt May's influence, this could get rocky. I can even see Peter and MJ getting into it over whether to stay at Stark Tower (Peter) or get their own place (Mary Jane and Aunt May).

Granted, they've tried to get rid of Mary Jane before, with a airplane disaster, and before JMS came to Amazing Spider-Man they sent her to Los Angeles. Ultimately, I'd say fan response overrode both, and she was back. But Joey Q strikes me as a stubborn man. If he wants Mary Jane gone, I doubt he'll stop trying.

Or maybe I'm nuts.

Free-for-all #2 - Comic thoughts

Just a few thoughts on the books I bought this week:

I really want to know the circumstances between Wolverine (hereafter referred to as some form of James Howlett) and Bucky. Why would Bucky kill James' loved ones? Besides the obvious explanation that he's actually the Bucky from the Ultimate Universe, so his role model was the jerk that calls himself Captain America in that universe. Which means the Bucky in the Ultimate Universe may be the Marvel version. Because he's old, he can't tell this isn't the same Cap he worked with during WW2.

Seriously though, I am interested, I just wish it hadn't taken Way four parts of a five part story to accomplish that.

I think that Ultimate Peter Parker's life is difficult enough without Nick Fury actively trying to make it worse, to "test" him. I think what's going to happen is, that Fury is going to unleash those "Slayers" he confiscated (I mean, liberated) on Peter, and simultaneously use that genetic paralyzer S.H.I.E.L.D. has on Peter, to block his powers, to really put Pete through the wringer. Good thing he'll have Spider-Gir. . . I'm sorry, I can't call her that. She's Shadowcat. Period.

This could wind up being like that story Larsen did, when Peter asked to have his powers removed, but then his enemies kept causing trouble, so Peter wound up trying to fight the Scorpion without powers.

I'm still not sure why we're seeing so much of the Squadron Supreme these days, regardless of incarnation. Is this supposed to be Marvel's version of the Pocket Dimension?

Should I just assume we're never going to see Peter use his "new" powers for as long as he has this spiffy armor? Or should I just assume we're never going to see Peter use his "new" powers ever again, thus making "The Other" a complete waste of four months?

Things I Think About #20

Back when Straczynski first started on Amazing Spider-Man, I thought I knew how his first story was going to go. Ezekiel had been telling Peter all this stuff about how he was a totem, and Morlun was a predator that hunted totems, and there was no way that Peter could beat him. And I was sure I knew what would happen. Peter would have to team up with another totem. And it'd be the Puma.

Now granted, when Ezekiel was telling Peter all this stuff, he told Pete that all these animal-themed villains were 'wannabe' totems, and he made a mention of "cougars", which I guess meant the Puma. But I figured, how could the guy not be a totem? Thomas Fireheart's the product of a specific breeding line, combined with mystical. . . stuff. That sounded like someone who should be a totem to me. Of course, it's more likely that he's like Ezekiel, and he took the power when he wasn't supposed to have it. I wonder if that means there is a creature made out of hundreds of mountain lions somewhere in the Marvel Universe. On second thought, I don't think I wonder about that at all.

I only bring this up because Puma will be appearing in Sensational Spider-Man in a couple of months (too bad I won't be buying it) and it got me thinking about him.

He seemed like such a weird character. Native American, who doesn't seem all that interested in his heritage, quietly expressed contempt for it a few times, but still accepts his supposed role as protector of his tribe.

He's rich as hell, owns his own company, yet his first introduction in comics was as an assassin for hire. Why would he need to do that? Kicks and giggles?

He was capable of going into berserk rages Wolverine would be proud of, which seem to have increased in strength and occurence over time (which might be a sign that he wasn't supposed to have this power), but he's still deeply concerned with honor. Probably from that time he spent in Japan (I think until New Avengers, Spider-Man may have been the only character in the Marvel U. who hadn't been there. I'm only half-joking.)

Honor meant so much to him that he bought the Daily Bugle and turned it into a completely pro-Spidey paper, even sending Jameson packing, to make amends to Spider-Man for the past hardships he caused. Yet, he wouldn't hesitate to claw Spidey's face up if he believed that Parker had shown that he wasn't worthy of that.

I'd say ultimately he was a victim of overuse in the '90s (which is a pretty common happenstance), and that they kept making him more and more vicious. He became more about just clawing people up, and less about any real reason. At least when he appeared in Wolverine a few years back, he explained that the "puma" was stronger and making him participate in things like the tournament Logan was in. I'm not sure how great of an explanation that is, but at least it was something, besides just "I can't stand being in your debt anymore Parker! I must KILL YOU!!" They did they same thing with the Lizard. He stopped trying to kill all the mammals so reptiles could rule the world, and just turned into a mindless killing machine. I guess you gotta try new stuff, but I think they went to that particular well a few too many times. I mean that takes a lot of the personality out of the character, you know?

Character Archetypes #1: Peter Parker

If you're like me, there are probably certain types of characters you gravitate towards. For whatever reason, their stories interest you, moreso than other characters'. I thought I'd do a few posts about the different types that appeal to me. In this case, I'm probably going to be combining American comics with anime/manga, as I've seen some carryover.

So it only seemed natural to start with my favorite character of all: Spider-Man. What you see here is the cover to the first Spider-Man book I ever read. I'll be honest, my original reason for liking Spider-Man was twofold. One, like Scipio alluded to in his post on Sunday, Spider-Man has an incredible variety of powers. He's not the fastest, strongest, smartest, but the combination of all his powers and skills means he has a chance against just about anybody. Second, that black costume just looked so damn cool. I thought it would be totally awesome, to be hiding in the shadows, up on the ceiling, then just drop down, scare somebody. Plus, Spidey was a bit of a smart aleck, which I readily identify with, being one myself.

This was actually a really good place to jump on because the next part of the story, the Beyonder pretty much lays it all out for you with regards to Peter Parker, the person. He worries, he ties himself up in knots over stuff that wasn't his fault, things he couldn't control, but at the end of the day, he thinks things are going to be alright, and if he can, he's going to help make things that way. That just seemed very unusual to me, as the only comics I'd read before that were my dad's Supermans and Batmans from the '60s. And I had never seen those people struggle with money, or have to repaint their home because some punks burned it up. And they almost never seemed to doubt themselves. On the rare occasions they did, it was something an enemy was doing to them, and it was over by the end of the issue, when they defeated the villain. So Peter, who often had real-life problems, seemed that much more approachable to a five-year old.

Yeah, he stopped the Beyonder from destroying everything, or the Puma from killing an innocent person, but he didn't get any pictures, which means his rent will be late, which means he's in trouble. Since then, I always seem to gravitate towards characters with those sorts of problems (it helps if they look cool or have cool powers).

Speedball was a goofy kid, one with seemingly academic talent, but no real desire to use it. Stuck in the middle of a couple of parents who seemed to constantly fight. Kyle Rayner was just a guy that got handed this awesome weapon, and was told to help save the universe. Plus the whole thing with his love life (well-documented elsewhere). Hey no pressure. Darkhawk (who looked Very cool) was stuck in a single parent household, with a father who had vanished under odd circumstances. Like Peter, he was trying to help the family, unlike Peter, he had the additional strain of younger siblings to watch out for. Tim Drake, who wasn't wearing the shorts, who had a cool staff, was dating, was trying to keep an eye on an injured father, and at the time his ongoing started, was working with an armored up lunatic that called himself Batman (I think it's kind of funny that Batman seems to have moved a lot closer to what Jean Paul was doing, which was part of why Bruce took the title back). The Ray (who looked VERY damn cool), who had been trapped inside his whole life, then finds out he has powers, then his dad pops up as a 'ghost', and tells him he has to be a hero. And now Ray has to adjust to trying to have a real life outdoors, with jobs and bills, and the fact he hasn't ever really known anything about his life.

Ultimately, I guess the common denominator is they're all close to my age (or closer than the Tony Starks and Bruce Waynes), and they all had problems that I could easily envision both interfering with attempts to be a hero, and that wouldn't be easily resolved because of the superhero aspect.

I don't suppose that's anything all that surprising or unique, seeing as that was the whole idea that Kirby, Lee, Ditko, etc., were going for with Spider-Man, make him accessible to young readers, but I did want to start with an easy one.

Dynastic Centerpiece Revisted - The Other Side

After all, what's a hero without a villain? And Spider-Man has one of the best collections of enemies around (I'd say only the Flash and Batman can compare, especially when it comes to variety). I'm thinking this is a sort of what I'd like to see, and this wouldn't be all the enemies he'd be dealing with, just his most frequent combatants. Oh well, at least it's a distraction from the Broncos being destroyed.

Arch Enemy - Norman Osborn, aka Green Goblin. Blame the writers, who've decided Osborn is responsible for practically everything that's gone wrong in Peter's life since he put on the mask. Norman killed Gwen, his intensity drove his son, Harry, to drugs and later to trying to kill Peter as the new Green Goblin. He was behind the whole clone saga, and Aunt May's apparent death (twice!). Knows Peter better than any other villain, and because he dons the weird outfits as well, may understand Peter even better than Aunt May or Mary Jane. As such, has the ability to get under Peter's skin, emotionally wound him in ways that could drive Peter to the brink, and it's kind of fun watching Norman try. Plus with his resources, can strike at as Norman Osborn, leaving Peter without much recourse. In essence, osborn could be Arch-Enemy, Civilian Foe,and Untouchable Crime Lord, were the writers inclined to go that way. Plus, he's batshit crazy (whatever that means), so he could probably fit in the next category.

Lunatic - But it's not all about Norman Osborn, no matter how hard thw writers may try to convince us. So, Vermin. Crazy, lives in the sewers, can control rats, seems to be able to bring out fear and paranoia in others, oh yeah, he eats people! And somewhere inside is an innocent man who got mutated by Baron Zemo. Actually, Edward was back to normal for awhile, but that never lasts. Or, the Lizard, bonus points for Curt Connors being Peter's friend.

Heroworshipping Villain - Cardiac. Ok he straddles the line between hero and villain, but he has no problem with killing people he feels harm others for their own benefit. I can't remember too much backstory, but his brother was sick, and a company decided it wasn't yet cost-effective to provide the cure, so his brother died. So Elias focuses on things such as that.
And this is a guy willing to replace his heart with a beta-particle reactor, so that he channel energy through his staff, and you know, blast people. He kills, but like the Punisher can be fairly precise. It's the suits he takes out; security guards may get stunned, but they live. He admitted to looking up to Spider-Man, that Spidey was the example who convinced him to go this path.

Civilian Enemy - J. Jonah Jameson. He's not actually evil, just a man with questions, doubts, and fears about a man who swings on a web, fighting freaks with four metal tentacles. How unreasonable. Still, I actually thought about putting him in the next category as Spider-Man once joked Jonah's spent millions funding the creation of villains to destroy Spider-Man. Spencer Smythe's Spider-Slayers, the Scorpion, the Human Fly. Throw in that he's Peter's fairly stingy employer, and his ability to make Peter's entire life difficult increases. But he's most effective with his headlines, making people question Spidey's motives. And as JJJ once pointed out, it'd be a lot easier to trust Peter if he stopped hiding behind a mask. Of course it would open a whole host of new problems for the webslinger, but that's not Jameson's problem. .

Untouchable Crime Lord - See how Jameson would have fit? Peter can't just punch him out, although he does enjoy webbing Jonah's mouth shut. So the best option would obviously be Kingpin, and even though he started in Amazing Spider-Man, he's a Daredevil foe now, kind of like how Wendigo was in Incredible Hulk, but now he only seems to fight Wolverine. Anyway, I'm going to diverge and suggest two possibilities: Alistar Smythe and Arcade. Each one has vast technical know-how. This would give them an edge over standard gangs, enabling them to beat those guys, and then incorporate them. Smythe could try passing himself off as a scientist (which would be a switch from the standard crime lord, that is always a businessman). As for Arcade, well his family was loaded, so I'm sure there are some old connections from before Arcade killed his father that he could exploit to protect himself. Plus I always just though Arcade was kind of cool, and a guy that smart wouldn't have to keep luring people to his place. He could figure out how to send his traps out after the targets, while staying safely hidden away. I thought about Chameleon, but it's been done before, and I think his brain is pretty fried. I think the last time I saw him, he was professing love for Spidey. I mean love love. Whoa.

Magician - Mysterio, well he's an illusionist at least, as well as a damn poor dresser. At least he doesn't have a bare midriff. OK, moving on, well he's kind of nuts, and he's just something a little different, for when the writer wants to take a lot of drugs, and then write the issue. Call up the colorist: "More colors man! More vivid! Bring me Hostess Fruit Pies! I need to stop that alien! (if you remember the ads from comics in the 80s or earlier, you know what I mean)" Awesome. Down side, he might be dead. But wait! It was all an illusion! Hooray! Anyway, we need more villains in giant fishbowls. it's just so goofy, and yet Mysterio is so determined to be taken seriously, he could be quite dangerous.

Evil Opposite - Venom. sigh. Well, it was either him, the Spider-Doppelganger (stupid Infinity War), or Carnage (one go-round with him was enough), unless I shift Kaine back to being a villain instead of a Black Sheep. Hmm. Anyway, Venom would be used VERY sparingly. We're talking once every 50 issues, tops. We are not going back to the days when he showed up for 3 issues out of every 15 in Amazing Spider-Man. I think he could be somewhat like the Lizard in that Eddie Brock is going to try to go back to a normal life, but he can't get rid of the symbiote (obviously we're not doing the "Eddie dies of cancer and sells the symbiote" story Jenkins started and Millar finished). Sometimes he might help Peter, sometimes not. Most of the time I think he would falter, and Peter might have to help him back on the path. It'd be more talking, less punching, which is something Paul jenkins does pretty well.

Femme Fatale - This is hard. I'm kind of defining this as "villain the hero has trouble fighting, because he wants to get with her." So I guess, if I change Romantic Interest to Mary Jane, I could move Felicia Hardy back into a sort of grey area. There was one story with Typhoid Mary, nah, let's leave her to Daredevil. Other than that, the female Doc Ock? No. Shriek? Hell no! Titania? Uhh, a bit large. Silver Sable, as a less friendly mercenary? Maybe. Sable always used to take the contracts to support the economy of her home country. That's got to be expensive, so it would figure she couldn't always be choosy and might have to go after Spider-Man. Or maybe she's after Felicia, and Peter gets in the middle.

Mental Challenger - Doctor Octopus. Had to fit him in somewhere. Smart, has tentacles that are fast and strong, and can be upgraded. Seems to have a personality disorder, where sometimes he wants to make big money through theft or development of something destructive. Other times he just wants to kill lots of people. Still other times he just wants to kill Spidey. Maybe he should have a personality disorder, then each time Peter has to figure which side he's dealing with. Each one could approach fighting Spider-Man differently, if they even cared to. Plus, the dude tried to marry Aunt May, resulting in the hilarious moment of her trying to shoot her nephew, only she doesn'y know it because he's dressed in his spider-costume. Well, hilarious for the reader maybe. Kind of sad for Aunt May. Her romances never work out. I guess Jarvis will turn out to be a Skrull, or Lord of the Zombies or something.

Physical Challenger - Morlun. Damn, he was perfect the first time. It makes sense from a biological standpoint in that he's designed to hunt a specific kind of prey, and Spider-Man's it. He's strong, surprisingly fast, and can take everything Peter throws at him. However, I think he's best if used sparingly, like maybe Peter has to enlist the aid of other totems to truly finish him off (remember, I'm doing this as if it's well before 'The Other', so that isn't going to occur). So on a more regular basis, the Scorpion. Faster and stronger than Spider-Man, but much, much dumber, so clearly a physical challenge. The Lizard and the Rhino could probably land here too.

Things I Think About #11

Why is Watchmen regarded as such a great piece of work? I'm not criticizing it, as I've never read it, just curious.

Is Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers in continuity with the rest of DC, or is it like All-Star Superman, off in it's own little world?

What was the reason for leaving Earth-2 Lois and Superman, Superboy, and Alex Luthor alive in a pocket dimension? Was there some reason why they had to survive the Crisis outside of the universe?

That being said, I believe one of them is going to die in each of the remaining issues of Infinite Crisis. We lost Superboy in #4, I think Lois will die on the 2nd page of #5, because it turns out that getting back to Earth-2 doesn't help when you're like 900 years old. This leads to Old-Superman going after current Superman in a grief-stricken rage, before realizing he's been used by Luthor. He'll die in #6 against Alex, before Alex gets taken out in #7, by Donna Troy and Jade. Naturally they will perish in the process. The grief of losing two more girlfriends causes Kyle Rayner to lose it and don the mask to become Ion, the Avenging Green Lantern!

And why the hell would Peter Parker let Tony Stark design his new costume? Why not Reed Richards? Tony Stark builds armor for people who lack powers. Reed Richards builds uniforms for people with powers, so the uniforms work with the powers, such as being able to stretch, or resist high temperatures, etc.

Or Peter could just, you know, keep the same costume he has now.

Taking a Page From Marvel, I Will Now Steal a DC Blogs Idea!

First off, posting may become more erratic starting tomorrow. The semester is kicking off, and I'm not sure yet whether it'll affect my posting. Hopefully, I'll keep up a 1 post per day pace, at least.

Anyway, if you go to Absorbascon, and go to Scipio's earliest posts (March 27, 2004) he has some posts on what he calls Dynastic Centerpieces. He gives a few examples of DC rebuilding them (Green Lantern), and makes some of his own (Black Canary, Martian Manhunter). I figured I'd give it a try with at least some Marvel characters, starting with the one I know best, Spider-Man! Let's say this is the set up for Straczynski as he comes onto Amazing Spider-Man and Paul Jenkins is still writing Peter Parker Spider-Man. JMS can still go mystical, but this gives me plenty of time to prevent "The Other" and hopefully the organic web-shooters Peter got in "Disassembled". Mary Jane is not in town. She can be dead, divorced, whatever.

Dynastic Centerpiece - Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, mild-mannered high school science teacher, plus occasional photo journalist work (maybe only during summers, or on weekends).

Junior Counterpart - Johnny Gallo, aka Ricochet. Was given the identity from some old-time hero named the Black Marvel. While I don't know where the costume came from, as Peter still has the one he used in the "Identity Crisis" storyline, the fact remains Johnny has one. He's a mutant possessing superhuman speed, agility and balance, as well as a sort of danger sense. All of which means that in a fight, he would be very similar to Spider-Man in fighting style, with lots of jumping around, hit and run style attacks, using his various throwing disks (his teammate the Hornet made some with boomerang capability, as well as some explosive ones. Hornet is dead, killed by Wolverine, but since Spidey appears to be buddies Stark, he can probably get him to make more. It's better than the new costume Tony made for Spidey. What an eyesore). Personality wise, Johnny is a lot like Peter, very jokey, and full of nervous energy. Peter would probably be good for calming him down.

Female Version - Anya Corazon, aka Arana. I'm not too knowledgable on her. Has some similar powers to Spidey, though she seems to also grow an armored carapace. Powers are mystical in nature. Works for some group called the Webcorps, which could have some relation to Ezekial and his company, or just be a similar group. Is in conflict with the Sisterhood of the Wasp, leading to speculation they are related to Shathra, the wasp creature that came after Peter with plans to use him as food for her babies. She seems to go a bit berserk at times, so she's probably too out of control to work with Peter frequently, not to mention her handlers might now encourage his presence. Still, given they both have problems with mystical things, a sometime partnership might be good. Plus she's a high school student, maybe at Peter's school? Too much coincidence?

Kid Sidekick - Mattie Franklin, aka Spider-Woman 3. Gained power by taking part in Norman Osborn's 'Gathering of the Five'. Has super-strength, agility, can fly. Can form weird psionic spider-legs. From what I've seen, not as violent as Arana, actually tried to take over for Spider-Man when Peter had given up the webs for awhile. Has worked with him successfully before.

Black Sheep - Kaine, aka the first Spider-Man clone. Stronger than Spidey, with an adhesive ability strong enough to scar people, as well as a spider-sense heightened to the level of giving him flashes of the future. He's also mildly psychotic, but if Spider-Girl is any indication, capable of being a good guy, albeit a bit of a violent one. Probably not someone Peter would work with often, but he'd at least be aware of him.

Civilian Companion - Randy Robertson. Son of Joe "Robbie" Robertson, he was Peter's rommate during the Howard Mackie written "Mary Jane is dead" time before Straczynski came onto Amazing. Provides a tie-in to Peter's work at the Bugle. If you want someone new, there was a teacher in Peter Parker Spider-Man that Peter talked in a couple of storylines.

Elder Statesman - Option 1: Madame Web, powerful psychic, rejuvenated to a younger age by Norman Osborn's 'Gathering of the Five'. Assisted and was assisted by Spider-Man in the past. Has been a mentor to Mattie Franklin. Option 2: Arthur Stacy, brother of George Stacy, uncle of Gwen Stacy, Peter's love prior to Mary Jane. Just like George Stacy was a good enough cop to figure out who was under the Spidey mask, Arthur was in SHIELD. I'm sure he has access to all sorts of intel on Webs. Would keep Spider-Man more grounded in the Peter side of things than Madame Web.

Animal Companion - This smelly cat. Peter found it right before JMS came on board, defended it from some men who were after it for unknown reasons, and the cat bonded with Peter, or at least decided to use Peter as protection (cats are evil like that). I'd have at least liked to have found out what the deal with it was. Oh, yeah it's smelly. Or we could go with Kevin, the piece of cheese Peter was keeping in his fridge, that apparently developed low-level sentience.

Authority Figure - At the Bugle, let's say Robbie Robertson, give Peter a more friendly boss than ol' JJ. Could function as the civilian who knows his identity, if we go with Madame Web instead of Arthur. Robbie's smart; with all the thousands of Spider-Man photos Peter's shot, plus the odd bruises, there is NO WAY Robbie hasn't put two and two together. At school, the principal, I can't remember if they were ever named. In his personal life, I suppose Aunt May, who should definitely still know Peter is Spider-Man. It's much better than her not knowing and hating Spidey (Bendis whiffed on that in Ultimate I feel)

Romantic Interest - Well, I guess it almost has to be Mary Jane. But if we've gone back to Peter being roomies with Randy, that would mean MJ isn't there, so let's bring in Felicia Hardy. She's still interested in Peter, I believe he still likes her, but is too faithful to MJ to consider anything. But if MJ is out of the way (which is what some people believe Quesada is pushing for from House of M and The Other), why not Ms. Hardy? She could watch his back out in the field.

Contextualizing City - Look, it's New York alright? I thought about moving him to Chicago, another city with enough skyscrapers for web-swinging, but I think it's probably too windy for effective web-slinging. Seattle is too rainy, Peter isn't an angry enough person for Philly (I base that strictly off their sports fans). He doesn't strike me as a SoCal kind of guy.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you have people you think would fit better? If you have a good city for him, by all means. Scipio, if you read this, have I got the right idea here?

Destiny vs. Responsibility: Has JMS's Mysticism Destroyed Spider-Man?

I gotta confess, I kinda like it when my titles look like something you'd see on a dissertation, or at least a master's thesis. Anyway, this isn't about "The Other", so relax. If you remember, I did a post last month, right before Christmas, where I suggested Uncle Ben be reborn as a Green Lantern. At the time, I mentioned that train of thought came from a different inner monologue I was having, related to a discussion at Comics Should Be Good (kelvin probably remembers this), about whether Straczynski's recent stuff tainted his early Amazing Spider-Man. A fellow by the name of Matthew Craig had some opinions on that, which he shared, and I wasn't sure at the time whether I agreed. Here are the comments that stood out the most:

'It's (Spider-Man's story) about determining one's own identity in the face of the realization that the world is a cold and potentially dangerous place that might try to decide things for you. The World! Not a MYSTICAL SPIDER-GOD.'

Also:

'If it (Peter getting bitten and receiving the powers) was meant to be, how is it a story about a fairly ordinary guy like the rest of us. If Uncle Ben was meant to die and the ability to save him taken out of his hands by Destiny, how can it be Peter's responsibility?'

So, is Mr. Craig right? Has Straczynski taken control out of Peter's hands, and in the process destroyed part of the core character? I went to Amazing Spider-Man #507 for some help. In the issue, Peter meets a roughly eight-foot tall mass of brown spiders called the Gatekeeper. Peter gets bitten several times and falls into a sort of dream state where the Gatekeeper explains things to him, specifically why Peter? A few excerpts:

'There were so many other on that day, in that room, together, there - with the spider.' That's certainly true.

'Because you were a hunter without teeth. You were chosen for your rage.' Ok.

'Why you? Because of all those who were there that day, there was only one hunter.'

Ok, I can see how one could interpret this to mean that it was destined. But here's the phrase I'm seeing: "there was only one hunter." To me that suggests, that on that day, Peter was simply the only qualified candidate present. Maybe it was that spider's job to pick someone to be the 'totem' as Ezekial described it, but there was nothing that said it had to choose that very day. At least not until it got hit with the blast of radiation. At that point, the spider had no time left to search for the person who best exemplified what the spider-god was looking for, so it chose the best out of the limited field it had available. And on that day, in that place, the field of candidates was one: Peter Parker.

And what was the qualifier? That he had rage. Specifically, that all these years Peter has been picked on and bullied, beaten and humiliated, and he's just had to take it, because he's too weak or there were too many of them. He lacked the power to do anything about. Well, I'll be honest, that description could fit any number of other kids in high school, probably millions, worldwide. Hank McCoy, the Beast, was a smart guy. Before his mutation emerged, there's probably a real good chance he got picked on, being a nerd and all. So couldn't he have sufficed? Maybe, maybe not, but it raises - to me at least - the idea that Peter just drew a good (or bad) hand.

So does all this mean it wasn't destined to occur? No, for all we know, a Celestial altered events so that the spider got hit with radiation leaving Peter to get bitten. Different force behind it, same result. But there's no evidence of that. Another thing there isn't any evidence of is that Uncle Ben was destined to die, at that time, anyway. We've got no proof that a spider-god with only enough power to have one true totem (or is it two? Does Arana count?) has sufficient power to twist things so The Burglar would wind up at the Parkers', so that he could shoot Ben. If you start saying that was predestined, then where do you stop? Captain America was destined to be trapped in ice for how ever many years before the Avengers found him. Bruce Wayne's parents were destined to be shot. I suppose it all boils down to how much control you want to believe you (or your comic characters) have over your (their) life.

One other idea: Who says the Gatekeeper is telling the truth? I brought this up in the original discussion, that spiders in mythology are typically tricksters, and when Spidey teamed up with Loki to fight the chaos goddess, Morwen, she states that Peter, not Loki, is the person she wants to enlist, because Spidey 'has much of the trickster in him'. And she's right. Peter does fight evil a lot, but webbing Jameson's pants to his chair? Playing pranks on the Human Torch? Making fun of the Vulture being bald, or those ugly green and yellow outfits Doc Ock used to wear? None of that is what I'd call fighting evil.

The Gatekeeper said Peter was given the power because once he had it, he would never stop fighting to protect those weaker from harm. He would fight to protect them from the evil. I said it in the original discussion, and I say it now: How does a being of chaos benefit from someone fighting evil? Now kelvin pointed out that chaos is not inherently evil, and he's right (and I've played enough D&D to have remembered that), but it isn't inherently good either. So isn't it more likely that the Gatekeeper told Peter what he wanted to hear? To someone like Peter, "We gave you the power because we knew you'd protect the innocent and fight evil" sounds a lot better than "We gave you the power because you will bring more chaos into the world", which is what you figure a being of chaos would actually be striving for. At the time, though Peter didn't know it, Ezekial was planning to sacrifice Peter, in order to save his own hide. But which one better represents what the spider-god would want? Peter fights evil, but does a lot of things that wouldn't be defined as 'good', because he finds it funny. Plus having enemies who want to keep striking back, or keep trying for world domination, introduces different variables into the world at large. Ezekial uses the power with one goal in mind: furthering his own power. Around Peter he pays lip service to trying to start charities and help people, but he moves with a plan, a definite purpose, not chaotic at all. He's like Loki, who for all his talk about being the God of Mischief, is still only interested in one thing: furthering his own power. Sound familar? Loki might occasionally just try to make Thor's life hard, or even aid Thor at times, but in those cases Loki is still just looking out for #1. Like Morwen said, not a true trickster.

So what does all this mean? Probably not too much, in light of the destruction they're wreaking on Spider-Man right now. But I think that there isn't really enough evidence to support the claim that Straczynski destroyed the idea of guilt and responsibility in Spider-Man by venturing into a more mystical realm. Oddly enough, I think JMS had the best way of putting it, during the conclusion of Spidey's first fight with Morlun, where Peter is pummeling Morlun, while wondering where his powers come from: the spider or the radiation? Was it fate, or not? Peter's conclusion: It doesn't matter, he is who he is. He's going to use the powers the way he always has, regardless of their origin, or of the intentions of anyone who may have had a hand in his getting them. Too bad JMS couldn't just leave it at that.

Hopefully, that's coherent. Thanks to samruby.com for having a complete Spider-Man cover archive, so I'd have some art to break up the long and boring text.

Friday Comic Discussion

Yeah, I know I should be working on my "Best of" posts, I swear I'll have another tomorrow. Just got a lot of comics to go through. But, I spent about three fun hours today, talking comics and the like, I wanted to share some of the ideas/questions with you. Plus, I need to do something relaxing, Ninja Gaiden is kicking my butt. Stupid infrequent save points.

In the Inferno storyline, Limbo starts bleeding into the Earth plane. Demons walk the Earth. Where was Doctor Strange?

Nate Summers (Cable) was going to be a sacrifice to permanently merge Limbo and Earth. This seems to give him some sort of mystical connection, why has that never been explored in all the hundreds of books dealing with Cable?

Why do all the X-Men (except Shadowcat) just seem to accept Emma Frost as co-leader of the Institute?

Why would Scott Summers start cheating on Jean with Emma, other than because God of All Comics, Grant Morrison, decided he should? Hell, I don't even like Cyclops, but I respect him enough to know that infidelity isn't his style, other than that time with Psylocke, which was purely physical, and they never actually did anything.

Did Joe Casey leave Uncanny X-Men because he couldn't handle being second fiddle to Morrison's X-Men?

Was the Spider-Man versus Firelord story (Amazing Spider-Man 269-270) a good story or not?

Would it be a good idea to make all of Marvel's 'Malice' characters the same? So instead of Sue Richards developing an alternate personality called Malice from the manipulations of Psycho-Man, it was the result of the same Malice that possessed Polaris.

Was Doctor Strangefate of the Amalgam Universe the most powerful hero of all time?

Why is Wolverine, a character with 12-inch blades that cut anything jutting from his hands, a hero? Shouldn't he be a villain?

Could Doctor Strange beat Zatanna (Clearly this was a Doctor Strange kind of day)?

How funny would it be if Dr. Fate's helmet landed on the kid that picked up the Blue Beetle scarab?

Exactly what kind of lighting is necessary for Tim Sale's art to look good (Prompted by complaints about a Batman figure meant to mimic Sale's art in Batman: The Long Halloween)?

Why hasn't Cable at least offered Wolverine a job in his group, as his personal assassin?

When is Thor coming back?

Why can't Iron Fist join Luke Cage on the New Avengers?

How does the yellow sun reacting with his Kryptonian physiology give Superman four different kinds of super-vision?

At what point did the German word 'uber', which frequently means 'about' (though it can also mean 'above' or 'over') become American slang for, well whatever the hell it means in slang?

Is the word "forte" supposed to be pronounced with the 'e' or not? Hey, we're a highly educational bunch here at Marvels and Legends.

If you have answers to any of these, or just general feedback, well you know how to comment. I'd appreciate any insight you can bring.
The Master of the Mystic Arts thanks you!