I'm cool with it. Quesada must hate his own marriage or something.
Todd Gray | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 1:18 am | #

The comics I bought as a kid had Spider-man already married in them, so I've grown up with that as the character's status quo. And frankly, even as a ten-year-old I didn't have a problem with a married super-hero, and I didn't have any trouble identifying with the character. I suspect the prospect of making Peter Parker a swingin' bachelor with his pick of the wimmins probably tells us more about the kind of guys Marvel wants to pander to than anything else.
Madeley | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 1:50 am | #

And further to Todd Gray's comment above, it does make you wonder if there's an element of personal wish-fulfilment going on with all the marriage hostility.
Madeley | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 1:52 am | #

There seems to be this element of "Young people can't relate to a married Spider-Man and it ruins his appeal!" by Joey Q and John Byrne and his board in their reasoning for why it's bad, but I can tell you that 11-year old me was happy my favourite superhero was getting married back in 1987. And considering my parents had been split up for years by then, a happy marriage seemed like escapism to me. The wedding, at the time, seemed like a logical extention of the stories from MJ revealing she knew Peter was Spidey, the time they spent together in ASM and Web of, and finally the kiss they shared in "Spider-Man vs Wolverine".
Bryan | 09.14.07 - 3:19 am | #

Definitely a straw fire.
Siskoid | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 4:10 am | #

Is the spider clone going to marry the REAL MJ or the one from the newspaper strip? Or what?
Anonymous | 09.14.07 - 4:16 am | #

What if MJ is a spider-clone?
iamza | Email | 09.14.07 - 4:20 am | #

One of the many things that keeps me away from Spidey-books is the constant threat to break up Peter and Mary Jane.
steve | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 4:33 am | #

Maybe MJ's a Skrull too. She and Alicia Masters can start a support group.
Kara Z L | 09.14.07 - 5:00 am | #

I was born in the 80's and the first Spidey I started seeing in comics was with the black suit. I must have been about 5 when the wedding issue came along, and I remember it being a big cool event to me and my cousin. I think it would suck if anything happened to the marriage. I always thought Pete's family life was one of the better things during the 90s issues. I'm still kinda pissed about what happened to the baby in the 90's and that Pete and MJ split up a few years back, so this would be a breaking point for me. I don't even know why the marriage is an issue. Its not whats been making the stories stink so much throughout the past decade or so. The comics just suck, they barely even use any of his rouges gallery anymore. If what I'm really aching for is single kid Spider-Man, there are millions of comics old and new to choose from.
D.B | Email | 09.14.07 - 5:08 am | #

I don't care if he's married or unmarried as long as the stories are good. On the other hand, the only Spider-Man book I read is Ultimate Spider-Man.

Given that book's pace, Peter Parker & MJ won't get married until my grandchildren are collecting social security, so it's a moot point.
Mike Loughlin | Email | 09.14.07 - 5:31 am | #

As far as I'm concerned Spidey jumped the shark back in 1969, and it didn't affect me one iota when they married him to MJ. Hell, I'm surprised they didn't marry him to Fin Fang Foom or something- that's how much of a throw-it-against-the-wall attitude they had back then.

Quesada sounds like he's employing, on a much, much smaller scale, the same type of tactics that the Bush administration used to justify invading Iraq...
Johnny B | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 5:36 am | #

I have yet to figure out just who it is that actively dislikes the marriage. I like it. But I haven't read a Spider-Man comic with any consistancy -- just an issue here and there, and then mostly for Mysterio appearances -- in like 25 years, so I'm not the target audience anyway.
Luke | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 5:39 am | #

Although I'm against the breakup, my advice to Joey the Q is "If you're going to do it, just do it, don't play a flimflam game to justify it. If, as is generally felt, it is based on your own likes and dislikes, 'fess up and take the consequences."
Hell, they own the character and have every right to do what they want with him, but don't try to justify it with manufactured evidence-we get enough of that from our politicians.
Larry E | Email | 09.14.07 - 5:39 am | #

I'm ok with the Spider-Marriage, but one question, and I ask this of you, Mr. Sterling, because you would know:

Was Peter Parker a "playa" before his marriage? Because most of what I remember was, before Gwen Stacy, he seemed to have unrequited, angst-filled relationships.

Like many, I just think Quesada is trying to appeal to the Maxim/FHM crowd, and part of that is "removing" the illusion that marriage is cool.

Plus, there's something rather appropriate about Peter Parker marrying a really smart, attractive woman.
Gordon | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 5:53 am | #

Has there ever been a superhero married to a dumb, unattractive woman?
Joe S. Walker | 09.14.07 - 6:03 am | #

I've never had a problem with the marriage--hell, I even attended it back in '87, when Stan the Man officiated over the ceremony at home plate at Shea Stadium! The fact that night happened to be Dwight "Doc" Gooden's return to the Mets from drug rehab to pitch a winning game made it an even better occasion.

The Hulk as best man, Spider-Woman as maid of honor, and the air filled with paper airplanes made from the pages fans tore from all the free copies of the Spidey Annual wedding issue that were handed out to attendees--what a night!
sroman | 09.14.07 - 6:21 am | #

Of course fanboys are going to be upset at this one way or the other. It's either not realistic that a science geek can get a super-model wife, or because they simply want to marry Mary Jane themselves.
joncormier | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 6:22 am | #

I don't care if Peter's married. I don't like the character he's married to, but that's about it.
Cullen | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 6:23 am | #

Has there ever been a superhero married to a dumb, unattractive woman?

Ralph Dibny.

(Sometimes I say things just to get a reaction.)
Kevin Church | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 6:31 am | #

I'm fine with the marriage -- I'm not certain why Peter *dating* a model necessarily makes him any more relatable to the average teenage nerd at home (and really, Spidey hasn't come across as much of a nerd himself since the early 60s).

And if we were to make a list of the reasons kids aren't buying non-Adventures/non-Ultimate Spider-Man comics, I'm not sure "the character is married" would even be in the top ten.
Steve | Email | 09.14.07 - 6:59 am | #

"Quesada sounds like he's employing, on a much, much smaller scale, the same type of tactics that the Bush administration used to justify invading Iraq..."

Well, we do know that Peter's jizz is a WMD...
Jon H | Email | 09.14.07 - 7:00 am | #

joncormier wrote: "It's either not realistic that a science geek can get a super-model wife"

This may be the exception that proves the rule, but supermodel Carmen Kass is dating German chess grandmaster Eric Lobron.

Then again, Kass is no MJ - she's apparently a top chess player herself and she ran for a place in the Estonian parliament.
Jon H | Email | 09.14.07 - 7:07 am | #

I started reading Spider-Man in the sixties, so for me Peter Parker was always growing and changing. It's what set him apart from DC characters, who were mired in Silver Age goofy at this point. He went from High School to College; from dating to being in love; etc. Getting married was the next step. It would have been nice to see Peter have kids, for better or worse.

But I had actually stopped reading Spidey by that point. He had entered his own Silver Age; over-exposed, stalled in time and facing increasing ridiculous plots and villains.

At the time, I thought Peter getting married was a bad idea, but I didn't get worked up about it. I won't get too worked up if they kill Mary Jane, though I'd rather have seen her divorce him because she thinks he's banging Spider-Woman, which he totally is.

I prefer teenaged unmarried Spider-Man, but as you point out, I have Ultimate and Loves Mary Jane for that.
The Mutt | Email | 09.14.07 - 7:32 am | #

Me? I'm just appreciating the irony that the man who seems to have made "HOMOS SUX" into an actual editorial policy is also anti-straight marriage...although, like other people have pointed out, it would be consistent with a frat boy mentality.

I never regularly read the book, but I always liked the idea of a character that "grew" with the audience. The transparent attempts to keep him in a certain rut - such as by making him a teacher - always struck me as lazy and counterproductive storytelling.
Chad | Email | 09.14.07 - 7:33 am | #

No controversy here. Peter marrying Mary Jane was, I thought, one of the few good moves of the time. The guy had to hit the jackpot again, after all the crap Marvel put him through.
Jason | Email | 09.14.07 - 8:02 am | #

I don't buy or read Spider-Books, so I don't really have a dog in this race. The Spidey I know is based more on the cartoons, where he was always in college and always single. But I don't think that has to be the only way the character is depicted.

But anything that Mr. Quesada is for I usually find myself against.
Jeff Rients | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 8:03 am | #

I have always liked the idea of Spider-Man's marriage and sometimes the eecution of it. Undoing it strikes me as pathetic in very much the way that the euphoric rush to restore Hal Jordan does. When something's been around for twenty years, maybe it's time to accept it and figure out how to use it well.
Bruce Baugh | Email | 09.14.07 - 8:04 am | #

I liked that he was married, and would regret it if he and MJ split, but don't have a vested interest.
Roger Green | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 8:17 am | #

I donb't care about Spider-Man anymore so I could care less if he's married. I stoped reading Spiey regularly in the eighties. The little bit I get in Avengers or the movies is more than enough.

It does sound as if this is amade up issue by Quesada.
lankyguy | Email | 09.14.07 - 8:21 am | #

I've always gotten the feeling whenever I read him talking about it that Joe's mixed up Spider-man with Superman here. In the latter case, there were and are plenty of complaints about the marriage (justified or not). In the former, not so much.
Jonathan Miller | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 8:26 am | #

Remember the hilarious attempts to make Peter and MJ more appealing to the youngsters of today by hammering home just how young they themselves were? Every time they'd talk, the word "young" came up about every fifth word.

"We're so young!"

"We got married so young!"

"So much happened to us so young, in our youth, trapped by youngification in the youthocity of our youthiness!"

Peter Parker dating again? Heh. The dodge of the bad writer. "I could explore the depths and meanings of what's been established, and find something new to say...or I could repeat myself but with rotating characters! HA! That's it! I am a genius!"
Harvey Jerkwater | Email | 09.14.07 - 8:39 am | #

Granted, I actually have kept to my vow to quit the funnybooks since Civil War, so I'm no longer a realistic piece of the consumer populace, but I liked Spidey being married, and always have.

I find it odd that, considering just how much Marvel has pushed the basic "Peter and Mary-Jane" mythology in the past decade or so (replacing Gwen Stacy with MJ in Ultimate, starting "Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane," etc.) that same editorial team would be hellbent on getting rid of that relationship in the normal Marvel Universe...

-E
Eric Scott | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 8:41 am | #

I didn't even start reading Spider-Man until years after he got married, so it's always just been the status quo to me. When reading old, unmarried Spidey stories (like in the Essentials), it seems off to me.

Additionally, comics in general really seem to have moved past the whole secret identity thing. Are there any stories really fueled by "Oh no, I can't let my girlfriend find out about my double life!" thing anymore? Even the characters that still have them don't act like they give a damn about them (re: JLoA, most DC comics).

And like you said, with all those different marital status comics out there--Ultimate, Marvel Adventures, SMLMJ, Spider-Man Family, old reprints--it's not like threre's nor room for stories of Spider-Man dating anymore.
caleb | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 8:43 am | #

I'll be fine with Mr. Quesada undoing the Spider-Marriage as long as MJ winds up stuffed into a refrigerator.

-- SCAM
so-called "Austin Mayor" | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 8:52 am | #

I didn't like the idea of Spider-Man getting married, and actually backed up that disgruntlement by ceasing to read it around that point; I think the last issue I bought featured them on their honeymoon--there was something to do with the Puma... Anyways, I just think marriage cuts out a possible dimension to a super-hero's ongoing adventures--his romantic story is now wrapped up.
jsuperfecta | 09.14.07 - 9:34 am | #

I STILL have to wonder if it all isn't one of JoeyQ's (in)famous reverse-psychology attempts.

Y'know... he trash-talks a "bad" (or badly selling) character, says they're going to be killed, but they're really just feeding the fan-frenzy-machine to WANT THAT CHARACTER!

Then, they revamp the character and re-release him to the drooling masses.

Maybe MJ isn't going anywhere!?
Maybe it's just smoke and mirrors to get interest in the Spidey-books post JMS?

The only thing that they would NEVER do is let that Spider-baby EVER, EVER appear again.

While, I'm old enough to have read non-married Spidey, the ONLY problem that I have with the marriage is that she's SMOKIN' HOT and a FAMOUS SUPERMODEL, cum-ACTRESS (no smutty comments on the "cum" please), and that during the time that they were on the run from Iron-Man they took all their SAVINGS from their accounts and it was MORE than a thousand bucks.

Spidey can be married all he wants, but the relatability-factor should be:
- she's pretty (not a supermodel)
and
- they're not well-off (a poor Spidey-couple is FAR more realistic and we can all relate more to a guy who isn't successful, even though he does all the right things and is a good guy).

Thats's JUST my 2cents.

Your mileage...yaddayadda...



~P~
P-TOR
SanctumSanctorumComix | Email | 09.14.07 - 9:53 am | #

I will actually be outraged if/when they break up Peter and MJ. No. No, no, no. Bad, Joey Q. I have always loved their marriage.
Scott | Email | 09.14.07 - 10:01 am | #

I acutally think it's a good thing, it adds a facet to the character and makes him more complex. Plus, they have Ultimate Spidey as the "swining-single" Spidey anyway. I thought that was one of the reasons for the Ult. Universe, that, and for it to be free of crippling continuity...which it's full of, but that's another rant.

The Joe Q's talk of "controversy" about Peter Parker's marriage reminds me of Pres. Bush's talk of "successes" in Iraq.
Jason | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 10:07 am | #

Quesada is a huckster from the Stan Lee School of Hucksterism. It would seem that he's trying to stir up controversy/interest/excitement where there is none. Anecdotal evidence seems to point to most fans ranging from "indifferent" to "like it" on the How Do You Feel About the Spidey-MJ Marriage? continuum. So right now it looks like a complete "straw man" but as any politician worth his salt knows, if you repeat a thing enough times, it will become true.

That said, if the marriage breaks up and they can justify it editorially (which is to say, spin a good yarn from it), I think it could be interesting. But I'm not confident that Marvel Editorial will handle it well. At all.
philip | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 10:41 am | #

I started reading Spidey comics towards the end of the clone saga, and personally had no issues with the marriage, nor the baby that was expected at the time.

But that's the problem with totally ongoing comics. For a while they go somewhere and things develop. Then at some point the powers that be decide that they should return to the way things used to be.

And generally the methods by which they do this always come across as somewhat contrived...take the resurrection of Doc Ock for instance. The return of Aunt May for another.

That being said I did enjoy the return of the original Green Goblin, so occasionally they can return to the status quo with an good storyline. Time will tel if this is one of those times I guess.
Peter | Email | 09.14.07 - 12:02 pm | #

Eh - most of the people I hear who get fired up over the "married Spider-man" thing are comic book CREATORS. Some of them get really mad that "married Spider-man isn't the way Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created the character" and that it should be put back the way it was because there's something fundamentally wrong about him not being a loser in his personal life.

I think they're just upset that they can't keep writing the same stories that Lee and Ditko wrote, like they can with most of the Lee/Kirby books. But then I'm a cynical bastard.
Jer | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 12:20 pm | #

Don't forget, it was Stan Lee who originally married Peter & MJ. He was writing it in the newspaper strip and the comics just followed along.
Pete | Email | 09.14.07 - 1:04 pm | #

This sort of thing wouldn't be an issue if they weren't forced to make the same characters interesting for 40, 50, 60, 70 years.
Ralph | 09.14.07 - 2:42 pm | #

I personally thought that if any major superhero was to get married, Spider-Man was the most appropriate choice to do so. The character is all about the assumption of responsibility, which is what marriage is about as well ... Peter Parker's entire story arc has been one of growing into further responsibilities ... becoming a crimefighter, a teacher, a husband, an Avenger, etc.

To jsuperfecta: Do you truly think marriage "wraps up" someone's romantic story? Seems to me like it just moves it into another phase. Sorry; it just bugs me when people imply that marriage means The End of Romance.
L. David Wheeler | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 4:16 pm | #

"Has there ever been a superhero married to a dumb, unattractive woman?"

If by dumb you mean "stupid" and by attractive you mean "possessed of more appealing and admirable qualities than repulsive shortcomings" the answer to that question is easy.

Movie Superman.

I don't think Spider-Man being married works, but only in that I think the Spider-Man series logically ends somewhere in the 130s or 140s when he decides to let himself be happy with Mary Jane Watson. So my solution of immediately canceling the comic book probably wouldn't get over.

To its credit, it's the longest run of any superhero comic book that makes sense as a sustained story in that it has a rough thematic arc. But it's a pretty good character, and one reason why is that there's sort of a theme to his story.

I'm sure if The Honeymooners kept on being made, and we were in the Hugh Laurie as Ralph Kramden era, a lot of people would still enjoy it and people would have similarly odd discussions about whether or not Ed Norton (George Lopez) really works as the mayor of New York or should get back into the sewers, and people would write in about how they'd only been watching since Ed ran for re-election (in the dark, Gary Burghoff era).
Tom Spurgeon | Email | 09.14.07 - 5:49 pm | #

J.Q. and his writers are running out of ideas for plots, so rather than create new threats/villians they're going to create a domestic issue and drown him in angst.

Prove me wrong, J.Q.
Novice | Email | Homepage | 09.14.07 - 6:02 pm | #

To L. David Wheeler: I do think that; well, not that marriage is the End of Romance, but that it's the End of the Line, dramatically. It's the destination; marriage and death are the two classic endings, aren't they? As Tom Spurgeon suggests above, a fine, satisfying story would have had Spidey marry MJ (or die!) 400 issues ago or whatever, and then that would be it, but since his story will keep running until the end of time, I think he probably shouldn't change his situation or personally develop very much, if at all--he should be developmentally frozen at the height of his reader-story-enjoyment powers.
jsuperfecta | 09.14.07 - 7:42 pm | #

For the most part, the only people who seem to find the marriage controversial are Marvel suits. By my coun this is the third attempt to undo/end it:
1. The Clone Saga
2. MJ's plane crash in ASMv2#13
3. One More Day
Joe Gualtieri | Email | 09.14.07 - 10:08 pm | #

" I do think that; well, not that marriage is the End of Romance, but that it's the End of the Line, dramatically. It's the destination; marriage and death are the two classic endings, aren't they?"

At the risk of opening a political can of worms, a counter example from real life would be Bill and Hillary Clinton.

They've been married quite a while, but there's certainly been no shortage of drama.
Jon H | Email | 09.14.07 - 11:22 pm | #

I wonder if the people who think of marriage as a destination, as the End are married themselves.

I know we're talking about fiction here, but I think it's far more interesting to have a married superhero, with all of his responsibilities and struggles between duties.
Novice | Email | Homepage | 09.15.07 - 5:34 am | #

Has there ever been a superhero married to a dumb, unattractive woman?

Ignore the unattractive - too much wish-fulfilment/ fantasy femme going on. Never married DD, but Karen Page never struck me as terribly smart. And given what's happened since, Vision marrying Wanda may just have been the worst decision of any characters' life-!
Mords | 09.15.07 - 6:18 am | #

Quesada's a punk... if there's one thing I don't like about Spidey's marriage it's that it's probably going to be over soon. Actually, that doesn't bother me as much as once it is over, it might not be so easy to put back together later on when everybody at Marvel wises-up to what a stupid idea it was to end it in the first place. It's like a bad-90s-stunt-event-lite, not quite "Death of Spider-Man", just "Death of Spider-Man's Love Life!" Yeah, that's gonna draw the kids in.
steve canadian | Email | 09.15.07 - 10:11 am | #

And another thing... Dan Slott is supposed to start writing ASM with JRjr on pencils, so I'm probably going to start buying it again (for the first time in about 14 years), and I'd much rather see Dan Slott write a happily married Spidey than a sad and single Spidey. Of course a third--unlikely but better--choice is happy and single, but how is that going to happen? Does Dashing Danny Slott wield that kind of writing power?!
steve canadian | Email | 09.15.07 - 10:29 am | #

I think you're spot on, Mike. It may be a good idea, it may be a bad idea, but the fans really didn't seem to care about it, so the outrage one often sees about it just doesn't seem to match the fan's views.

I mean, back during the speculator boom, Spidey was married, right? So there probably tons of fans out there who ONLY know of a married Spider-Man, and they do not seem to mind.

That being said, if Quesada thinks it is really important to get rid of the marriage, then fair enough. Just please, Mr. Quesada, do not couch it in "doing it for the fans."
Brian Cronin | Email | Homepage | 09.15.07 - 1:49 pm | #

I grew up with a married Spider-Man as well. I was a teenager when he was having his first child and I thought that was an awesome story, despite being wrapped up in the Clone Saga storyline.

I had no problem with Aunt May dying in ASM 400 and thought it was one of the best comics I had read and quite moving. I had read enough of her in a coma and dotting on Peter and felt it was time for her to move on.

This was after a 100 or so issues plus the other 100 or so backissues I had collected. I had never once questioned Peter getting divorced or some magic retcon of the marriage. I have read the Essentials and Gwen was boring. She needed to die or break up with Peter or something. There was no tension. It was perfect. She was perfect. They were perfect together. Great in principle but horrible in execution. MJ and Peter had chemistry and tension and the stuff drama is made of.

I do not want to read about Peter trying to go out on the town looking for dates with Betty Brant or Liz Allen again, both divorced or widowed women. I dont want new girlfriends. That wont make Spider-Man a better book. All they need to do is get a back to basics approach with some top notch creators. Spider-Totem nonsense and Gwen having kids with Norman and other horrible stories are not Spider-Man stories. Stories like Peter David's last FNSM issue are good Spider-man stories. Stuff that deals with his incredible supporting cast and friends and family.

The core of Spider-Man is Peter Parker. This isnt Batman or Superman where their superhero identities are more important than the secret identity. The book should focus on Peter first, Spider-Man second. It used to be about how Peter deals with his friends and family and how his duties as Spidey get in the way. These days its about Spider-Man and the villain of the month or what new retcon they can add or shock revelation.

They never once explored the ramificatoins on Peter's life from any of hte numerous crossovers in the past couple years. It went from Other to Iron Spidey to Civil War to Unmasking to Back in Black and now One More Day. We barely got to see reactions to his new powers or his "death" in Other. The Unmasking was quickly forgotten and the focus shifted to Back In Black. We finally just got a good issue with Jonah and Robbie's reaction to Peter unmasking in PAD's last FNSM issue.

That is whats wrong with Spider-Man today. The marriage was and is still fine. The refusal to let Peter grow up and mature is what's limiting the book. The baby would have been a huge step forward and gave MJ a much more fleshed out character with more responsibilities and reasons to appear in the book aside from dotting wife in the window that they portray her as lately.

Sorry for the length. Just annoyed at the present state of Spider-Man.
Kirk Warren | Email | Homepage | 09.15.07 - 6:41 pm | #

At this point, I'd probably be more interested in Brand New Day if it featured a brand new Spider-Man. If, say, Peter were to lose his powers, he could retire and really commit himself to the marriage. He could remain a big part of the book as a mentor to the new Spidey. What better solution to this marriage "controversy" than to have both a single Spider-Man and a married Peter Parker?
Jim | 09.15.07 - 9:03 pm | #

I have always enjoyed the marriage, and I think it has opened the way for some good storytelling. Joey Q's bizarre crusade against the marriage is just another addition in a series of unproductive editorial attempts to mime young and cool. Nothing is more sad or more phony than an aging someone trying to get hip with the kids or appeal to an uninterested demographic. Why not go with the strengths of a character or think about possibilities that the characters' history has made possible? Instead we get more endangerment of women as a lazy plot device. I am staying away from Spider-Man until this particular spin cycle has run its course.
Egil | 09.17.07 - 7:29 pm | #

If the marriage is indeed undone by "One More Day," I think it may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. As you and countless others have said, there is literally no reason for the marriage to end save for the fact that Quesada wants it to. Any problem that lies in the Spider-books - including the marriage - is a problem of bad and/or lazy writing, not some inherent flaw with the character or his status quo.

I just don't understand what the problem is with having a character who is happily married. If you want a swingin' bachelor, you've got Tony Stark.

-M
Matt | Email | Homepage | 09.17.07 - 8:27 pm | #

You know, it's kind of strange. I grew up with a married Spidey. It's most of what I've known of the character. But for some reason, I've never really liked it.

It's not the idea of Spidey being married. That's actually never bothered me. I always thought that it was a good thing, and that more comic book heroes should have sucessful relationships.

My problem has always been who he married. I can't say that I've ever really liked Mary Jane a whole lot. I've looked through current books, back issues and all kinds of the older stuff, and it must just be me, but I've always been of the personal opinion that it just didn't make a lot of sense. It seems awkward. Unrealistic and unbefitting of a character who we're supposed to be able to relate to on many levels. Old back issues show this on startling levels, and it makes some of the older stuff cringewrothy.

But I'm not sure it's so much Mary Jane as a certain refusal to go anywhere with any of it. It seems like nothing interesting has ever truely been done with the marriage, and as much as I don't want to, because I personally don't like some of the crap he's shoved down our throats, I find myself agreeing with Joe on some of his points. Does it need to be negated? Not really. Just do something with the damn marriage already.

That said, I wish they wouldn't break up the marriage, as much as I don't really like it. Being honest, it's a sad, recockulous trend in comics that absolutely no comic relationship works out. No hero ever has someone else to help shoulder their burdens, and frankly, that's just BS and not how life works.

I've been of the opinion that if Spidey didn't have someone to go home to at the end of the day, it wouldn't matter how much he wants to live up to his responsibility. He'd crack, because in the end, he's supposed to be a human character, and humans have their limits.

On the other token, I've liked several of his older relationships a hell of a lot more then the Mary Jane marriage. More then any other, I thought there was a certain something to his relationship with Black Cat that was intriguing. Something I really liked. It offered a lot of possibilities, and I guess you could say I'm a fan of it.

So I guess you could say that I'm in the strange position of disliking the marriage, but wanting it to remain intact for reasons not associated with my preferences.

Honestly, as much as I'd rather the marriage stayed, I've pretty much accepted that it won't. Sadly, it seems that everything is on a collision course towards the marriages dissolution. I'm not going to stop doing business with Marvel over it, because frankly I've stopped making such stupid claims, and I'm not going to call it a bad move until I see it affect things negatively. In the grand scheme of things, I don't see it enhancing Spidey books or really decreasing the quality, since rarely has Mary Jane done much really significant. I don't see a lot of fans leaving either, because frankly, it's a loud, boisterous claim to be leaving the comics forever, but rarely do any of them stay away. Time will tell what comes of this.

On the homo thing mentioned earlier, I don't believe that was put into place because of Joe's preferences. If I recall correctly, it's because they made the mistake of taking a long standing heterosexual western character gay and then wondered why the fans were outraged. The outrage was so loud, that Marvel, and DC for that matter, put in polocies of making existing characters gay. Which isn't actually a bad idea, as making an existing heterosexual character gay is really a stupid move.
Damien | Email | 09.20.07 - 10:27 pm | #

Polocies AGAINST making existing characters gay. Excuse me.
Damien | Email | 09.20.07 - 10:29 pm | #

I like the marriage, taken in the context of the characters' past as written. I think Marvel missed a bet by not repeatedly going back & reprinting the actual Pete & MJ stories where their relationship evolved. Instead we got retcon stuff like "Parallel Lives," & then altered-world stories like SMLMJ & Ultimate SM, which totally change young MJ's character.
philippos42 | Email | Homepage | 09.24.07 - 9:19 am | #

Let me add to that: I think--given the fact that Spidey is expected to be married now--ending Spider-Man's marriage to make him young & hip is as out-of-touch a decision as if they'd broken up Reed & Sue & sent little Frank to limbo back in the '80's.

Or, you know, what DC did with Hawkworld. And we can see how successful that was. e_e
philippos42 | Email | Homepage | 09.24.07 - 9:29 am | #