New year means new wallpapeeeeeer

The year in retrospect:

I'm hurt, Marvel. One More Day, hiatus-ness of Squadron Supreme, the craptaculosity of Ultimate Power. . . why do you hurt me so, Marvel?

I'd be fine with the reboot of One More Day, if it was treated with reverence toward Peter as a human being with a history and an ongoing personality. Obviously, that doesn't matter to Joey Q., only, of course, the MONEYS, which is just a guise to vent his anti-marriage fetish!

Moving on: I'm finding DC a better place to be, or at least less painful! Simone and Dodson on Wonder Woman and the All-New Atom, Chiang on Green Arrow/Black Canary.

Out with the old:In with the new!
Kneel before MODOK!

One more kantankerous rant, featuring: DC's Harleen Quinzel!

Hey kids, check out this interview with Joey Q. on Comcbookresources. He expresses the various artistic aspects in the OMD arc, as well as brings in an editor's view on Spidey's new status quo.

I quote:
At the end of the day, my job is to keep these characters fresh and ready for every fan that walks through the door, while also planning for the future and hopefully an even larger fan base.
How is a character "fresh and ready" if you've set him back by about twenty years? How is a character fresh if you're reverting to a status quo in the 1980s?

Earlier you said:
If Spidey grows old and dies off with our readership, then that's it -- he'll be done and gone, never to be enjoyed by future comic fans
Becoming a teacher does NOT turn Peter into an unrelatable geezer. Marrying a supermodel (who, by the way, is now a struggling off-broadway actress now.) does NOT make Peter unrelatable.

These are NOT signs that Peter is "dying off;" they are signs of the exact opposite.

Anyone in their right mind would see this. If you read Mark Millar's MK Spider-Man, and I'm sure you did, so this is just repetition, you'd know that Peter and MJ STILL have problems paying the bills. Peter is STILL neurotic. Marrying someone gorgeous does NOT change this.

Peter is grown up. Won't you please accept this? He certainly can't age to the point of using a wheelchair, but it's just plain idiotic to revert him back to a swinger. Peter's too old for this, can't you see?

And please, how does being mature make a character inaccessible? Understand that Peter can be mature without being wizened.

SIGH. That's just my opinion. You can choose to listen to what I think is a reasonable rant, or ignore it!

Either way, I have a special guest that you guys might wanna see: renowned psychologist-gone-insane, Harleen Quinzel!
Aw shucks, it's nice to see you too, Harley. How've you been? The Amazons treating you nice?

Anyhoo, looks like this Quesada guy thinks he's doing Peter a great service, by setting him back 20 years. How's that go by you, sweetie?
Me too, Harley, me too. But there's not much we can do about it, can we?

Harleen?

Oh I'm sorry, folks, Harleen needs to go to the bathroom. To uh. . . change costume.

. . .

Annnd we're back! But we can't really change it, can we, Harleen? Brand New Day is pretty much set in stone, right?
Awwww cheer up Harleen. Otherwise, Quesada wins.

Listen, Miss Quinzel, if it's that bad, just know that Quesada isn't editing any book you're in, okay?

. . .

Uhhhh it looks like Harleen somersaulted out of here. Something about "hyenas" and "amazons" and "kicking quesada in the face."

Well that's all the time we have today folks. I have to go to the bathroom, but I hope you got something out of it. I know I did!

You son of a--BONG! The senses-shattering conclusion to One More Day



It's done. It's finally done. The marriage is gone, Peter and MJ were "never married," and the memory of it all is kaput. Twenty years down the drain. Bye bye, marriage.

I told myself that I wouldn't complain - what's done is done, and you can't change it! It's bad storytelling, but it's bad storytelling that's over now, and the best you can do is to put it behind you!

So I'll try my best to not complain.
We open with Peter waking up to an empty bed - because MJ is in the bathroom, coping in her own way. They talk it over, and Peter reminds us why he can't let May die: because that puts him to blame for another death.

They embrace each other for one last time:


And then the Lord of All That Is Evil, Joe Quesada Mephisto appears.

He reminds us of the stipulations, and adds in something else: their love is so rare, so pure, unconditional and holy, that Mephisto will save Aunt may and even erase Spider-Man's identity.

MJ agrees, as long as:
Okay, just WHAT is up with scene? It's creepy enough that Mephisto's in the same room, now MJ has to tell him a secret?

And WHAT is up with Mephisto's face? Here's a close-up:

And talk to Mephisto's left ear. That one's the good one.

Eventually, inevitably, the both of them agree, but not before Mephisto shows them an image of their could-have-been-but-now-will-never-be daughter, Mayday (who has her own series! checkitout!).

One last kiss between the couple, and then a stunning two-page montage of Peter and MJ. It's really sad and it's really beautiful.

Here it is (stolen from Wizarduniverse.):
And then we jump ahead to Peter waking up to an empty bed - he's late for Harry Osborn's party. Aunt May, alive as ever, tells him- He rides his bike to (Osborn?) Towers, and sees-
And then Harry arrives, fresh from a trip to Europe, with Lily, his girlfriend who is (surprise, surprise) gorgeous in today's terms.

From there, we're introduced to:
. . . . . . Hear that? That's me, crying.

After that, they all toast to:

The pessimist could also construe this as a bunch of fatcats (AHEMQuesadaAHEM) toasting to the financial boon that will come with Brand New Day at -of course- the cost of Peter's love life. Not that I'm a pessimist, of course.

Two positive things: notice how Peter's glass is empty, and then look at Peter's wrist:


Aaaaaaaand that does it for the summary.

What did MJ ask Mephisto in secret?
So, Peter is re-masked now?
Why are MJ and Peter the way they are now? A little context would ease us into the new status quo.
And WHAT is up with Mephisto's face? I'm still hung up on that.

This is certainly a dramatic change in the status quo, but I really hope that this marks an end for shaking the spiderverse. Hopefully, we won't be seeing any more "wars at home" or "others" or "backs in blacks."

As for the event, Joe Quesada completely overstepped his boundaries as an editor. There are stories, the tones for stories, and stories within a larger universe, and Quesada grabbed up a bit too much than he should have.

In other words, One More Day sacrificed story integrity for editorial mandate (but you knew that already didn't you?) But it's over now. You can't change the past (unless you, um, call the Devil), so you need to look forward to the future.

Take the arc with a grain of salt. Or ten million. Either way, be prepared for a Brand New Day.

We'll see the ramifications with Dan Slott et al.

Cover to Cover: Christmas day

Normally, I'd go over the other comic this week (which was Birds of Prey #113), but I think I'll let it seep for now.

My local library got in the latest Wonder Woman graphic novel, so I thought I'd look that over with you.


collecting Wonder Woman #6-10, pens: Jodi Picoult, pencils: Drew Johnson, Terry Dodson, Paco Diaz
It wasn't so good, all things considered.

Cameos by Catwoman and Black Canary are pretty empty. Wonder Woman's sidekick is incredibly immature. What drives the book is Circe resurfacing and resurrecting Hippolyta. Okay, I can believe that.

I definitely don't dig how you get the Dodsons' art on issues 8 and 9 and then WHAM! you get this mediocre Paco Diaz stuff. But the real problem is this:
The book is nothing but a tie-in to another event! Wotta rip-off!

So that's five issues for 20 bucks, and the issues don't even resolve themselves?

Yeah, I suggest you stay clear away from this.

But, to prove I'm not THAT much of a scrooge, here're some highlights from the book. They're all from the sixth or seventh issue, and they're all about Wonder Woman trying to adjust to "Man's World."


CLUNK!

All kidding aside, I guess I'll look at that Birds of Prey #113 now.
Frankly, I'm afraid. Look at the cover. It has Misfit looking despairingly. Misfit.
It looks like McKeever's turning them to a grimmer direction, and I don't really want to see them go there. Dark books aren't my cup of tea.
Here's the solicit for next ish:Stalking? Obsession? Drunkenness? I'm a little worried.

It looks like we won't see anymore of this:
SSSSSSSSS!

In other news:
Happy holidays to you and yours from chezkevin!

One more post on one more day

My whirlwind tour around the Marvel Universe continues!

Hot on the trail of Patsy's interview, today we get Susan Storm's opinion on Marvel EIC Joe Quesada.

Sue?
Punisher: War Journal, Ariel Olivetti

Let the commencement. . . Beginulate!

One More Day

I'm sure everyone's gotten their opinion online about it, mainly negative.

I disagree with it, too, because dammit the spider-marriage is sacred!

But that's only MY opinion. What does Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat think? Patsy?

Me too, Patsy. Me too. If you didn't know already, Joe Quesada, Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics, is in charge of this event. It's been a fact that he is against the marriage, although I'm pretty sure he said it's too far to actually destroy it. I sure hope he said that, and I sure hope he wasn't lying.

The writer, Joe Michael Straczynski, has stated that he is against eliminating the marriage, but that the editor has what's best for Spidey in mind.

Patsy, I know this is a lot to soak in, but just answer me this, how do you feel about Joe (Quesada)?

Whoa whoa Patsy, calm down, I'm sure that Quesada is only thinking about Peter, and not some marketing stunt. I'm sure he's doing this to bring a new era to Spidey, not just grab in some new readers. I'm sure he's doing this to return Spidey to a lighter tone, not just fulfill any anti-marriage fetish.

Right?

All panels courtesy Marvel Comics Presents and Stuart Immonen. Man, why did they put TWO twelve-parters in the comic at the same time?
Guys, tell me how I'm doing. This is my first post and all, and there's gonna be some blogging apprehension. blogprehension.
blogxiety?
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