Amazing Spider-Man #1000 was released today (but only if you don't count #442-788 and #802-999, which were never published). Spider-Man belongs to a specific genre of literature, the bildungsroman, or "coming of age" story, the story of how a youth becomes an adult. But in Peter Parker's case, it's a very long story, one that is never allowed to come to an end. Douglas Wolk compared it to "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" in the "Spinning in Circles" chapter of his 2021 book All of the Marvels: "Peter is not yet -- never yet -- the person he needs to become... The Spider-Man story is about growing up, and failing, and growing up some more, and failing again, and clawing one's way back up again."
Wolk goes on to say that "some of [Spider-Man's] readers want to see him get on with it and grow up already." Count me among those readers. Prior to 1998, Marvel had provided readers with multiple "jumping off points"; after 1998, every "new number one" represents a different cycle. The one that did it for me is "One More Day."
"Sins Past" had already soured me on the franchise, but "One More Day" was where I drew the line.
(In retrospect, I would take that back at least as far as "The Final Chapter.")
I still check in from time-to-time, but each new direction is increasingly obviously another turn in the cycle: in one he's a high school science teacher; in another, a corporate mogul; in another, Mary Jane is a super-model and they live in a penthouse. Which brings us up to today's #1000.
I didn't buy it.
If anyone here did, I invite your comments.
Replies
Wow, you're talking me out of getting it!
The Rawhide Kid thing sounded interesting, though. But should Crusher Hogan still be wrestling? It's roughly 10-12 years since Amazing Fantasy #15 in MarvelTime™ and he didn't look like a spring chicken then. Oh well. When the lead character has been in his late 20s for 40 years I guess I shouldn't ask dumb questions like that.
Lots of wrestlers work well into their 40's or even 50's. Lawler wrestled until his second (or was it third?) stroke, and Flair wrestled when he was 77. If Crusher Hogan was 40 when he wrestled Pete, it wouldn't be that shocking for him to be wrestling at 52.
Wow, you're talking me out of getting it!
I'm just glad somebody posted, because if no one had replied by next Wednesday I probably would have bought it myself.
They did a few Crusher Hogan return stories.
Byrne's "Chapter One," "Sins Past" and "One More Day" were all turn-offs.
I see Chapter One as being the beginning of the "cycle" which ended with "One More Day."
"The story of Doctor Doom can end, you say?... Then I'm a better story than you." -- Doctor Doom to Loki in Loki: Agent of Asgard #6
In that respect, Invincible is a better story than Spider-Man. I just finished reading all of Invincible for the first time, and the reason I liked it so much is that, not only did the story come to a definitive end, but things were allowed to happen (and truly surprise me) throughout the course of the series.
ClarkKent_DC said:
I think the worst idea they ever had was having Peter and Mary Jane get married in the first place, especially so because it was a tie-in to the Amazing Spider-Man newspaper comic strip. Talk about the tail wagging the dog.
I didn’t know that the marriage in the newspaper strip preceded the one in the comics. I didn’t read the newspaper strip until later, online. If he had married Betty or Gwen it would have been boring. Mary Jane was never boring.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
Invincible is a better story than Spider-Man. I just finished reading all of Invincible for the first time, and the reason I liked it so much is that, not only did the story come to a definitive end, but things were allowed to happen (and truly surprise me) throughout the course of the series.
I remember when Peter David discussed the two (I think) stories he wrote for Babylon 5, he was going to neutralize the effect of the stories. He was told that he didn’t have to do that for Babylon 5.
I still have to continue watching the animated Invincible. Your endorsement of the books encourages me to get back to it.
Richard Willis said:
The wedding of Peter and Mary Jane didn't happen in the newspaper strip before it happened in the comics; they went out of their way to coordinate the event in both venues. As I recall, they had actors playing Spider-Man and Mary Jane have a "wedding" in Shea Stadium, with "Mary Jane" wearing a wedding dress made by a popular fashion designer.
I did get Amazing Spider-Man #1000, if only because it was an "anniversary" issue, The price tag (TEN DOLLARS?!?!!) put me off, but I must have ordered it from my friendly neighborhood comics shop without realizing that (TEN DOLLARS?!?!!). but felt I had to buy it since they ordered it for me. (They would have taken it back, but I'm a longtime customer and don't want to abuse the privilege.)
Like others, I've fallen off from reading Spider-Man's adventures, not from any specific dislike of any particular storyline or change in direction but, I guess, superhero fatigue. I sometimes drop in for special issues like this one no matter what (TEN DOLLARS?!?!!). Consequently, I find myself unaware of various developments in Peter Parkers life. Peter Parker was a high school science teacher? News to me. Peter Parker was a corporate mogul? Ditto. Mary Jane was a supermodel and she and he lived in a penthouse? Likewise.
And in this one, Amazing Spider-Man #1000 (TEN DOLLARS?1?!!!) the lead story seemed to be part of an ongoing storyline in which Peter Parker has a cousin? Because Ben and May Parker had a son?? And they thought the baby was stillborn but actually, the newborn was stolen from them??? Maybe I should have been reading the title.
Worse, they didn't wrap the story in this issue.
This being a VERY SPECIAL ISSUE, Amazing Spider-Man #1000 (TEN DOLLARS?1?!!!) included several stories and features, such as a Q and A with Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Tom Holland and director Destin Daniel Cretton, and another round-robin set of remarks from past Spider-Man writers such as Marv Wolfman.
There is a one-page tribute to Steve Ditko and on the facing page one of Stan Lee, just ahead of a story, drawn to emulate the Ditko style, of a police officer on the trail of The Burglar. Here, The Burglar has a history of striking in each of New York's five boroughs in a random pattern, leaving a trail of bodies. We know that Spider-Man caught The Burglar, but this story has the long-retired officer, now a detective, meeting Spider-Man and thanking him for ending The Burglar's crime wave.
The other stories are suitably special for a VERY SPECIAL ISSUE including an unlikely team-up with the Rawhide Kid (maybe it just a dream ...), enough for me to feel this issue earned its price tag.
Mary Jane was a supermodel and she and he lived in a penthouse?
John Byrne era (second series, circa 1998).
Peter Parker was a high school science teacher?
J. Michael Straczynski era (second series, circa 2001).
Peter Parker was a corporate mogul?
Dan Slott era (Parker Industries, 4th series, circa 2015).
I went to my LCS today and didn't see AMS #1000. I guess I'm not getting it.
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