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
I didn't buy it. I bailed on the franchise just before Spider Island and haven't regretted it yet. The science teacher job was perfect for Peter Parker, just like the TV news anchor job was (less) perfect for Clark Kent. In both cases, it would only work if they gave up being superheroes. How do you sneak away from a job that has you front-and-center? In Peter’s case, it was even worse because he would arrive at the job looking like he just left a bar fight. Clark being a reporter who is always in and out and Peter being a roving newspaper photographer were brilliant ideas from their creators.
The worst idea they ever had was, of course, wishing away Peter’s and Mary Jane’s baby and wiping out their marriage. Revealing that Peter was Spider-Man led directly to Aunt May’s death. I’m sure that Aunt May would have nixed all of the agreements with (the/a) devil just so she could come back to life.
The fear that Peter having a wife and child would turn off all of their readers was nuts. I’m willing to bet that it hasn’t hurt Superman’s sales.
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. Were there really that many newspaper readers affecting the sales of the comics to make this stunt worthwhile?
The comics all too often change elements to conform to what's happening in the TV or movie adaptations of same, when they should just do what they do and let them do what they do.
Wasn't Stan Lee writing the strip at the time? That may have been a factor.
I liked and still like the marriage. It was a natural and logical form of character development. But it is true that it also changes the character concept. Not an inherently bad thing IMO, but it may not fit everyone's expectations.