Slott's Spider-man & FF Question

Spoilers for Spider-man 24/7 HC follow...

So I've just read Spider-man 24/7 HC. One of the stories is a 2-parter where the FF take Spider-man into the Macroverse and the Human Torch is miffed that Spider-man doesn't share his ID with them, and he realises too that they used to know his ID, but Spider-man somehow found a way to wipe everyone's mind.

Spider-man himself gets very agitated when Johnny presses him on this and starts saying how people close to him get hurt when the secret gets out. Further, he knows that once they see his face, it will all come back to them.

This surprised me. I was sure I'd read all the issues since BND began, but I don't recall Peter finding out that his life has been reset, and his camplaints to the FF make it look like he remembers the circumstances of One More Day and the deal with our friend Mephisto and all that. How does Spidey know that they will remember everything when they see his face? Where did this happen?

Spider-man has been well written and overseen since BND started, but Spider-man getting chummy with the FF again seems like one writer - Slott - just resetting the continuity that other writers - Quesada and JMS - set up at great narrative 'cost'. The friendship between Torch and Spidey is something that Slott put a lot of work into, so the seriousness of the BND status quo is rolled back a bit to please him. The movements behind the curtain are too clear here, to my mind.

I recently read Iron Man The FIve Nightmares, and when Spidey met Tony, Spidey didn't seem to know at all that he and Tony used to be so close, so that contradicts this ASM adventure somewhat.

Thanks everyone. That dropped comment must have flown over my head. Sometimes I read these collections late at night when my brain's already asleep.

Mark S. Ogilvie said:

Do you think that the writers had one idea for the OMD/BND reality change but instead used a mind altering change instead? Or changed their minds half way through?

Mark

I don't think you could point to any 12-issue or longer storyline from DC or Marvel where some aspects weren't changed as it was being put out.

It's the nature of the beast.

As well as fan feedback, realisation that some things aren't working and developments in other books that impact the one in question, you have creators like Slott exerting their influence for their pet concepts and characters. Slott loves the idea of Parker and Johnny Storm hanging out at the malt shop.

Personally I read it as a failure of nerve, as the creators back down from the 'hard' reset that set the interwebs aflame!

But I'm probably being harsh. It's also the case that veteran comics writers set up situations and plant seeds that could develop in a number of ways depending on how things sit later. It's not like a novelist who can go back and completely rewrite chapter 3 if a better ending occurs to her when she's writing chapter 10.

Replies

Alan M. June 27, 2010 at 5:21am

You haven't missed anything, and it's not Peter remembering the circumstances of One More Day.

There was a throwaway line of dialog or two earlier in Amazing Spider-Man run that establishes that, somewhere between "One More Day" and "Brand New Day", Peter did something to put the genie back in the bottle as far as people knowing his secret ID, but we haven't yet been shown what it is. So it's not that he remembers there was this big reset button pushed on his life.

Also, the editorial policy in the Spider-Man offices hasn't been that One More Day was a big reset button; rather, the only thing that did was remove the instance of Peter and MJ's wedding. Everything else that happened in any of the Spidey books still happened. So his publicly unmasking, his organic web-shooters, his working with Tony....all of that still is in his past, and if it's not there now, there's a separate story (whether it's been told or not) as to why it's not there now.
Cavaliere (moderator emeritus) June 27, 2010 at 12:02pm

I think--and I could be very wrong--that what Spidey thinks was done was the same kind of universal mind-wipe that the Sentry had when he went into seclusion to avoid releasing the ~~Noid~~ Void. Well, the same except that Spidey himself would remember his dual identity, unlike poor Bob who had to forget he was Sentry for the good of all creation.
Figserello June 27, 2010 at 7:59pm

Thanks everyone. That dropped comment must have flown over my head. Sometimes I read these collections late at night when my brain's already asleep.

Mark S. Ogilvie said:
Do you think that the writers had one idea for the OMD/BND reality change but instead used a mind altering change instead? Or changed their minds half way through?

Mark

I don't think you could point to any 12-issue or longer storyline from DC or Marvel where some aspects weren't changed as it was being put out.

It's the nature of the beast.

As well as fan feedback, realisation that some things aren't working and developments in other books that impact the one in question, you have creators like Slott exerting their influence for their pet concepts and characters. Slott loves the idea of Parker and Johnny Storm hanging out at the malt shop.

Personally I read it as a failure of nerve, as the creators back down from the 'hard' reset that set the interwebs aflame!

But I'm probably being harsh. It's also the case that veteran comics writers set up situations and plant seeds that could develop in a number of ways depending on how things sit later. It's not like a novelist who can go back and completely rewrite chapter 3 if a better ending occurs to her when she's writing chapter 10.
Dagwan June 28, 2010 at 11:33am

Have no fear! The Quesada-penned explanation story, One Moment in Time (OMIT) is coming soon! ASM #638-641 will answer all of your questions!

Or, completely destroy any desire to read future Spider-Man comics.

Either one.
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." -Groucho Marx

Check out the Secret Headquarters (my store) website! It's much better now!

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Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) June 28, 2010 at 12:14pm

What I find odd is that I don't *have* any questions. I really like the Spider-Man stories I've read in the past couple years (buying them only sporadically), but my curiosity about how we got from Spider-Man stories I didn't really like (not a function of the Peter/MJ marriage, just a function of overall grimness) to Spider-Man stores I like is minimal. Just give me more Spidey stories I like!

Or as Patton Oswalt said, "I don't give a **** where the stuff I love comes from, I just want the stuff I love!" (audio NSFW)
Alan M. June 28, 2010 at 12:25pm

Is "One Moment In Time" supposed to answer all the questions? I thought it was mainly supposed to address the "why Peter and MJ aren't married" question.
Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) June 28, 2010 at 12:38pm

Alan M. said:
Is "One Moment In Time" supposed to answer all the questions? I thought it was mainly supposed to address the "why Peter and MJ aren't married" question.

That's actually my understanding, too.
Dagwan June 28, 2010 at 1:17pm

"What other questions are there?"

"What other questions are there?"

(Movie?)
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." -Groucho Marx

Check out the Secret Headquarters (my store) website! It's much better now!

Listen to WOXY.com, it's the future of rock-n-roll!
Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) June 28, 2010 at 4:50pm

I don't think that was a failure of nerve at all. I think it was a stunt always designed to be undone.
Cavaliere (moderator emeritus) June 28, 2010 at 5:35pm

The thing that amused me most about Peter Parker unmasking was that right when that story was happening there was an episode of Who Wants to Be a Superhero? that had Stan Lee stating absolutely that a superhero should not reveal his identity.

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