I mentioned in my original post that I stopped reading comics in the late 1990s/early 2000s when the plots in the various Avengers, Spider-Man, and X-Men comics went off the rails. Chuck Austen pretty much ruined the Avengers and the X-Men for me. His run in the "Avengers" (covered in posts on this blog) featured bizarre plots and significant changes to the established personalities of existing characters. (We will not, at any point, talk about the Hawkeye/Wasp affair. We will not.) His run on "Uncanny X-Men" was equally bizarre. (To be fair, I am one of the few people who also wasn’t really thrilled with Grant Morrison’s run on "X-Men." In retrospect, though, I think my dislike of Morrison’s run was a reflection of my intense dislike of Austen’s run. They were both changing the X-Men mythos, and it was too much change at the same time for me to appreciate Morrison’s more nuanced stories vis-à-vis Austen’s active sledgehammer approach.)
But, my exhaustion with both the Avengers and X-Men books can also be attributed to the fact that, a few years earlier, I had already abandoned Spider-Man. Although I technically managed to survive the Clone Saga (I made it to the re-numbering, when I finally surrendered), I did so barely. The ridiculousness of the late 300s/early 400s “Amazing Spider-Man” plots -- even the ones unrelated to the Clone Saga -- pushed me over the edge. Peter’s parents are alive! No, wait, they’re not really his parents! Aunt May’s dead! (Again.) No, wait, Aunt May’s alive! (Again.) Mary Jane lost the baby! No, wait, Mary Jane maybe didn’t lose the baby! Oh, wait, no, she did, she did lose the baby! It was just insanity. Everything was dark and melodramatic, which is essentially the antithesis of what a good Spider-Man comic should be. Plus, I had always been an “Amazing Spider-Man” reader, and, in that era, it was increasingly difficult “just” to subscribe to one of the Spider-Man comics. Even when I did buy the other comics, the cross-overs generally weren’t that well done, with the various writers and artists having different takes on everything, making it difficult to engage in the story without getting distracted by the differences. Later, after I had given up comics, when I heard about the deal with Mephisto, I felt justified in leaving. I mean, Spider-Man makes a deal with the Devil to undo his marriage to save his elderly aunt so that her death isn’t his fault? Um, yeah, we’re not really talking about the Peter Parker I knew. So, I considered my decision a good one and continued not reading comics.
However, upon returning to comics in the last year or so, I started feeling bad that I had left Spider-Man, particularly given that I was seeing him in both "Avengers" and "New Avengers" every month. It was like he was taunting me. “What, you're too good for me, JW? Look how cute and funny I am!" I mean, "Amazing Spider-Man" was my gateway book. Everything -- the boxes and boxes in my parents’ attic in Jersey and the boxes and boxes I have in my apartment here -- comes from the subscription to "Amazing Spider-Man" my parents got me (I'm sure to their never-ending regret) when I was six years old. I started feeling like I was betraying Peter.
Finally, I bit the bullet, went to Mile High Comics’ website, and ordered every issue of Spider-Man starting with “One More Day” to present. Yup. It comes to 100+ issues. (Thank you, recession, for making comics cheap again. It was the only good thing you did.)
So, here we go...
(On a side note, if you're still bitter about the Clone Saga, like I am, I highly recommend this blog: http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/. It tells the story of the Clone Saga with great insight into the behind-the-stage shenanigans courtesy of former Assistant Editor, Glenn Greenberg. It confirms what we essentially all knew at that point: Marvel was screwing with us in an attempt to keep the Clone Saga -- and the money -- continuing.)
But, my exhaustion with both the Avengers and X-Men books can also be attributed to the fact that, a few years earlier, I had already abandoned Spider-Man. Although I technically managed to survive the Clone Saga (I made it to the re-numbering, when I finally surrendered), I did so barely. The ridiculousness of the late 300s/early 400s “Amazing Spider-Man” plots -- even the ones unrelated to the Clone Saga -- pushed me over the edge. Peter’s parents are alive! No, wait, they’re not really his parents! Aunt May’s dead! (Again.) No, wait, Aunt May’s alive! (Again.) Mary Jane lost the baby! No, wait, Mary Jane maybe didn’t lose the baby! Oh, wait, no, she did, she did lose the baby! It was just insanity. Everything was dark and melodramatic, which is essentially the antithesis of what a good Spider-Man comic should be. Plus, I had always been an “Amazing Spider-Man” reader, and, in that era, it was increasingly difficult “just” to subscribe to one of the Spider-Man comics. Even when I did buy the other comics, the cross-overs generally weren’t that well done, with the various writers and artists having different takes on everything, making it difficult to engage in the story without getting distracted by the differences. Later, after I had given up comics, when I heard about the deal with Mephisto, I felt justified in leaving. I mean, Spider-Man makes a deal with the Devil to undo his marriage to save his elderly aunt so that her death isn’t his fault? Um, yeah, we’re not really talking about the Peter Parker I knew. So, I considered my decision a good one and continued not reading comics.
However, upon returning to comics in the last year or so, I started feeling bad that I had left Spider-Man, particularly given that I was seeing him in both "Avengers" and "New Avengers" every month. It was like he was taunting me. “What, you're too good for me, JW? Look how cute and funny I am!" I mean, "Amazing Spider-Man" was my gateway book. Everything -- the boxes and boxes in my parents’ attic in Jersey and the boxes and boxes I have in my apartment here -- comes from the subscription to "Amazing Spider-Man" my parents got me (I'm sure to their never-ending regret) when I was six years old. I started feeling like I was betraying Peter.
Finally, I bit the bullet, went to Mile High Comics’ website, and ordered every issue of Spider-Man starting with “One More Day” to present. Yup. It comes to 100+ issues. (Thank you, recession, for making comics cheap again. It was the only good thing you did.)
So, here we go...
(On a side note, if you're still bitter about the Clone Saga, like I am, I highly recommend this blog: http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/. It tells the story of the Clone Saga with great insight into the behind-the-stage shenanigans courtesy of former Assistant Editor, Glenn Greenberg. It confirms what we essentially all knew at that point: Marvel was screwing with us in an attempt to keep the Clone Saga -- and the money -- continuing.)
No comments:
Post a Comment