Written by: Dan Slott
Art by: Adam Kubert
Publisher: Marvel
*Spoilers for the issue below*
I’ve been a fan of Spider-Man for as long as I can remember. He was one of the first characters in comic books I truly latched onto, and in the 90s, I saw him married, have a baby girl, have that baby taken to Europe, find out he has a clone, be told he’s a clone, retire, have Aunt May die, have Norman Osborn come back to life along with Aunt May, watch his clone die, become a totem, find out Gwen Stacy had sexual relations with Norman Osborn and had twins, and so much more.
Yet I remained a fan because I can relate to the character, and the good has always outweighed the bad…for the most part. Granted One More Day nearly killed my love of the character, but I did see why they wanted to remove the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane (I just wish it would have been handled better). But with Secret Wars now commencing, we have been given the chance to see an “alternate” version of how things may have played out if Peter and MJ had stayed together and Norman Osborn had never taken their child.
Except, this isn’t that at all.
WHY MARVEL WHY?
No, this my fellow Spider-Man fans, this book, written by current Amazing Spider-Man series writer Dan Slott, is a middle finger to us older fans who yearned for things to play out differently back in the 90s (and no I am not counting Earth 2’s May Parker) and have Peter and MJ married, with a child, and the stories that would come of it. Instead, we get this poor excuse of an attempt to make yet another The Dark Knight Returns spin (which was already masterfully handled in Spider-Man: Reign) where Peter, Mary Jane, and Annie (what? her name was May!) are trying to live their lives and suddenly there is a drop off of superheroes in New York and Peter is trying to pick up the slack. The opening scene between Peter, MJ, and Annie feels stiff and quite awkward and ends somewhat abruptly. We then transition to where it’s revealed many of the non-powered heroes of New York have been killed, the X-Men are now all missing, and a new super powered threat is taking over the city that only the Avengers can stop (along with Spider-Man’s help). Alas, at the exact same time the Raft has a break out and all the super villains are escaping to which Captain America (with a older style logo) gives the “ok” to leave to take on the bigger threat.
This is when things start to get interesting for about two pages, mainly because Peter calls MJ to check in on her and Annie (ugh that name) to make sure shes fine when they get a visitor at the door. Peter then realizes if ALL the inmates of the Raft are loose that could mean “he” is loose. Now who is that he you may be asking? Norman Osborn? Doc Ock? Hobgoblin?
NOPE! Venom, Eddie Brock Venom no less…
Peter opts to head back to his apartment where he finds MJ and Annie in the tendrils of Venom. Now, before I go on any further, this has a MAJOR problem that needs to be addressed: Eddie Brock Venom was the “Lethal Protector” wherein he’d never kill innocents, only the just deserved. How are killing MJ and Annie justified? Thankfully, they both escape, and Peter gets to “cut loose” and hit Venom with everything he’s got, not like he wouldn’t do that with a more overpowered foe like Juggernaut or Kang or Green Goblin. Nay, Venom gets the Superman “I never get to cut loose until now” treatment. Cut to a scene where MJ and Annie are running away from Venom again, get a hold of a firetruck, and blast the horn so loud it disorients him so Peter can swing in and push him into the burning building. We get the obligatory fight scene when MJ suddenly asks if there is anyone else in the building, and when its revealed no one else is, Peter brings the whole place down, killing Venom and Eddie.
…what????
Spider-Man doesn’t kill. Ever. This is clearly shades of when Batman killed Joker in The Dark Knight Returns, and it’s a poor attempt at it. And then after all that, Peter decides to hang up the suit for good because the Avengers lost and there are no superheroes left in the world. So he takes the selfish route to be with his wife and daughter instead of trying to protect the city? I get it, as a parent I may do the same thing, but this is Peter Parker, the man who was told “with great power comes great responsibility” and he just shrugs it off like that? The hell???
The final page is a scene in the future, maybe seven or eight years (it never specified) where super-villain crime is ongoing and Regent (the fella who killed the Avengers) is in full power. The last two dialog boxes really show you how much of a crap job Slott decided to go with this issue:
It’s not a perfect world. But I look after me and mine and that’s…good enough.
How is that good enough? It’s good enough you’re letting the whole world crumble and allowing innocent people to be hurt or worse because you’re family is safe? That’s not the Peter I grew up with and if this was an “alternate” Peter, it’s hogwash because you, Marvel, you Dan Slott, teased us with this being our Peter and Mary Jane, the ones we never got to know from a time long gone. This issue is utter garbage, and if you’re a fan of Spider-Man at all do, yourself a favor and pick up some of the classic trades. This issue that’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.
Dan, you’re a good writer, but you’re time on Spider-Man MUST come to an end, and this just proves it.
I liked this version of Peter/MJ. The renaming Annie thing was a bit annoying but easily forgivable seeing as this is effectively a “what if” scenario.
The Eddie Brock/Venom thing wasn’t totally out of character though it certainly was a stretch. He was always willing to threaten Pete’s family. This was a lot more direct than usual though. The deliberate killing part bugs me a little. It is far more believable that he would have thought collapsing the building would not have killed him.
I was more annoyed with the jobbing done to every superhero by “Regent.” There are so many better ways to kill all the heroes but they chose some no name “I stole everyone’s powers” villain. Doom would have been far more acceptable.
I just hated that this is “The last Spider-Man story” and yet this isn’t OUR Peter, this is some weird mirror or alternate version that isn’t who I was hoping to see in this comic. The whole issue felt poorly written in my eyes and I have a small, very small, hope that issue 2 improves on this but I doubt it will since Slott.
Personally, I prefer to think of the comic strip Peter as the real Spiderman just to keep myself sane. After “One More Day,” mainstream Peter stopped being the Spiderman I knew.
I actually wouldn’t mind this Peter replacing the current 616 Peter. They’ve been looking for an excuse to shoehorn in Miles Morales and an older version of Pete would make a better mentor than the Mephisto tainted fool.
I don’t know, this Peter seems so fake to me know because of him choosing his family over the city. He doesn’t feel genuine to me and after seeing Marvel’s new All New All Different lineup we’re getting 4 Spider people, one of whom seems to be Peter.
Rushing off to save his family instead of fighting Regent does seem like a thing Peter would do though. If any hero is obsessed with his family, its Spiderman. Him giving up after seeing every other hero die and his daughter put in danger because of his enemies isn’t outside of his character either.
I do feel his deliberate killing of Venom was out of character. It contradicts the time when he swore vengeance on Green Goblin after Gwen died but held back due to his morals. He’s gotten plenty of people killed by accident but he has never killed on purpose.
Still, the motivation/justification may have felt more urgent in this case. Peter was seeking revenge against Goblin vs. protecting his family from Venom with the implied approval of MJ. It sucks that they used MJ as a scape goat again for this kind of choice though.
This Peter actually feels closer to the overprotective Earth X version of Peter in my eyes. He probably sees himself as a complete failure as a hero and hopes that his daughter will never make the same mistakes and tough decisions he had to go through. Thankfully, he isn’t fat in this one… yet.