Amazing Spider-Man #1 (legacy 802) Discussion and Spoilers

[Miles To Go]

I imagine this will be a more complex situation than "We're back together, everything's perfect!".

I'm sure there's going to be, as there should be, various twists and turns ahead.

Absolutely, and, to be honest, I am expecting it to also go the way of Tom King's Bat/Cat relationship...potentially sturdy for half a year's worth, then it all goes to hell

[Frontier]

I imagine this will be a more complex situation than "We're back together, everything's perfect!".

I'm sure there's going to be, as there should be, various twists and turns ahead.

It wouldn't be very true to Peter and Mary Jane's relationship if they were together completely drama-free.

The compelling aspect is in how they overcome and deal with said drama.

[Miles To Go]

It wouldn't be very true to Peter and Mary Jane's relationship if they were together completely drama-free.

Peter and MJ can go years without much drama between them, and can still be interesting. Stan's been managing that for years in the daily strip and it's kind of refreshing.

[Prime]

Peter and Mj look exactly like Invincible and Atom Eve from Invincible. Peter looks like if Invincible just dyed his hair.

[phonogram12]

IDK, seemed kinda...basic.

[Prof. Warren]

IDK, seemed kinda...basic.

It has all the classic elements that either as a new, longtime, or returning Spidey fan that you'd expect or want to see. And the title of the story is "Back To Basics."

So...that was kind of the point. To re-establish a certain tone to ASM.

Sometimes shaking things up for its own sake isn't as interesting as just getting back to a book's core appeal.

[phonogram12]

It has all the classic elements that either as a new, longtime, or returning Spidey fan that you'd expect or want to see. And the title of the story is "Back To Basics."

So...that was kind of the point. To re-establish a certain tone to ASM.

Sometimes shaking things up for its own sake isn't as interesting as just getting back to a book's core appeal.

Maybe I've just been reading too long, but I just feel like I've read about this Pete about a million times over. I mean, I enjoyed it and everything, but maybe I've just bored of the constant reset and no real forward progression with this character.

I'll give it a few more issues.

[doomeye56]

2) There was no "trap" set for him at ESU. They didn't know Peter's paper was going to be revealed as fraudulent. If anything, they picked him specifically because they felt it would be a very safe choice, that Peter's credentials were fully earned. Peter just had the bad luck of them picking a paper that was written by Ock. They weren't trying to publicly "out" him in any way. They were completely taken aback by the results.

As much as I dislike agreeing with Jacolover we have no reassurance's yet that this was not a set up by Cindy Lawton. She could of very well of picked Peter her former schoolmate who she might have something against as the subject of her plagiarism test suspecting he would fail, if its not revealed that she already know this from some sorta earlier test she did. It not the first time he thesis was called into question Don Lamaze called him out when he was presenting the thesis something Cindy references in the third part of the comic.

We just cannot say that this was not a trap or not.

[Prof. Warren]

As much as I dislike agreeing with Jacolover we have no reassurance's yet that this was not a set up by Cindy Lawton. She could of very well of picked Peter her former schoolmate who she might have something against as the subject of her plagiarism test suspecting he would fail, if its not revealed that she already know this from some sorta earlier test she did. It not the first time he thesis was called into question Don Lamaze called him out when he was presenting the thesis something Cindy references in the third part of the comic.

We just cannot say that this was not a trap or not.

I think we can.

I mean, there's no reassurance she's not an alien in disguise either but it's probably super likely that she isn't, right?

If you go by what's in the issue, it's a pretty clear case of something to do with his dual life coming around to bite Peter in the ass, as it often happens.

I don't think there was any malice or scheming or advance knowledge involved on Cindy's part.

Maybe that will turn out to not be the case but I highly doubt that The Revenge of Cindy Lawton is part of Spencer's opening salvo on ASM.

And if she just wanted to get Peter discredited, she didn't have to go through a whole public outing to do so. If she discovered his paper was bogus, she could have just informed him that his doctorate was being revoked.

And certainly, Peter can't be accused of stupidly walking into a trap in pursuit of his desire to be in the spotlight. That's 100% not what's going on.

He's covering an assignment for the Bugle and, through no fault of his own, ends up being a part of the story itself.

[themasething]

It has all the classic elements that either as a new, longtime, or returning Spidey fan that you'd expect or want to see. And the title of the story is "Back To Basics."

So...that was kind of the point. To re-establish a certain tone to ASM.

Sometimes shaking things up for its own sake isn't as interesting as just getting back to a book's core appeal.

Except people are wanting more than the "basic" Peter Parker/Spider-Man that we're looking to return to with this reboot. A lot of people actually enjoyed Peter having some form of success in his life, actually being an adult and running his own successful company, having Aunt May proud of him for being more than just family, having respect of people like JJJ and the people of New York, acceptance by his peers in The Avengers; basically everything that was ripped away from him in the last series and the single issue of this one. If they kept everything that was built up from Superior Spider-Man and added Mary Jane to it, then people would be a lot happier to finally see all the pieces that have been ripped away since Brand New Day together at last and would keep buying books to see where these new situations take the characters. Instead, we've basically got "Brand New Day 2.0" with a Mary Jane tease that anyone with half a brain knows is not going to work out in the long run.

[Prof. Warren]

Except people are wanting more than the "basic" Peter Parker/Spider-Man that we're looking to return to with this reboot. A lot of people actually enjoyed Peter having some form of success in his life, actually being an adult and running his own successful company, having Aunt May proud of him for being more than just family, having respect of people like JJJ and the people of New York, acceptance by his peers in The Avengers; basically everything that was ripped away from him in the last series and the single issue of this one. If they kept everything that was built up from Superior Spider-Man and added Mary Jane to it, then people would be a lot happier to finally see all the pieces that have been ripped away since Brand New Day together at last and would keep buying books to see where these new situations take the characters. Instead, we've basically got "Brand New Day 2.0" with a Mary Jane tease that anyone with half a brain knows is not going to work out in the long run.

Whether or not Peter and MJ go the distance or not as a couple, "in the long run" is a phrase that shouldn't be applied in comics. Everything is always in flux and is always subject to change. That's definitely something that anyone "with half a brain" should know.

A lot of people griped during Slott's run about Peter's status or progress or his lack thereof. A lot of fans called the success that Peter enjoyed a betrayal or a misunderstanding of Peter Parker as a character. A lot of fans thought that Peter had been turned into an irresponsible man-child who enjoyed unearned successes. Do I agree with that assessment of Slott's run? No, not particularly. But there's certainly a vocal segment of fandom that does and who surely look at Spencer's first issue as a much needed course correction rather than a setback.

I don't think Spencer was making a negative critique of Slott's run by making the choices he did, by the way, but simply doing what most creators do with they get on a book - quickly establish that it's a new era.

Clearly the title "Back to Basics" is a tip-off to that. And just as clearly, it should be understood that this is just a beginning. Spencer is setting the stage for the start of his run and any number of surprises can, and surely will, unfold from here.

[Prof. Warren]

Maybe I've just been reading too long, but I just feel like I've read about this Pete about a million times over. I mean, I enjoyed it and everything, but maybe I've just bored of the constant reset and no real forward progression with this character.

I'll give it a few more issues.

I've probably been reading a lot longer and one thing that fans who stick with comics - at least that corner of comics that deals with serialized characters in shared universes - for more than five or ten years have to understand is that "forward progression" is not the name of the game. Once you accept that truly moving characters forward as if they were real people is not the goal and not what these characters are built for, then you can either continue to enjoy these serialized adventures that take place in an eternal "now" for what they are, or walk away having had your fill.

Being upset with the lack of actual growth in characters like Spider-Man or Batman and so on and impatiently waiting for that to change is like being exasperated that Bart and Lisa are still in the same elementary school grades after close to thirty years.

[dimo1]

Peter and Mj look exactly like Invincible and Atom Eve from Invincible. Peter looks like if Invincible just dyed his hair.

As Invincible is a mix of Super- and Spiderman, only really well executed, it might be on purpose.

[Spidey5640]

What an awesome issue! As someone who is really nervous about Spencer, this was everything I could have asked for. Loved it.

[Tuck]

If they kept everything that was built up from Superior Spider-Man and added Mary Jane to it, then people would be a lot happier to finally see all the pieces that have been ripped away since Brand New Day together at last and would keep buying books to see where these new situations take the characters.

Where's the drama for B-plots if Peter is charmed?