The Spider-Man Consensus

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Since so much of Spider-Man forums have been discussing negative and critical stuff (and I am obviously no innocent), I thought I might do something different. Rather than focus on what polarizes and divides fandom, let's talk about what brings people together? What are the parts of Spider-Man, everyone with any controversial opinion can share? To repeat and rephrase an earlier post: any large fandom over a period of time resembles politics. There are stuff that's consensus, And stuff that is polarizing. The original trilogy of Star Wars is consensus, and everything after that is polarizing. That's one example. I want to talk about consensus here.

Consensus is something that every fan and everyone can lay claim to and recognize and respect. People on both sides of the marriage debate claim lay claim to the Lee-Ditko era. People who want Spider-Man to stay in high school cite that. People who want Spider-Man to age point out he grows organically and develops in that run, and the best story in that period, the Master-Planner is about a grown college-going Spider-Man (its the first college Spider-Man story). People who say that MJ wasn't Peter's true love and so on, cite this period before MJ's first official appearance where it was about Betty and Liz, and Gwen showed up later. Those who argue otherwise point out the demonstrable fact that Aunt May said that she thought MJ would make a good wife for Peter and that the buildup of MJ's appearance from ASM #25 (the first issue Ditko had sole plotting credit on) established her among readers to be Peter's endgame from the start.

The fact that different people look at the same era and come to totally opposite views but both seem to like and respect the same period suggests something deeper about Spider-Man than simply one side is right/one side is wrong. If I were to make a blanket statement I'd say the first 25 years of Spider-Man (1962-1987) are more consensual than the second 25 years of Spider-Man (1987-2012). The latter part is more polarizing than the former. Those who favor a single Spidey cite this period for his youth and single status, those who favor a married one cite it for the character development that led to the marriage, and the fact that 1987, Spider-Man's 25th year anniversary included both the marriage and Kraven's Last Hunt, considered an iconic story almost from its start. I'd say that in the second 25 years, it's AU versions and adaptations of Spider-Man that have more consensus than the comics. I am talking about USM, the first two Raimi movies, ITSV, the PS4 game. That's my opener.

I'd also say consensus leans in favor of mechanical shooters over organic webbing, and other smaller things. Red-and-Blue over Symbiote Cloth. Peter as a more competent figure who can handle threats without help from other supers. And above all, Spider-Man in New York and Manhattan regardless of how expensive and unrealistic it gets for Peter to live there. These are some small things and observations. I invite anyone to express views on stuff big and small, and what their feelings are about that.

[NC_Yankee]

Since so much of Spider-Man forums have been discussing negative and critical stuff (and I am obviously no innocent), I thought I might do something different. Rather than focus on what polarizes and divides fandom, let's talk about what brings people together? What are the parts of Spider-Man, everyone with any controversial opinion can share? To repeat and rephrase an earlier post: any large fandom over a period of time resembles politics. There are stuff that's consensus, And stuff that is polarizing. The original trilogy of Star Wars is consensus, and everything after that is polarizing. That's one example. I want to talk about consensus here.

Consensus is something that every fan and everyone can lay claim to and recognize and respect. People on both sides of the marriage debate claim lay claim to the Lee-Ditko era. People who want Spider-Man to stay in high school cite that. People who want Spider-Man to age point out he grows organically and develops in that run, and the best story in that period, the Master-Planner is about a grown college-going Spider-Man (its the first college Spider-Man story). People who say that MJ wasn't Peter's true love and so on, cite this period before MJ's first official appearance where it was about Betty and Liz, and Gwen showed up later. Those who argue otherwise point out the demonstrable fact that Aunt May said that she thought MJ would make a good wife for Peter and that the buildup of MJ's appearance from ASM #25 (the first issue Ditko had sole plotting credit on) established her among readers to be Peter's endgame from the start.

The fact that different people look at the same era and come to totally opposite views but both seem to like and respect the same period suggests something deeper about Spider-Man than simply one side is right/one side is wrong. If I were to make a blanket statement I'd say the first 25 years of Spider-Man (1962-1987) are more consensual than the second 25 years of Spider-Man (1987-2012). The latter part is more polarizing than the former. Those who favor a single Spidey cite this period for his youth and single status, those who favor a married one cite it for the character development that led to the marriage, and the fact that 1987, Spider-Man's 25th year anniversary included both the marriage and Kraven's Last Hunt, considered an iconic story almost from its start. I'd say that in the second 25 years, it's AU versions and adaptations of Spider-Man that have more consensus than the comics. I am talking about USM, the first two Raimi movies, ITSV, the PS4 game. That's my opener.

I'd also say consensus leans in favor of mechanical shooters over organic webbing, and other smaller things. Red-and-Blue over Symbiote Cloth. Peter as a more competent figure who can handle threats without help from other supers. And above all, Spider-Man in New York and Manhattan regardless of how expensive and unrealistic it gets for Peter to live there. These are some small things and observations. I invite anyone to express views on stuff big and small, and what their feelings are about that.

Things everyone can agree about the comic are
1: Pete is perhaps the most humble superhero. 2: Peter Parker is every bit as important as Spider-Man. 3: Spider-Man's supporting cast is the best in Marvel.