I know that MJ is Peter's main squeeze...

[WebSlingWonder]

I remember when it was first revealed that Peter and Bobbi were gonna date, and I was all for it because I liked their chemistry in his run and it was a fun pairing I thought could be cool to see. Only for it then to turn out to last for literally 7 issues.

I think what also didn't help it was Slott's general disinterest in writing Spider-Man in relationships, Carlie wasn't his decision so he had to work with it based how BND ended, and supposedly he only put Peter and Bobbi together because he loved how Stuart Immonen drew them. It is disappointing because contrast this with his other recent series (Superior, Silver Surfer, Iron Man, Fantastic Four) where one of the first things he does is create a romantic pairing for his book, not to mention RYV, showing that when he does care he can write great relationships.

That's ultimately my problem with Slott: it's very obvious when he doesn't care about certain Spider-Man mythos elements. And when he doesn't care, why should I, you know?

[NC_Yankee]

That's ultimately my problem with Slott: it's very obvious when he doesn't care about certain Spider-Man mythos elements. And when he doesn't care, why should I, you know?

The reality was Dan Slott did not like the character of Peter Parker. He compared him to Charlie Brown ( who never got the redheaded girl) on multiple occasions. Since he did not like the character, it was obvious he would do stuff to change it to something he preferred ( like essentially turning Pete into Tony Stark Junior ( like we see with the MCU)). Since he did not like Peter, he certainly did not want him to have happiness with a steady woman ( which is why MJ and ( especially) Felicia were treated badly. Yet, despite Slott, MJ is still number one. Why? The newspaper strip certainly helped. But more importantly it is because Ditko, Lee and Romita created a great character, and she was improved upon by writers like Conway and Stern. There was a reason why Conway had Gwen thrown off the bridge.... She had to go so MJ could take over. 36 years later, the same applies to other pretenders like Felicia, Cindy Moon ( yuk), or even Michelle Gonzalez ( who I actually like). Finally, MJ was kept alive by tbe fans who knew that the Pre-Slott writers were correct MJ is the "Jackpot."

[WebLurker]

but I like the moments when Peter plays the field like with Black Cat. By the way does she factor in the current run? I don't know but I feel like once two characters get together and married the relationship can get boring. Felicia and Peter have way more heat. MJ and Peter are like leftover meatloaf.

I think that boringness or lack thereof is all in the writing. That said, I think that MJ works better with Spider-Man then Black Cat for a few reasons. Personal preference is no doubt a factor (most of the stuff that got me into Spider-Man didn't have Black Cat and/or had MJ as the undisputed leading lady), but, from what I've seen, even if there is "heat" (I've never seen any, IMHO), the Black Cat relationship has never made any sense to me, in terms of how and why they kinda got together. Peter and MJ have had a lot more established history and a lot more writing that I've seen showing how they dynamics work and why they never really let go of each other. (Maybe when the Epic Collections start publishing more of the Black Cat era, that might make more sense, but to me, that relationship always seemed kinda shallow in comparison to others in the genre, and I chalk that up to the writing.)

(Also, to the general population, she's an imitation Catwoman. And if people want such a thing, they'll go to the source.)

That's actually a key reason why I'm not much of a Black Cat fan; I've seen a bit of Catwoman stuff in other media and I think she's a far more interesting character. I would also contend that the hero/villain (or antihero, as the case may be) love story better suits Batman and Catwoman then Black Cat and Spidey; Batman skewers much harder to the superhero sides of things, so having a couple made up of two adventurers seems logical. Conversely, Spider-Man straddles the superhero and civilian aspects pretty evenly (if defaulting to the latter, IMHO), so I think Spidey being involved with/married to/whatever a civilian ties into the themes better. Just my two cents.

[Tendrin]

The reality was Dan Slott did not like the character of Peter Parker.

I know I spend a decade writing characters I don't like.

[WebSlingWonder]

I know I spend a decade writing characters I don't like.

No, he's saying he liked writing Spider-Man but not Peter Parker. To that end, I kind of agree.

[Miles To Go]

Slott was writing Doctor Who and Iron Man using ASM as a canvas.

[WebLurker]

Slott was writing Doctor Who and Iron Man using ASM as a canvas.

Maybe. From what I have seen, he does love his sci-fi stuff, and, while that does have its place in the mythos, the human equation never seemed as well-handled in the stuff I read. Not sure that worked for me. Take the Spider-Verse movie; while a heavy sci-fi film, it's emotionally grounded in the characters and their journeys, not the crazy science stuff.

[emmafrosting]

From his posting history, he was a big advocate of the Post-OMD era "moving Peter forward", away from established relationships and status quos. I don't think he's enjoying Peter being back with MJ one bit, or that Peter is struggling without a career or steady employment again, and feels Marvel have caved in to nostalgia

Ah, that makes sense. I just thought it was funny to ask people on the internet of all places to calm down and stop being mad about something. If Peter and MJ being together spikes up his blood pressure, he's not gonna have a great time for the next few years since Peter/MJ are now a couple in every form of media and Marvel will continue to bank on that sweet corporate synergy.

[Tendrin]

No, he's saying he liked writing Spider-Man but not Peter Parker. To that end, I kind of agree.

I think he liked Peter fine. You might not like what he did with him but I think arguing that he 'didn't like Peter Parker' is kinda wrong headed.

[Miles To Go]

Carlie wasn't his decision so he had to work with it based how BND ended

I think Slott generally wanted to give Peter some stability for a time rather than anything editorial was demanding he'd do. After all, Slott broke them up almost a year later in arguably his least divisive event (Spider-Island). Sure, he made Carlie the "smart one" who figured out Otto's body swap (to a lot of fans annoyance) in Superior, but by this point editorial felt the Carlie experiment had ran it's course and allowed him to let her go once it was done.

[WebLurker]

I think he liked Peter fine. You might not like what he did with him but I think arguing that he 'didn't like Peter Parker' is kinda wrong headed.

Yeah, I think I agree with that. Don't really have any common ground with his take on the character in general and I do think there's a case that he gravitated to the spider more then the man, if that makes any sense, but yeah; Slott has gone record as being a fan of the character, and, as much as I loathe his writing in general, there's no reason to disbelieve him on that.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I think he liked Peter fine. You might not like what he did with him but I think arguing that he 'didn't like Peter Parker' is kinda wrong headed.

I second this. I am a critic of Slott but I will say that the idea that because you don't like how he or anyone wrote Spider-Man, saying he wasn't a fan of Spider-Man and Peter is a bad argument and unfair.

It is possible for someone to be a fan of the character and story and still get him wrong. It happens all the time. Being a fan of a writer/character doesn't give you innate powers to writing that character/story.

Let's put it this way, if Stan Lee actually liked Silver Age superhero comics we would never have gotten Marvel.

[Snoop Dogg]

Dan's run makes it seem like he liked Spider-Man more than Peter because he tied the supporting cast into the Spider-Man stuff much more than traditionally with other heroes having roles in all the events and the normal characters getting involved in high-concept stuff, but the irony is that the reason the Spider-Man stuff and all his other books like Iron Man have big ensemble casts is because the consistency of Peter's supporting cast and normal life in Spider-Man ingrained an interest in what other characters are doing into his writing.

[WebSlingWonder]

Alright, I can hold that L. :P
I was just saying his take was really strange for someone who liked the character.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Alright, I can hold that L. :P
I was just saying his take was really strange for someone who liked the character.

Slott generally works best when he's working in other people's sandbox rather than his own. If you look at Slott's history, he worked for a long time in licensed and tie-in comics before coming to Marvel. Stuff like Batman Adventures, Batman Gotham Knighs, Justice League Adventures which tie-in to the Bruce Timm cartoons. His stories for Justice League Adventures are great, including two stories that made Chronos the Time Thief one of my favorite DC bad guys. His best Spider-Man story -- Spider-Man/Human Torch -- has him operate in the status-quo of different Spider-Man and Fantastic Four eras.

Slott also doesn't have experience as an ongoing writer. What I mean by that is coming in after an earlier writer wrote a status-quo and left a situation and all. Most of the time he's revived cancelled series like She-Hulk or Silver Surfer, or Fantastic Four and so on. His Iron Man run where he's following on from Bendis is like the only exception but I haven't read that so I can't comment though I do know the usual issues of delays and Jim Zub doing scripting while he plots and other stuff that Slott got up to on ASM continue there. When he began his run Post-BND you had this huge retcon and manufactured blank slate where they basically tried to recreate the Bronze Age (i.e ASM#193-293), right down to similar beats (i.e. May has an elderly suitor -- Lubensky and Jameson's brand new daddy, MJ written out of the books for some 40 issues and so on) and did it badly.

Dan's run makes it seem like he liked Spider-Man more than Peter because he tied the supporting cast into the Spider-Man stuff much more than traditionally with other heroes having roles in all the events and the normal characters getting involved in high-concept stuff...

One of the reasons why I feel his run doesn't hold up too well. If civilians stop being civilians then there's no longer a friendly neighborhood or real suspense and tension for Peter to save people close to him. Because apparently, Jameson can do it by operating a Spider-Slayer robot all fine and dandy.

I get that Slott was interested at looking Spider-Man and Peter from the outside. And in all fairness, a lot of great Spider-Man stories comes from doing that. Slott's best Spider-Man work, the Spider-Man/Human Torch series is essentially Johnny Storm's book, it's basically looking at Peter from his point of view, and the entire crux of that is the fact that in all that time Spider-Man never once considered telling Torch his secret identity until the right hostage situation called for it. Roger Stern especially was the best at doing that -- "The Daydreamers" above all. As was Paul Jenkins. JMD of course in Kraven's Last Hunt did a story that looked at Spider-Man from the outside while also doing some of the best work showing Peter's interior thought processes (apparent in that "There is no Spider-Man monologue thought caption at the start"). But Slott is no Stern and Jenkins. There's an absence of human feeling in his stuff. Stuff like "No one Dies" mines emotions out of "villains seem to come back from the dead more than good guys in comics"...here's the thing that's not remotely comparable to real life nor does it make actual sense since we as readers know those reasons. The artwork by Marcos Martin is better than that story deserves.

Slott's interest at looking at Spider-Man from the outside went to the extreme in Superior Spider-Man which is basically removing Peter from his own story for more than a year in real-time, and all centered on Ock making the same observations and insults people had long known and heard before. Spider-Man holds back his powers, he operates small scale, his lack of work/life balance is both a blessing/curse, he comes across as someone wasting his academic life away and so on. There's literally nothing human communicated there.