What did you think of Parker Industries?

[Lukmendes]

When I, Jonathan Hickman, take over Spider-Man, Pete and May are gonna run a waffle shop in Long Island. The catch? Norman takes over iHop.

I can see now, Hickman making chart after chart of every one of Aunt May's recipes, detailing how each one is cooked .

Didn't like it, and for the most part ignored that it was happening. It added nothing new. And maybe it wasn't a great direction, because every story in that timeframe I felt could have easily worked without Parker Industries being a thing.

Yeah, when I was catching up with some stuff in Spidey, I checked some stories in reverse, so I read PI related stuff first, and then afterwards I read Slott's Horizon Labs stories, honestly? PI read like Horizon Labs on steroids, so it wasn't really needed to tell some stories, at most they just relied on Spidey being able to travel more.

[comicscollector]

I thought the Parker Industries Status Quo was quite cool.
Made sense that to have Peter Parker able to defeat the Zodiac (A former villain of Nicky Fury and the Shield and the Avengers) to be that the SQ of that time.
And Peter Parker is quite smart with him inventing the web fluid for example so him being the boss of the Parker industries made sense in the narrative and the characterisation of Peter Parker.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Made sense that to have Peter Parker able to defeat the Zodiac (A former villain of Nicky Fury and the Shield and the Avengers) to be that the SQ of that time.

He defeated Juggernaut and Firelord, and Mr. Hyde, all bigger deals than Zodiac without the help of that SQ.

And Peter Parker is quite smart with him inventing the web fluid for example so him being the boss of the Parker industries made sense in the narrative and the characterisation of Peter Parker.

Only if you accept the absurd notion of "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?"

[comicscollector]

He defeated Juggernaut and Firelord, and Mr. Hyde, all bigger deals than Zodiac without the help of that SQ.



Only if you accept the absurd notion of "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?"

Firstly you are comparing apples to oranges with those villains examples.
Zodiac was estabilished as Spider-Man main antagonist of the stories during that time of the Parker industry,those stories you mentioned were not that.
Hobgoblin was the main villain of Spider-Man during that time of the Juggernaut and Firelord stories.
And dunno what are you on about generalizing what i said as a absurd notion.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Firstly you are comparing apples to oranges with those villains examples.

Zodiac is a villain outside Spider-Man's corner. Being a SHIELD villain mainly. So that's comparable to Juggernaut and Firelord being X-Men and Avengers villains. It might be the difference between red and green apples but they are both apples.

Hobgoblin was the main villain of Spider-Man during that time of the Juggernaut and Firelord stories.

You're right about Firelord, but the Juggernaut 2-parter happened 10 issues before the Hobgoblin's debut.

And dunno what are you on about generalizing what i said as a absurd notion.

Your attempt to justify Parker Industries is "And Peter Parker is quite smart with him inventing the web fluid for example so him being the boss of the Parker industries made sense in the narrative and the characterisation of Peter Parker."

Inventing something is not a logical step in the direction to becoming a businessman. To assume so implies "if you're so smart why aren't you rich". A careful glance at the real world refutes that thoroughly. And in any case Parker Industries isn't built on putting the web fluid on the commercial market.

[comicscollector]

Zodiac is a villain outside Spider-Man's corner. Being a SHIELD villain mainly. So that's comparable to Juggernaut and Firelord being X-Men and Avengers villains. It might be the difference between red and green apples but they are both apples.



You're right about Firelord, but the Juggernaut 2-parter happened 10 issues before the Hobgoblin's debut.



Your attempt to justify Parker Industries is "And Peter Parker is quite smart with him inventing the web fluid for example so him being the boss of the Parker industries made sense in the narrative and the characterisation of Peter Parker."

Inventing something is not a logical step in the direction to becoming a businessman. To assume so implies "if you're so smart why aren't you rich". A careful glance at the real world refutes that thoroughly. And in any case Parker Industries isn't built on putting the web fluid on the commercial market.

Those villains examples are not comparable because neither Juggernaut or Firelord were estabilished as a main antagonist as was Zodiac in the Parker Industries Status Quo stories.
So Peter Parker having the Parker industries made sense in the narrative because the Zodiac were villains of Nicky Fury,Shield and the Avengers.
Thus why it made sense to me that to Spider-Man be able to defeat the Zodiac he would have the Parker industry,that for example was cool because of the continuity of that SQ.
When saying one example i gave as the equal as to what you said that´s generalizing what one is saying imo.
But that example was just to the characterisation of Peter Parker,why Peter Parker being temporally the boss of the Parker industry was not odd in the characterisation of Peter Parker.
In the narrative of the Spider-Man stories that was a interesting SQ to me as well.Dan Slott stories of Spider-Man were quite well writen and the Parker Industry is a good example of those stories that are not traditional stories of Spider-Man so to speak but are fun to read and make sense in the continuity of Marvel stories.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

But that example was just to the characterisation of Peter Parker,why Peter Parker being temporally the boss of the Parker industry was not odd in the characterisation of Peter Parker.

Again I must reiterate, how does inventing web fluid prove that Peter can lead a multi-national corporation?

When has Peter ever shown leadership skills such as being leader of high school debate, class president, valedictorian, and other extroverted people's skills related stuff that actually have been a path to corporate success. I mean when Bendis made Mary Jane work at Stark Industries as a PA that did make sense since a charismatic social expert like MJ would fit well in that field. Do you have any idea how rare it is for inventors to actually become owners and businessman? Most of them tend to work for companies that own their stuff.

[Hypestyle]

so in "real time" how long did Parker Industries last? Six months? A year?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

so in "real time" how long did Parker Industries last? Six months? A year?

Maybe a month at most. Based on how Spencer has been downplaying it in his current run. Peter is in his mid-20s, and as per comic-book time, older stories always have a bigger chunk of the time than recent stories. So Slott's entire run which overlaps with the BND, at best maybe a year, as time passes...less than that.

Parker Industries will be downgraded to some failed startup that got too big too fast

[Jman27]

Again I must reiterate, how does inventing web fluid prove that Peter can lead a multi-national corporation?

When has Peter ever shown leadership skills such as being leader of high school debate, class president, valedictorian, and other extroverted people's skills related stuff that actually have been a path to corporate success. I mean when Bendis made Mary Jane work at Stark Industries as a PA that did make sense since a charismatic social expert like MJ would fit well in that field. Do you have any idea how rare it is for inventors to actually become owners and businessman? Most of them tend to work for companies that own their stuff.

I mean he did lead the spidermans and spiderwomans during spider verse well that was his reasoning to even continue PI. Pretty sure there are other times when Peter lead that you can find examples for. Plus can't he just learn along the way? I doubt the average owner automatically knew how to run their company the moment it start up they had to learn like everyone else.

[Prof. Warren]

Maybe a month at most. Based on how Spencer has been downplaying it in his current run.

Spencer hasn't been "downplaying" it, he just has no reason to refer back to it.

It's a storyline that came to its conclusion. Spencer, as any writer would, is moving on to his own storylines.

He referred to PI as much as he would have needed to to acknowledge continuity.

Peter is in his mid-20s, and as per comic-book time, older stories always have a bigger chunk of the time than recent stories. So Slott's entire run which overlaps with the BND, at best maybe a year, as time passes...less than that.

You could say as much about any era of Spider-Man.

That, in Marvel Time, every era - no matter what its duration in the real world - is, by the needs to keep Peter young, compressed into a very small window.

Saying that Slott's decade long run all takes place in less than a year, however, seems like an exaggerated attempt on your part to dismiss Slott's run ("It barely even happened, when you think about it!")

Parker Industries will be downgraded to some failed startup that got too big too fast

That wouldn't make any sense. No need to rewrite history. If PI were to get referred to in the future, it only makes sense to remember it as the huge enterprise that it was - with the huge downfall to match.

[Mister Mets]

Maybe a month at most. Based on how Spencer has been downplaying it in his current run. Peter is in his mid-20s, and as per comic-book time, older stories always have a bigger chunk of the time than recent stories. So Slott's entire run which overlaps with the BND, at best maybe a year, as time passes...less than that.

Parker Industries will be downgraded to some failed startup that got too big too fast

It had to be a few months. There was a gap before Amazing Spider-Man Volume 4 #1 when Parker Industries went international, and it did last for multiple storylines: the first Zodiac encounter, the showdown with Mr. Negative in Hong Kong, the second Zodiac encounter, the Iron Man VS Regent, the Road to Clone Conspiracy, The Clone Conspiracy, Silver Sable VS Norman Osborn and Secret Empire.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I mean he did lead the spidermans and spiderwomans during spider verse well that was his reasoning to even continue PI. Pretty sure there are other times when Peter lead that you can find examples for.

There's a difference between leading alternate universe versions of yourself in a specific, limited setting and applying that in your daily life.

Plus can't he just learn along the way?

We don't see that though. We see time skip and it happening. I mean we don't see Otto doing that either. Otto Octavius was a scientist working for a think tank...but then suddenly he takes over Peter and then he decides to show Peter how to use his intelligence by starting a company. Except...if Otto could do that, why didn't he start a company by himself all those years ago? Why did he decide to be a crimelord. Stuff like using his brain to manipulate stock prices and so on...again if he could do that before then there was no need to do it using Peter's body.

It just seems to be based on comic book logic of "Evil people are smarter than good guys" and so on. And all an attempt to shill Slott's interpretation of Peter as self-destructive (which he has stated numerous times and which I think is entirely off-base), an interpretation that is more or less an expression of contempt for people who are poor, i.e. if they are poor and smart then it's their fault they are poor. That's more Randian than Ditko was, and it's presented and offered straight.

Spencer hasn't been "downplaying" it, he just has no reason to refer back to it.

To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, "no reason to refer back to it" is functionally indistinguishable from downplaying.

That, in Marvel Time, every era - no matter what its duration in the real world - is, by the needs to keep Peter young, compressed into a very small window.

As per Marvel Time it's been 14 years since the FF got their powers which is the starting point of Marvel Time in which every other title overlaps in. And 14 years will be all that ever happens. In Hickman's HoX/PoX, Xavier and Moira met in that park 10 years back before he got crippled and founded the X-Men which means the entire history of the X-Men (Lee-Kirby, Claremont, Morrison, Whedon until Hickman) happened in that time. So I guess at most Kitty Pryde aged from 13 (Claremont-Byrne) to the early 20s which is where she is now.

Peter is in his mid-20s so that means at the very least it's been 10 years since AF#15. Peter graduated high school (ASM#28), and college (ASM #185 I think, the Wolfman era), and he's been in and out of grad school since then. Peter getting married is the last time he aged. And even with OMD/OMIT he had the long live-in relationship with MJ which Spencer acknowledged and so on.

So that means everything before OMD has a much bigger chunk of Marvel Time than anything after OMD. Basically Peter and MJ broke up and maybe a year back they are dating again.

Saying that Slott's decade long run all takes place in less than a year, however, seems like an exaggerated attempt on your part to dismiss Slott's run ("It barely even happened, when you think about it!")

Even if it is an attempt to dismiss Slott's run (Slott's run also overlaps with Zdarsky's run on Spectacular that I love, as well as stuff like Superior Foes) that doesn't mean what I am saying is wrong. I am sure when Spencer's run ends, his run will be similarly compressed.

If PI were to get referred to in the future, it only makes sense to remember it as the huge enterprise that it was - with the huge downfall to match.

Startup that got too big too fast covers that well. It's like the dotcom bubble you know, only displaced decades away. It doesn't make sense to treat Parker Industries seriously because it makes it harder to sell Peter as hard luck if he got an opportunity that most people will never get.

It had to be a few months.

Dates and times are always retconned in the Marvel Universe. Chris Claremont gave precise dates in his X-Men run but they have all been retconned. Remember when Jackal said that only 5 years passed between the First Clone Saga of the 70s and the 90s one. That kind of made sense then, but it doesn't make sense now. Slott said in Spider-Verse that it's been 13 years since Peter got bit by the spider (13 being one of his snide supposed-jokes about Peter being unlucky) and Tom Brevoort said that Peter was 29 then...now he's not 29. Spencer said he's mid-20s (24-27). So the time of Slott's run has been compressed and transpires over a much shorter period of time.

That includes the entire run, which means Superior...at best a month or so, Parker Industries maybe another month. As time passes, less than that.

[Prof. Warren]

As per Marvel Time it's been 14 years since the FF got their powers which is the starting point of Marvel Time in which every other title overlaps in. And 14 years will be all that ever happens. In Hickman's HoX/PoX, Xavier and Moira met in that park 10 years back before he got crippled and founded the X-Men which means the entire history of the X-Men (Lee-Kirby, Claremont, Morrison, Whedon until Hickman) happened in that time. So I guess at most Kitty Pryde aged from 13 (Claremont-Byrne) to the early 20s which is where she is now.

Peter is in his mid-20s so that means at the very least it's been 10 years since AF#15. Peter graduated high school (ASM#28), and college (ASM #185 I think, the Wolfman era), and he's been in and out of grad school since then. Peter getting married is the last time he aged. And even with OMD/OMIT he had the long live-in relationship with MJ which Spencer acknowledged and so on.

So that means everything before OMD has a much bigger chunk of Marvel Time than anything after OMD. Basically Peter and MJ broke up and maybe a year back they are dating again.



Even if it is an attempt to dismiss Slott's run (Slott's run also overlaps with Zdarsky's run on Spectacular that I love, as well as stuff like Superior Foes) that doesn't mean what I am saying is wrong. I am sure when Spencer's run ends, his run will be similarly compressed.

Startup that got too big too fast covers that well. It's like the dotcom bubble you know, only displaced decades away. It doesn't make sense to treat Parker Industries seriously because it makes it harder to sell Peter as hard luck if he got an opportunity that most people will never get.

Well, no. Just the opposite. For Peter to get an opportunity that most people never get and it all fell apart, that's classic Parker Luck.

As for Marvel Time, the real lesson is to not give it any serious thought as it makes no real sense. You just have to go with it and accept that an infinite number of aventures can occur within a finite time span.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

For Peter to get an opportunity that most people never get and it all fell apart, that's classic Parker Luck.

At this point Parker Luck just seems to be nonsense that means whatever people want it to mean. I can't feel bad for an ex-billionaire owner of startup who laid off thousands of employees when his company crashed and who also sunk Mr. Aunt May's savings. Sure Peter took a meager salary from that and so on...but that's basically hogwash based on misunderstandings of stuff like Trump saying that he's not going to take a salary when he becomes President or Steve Jobs taking a $1 salary, proving once again how totally Parker Industries and Worldwide fails any attempt at verisimilitude.

As for Marvel Time, the real lesson is to not give it any serious thought as it makes no real sense. You just have to go with it and accept that an infinite number of aventures can occur within a finite time span.

Some adventures count for more than others. For instance in FF...Susan Storm gave birth to Franklin. Then Doctor Doom helped her deliver Valeria, for whom he is godfather (and we can definitely say that Doom "renounced Satan and all his sins" after Triumph and Torment much like Michael Corleone).

In the case of Spider-Man, Harry Osborn was a guy Peter knew in college, same age as he. He and Liz have a child who is currently featured in Absolute Carnage in a key role. Peter is godfather to Normie (and he definitely has not "renounced Satan and all his sins" after OMD...basically Doom's a better godfather than Peter).