JMS Spiderman

[BlitheringToot]

Totally agreed that JMS' Aunt May was arguably the best ... ever.

As for "Sins Past," y'know, they could always retcon it later and say Norman drugged or otherwise brainwashed Gwen to get at Peter.

[Chris S.]

I've read the JMS run a few times. I really enjoyed his take on the character and when he took over the book it was a huge moment. The book had been bit of a mess for a LONG time. He fixed a lot of it and made it a really fun read.

You need to read the run with JRJR though. It is some of JRJR's best work and some of JMS best work on the character. After that it drops off for a bit. It doesn't pick back up until Garney and the Civil War stuff.

JMS used a very limited supporting cast, but he probably did some of the bet work with MJ. It makes it ironic that he is the one that erased the marriage.

HIs run has been marred by a few controversial stories, but a lot of them were editorial driven. That isn't to say he is blameless, but it is hard to put it all on his shoulders.

[Alan2099]

Well, somebody has to be the voice of disapproval...

I pretty much hated it. Sure he had a few good moments here and there, but his original villains were fairly horrible and often came across as overhyped yet pale imitations of other existing villains. The idea of the totem stuff was decent when it was just an idea, but he went out of his way to hammer it in that Spider-man really was a mystical chosen one which destroyed a good portion of the characters original appeal... and then he gave him retractable claws, fangs, and made him eat a villains head. There were also a number of other powers that appeared around this time that were quickly forgotten. The school teacher bit was an interesting idea, although doomed to failure but he barely used it once it was introduced. Peter David and ... whoever it was writing Marvel team-up, I forget, made a much better use of it as well as making his Iron-Spidey costume feel more in-line with how the character was normally written.

The supporting cast all but vanished under his pen only to be replaced by ALL Avengers ALL the time! and he wasn't even that good at writing the other Avengers. They came across as flat and one dimensional, although honestly, that did work well with Ironman during the Civil War stuff. It's just a shame how bad they had to trash the character to get to that point.

And maybe this one is me, but he also seemed to write Peter and Mj as at least ten years older than they had previously been depicted.

That's not even getting into his tendency to blame others when for bad storylines whenever he was told he couldn't do something 100% the way he wanted to.

[EdBrock87]

I like early JMS/Romita Jr Spidey. I think the run fell off at Sins past and never really returned to its former glory, though I did like Back in Black. Also like Alan said Spidey and MJ were written as being significantly older, though that didn't bother me as much because I was enjoying early USM and to me it was like the best of both worlds at the time. I did like how he wrote Pete and MJ together and I liked the friendship between Tony and Peter.Overall I think he was solid with strong early issues but his run is tainted by two of the worst Spidey stories ever in Sins Past and OMD.

[Aura Blaize]

Agreed that JMS Aunt May was pretty badass. Not to Ultimate Aunt May levels, but it was damn good to see her being written as something other than a clueless old lady.

[RobertMacQuarrie1]

I liked it. Perhaps one of my favorite runs on Spider-Man. Great back to basics approach, and great characterizations of Peter, Aunt May and MJ.

It was also the last time I felt the book really felt romantic. Peter's "I need you" speech to MJ in Doomed Affairs is still one of my favorite moments in comics. A close second being his defeat of Morlun, with a third being Peter's epic trip through his own timeline, fighting all the way, to save the world.

[Cap'n_RDM]

Great. Worth reading the whole thing with an open mind. They should have gone with the JMS version of OMD, it made more sense considering the gravity of what was happening.

What is the JMS version of OMD?

[EdBrock87]

What is the JMS version of OMD?

Mephisto would go way back in time to ASM 98 have Peter drop a dime on Harry and Harry would get the rehab he needs. This would have retconned out a lot of stories since then including Sins Past. I believe it would bring Gwen back as well. It would be a much more major retcon than what ended up happening.

[toddx77]

Mephisto would go way back in time to ASM 98 have Peter drop a dime on Harry and Harry would get the rehab he needs. This would have retconned out a lot of stories since then including Sins Past. I believe it would bring Gwen back as well. It would be a much more major retcon than what ended up happening.

That sounds way better. Why wouldn't Marvel let him write that?

[Mister Mets]

Joe Quesada explained his reasoning for not going with JMS's changes in a CBR interview.

Would you mind elaborating on what was changed in that final "One More Day" scripts and what the thought process was behind it?

Well, Jonah, normally I wouldn't even speak of these insider things because at the end of the day "One More Day" would have come out and all we'd be discussing is the intricacies of the storyline and why we did it. Joe's post, revealing some of the inner workings behind the curtain, has added a layer to this, so I know the fans are now clamoring to know what's what and, in many ways, the insider stuff has overshadowed the story. So, that's the only reason I'm discussing it at all.

When the group of creators decided what "One More Day" was going to be, a huge train was set in motion. The "Brand New Day" creative teams and editors began to have their summits. At those summits we explained to the new creative teams the science behind "One More Day" and where we were leaving all the pieces. In essence, the mandate from that point on was, "here are the pieces, here's where we're leaving them. Go have fun!"

When I was halfway through issue three of OMD, we received Joe's script for issue 4. After reading it, we (Axel, Tom and myself) all quickly realized that we had a problem -- the script we had just received was not the one we were expecting, and the events that were being set forth in that issue were going to conflict with the work that was already being done on "Brand New Day." I thought that perhaps Joe had forgotten some of the stuff discussed at the summit meetings and the subsequent e-mails and discussions that followed, but that didn't seem to be the case; this was the story he wanted to tell. In his story, Mephisto was going to change continuity from as far back as issues #96-98 from 1971. In Joe's story, Peter drops the dime on Harry, and that helps get him into rehab right away. Consequently, MJ stays with Harry, and Gwen never dies and never has her affair with Norman, etc., etc. And in the end, Peter and MJ are never married.

This, in my mind, while it neatly puts the pieces back in some way, was not what we wanted to do. First, it discounted every issue of "Amazing" since that story arc. Second, the series of events that it discounts in the Marvel U are too far-reaching to contemplate. And third, it had severe ramifications for the creators already well underway on "Brand New Day," the thrice-monthly "Amazing Spider-Man." In other words, there was just no way to tell Joe's story without blowing up the entire Marvel U and every Spider-Man's fan's collection. What we originally discussed with Joe and the group was much simpler and cleaner: The wedding? Something happened on the wedding day that prevented it from happening. The unsmasking? Mephisto makes people forget it; much like the Sentry, it happened -- it's just no longer remembered. And Harry? Well, there's always a price to pay when you make a deal with the devil. Is it a perfect solution? Absolutely not. Does it get us to where we want to be? Yes.


Anyway, we discovered all of this midway through the third issue and it became very evident to us that we had a problem. Not only that, now knowing what we knew, issue three had to be changed slightly in order to set up the things we needed in issue four. Joe fought hard for his story and you have to respect any creator for supporting his vision, I know where he was coming from. But by the time we knew what he was shooting for, I had to make a decision that served the greater good and what everyone had signed on for. Eventually, Joe told us that he would try to give us what we wanted in issue four, though he disagreed with it and also felt that it wasn't the kind of story that he wanted to tell. He was a trooper and, while I know it couldn't have been fun for him, he gave us a script that served as a road map to help us along -- because when we received the new version, we were still missing some beats to get all the things across that we needed for the "Brand New Day" run. Joe gave us an okay to do what we needed, so stuff had to be repaginated, and reconstructed. We used a lot of Joe's dialog, but some of it was mine, or Axel or Tom's -- everyone had to chip in, especially since now the issue was going to be over thirty pages in order to get us to the closing scene at the party. It was a lot of work, but everyone pulled through and we got it out. Like I said, the fact that it made December is a Christmas miracle.

And let me repeat: I couldn't be more sorry for having to change Joe's story and that's why publicly I'm apologizing to him for doing so. But, ultimately, we had to get to the place where we promised other creators we would be for them to launch their stories.

JMS wrote to Newsarama "I think most of it represents accurately our conversations. It does, however, omit some of the main concerns I had with the resolution." He confirmed that Quesada's description of the plans in the CBR interview was accurate, although it left out JMS's objections to what ended up happening.

[Keeper of the Crows]

Joe Quesada explained his reasoning for not going with JMS's changes in a CBR interview.



JMS wrote to Newsarama "I think most of it represents accurately our conversations. It does, however, omit some of the main concerns I had with the resolution." He confirmed that Quesada's description of the plans in the CBR interview was accurate, although it left out JMS's objections to what ended up happening.

I think a true, behind-the-scenes inside story behind the dissolution of JMS’ and Quesada’s friendship would make for an absolutely fascinating article—or even the premise of an interesting novel-length book. Two friends who work together on a controversial project, who then distance themselves from parts of the work and eventually from each other. Remember, JMS continued writing for Marvel after this, with a hit run on the relaunched Thor—until he again experienced publically aired differences with Quesada over Siege, at which time he went over to DC. From what I remember, at that time the two were no longer on the best of terms already, after the fallout from OMD. It's like a modern day Lee/Ditko split.

[RD!]

I'm not interested in it to be honest. Two stubborn oafs having a falling out over who gets their way with a character that is supposed to inspire people to rise above such behaviour.

JMS was a good writer but seems to be a bit of a mean guy in person. I think we're lucky to have a friendly, enthusiastic writer on the books now. Not to mention Lowe seems like a nice guy too.

[Spidey_62]

The very first story, Coming Home, is one of my all-time favorites. Peter is written very real as a person that had a lot gone south in his life recently and wants to find his way again. In that regard, I think it made sense for Peter to return to his old stomping grounds at Midtown (despite a few continuity flub ups I chuckle at, Peter didn't know Gwen & Harry back then) to teach science. Then forces come into Pete's life that want him to re-evaluate everything he thought about how he got his powers and what that in turn means for him. What I like is in the end, he decides that none of that matters. He got his powers and he's tried to use them the best he could and that's the important thing.

It's just a good one that resonates for me, plus that fight with Morlun is a memorable one. Some of JRJR's best work, IMO.

Mileage varies for the rest of the run. Right after Coming Home is more great stuff that plays to the strengths of these characters. It's good, quiet character studies. It paints Aunt May as a strong individual and it was refreshing to see her as a fleshed out person. I don't like how prevalent the totem stuff gets later on, I preferred the openness that was left before.

[Batman Begins 2005]

I liked it. Perhaps one of my favorite runs on Spider-Man. Great back to basics approach, and great characterizations of Peter, Aunt May and MJ.

It was also the last time I felt the book really felt romantic. Peter's "I need you" speech to MJ in Doomed Affairs is still one of my favorite moments in comics. A close second being his defeat of Morlun, with a third being Peter's epic trip through his own timeline, fighting all the way, to save the world.

Well said. My top three is Coming Home, The Conversation and Doomed Affairs in that order with Happy Birthday just missing out

[Spider-Man]

I think a true, behind-the-scenes inside story behind the dissolution of JMS’ and Quesada’s friendship would make for an absolutely fascinating article—or even the premise of an interesting novel-length book. Two friends who work together on a controversial project, who then distance themselves from parts of the work and eventually from each other. Remember, JMS continued writing for Marvel after this, with a hit run on the relaunched Thor—until he again experienced publically aired differences with Quesada over Siege, at which time he went over to DC. From what I remember, at that time the two were no longer on the best of terms already, after the fallout from OMD. It's like a modern day Lee/Ditko split.

Reminds me of Morrison and Millar.