Zeb Wells and John Romita Junior ASM Preview

[Mercwmouth12]

It did read like the Vol. 2 reboot era. There's a mystery that's hard to get invested in, Peter is unemployed, a slacker and a complete sad sack, the supporting cast looks down upon him, MJ is shoved off to a contentious subplot...

I guess the Tombstone and Ock bits were alright, but not nearly enough of the rest was.

That fact that she's getting a subplot means she's involved in the story and including the [spoil]x-men stuff upcoming[spoil]
Randy looks to be getting some time to shine, but this could be his only appearance and dont think we'll see much of May so it boils down to who will be the core supporting cast this run?

[Matt Rat]

it boils down to who will be the core supporting cast this run?

Just because the solicitations haven't focused much on the supporting cast doesn't mean they won't feature inside the actual issues.

[Mercwmouth12]

Just because the solicitations haven't focused much on the supporting cast doesn't mean they won't feature inside the actual issues.

Was asking who you think the cast will be or is this the core cast we'll have this whole run?

[CrimsonEchidna]

This issue really highlights how idiotic it is that Pete won't just tell May that he's Spider-Man.

[Webhead]

This issue really highlights how idiotic it is that Pete won't just tell May that he's Spider-Man.

Even worse, she learned accidentally, showed she was okay with it, their relationship improved because of it and yet Peter made her forget along with everyone else and didn't care to tell her again. Probably the worst, most OOC aspect of post OMD/BND Peter.

[Frontier]

I mean let's face it, comic fans can be notorious for knee-jerking and devolving into masses of hysteria. Remember when Superior Spider-Man supposedly spat in the face of Peter Parker and the fans and how it was going to be an exercise in showing how Otto was better at Spider-Man etc etc? And then it turned out the whole point of it was to provide an illustration of all the things that made Peter a great hero, whoda thunk.

These are ultimately just elements Stan Lee baked into his stories himself way back when: comics are soap operas with 35% more bondage gear present. Drama and conflict are what propels stories and takes people on a ride. You can't experience the elation of triumphant highs without depressing lows, can't experience mysteries without subversion, and so on. If you're afraid of doing this with your audience as a writer, you're not doing your job IMO.

I think the problem with Superior was the execution and the fallout to where the point of Otto not being a better Spider-Man got kind of overshadowed by Slott going full-board on making Otto more compelling and competent than Peter and doubling down on the whole "Superior" thing even after he "died."

[The Negative Zone]

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. I actually greatly enjoyed the Tombstone and Spider-Man fighting Digger plotline. There were a lot of humorous moments in between. Johnny, Randy, and May clearly are upset with Peter but are actually worried about them so it doesn't feel like they all just hate Peter for no reason (like uhhh in Spencer's first issue where everyone is just visibly disgusted with Spider-Man). My biggest problem was MJ like everyone else, cause it seemed almost without nuance of the previous interactions.

I'm honestly worried on how this run will turn out given the leaks, the teaser, and whoever that guy at the last pages was. It seems like it might be too much of a mess, but we'll see!

[NC_Yankee]

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. I actually greatly enjoyed the Tombstone and Spider-Man fighting Digger plotline. There were a lot of humorous moments in between. Johnny, Randy, and May clearly are upset with Peter but are actually worried about them so it doesn't feel like they all just hate Peter for no reason (like uhhh in Spencer's first issue where everyone is just visibly disgusted with Spider-Man). My biggest problem was MJ like everyone else, cause it seemed almost without nuance of the previous interactions.

I'm honestly worried on how this run will turn out given the leaks, the teaser, and whoever that guy at the last pages was. It seems like it might be too much of a mess, but we'll see!

“Sins Past meets One More Day” ( Bleeding Cool). That quote should scare any Peter and ( or) MJ fan. I am not investing my time with this arc. If it is good, I can pick it up in trades ( but I doubt it).

[Matt Rat]

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be.

Some of the best bits work all in spite of the lead.

Aunt May doesn't give up on her belief in Peter, she just can't understand his choices.

I think Wells has nailed Tombstone, Spencer's was much too comical and the Randy/Janice situation played as such too, but here Wells delves into it and makes Randy courageous and likeable and Tombstone fair and approachable.

And despite the controversy of the cliff-hanger, I found the last scenes with MJ looking longingly at Peter outside and greeting the kids with a hug very emotional,. the latter bit displaying a good deal of warmth and reinforcing MJ makes a great mom

[Mercwmouth12]

“Sins Past meets One More Day” ( Bleeding Cool). That quote should scare any Peter and ( or) MJ fan. I am not investing my time with this arc. If it is good, I can pick it up in trades ( but I doubt it).

BC is also an the onion style site and it's not in that bad of a range but it;s not great either if you're a freqiuent or new reader would wait til the trade is out, but for now would wait until there's word or changes or good stuff happens

[Kaitou D. Kid]

This issue really highlights how idiotic it is that Pete won't just tell May that he's Spider-Man.

It's even worse if Peter remembers the talk he had with May in JMS' run. After that talk, I just don't buy Peter ever keeping his identity secret from May.

[TinkerSpider]

Some of the best bits work all in spite of the lead.

Aunt May doesn't give up on her belief in Peter, she just can't understand his choices.

I think Wells has nailed Tombstone, Spencer's was much too comical and the Randy/Janice situation played as such too, but here Wells delves into it and makes Randy courageous and likeable and Tombstone fair and approachable.

And despite the controversy of the cliff-hanger, I found the last scenes with MJ looking longingly at Peter outside and greeting the kids with a hug very emotional,. the latter bit displaying a good deal of warmth and reinforcing MJ makes a great mom

I agree the Tombstone stuff was the best, mostly because it didn't rely on Stupid Mystery Box. If Wells had more confidence in his ability to hold the reader and just told a straightforward back to basics story without all the forced suspense, relying on the epilogue as his cliffhanger, it would have been a great issue.

I'm gonna disagree on MJ, however. Wells turned her into "mopes by the window meme" which is why the BND writers said the marriage had to go, and to see Wells lean into this AGAIN (he did it in the first Beyond issue, too) is...*sigh*

[Mercwmouth12]

I agree the Tombstone stuff was the best, mostly because it didn't rely on Stupid Mystery Box. If Wells had more confidence in his ability to hold the reader and just told a straightforward back to basics story without all the forced suspense, relying on the epilogue as his cliffhanger, it would have been a great issue.

I'm gonna disagree on MJ, however. Wells turned her into "mopes by the window meme" which is why the BND writers said the marriage had to go, and to see Wells lean into this AGAIN (he did it in the first Beyond issue, too) is...*sigh*

Also first issue, but dont read anymore issue until sometime after 900 comes out and if it's nothing good leave alone or if it is come back and see what happened. MJ makes a great mom as evident from her MC2 variant and this is the first step of making them parents and prove what is known through AU Peter/MJ as parents but finally in the 616

[Mister Mets]

Some of the best bits work all in spite of the lead.

Aunt May doesn't give up on her belief in Peter, she just can't understand his choices.

I think Wells has nailed Tombstone, Spencer's was much too comical and the Randy/Janice situation played as such too, but here Wells delves into it and makes Randy courageous and likeable and Tombstone fair and approachable.

And despite the controversy of the cliff-hanger, I found the last scenes with MJ looking longingly at Peter outside and greeting the kids with a hug very emotional,. the latter bit displaying a good deal of warmth and reinforcing MJ makes a great mom

I thought the Spider-Man scenes worked pretty well.

The Peter mystery is a bit odd. Aunt May's response was the highlight, and I think there's a way in which gets across what things are like for people in Peter's life, whenever he makes a big decision as Spider-Man. The readers usually know the answer, but now we're a bit like the other characters.

The main thing that rubs me the wrong way is the questions about MJ. That seems potentially deceptive.

People who take the spider-marriage very seriously sometimes have an exaggerated sense of the importance of the issue for others. But there are a few of them. And this is playing with their emotions.

Obviously, works of fiction play with expectations. There's flexibility in a series with new characters where you can go in big directions. With new adventures of classic characters, there is a general reader understanding that there are lines that will not be crossed. Peter Parker will not die. He'll still be in New York. He won't be a criminal reprobate. Any exceptions would be temporary.

When it comes to Peter and MJ's relationship, there are readers invested in a particular outcome and I think it's better to be honest with them in the beginning. They don't have the same confidence about how the story is going to go, which makes following the comic book more fraught.

I don't know where the story's going, but if you wanted to break Peter and MJ up, doling it out over the course of dozens of issues over the course of a year limits some of the backlash. There will be complaining, but the same level of intensity.

One problem for this issue is that it's so tied to follow-ups that the reputation will largely be dependent on the payoff. If the flashbacks about what happened to Peter make sense and are revealed in a good story, this issue's reputation goes up. If the flashbacks are clunky and/ or the story in which its revealed is mediocre, this issue's reputation goes down.

[Mister Mets]

If you're building up something gradually then it's not really much of a surprise, is it? Not unless you zig when you're preparing people for a zag. But I get what you're saying, if there's the rug is pulled out in the same manner too often, it stops having an impact in itself. That's a fair point.



I just figured she's dating a guy who already has children tbh

I figured it was her boyfriend's kids as well.

If this was a six-year later jump, the implications would be different.

The main alternative would be if this had something to do with fan-theories about the baby from the Clone Saga surviving, or MJ being pregnant during One More Day.