Should Aunt May die for good?

[Matt Rat]

Nobody talks about how The Night Gwen Stacy Died had a follow-up where Peter meets Luke Cage. (Not that it was a bad story or anything, but it's not really discussed at all.)

And the only reason they think about the Hulk in Montreal story prior to this is because Peter mentions it in "The Night Gwen Stacy Died"

[Mister Mets]

Nobody talks about how The Night Gwen Stacy Died had a follow-up where Peter meets Luke Cage. (Not that it was a bad story or anything, but it's not really discussed at all.)

It's a separate story. There isn't a cliffhanger in the Night Gwen Stacy Died in which Luke Cage promises to punch Spider-Man.

[Kevinroc]

It's a separate story. There isn't a cliffhanger in the Night Gwen Stacy Died in which Luke Cage promises to punch Spider-Man.

It opens with the authorities finding Norman Osborn's body (which wasn't in the Green Goblin costume) and later cuts to Gwen's funeral. It's absolutely connected to the previous story.

[Hoodj]

Yes, it would allow Peter to make complex choices to move up in life organically where he can have maturity and agency rely on his own perspective on what do when the time comes especially without help from a parental guide, he always done things on the factor he always had a comfort zone waiting for him to run to when things got hard, not really learning from the experience amd trying to adapt to being better next time, he'd needed may for most of his lowest points or her being alive to cling him to fight through despair. If she dies, that means he'll adapt in how to approach living as a superhero and peter parker via using his own common sense and the actual wisdom of ben and may themselves to become smarter in choosing who to work for(he worka shitty jobs for a impulsive excuse to provode for either may or mj because he doesnt posses the patience or wisdom to look for a way to provide for them in a smarter and less risky way), less secretive, more confident in trusting people, less a screw up, and finally get more accomedations for his own health and if he chooses too get some health insurance. He can also get a relatable hobby(fictional science work isnt relatable), because for such a everyman i never seen him do anything for sake of it.

[Mister Mets]

It opens with the authorities finding Norman Osborn's body (which wasn't in the Green Goblin costume) and later cuts to Gwen's funeral. It's absolutely connected to the previous story.

It's connected but it doesn't happen in the same issue. So you could read the Night Gwen Stacy Died without the scene at Gwen's funeral where Aunt May is escorted by Dr Octopus's thugs.

If you read Amazing Spider-Man #400, it includes Peter Parker getting arrested.

[Kevinroc]

It's connected but it doesn't happen in the same issue. So you could read the Night Gwen Stacy Died without the scene at Gwen's funeral where Aunt May is escorted by Dr Octopus's thugs.

If you read Amazing Spider-Man #400, it includes Peter Parker getting arrested.

Does it lessen a story in your eyes if it's directly connected to another story? Does it make a story less valid?

[Alan2099]

When people look back at classic comics, they often forget some of the other details that were going on at the time.

Like the Death of Superman has Bloodwynd in it or how in Secret Wars Iron Man is there but he's not Tony Stark. Another good example is the whole Peter Parker/Ben Reilly thing during Marvel vs DC.

[Mister Mets]

Does it lessen a story in your eyes if it's directly connected to another story? Does it make a story less valid?

It depends on the degree of the connection and the quality of the other story.

Roger Stern and John Romita Jr's Jekyl and Hyde two-parter has some references to the previous encounter between Spider-Man and the Juggernaut, which is fine because that's one of the best Spider-Man stories ever.

I think Kraven's Last Hunt is just slightly more satisfying because the reference to Ned Leeds' recent death doesn't mention that he was believed to be the Hobgoblin at the time. It references the excellent Spider-Man VS Wolverine, and not the rushjob Amazing Spider-Man #289.

When people look back at classic comics, they often forget some of the other details that were going on at the time.

Like the Death of Superman has Bloodwynd in it or how in Secret Wars Iron Man is there but he's not Tony Stark. Another good example is the whole Peter Parker/Ben Reilly thing during Marvel vs DC.

I honestly think Ben Reilly may be a contributing factor to why Marvel VS DC isn't considered a classic comic.

[Lee]

I honestly think Ben Reilly may be a contributing factor to why Marvel VS DC isn't considered a classic comic.

The non-standard versions of Thor and Hulk didn't help either.

Spider-Man versus Superboy was a bad match-up in general.

[Kevinroc]

Nobody cares that it's Ben Reilly in Marvel vs. DC.

(Wolverine vs. Lobo is usually cited as the most egregious example as to why the comic isn't exactly fondly remembered.)

[Kevinroc]

The non-standard versions of Thor and Hulk didn't help either.

Spider-Man versus Superboy was a bad match-up in general.

What's a "standard version" of the Hulk?

[Lee]

Nobody cares that it's Ben Reilly in Marvel vs. DC.

People cared at the time, and it only made the comic more confusing for readers who read it years later. Just because you don't care about something, doesn't mean that zero people on the planet care.

What's a "standard version" of the Hulk?

Angry dumb monster. Not smart, collected and handsome.

[Matt Rat]

I still love that Roger Stern's brilliant Superman vs Hulk one-shot in the late 90s actually 'fit' into continuity and referenced events from the close of Peter David's original run.

[Kevinroc]

People cared at the time, and it only made the comic more confusing for readers who read it years later. Just because you don't care about something, doesn't mean that zero people on the planet care.

So what is your argument here? That tying the book to the then current status quo weakened it? Because comic crossovers and events do that all the time.

Angry dumb monster. Not smart, collected and handsome.

That hasn't been the "standard version" of the Hulk in a very long time.

[Vegeta]

That hasn't been the "standard version" of the Hulk in a very long time.

It's the version that's firmly embedded in the pop culture collective though. From the old Bixby TV series, multiple cartoons and even a majority of MCU Avengers and the Thor Ragnarok films. A muscular monosyllabic violent rage monster who's catch phrase is "HULK SMASH!" My personal preference for Joe Fixit or even the recent "Immortal" status quo in comics doesn't negate that.