ASM #26 Preview

[Huntsman Spider]

I have a serious conflicts of ideas. On one hand, I'm glad part of this foolishness is over, but on the other hand, I feel guilty for being happy for two kids erased from existence. Even if they were never real.

I have to say, Kamala's death is kinda stupid to happen in a comic that it's not her own. So much time fearing for Mary Jane to be killed, just to be trolled. Somehow I was expecting it.

I admire Ms Marvel, but for some reason, I don't see her death as big deal as it should be; possibly because they did it the wrong way.

Same, especially on the Kamala/Ms. Marvel part. The reason it's not as big a deal as it should be for us as fans and readers is that it's become increasingly transparent of late that Marvel does s*** like this for pure shock value, trolling, and (out)rage bait. Even more so, it's incredibly disrespectful of Kamala Khan as a character and in terms of what she means to so many fans and readers, not to mention those fans who've gotten into her through her Disney+ series, so no one is really feeling like this is something to be taken seriously --- except in terms of the impending disservice and disgrace that will be a permanent black mark on Marvel as a corporation, even if or when she comes back.

[TheSupernaut]

I just thought that what he did was the crux behind WHY MJ was treating him so terrible. But it seems like there's no real reason. Maybe he punched Paul? But Paul also punched him, so it's just a mess. Even if that was supposed to be it, MJ would have no leg to stand on as she's punched people and lost her cool. So yeah it really does seem like they just ditched it and pivoted to it being all about Paul/MJ and the kids. Even that couldn't be developed right.



I honestly don't know how I'd feel about this. I guess it would be nice to have this last year of Nega-MJ erased from her memory, but then she's just gonna be pining for Peter and not really understand why he's moved on from her. Which just feels really cruel to do to her.



I suppose that works, but it sure is unsatisfying. Especially for how MJ has been treating him. I thought it was something major, like truly awful. This all feels like understandable stuff that Mary Jane Watson should especially be able to empathize with him on. So it really doesn't feel like a satisfying answer in any way, shape or form. Much like the rest of this run.

Reminds me of when they killed Cyclops after Secret Wars and you had characters trashing him and comparing him to Hitler and we had to wait a year to even know what he did that was so bad. But it ended being a nothing burger because he died at the beginning of the M-Pox disaster and they character assassinated Emma to explain away his "crimes." Which the only thing he would've been guilty of is trying to save mutants from a toxic cloud.

[Xenon]

Given how Wells has written MJ thus far, I can safely conclude 1) he has absolutely no idea who Mary Jane is and what her character was established to be, and 2) those thinking it was mind control are giving him too much credit, because none of her behavior has made any sense this entire run. I fully believe Wells thinks that MJ just IS that cruel, evasive, frustrating, and weak. I can’t point to anything in the run that really tells me I’m wrong, and I very much want to be.

I don’t know. This is a run where right now we’re going “erasing two kids is an improvement”, “they fridged Ms. Marvel in 2023”, and “you know, mind control might be the happiest outcome, even considering the rapey connotations…”

That is DIRE storytelling.

The only reason I think we're bringing up mind control is that....the story does. Again, how were the kids chains? How did they influence MJ? Magically or otherwise. Those pages haven't been posted yet so perhaps we'll get something there but my hope is dead I just need to read the thing and beign teh process of ignoring Spider-Man for however long it takes to fix it. I might try the opposite this time and just consume good spider-media. WE'll see.

Maybe the big reveal will be that this isn't the real MJ? We've already brought magic into it...saying this is a phony MJ would be easy enough...and undo all this character destruction.

While that introduces its own problems (where was she, what was she doing, how did she get there), it's somehow not the worst solution.

[Garlador]

Maybe the big reveal will be that this isn't the real MJ? We've already brought magic into it...saying this is a phony MJ would be easy enough...and undo all this character destruction.

Pulling a Spider-Man 90s cartoon where the MJ he was with was a phony and it ends with him off to find the real MJ? I’ll take it.

Though even that kids show did phony MJ better. “Before I go, I want you to know just one thing. If any part of me is anything like the real Mary Jane Watson, she loves Peter Parker more than anything in the world. More than anything.”

[Ursalink]

Same, especially on the Kamala/Ms. Marvel part. The reason it's not as big a deal as it should be for us as fans and readers is that it's become increasingly transparent of late that Marvel does s*** like this for pure shock value, trolling, and (out)rage bait. Even more so, it's incredibly disrespectful of Kamala Khan as a character and in terms of what she means to so many fans and readers, not to mention those fans who've gotten into her through her Disney+ series, so no one is really feeling like this is something to be taken seriously --- except in terms of the impending disservice and disgrace that will be a permanent black mark on Marvel as a corporation, even if or when she comes back.

Personally, it's pretty obvious she's going to return. I just hope the latests rumors are fake and she won't be turned into a Mutant. I like her as an Inhuman, and cosidering how bad things are about to get for Mutants, I do not wish Kamalah to be affected by that.

[Huntsman Spider]

Pulling a Spider-Man 90s cartoon where the MJ he was with was a phony and it ends with him off to find the real MJ? I’ll take it.

Though even that kids show did phony MJ better. “Before I go, I want you to know just one thing. If any part of me is anything like the real Mary Jane Watson, she loves Peter Parker more than anything in the world. More than anything.”

Having just rewatched those episodes on Disney+ yesterday, I am still feeling that. And hell, look at it from Peter's perspective at that point; even if Hydro-MJ was "just a clone," that's still twice he was helpless to do anything to save the woman he loved most. That last scene with him before Madame Web found him again . . . seemed like he was on the verge of a total emotional breakdown.

Personally, it's pretty obvious she's going to return. I just hope the latests rumors are fake and she won't be turned into a Mutant. I like her as an Inhuman, and cosidering how bad things are about to get for Mutants, I do not wish Kamalah to be affected by that.

Understandable.

[TinkerSpider]

The thought of Mary Jane Watson spoilers:

comparing some random jerk wanting to kill his dad to Peter's life and struggles as Spider-man

end of spoilers is a great way for Zeb Wells to say, bluntly and with confidence "I have never, nor will I ever, understand MJ's character."

This.

spoilers:

Paul outright says he helped his father with the genocide and only realized things were wrong when everyone on the planet was already dead. Then Paul says he killed his father, which automatically puts him at odds with Peter who would never, ever kill (unless it's a suicidal friend of Wolverine's who runs into his fist). But MJ thinks that makes him like Peter?!?!?!!!

end of spoilers

Not only that, but for MJ to apparently then cut off all contact with Peter, tell him never to call her, to yell at him about responsibility after Peter saved her - again? For MJ to be stripped of all empathy?!

The sheer disdain, disregard and disrespect dripping off the page for Mary Jane and her established character and history is appalling and atrocious. Of course, Peter doesn't fare much better. He's also being an uncharacteristic jerk and lacking in empathy.

Not to mention, Paul is a liar, liar, pants on fire.

In ASM 21, he:

1) knows about the time dilation but says nothing to MJ about it, so she thinks Peter isn't coming back.

2) Says that he worked with Rabin and was sent to the hellworld with a message for Wayeb - but now we learn spoilers:

he was a native of this world and while he worked with Rabin, was also his son.

end of spoilers

3) spoilers:

Tells Peter in ASM 26 that Peter and MJ brought their Emissary to his world, indicating that's the first time he's seen 616 Rabin

end of spoilers but in ASM 21 he knows the entire back story of Peter's original fight with Wayeb and Rabin back in BND.

4) Acts as if he's never heard of the multiverse in ASM 21 but spoilers:

turns out he knew all along he wasn't from 616 like Peter and MJ.

end of spoilers

But in the end, I think all of this is because this is a very sloppily written (and drawn) run. I'd love to think all the inconsistencies were Easter eggs pointing to a bigger story, but so far this just seems like more Romy/Stephanie laziness.

[Ursalink]

It would appear that, because he sacrified the wrong girl, Rabin died because of it.

Personally, I don't think this is over. I have the suspiction that Paul could actually become a new pawn for Wayed/Rabin and try the whole mess again.

[Xenon]

This.

spoilers:

Paul outright says he helped his father with the genocide and only realized things were wrong when everyone on the planet was already dead. Then Paul says he killed his father, which automatically puts him at odds with Peter who would never, ever kill (unless it's a suicidal friend of Wolverine's who runs into his fist). But MJ thinks that makes him like Peter?!?!?!!!

end of spoilers

Not only that, but for MJ to apparently then cut off all contact with Peter, tell him never to call her, to yell at him about responsibility after Peter saved her - again? For MJ to be stripped of all empathy?!

The sheer disdain, disregard and disrespect dripping off the page for Mary Jane and her established character and history is appalling and atrocious. Of course, Peter doesn't fare much better. He's also being an uncharacteristic jerk and lacking in empathy.

Not to mention, Paul is a liar, liar, pants on fire.

In ASM 21, he:

1) knows about the time dilation but says nothing to MJ about it, so she thinks Peter isn't coming back.

2) Says that he worked with Rabin and was sent to the hellworld with a message for Wayeb - but now we learn spoilers:

he was a native of this world and while he worked with Rabin, was also his son.

end of spoilers

3) spoilers:

Tells Peter in ASM 26 that Peter and MJ brought their Emissary to his world, indicating that's the first time he's seen 616 Rabin

end of spoilers but in ASM 21 he knows the entire back story of Peter's original fight with Wayeb and Rabin back in BND.

4) Acts as if he's never heard of the multiverse in ASM 21 but spoilers:

turns out he knew all along he wasn't from 616 like Peter and MJ.

end of spoilers

But in the end, I think all of this is because this is a very sloppily written (and drawn) run. I'd love to think all the inconsistencies were Easter eggs pointing to a bigger story, but so far this just seems like more Romy/Stephanie laziness.

If he knows about the time dilation and doesn't tell MJ that's a pretty damning fact.

Him blaming them for "brining" the emissary is a subtle piece of BS.

Honestly while I'm willing to write off the stuff from like 1-5 as old script 21 is part of this arc that's just a bad job if he's making errors that close. That said, the only one of those lies that's really signifcant woudl be the time dilation. And I suppose the part about HELPING Rabin....

I was about to have an "I hope" statement, but I don't hope anymore for this issue. But if I did hope I would hope Kamala's death really isn't the final page and we get some MJ actually being firey for once and shoving Paul away, free of her chains. Ah....a pure fantasy. That's not happening. Not even in best case scenario. Just a dream.

[Frontier]

So this issue has:

- Numerous art inconsistencies.

- Character assassinates Mary Jane.

- Kills off one of the most popular young female heroes and heroes of color that Marvel has on the last day of Asian Pacific Heritage Month in the most nonsensical and frankly in the most disrespectful way possible...for a character whose only been in this run for 14/646 pages and 37/3204 panels.

- Asks us to actively root for some random dude over our protagonist and tries to make them on equal footing despite them...obviously not being so.

- Said protagonist is still useless and basically contributes nothing to the story.

[Xenon]

So this issue has:

- Numerous art inconsistencies.

- Character assassinates Mary Jane.

- Kills off one of the most popular young female heroes and heroes of color that Marvel has on the last day of Asian Pacific Heritage Month in the most nonsensical and frankly in the most disrespectful way possible...for a character whose only been in this run for 14/646 pages and 37/3204 panels.

- Asks us to actively root for some random dude over our protagonist and tries to make them on equal footing despite them...obviously not being so.

- Said protagonist is still useless and basically contributes nothing to the story.

When you put it like that it sounds bad.

[Frontier]

When you put it like that it sounds bad.

I guess I should mention it's also centering the story around a villain people don't really care that much about?

[Kevinroc]

So this issue has:

- Numerous art inconsistencies.

- Character assassinates Mary Jane.

- Kills off one of the most popular young female heroes and heroes of color that Marvel has on the last day of Asian Pacific Heritage Month in the most nonsensical and frankly in the most disrespectful way possible...for a character whose only been in this run for 14/646 pages and 37/3204 panels.

- Asks us to actively root for some random dude over our protagonist and tries to make them on equal footing despite them...obviously not being so.

- Said protagonist is still useless and basically contributes nothing to the story.

I just don't understand how Marvel lets their flagship book with their mascot character become so atrocious. What even is this and when does it stop?

This issue comes out just before Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

What even is going on at Marvel that their flagship book starring their title character is in this state just before the release of this movie?

[Kaitou D. Kid]

So this issue has:

- Numerous art inconsistencies.

- Character assassinates Mary Jane.

- Kills off one of the most popular young female heroes and heroes of color that Marvel has on the last day of Asian Pacific Heritage Month in the most nonsensical and frankly in the most disrespectful way possible...for a character whose only been in this run for 14/646 pages and 37/3204 panels.

- Asks us to actively root for some random dude over our protagonist and tries to make them on equal footing despite them...obviously not being so.

- Said protagonist is still useless and basically contributes nothing to the story.

I just don't understand how Marvel lets their flagship book with their mascot character become so atrocious. What even is this and when does it stop?

This issue comes out just before Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

What even is going on at Marvel that their flagship book starring their title character is in this state just before the release of this movie?

It's all just so... professionaly embarassing at this point.

It's been for a while, but it just gets more and more.

[Garlador]

So this issue has:

- Numerous art inconsistencies.

- Character assassinates Mary Jane.

- Kills off one of the most popular young female heroes and heroes of color that Marvel has on the last day of Asian Pacific Heritage Month in the most nonsensical and frankly in the most disrespectful way possible...for a character whose only been in this run for 14/646 pages and 37/3204 panels.

- Asks us to actively root for some random dude over our protagonist and tries to make them on equal footing despite them...obviously not being so.

- Said protagonist is still useless and basically contributes nothing to the story.

Not just “some random dude”. He confesses he was complicit in GENOCIDE and PATRICIDE.

But MJ defends him and stays with him over Peter because “he’s sorry”.

Oh, and the number of children Mary Jane has lost is now FOUR.

Sheesh.