Why can't Marvel make Betty Brant Peter's Love Interest Once Again?

[witchboy]

At the bottom, yes, but at the top you'd expect the few women who didn't "retire" to hold those positions. Not teenage girls.

Betty's mother had been Jonah's secretary before she got sick. Jonah gave Betty the job out of a fondness for her and her mother, as a way to help her.

[comictimes]

Betty's mother had been Jonah's secretary before she got sick. Jonah gave Betty the job out of a fondness for her and her mother, as a way to help her.

That was also Busiek, not Ditko (I'd leave Stan out of this). I don't think that an Randian like him would've given two thoughts about the age difference. It was there in the drawings.

[witchboy]

That was also Busiek, not Ditko (I'd leave Stan out of this). I don't think that an Randian like him would've given two thoughts about the age difference. It was there in the drawings.

The part about her mother was Busiek, but Betty being a high school drop out came originally in the letters column from the sixties. I'm not sure who gets credit for that.

[Kurt Busiek]

Betty being a high school drop out came originally in the letters column from the sixties. I'm not sure who gets credit for that.

If it was in the letter column, back at the time, it was Stan.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

The part about her mother was Busiek, but Betty being a high school drop out came originally in the letters column from the sixties. I'm not sure who gets credit for that.

...and incidentally, it was established that Betty dropped out of high school to become Jonah's secretary in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 9.

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[comictimes]

Stan butting in on Ditko's creation again. I very much doubt he had anything resembling that dialog in mind when drawing that panel.

But yeah, OK, it's there, it's canon. So she left high school, that doesn't mean she was 15, she could've been 17. So by the time she's making this confession, she could be already over 18. It still looks like too little, compared to how old she looks but, as I said, it's canon.

[Spider-Tiger]

The fashions from the early 60s definitely would make Betty seem more mature to a modern audience. Liz, who was canonically Peter's age, really didn't look any younger than Betty.

[exile001]

Stan butting in on Ditko's creation again. I very much doubt he had anything resembling that dialog in mind when drawing that panel.

Lol at people still determined to handwave (or twist to negative) every contribution Stan Lee made to Spider-Man.

We get it, the dude was a flagrant self-promoter who massively inflated his contributions to the books he ran. Don't make it your entire personality on here. It gets REAL old REAL quick.

[comictimes]

The fashions from the early 60s definitely would make Betty seem more mature to a modern audience. Liz, who was canonically Peter's age, really didn't look any younger than Betty.

Even though that panel is from #25, around Ditko's sweet artistic spot, he never had enough of an ability to show slight differences in age. Most comic-book artist lack in this respect, take Byrne for instance, his children are just small people with broad faces. Still, the way she dressed (not just at work) was more mature than that of Liz (for example.).

[Kurt Busiek]

Stan butting in on Ditko's creation again. I very much doubt he had anything resembling that dialog in mind when drawing that panel.

But yeah, OK, it's there, it's canon. So she left high school, that doesn't mean she was 15, she could've been 17. So by the time she's making this confession, she could be already over 18. It still looks like too little, compared to how old she looks but, as I said, it's canon.

I wrote her as a year or two older than Peter. He was 15 when they met, she was 16-17.

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[SturdyMike89]

I wrote her as a year or two older than Peter. He was 15 when they met, she was 16-17.

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I always read Betty as not only being a bit older than Peter, but a little more mature than him when he started out. She was sort of forced to grow up faster due to her family circumstances. But that could just be me.

[Dark Soul # 7]

I think the main reasons Betty isn't a love interest for Peter is that there isn't enough fan demand for such a relationship.

I imagine that most fans gravitate towards MJ, Black Cat and/or Gwen over Betty. Or they don't care about Spidey-romances or want to see something newer in that aspect.

Betty just doesn't have the appeal to get the love interest role.

[comictimes]

I wrote her as a year or two older than Peter. He was 15 when they met, she was 16-17.

kdb

Yeah, making the best out of a bad situation. At least you didn't take the letter's column as cannon, which is where she was depicted as younger than Peter.

[Alan2099]

Stan butting in on Ditko's creation again. I very much doubt he had anything resembling that dialog in mind when drawing that panel.

I think this is the first time I've ever seen a Ditko fanatic say Stan did too much when it came to Spider-man.

[comictimes]

I think this is the first time I've ever seen a Ditko fanatic say Stan did too much when it came to Spider-man.

I'm a fanatic now, OK, nice knowing you.