ASM #34 Preview

[hobnob]

I wouldn’t be surprised if he just doesn’t show up again. It’s wouldn’t be the first time zeb has dropped plot points like that.

Very true.

I'll give him this, he's got people interested even if they're insisting on boycotting.

Thinking """logically""", he won't kill MJ, and given that her mini is coming up and they'll be revealing it before ASM 36 comes out, I'd be surprised if they kill her Alfred Pennyworth when she doesn't understand her own tech. He's either got massive stones or was very naive, but NYCC is right after this arc concludes and no one likes being booed, so it will be a very dramatic nothing burger for Peter and MJ's 'relationship'.

[Lairston]

Nothing so dramatic. He leaves and is a blurb in the paper when he dies of slipping on a banana peel and hitting his head.

No in all seriousness since I want clone MJ he'd be responsible and he needs to go out in a big supervillain fight where Peter doesn't kill him but causes him to cause his own karmic death. Catharsis demands it.

So Peter heads back to the planet and finds sleeping MJ in a device. He frees sleeping MJ and Paul appears and tries to prevent their escape. They fight tooth and nail. The cyro device gets damaged in the fight. Peter and MJ escape. Paul turns to the device thats going critical, "$%$^" and it explodes vaporizing Paul and we never have to hear anything again about the villains that look more like Sonic the Hedgehog's Dr Robotnik's children than Spider-man villains.

[hobnob]

So Peter heads back to the planet and finds sleeping MJ in a device. He frees sleeping MJ and Paul appears and tries to prevent their escape. They fight tooth and nail. The cyro device gets damaged in the fight. Peter and MJ escape. Paul turns to the device thats going critical, "$%$^" and it explodes vaporizing Paul and we never have to hear anything again about the villains that look more like Sonic the Hedgehog's Dr Robotnik's children than Spider-man villains.

Things are pretty bleak when this is what you want but you know it's appalling.

'Waiter I would like a **** sandwich please. Yes you heard that right.'

[Xenon]

Starting to wonder what Kraven's role in this will be. Will probably be in #35. He'll dig out and he'll have a gun. How's that gun going to be used? (Also lol at a literal gun being a Chekhov's Gun. Subtle.)

I think he's played his entire role. 34 is set up to the Paul/MJ/Peter/Norman confrontation in 35 where Norman will take his sins back and Peter and MJ are further estranged after MJ reconfirms to Peter she's going to stay with him.

Very true.

I'll give him this, he's got people interested even if they're insisting on boycotting.

Thinking """logically""", he won't kill MJ, and given that her mini is coming up and they'll be revealing it before ASM 36 comes out, I'd be surprised if they kill her Alfred Pennyworth when she doesn't understand her own tech. He's either got massive stones or was very naive, but NYCC is right after this arc concludes and no one likes being booed, so it will be a very dramatic nothing burger for Peter and MJ's 'relationship'.

It's a hostage situation. WE know he's already hurt the hostage and are hoping he doesn't do worse.

So Peter heads back to the planet and finds sleeping MJ in a device. He frees sleeping MJ and Paul appears and tries to prevent their escape. They fight tooth and nail. The cyro device gets damaged in the fight. Peter and MJ escape. Paul turns to the device thats going critical, "$%$^" and it explodes vaporizing Paul and we never have to hear anything again about the villains that look more like Sonic the Hedgehog's Dr Robotnik's children than Spider-man villains.

Yeah that works. My idea was he forces clone MJ to fight Peter for him once he's discovered but she breaks free and cycles the Jackpot watch until she gets the three skulls, which lets her kill someone in exchange for her life. I suppose yours is more karmic but being killed by his own golem is karmic enough for me. Then Peter goes back to the bunker and rescues MJ who's been sleeping since like a week after Peter was pushed through the portal.

Things are pretty bleak when this is what you want but you know it's appalling.

'Waiter I would like a **** sandwich please. Yes you heard that right.'

I've mentioned this story a couple of times, but the 90s cartoon show where MJ was a water clone traumatized me as a child. It was so frustrating that it instilled in me a deep hatred of anything relating to clones. I didn't even remember why for a long time I just didn't like 'em.

Yet here I am, almost thirty years later, and my IDEAL solution is that MJ has been a clone for years. I've come full circle. These are the levels I've been driven to, lol.

[hobnob]

I think he's played his entire role. 34 is set up to the Paul/MJ/Peter/Norman confrontation in 35 where Norman will take his sins back and Peter and MJ are further estranged after MJ reconfirms to Peter she's going to stay with him.

I wonder if they'll kill Norman and Kraven and there will be no way for Peter to get someone to corroborate his story that he took on the goblin's sins, thereby alienating Peter and MJ possibly forever. Or until Norman comes back in 150 issues time and explains what happened.

Still wondering how this will set up the Jackpot mini. We know that ASM 35 sets up the next 24 issues (i.e. the rest of the run). I wouldn't mind Peter keeping the sins until the end of it just to see where it all goes, and we get a role reversal where MJ saves Peter over a protracted period of working stuff out.

This is the thing about this run. It has set up so many interesting opportunities, but I think they'll take the most boring one.

[Coop]

Kraven and the Black Suit are both only here because of the PS5 game and the Kraven movie that was also supposed to be this year. Which is imo why Kraven is also in that game.

I doubt Wells brings him back. Leaving him buried alive will likely be this Kraven's motivation to hate Spidey for a future writer.

[Kurus]

Imo people who think this run is going to alienate Peter and MJ forever are dooming. Wells has less than 30 issues left, and he’s not going to do anything that would require tons of work from the next writer to even have MJ in the book.

[ImOctavius]

Kraven and the Black Suit are both only here because of the PS5 game and the Kraven movie that was also supposed to be this year. Which is imo why Kraven is also in that game.

I doubt Wells brings him back. Leaving him buried alive will likely be this Kraven's motivation to hate Spidey for a future writer.

Kraven returns in every run, I don't think the game and the movie are real factors.

[Xenon]

I wonder if they'll kill Norman and Kraven and there will be no way for Peter to get someone to corroborate his story that he took on the goblin's sins, thereby alienating Peter and MJ possibly forever. Or until Norman comes back in 150 issues time and explains what happened.

Still wondering how this will set up the Jackpot mini. We know that ASM 35 sets up the next 24 issues (i.e. the rest of the run). I wouldn't mind Peter keeping the sins until the end of it just to see where it all goes, and we get a role reversal where MJ saves Peter over a protracted period of working stuff out.

This is the thing about this run. It has set up so many interesting opportunities, but I think they'll take the most boring one.

No need and he's not that thorough. Kraven has been buried alive, he will obviously escape but there's no need to deal with him this run. Norman they're not going to take off the table, but since he's gong to be evil again he wouldn't help Peter out. My guess is that this issue is mostly setup, Peter beats Norman, Norman goes back to the lab to figure out a way to get his sins back, Peter hunts down and finds MJ and Paul, where she dons Jackpot costume and they set up their fight for next issue. Next issue he says some bad stuff, they fight, Paul gets critically injured, MJ reconfirms she's staying with Paul, Norman shows up and takes his sins back. 36 is Peter (and possibly Jackpot) vs. Norman, and the reveal that people all saw Spider-Man attack some random dude in the tunnel for no reason. Peter and MJ won't be estranged because of a misunderstanding but because she's going to actively confirm her relationship with Paul in some manner (yes, I'm black pilled, lol) and Peter will feel guilty. Paul being injured will stick MJ in the hospital when the Gang War breaks out so she'll question whether she "risks" leaving Paul alone.

Norman is 100% getting the sins back in 35. It will set up the next 24 issues because he'll finally have figured out "what did Peter do?" and it was attack Paul so everyone thinks Spider-Man is a menace again. So the next year is going to be Spider-Man the outsider having to earn everyone's trust again. Even though we just did that. Eventually MJ will see Pete feels bad about what he did, and based on her rationale in 26, will immediately be attracted to him again, lol. But not until like 55.

Imo people who think this run is going to alienate Peter and MJ forever are dooming. Wells has les than 30 issues left, and he’s not going to do anything that would require tons of work from the next writer to even have MJ in the book.

My mind varies on this topic because everyone knows the right thing for the story and the characters but we also know that they have refused to do that for almost two decades now. And like, if doing the right thing and staying true to the characters were factors ASM25 would never have gotten published like it is. I do worry this is a mistake we keep making. We tell ourselves they wouldn't do X because X is terrible, but we have absolutely no evidence that they wouldn't do terrible things on this topic. If anything we already know that they will. And while I'm counting down the issues like everyone else, we just assume the next guy will be better when the same people look like they're going to be in charge. Cebulski doesn't want them reconciled. Brevoort (whatever influence he has over it) doesnt' want them reconciled. Lowe obviously does not care. Why do we just assume that they will put out good material? They keep selling with this material.

Like I don't want to be totally black pilled either. In my brain I fully expect that an MJ reconciliation was always the plan at the end of the run, even though I maintain that doesn't necessarily mean anything since there's no guarantee they'll actually fix what they broke with her. But there's this nagging voice in the back of my mind that points out that I have no real reason to believe that beyond it being the "right" story. And they have made absolutely clear they do not care about quality. So why would that be a factor in their decision? Like yeah maybe it's just a few people keeping that bad stuff in place, but they're still there and we have no reason to believe they'll be gone. At least not soon. Eventually, yeah, it's doomed, but that could be 2027 or 2030 or some nonsense. It doesn't have to be next.

[Xenon]

Kraven returns in every run, I don't think the game and the movie are real factors.

It's weird how pre-death he wasn't that common (he's actually in zero video games prior to his death) but now it feels like he's always around.

[Kurus]

I think people are jumping to conclusions based on people they don’t even know. Cebulski and Brevoort both let Nick Spencer’s run happen. We don’t know that this comes from editorial, and in fact we have interviews stating that this was zeb’s idea. Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. As for the next guy being better, well it’s hard to be worse than this dreck. There’s almost nowhere to go but up.

[hobnob]

No need and he's not that thorough. Kraven has been buried alive, he will obviously escape but there's no need to deal with him this run. Norman they're not going to take off the table, but since he's gong to be evil again he wouldn't help Peter out. My guess is that this issue is mostly setup, Peter beats Norman, Norman goes back to the lab to figure out a way to get his sins back, Peter hunts down and finds MJ and Paul, where she dons Jackpot costume and they set up their fight for next issue. Next issue he says some bad stuff, they fight, Paul gets critically injured, MJ reconfirms she's staying with Paul, Norman shows up and takes his sins back. 36 is Peter (and possibly Jackpot) vs. Norman, and the reveal that people all saw Spider-Man attack some random dude in the tunnel for no reason. Peter and MJ won't be estranged because of a misunderstanding but because she's going to actively confirm her relationship with Paul in some manner (yes, I'm black pilled, lol) and Peter will feel guilty. Paul being injured will stick MJ in the hospital when the Gang War breaks out so she'll question whether she "risks" leaving Paul alone.

Norman is 100% getting the sins back in 35.

36 will be issue 1 of the whacky Rek-Rap arc that segues from this to Gang War, and given how disjointed these trades/arcs have been, I'm not expecting anything connected to Spider-Man's Last Hunt. Norman will take the sins back in 35 and it'll contain the showdown that concludes this arc. 36 will be completely different.

It will set up the next 24 issues because he'll finally have figured out "what did Peter do?" and it was attack Paul so everyone thinks Spider-Man is a menace again. So the next year is going to be Spider-Man the outsider having to earn everyone's trust again. Even though we just did that. Eventually MJ will see Pete feels bad about what he did, and based on her rationale in 26, will immediately be attracted to him again, lol. But not until like 55.

I don't think that's the case but it's an interesting idea. The big teases about 'What did Peter do?' were things like Johnny being pissed that he stole from them. I think we've resolved that question (however poorly).

[hobnob]

I think people are jumping to conclusions based on people they don’t even know. Cebulski and Brevoort both let Nick Spencer’s run happen.

People blame Editorial with good reason. I don't think Spencer just fell over himself after OMD. He clearly wanted to go after OMD. At various points in the run he stares into the camera. At one point he makes light of the fact that Jonah's love life just changed over night and he never knew why. One minute someone was there and then she wasn't. Felicia basically says 'I deserve to know what we had, I deserve to know my own story.' He calls it out all the time. And then in Last Remains there are cryptic references to OMD all over the place.

It seems a little trite to suggest that Spencer's run just collapsed "fOr No ReAsOn" after Last Remains when the likeliest explanation is that Editorial skewered him and he had to work around their mandates.

There’s almost nowhere to go but up.

How are they going to attract new talent when the fanbase is in it's current state? You'd have to be out of your mind or a masochistic troll to go in for this. There won't be a 'next guy' for at least a year. It'll be another Beyond situation with loads of writers penning different issues.

When this run wraps up a huge section of the fanbase will take the credit and say that their pressure and toxicity saved the day. Any good editor would understand the long-term consequences of a thing like this. Spider-Man won't attract meaningful talent for a long time now that Wells has poisoned the well.

[Rob London]

It's weird how pre-death he wasn't that common (he's actually in zero video games prior to his death) but now it feels like he's always around.

This is technically true, but he died in 1987, by which time only two Spider-Man games existed.

[Stars & Stripes]

Kraven returns in every run, I don't think the game and the movie are real factors.

that said, a Spider-Man in a black suit acting evil when that's likely to happen in the PS5 game is a bit of a neat(?) coincidence.