Amazing Spider-Man #4 Spoilers and Discussion

[jimishim12]

Some People actually want a more or less copy of Superman and Captain America in Spidey, flawless in all moral imperatives and outlooks. Never a flaw or a setback in anything he decides to act towards. WOW!

[Metamorphosis]

Putting aside the fact he was clearly being humorous and not expecting it to work, the entire premise behind him asking is that if they are mercenaries, they have no stake in the game - they are just after money. Mercenaries don't form juntas - that would make them the opposite of mercenaries.

Putting aside the fact that he says "not joking--got my checkbook with me and everything", putting aside the fact that they were just raining down bombs and shooting at his Aunt and civilians (he would just pay them off to go away, where's the justice in that?), did he ever actually get answer as to whether they were just mercs for hire? Does Peter know anything politically about the country he just traipsed into?

This coming from the guy who accuses people who disagree with him of blindly excusing and apologising. A real paragon of civil discussion, for sure.

I shouldn't let someone else's behavior influence my own, for sure, but it's not very conducive to discussion to just be dismissed as "hating" first.

[shgs]

Putting aside the fact that he says "not joking--got my checkbook with me and everything",

Oh well that settles it then. No one has ever said one thing while meaning something else for comic effect before.

See what I did there.

I mean think about the context. Does he have a chequebook in his costume? I doubt it. Why would he have it on a SHIELD operation? Where would he have it on him? How would he get it out? Where would he keep the pen? And more importantly, what mercenary would accept a cheque to betray their current employer? They have no way of knowing if it will bounce, and I somehow don't think mercs like to be paid for illegal activities using such easily traceable forms of currency.

No, the whole situation is far too ludicrous for him not to be joking - though if they did take him up on the offer I'm sure he would consider it at the very least.

putting aside the fact that they were just raining down bombs and shooting at his Aunt and civilians (he would just pay them off to go away, where's the justice in that?),

Why would we put that aside, that is the entire motivation for Peter's actions in the scene.

did he ever actually get answer as to whether they were just mercs for hire?

Of course not, he wasn't expecting one. When have bad guys ever joined in with his banter?

Does Peter know anything politically about the country he just traipsed into?

Not from the looks of it, that's the entire point. He's rushing in headlong to save lives, as he has done many a time before.

I shouldn't let someone else's behavior influence my own, for sure, but it's not very conducive to discussion to just be dismissed as "hating" first.

No you shouldn't. Rise above it. You could have pointed out he was wrong to assume the motivations for your criticism and you'd have gained the moral high ground.

But one thing I will say - and this isn't to excuse that person from dismissing you as a hater - but you do invite accusations of partisanship with a signature like that. You've essentially hung a sign round your neck saying I'm dissatisfied with the current state of the Spider-Man books and I want everyone to know it, and people are going to use that to pre-judge your comments whether they should or not.

[Dan Slott]

That comes off like such an easy shortcut: to presume that anyone who wants to discuss the book, outside of seemingly fawning over it here, is labeled a "hater" or is said to be "trashing" on it.

No more a shortcut or unreasonable as someone who tries to label someone who disagrees with them as a "blind apologist" or "fawning".
You HAVE to see that, right? That was the point. Whoosh. Right by you.

[Metamorphosis]

I mean think about the context. Does he have a chequebook in his costume? I doubt it. Why would he have it on a SHIELD operation? Where would he have it on him? How would he get it out? Where would he keep the pen? And more importantly, what mercenary would accept a cheque to betray their current employer? They have no way of knowing if it will bounce, and I somehow don't think mercs like to be paid for illegal activities using such easily traceable forms of currency.

There are also wire transfers, done easily and electronically, or Peter with the resources he has now, just has a pile of cash or the country's currency air-dropped in. What's it matter how he pays them off when the character's resources are intimated to now be unlimited?

No, the whole situation is far too ludicrous for him not to be joking - though if they did take him up on the offer I'm sure he would consider it at the very least.

Jeez, and people complained when Peter bargained with Venom and let him get away. Offering to pay off armed thugs is a whole different ballgame. What a hero.

No you shouldn't. Rise above it. You could have pointed out he was wrong to assume the motivations for your criticism and you'd have gained the moral high ground.

But one thing I will say - and this isn't to excuse that person from dismissing you as a hater - but you do invite accusations of partisanship with a signature like that. You've essentially hung a sign round your neck saying I'm dissatisfied with the current state of the Spider-Man books and I want everyone to know it, and people are going to use that to pre-judge your comments whether they should or not.

Eh, Hubbs knows me, like most people that post here regularly do. We know by now where we stand, and that we're not going to particularly change each other's minds. I don't mind if he or anyone else here wants to pre-judge me based on a signature, that's fine, but I will give back as good as I get.

A little dissent is a good thing, I think, and the world would be a far more boring place if everyone subscribed to the same automatic “everything is awesome” mentality all the time.

No more a shortcut or unreasonable as someone who tries to label someone who disagrees with them as a "blind apologist" or "fawning".
You HAVE to see that, right? That was the point. Whoosh. Right by you.

There's disagreeing, and then there's outright slandering or name-calling of a fellow poster. I didn't elevate the civility of the situation with my response, granted, but when that bar is already lying on the ground, it's hard to want to make the effort to raise it up.

[Prof. Warren]

There are also wire transfers, done easily and electronically, or Peter with the resources he has now, just has a pile of cash or the country's currency air-dropped in. What's it matter how he pays them off when the character's resources are intimated to now be unlimited?

Jeez, and people complained when Peter bargained with Venom and let him get away. Offering to pay off armed thugs is a whole different ballgame. What a hero.

An absurd amount of attention has been given to an example of Spidey banter that carries no more serious weight behind it than the countless number of other times that he's distracted his foes with his inimitable brand of snappy patter.

If he arrived on the scene in this issue and asked to speak to the person in charge of the attacks, tried to broker a deal and negotiated monetary terms, then that would be out of character. But that's not what happened. Not even close. He's making a funny comment in the midst of a fight in the same way that he always does. That's all. To see it as anything more than that is simply looking for an ax to grind.

[Some Guy]

Is this seriously going to be the norm for every spoilers thread for every new Spider-Man issue? Are the Slott haters so petty that they feel the need to find the least important thing about each new issue and then exaggerate why it's such a big problem and why Slott is the worst thing to happen to Spider-Man since BND? Is this what it was like during Superior and volume 3?

[Metamorphosis]

An absurd amount of attention has been given to an example of Spidey banter that carries no more serious weight behind it than the countless number of other times that he's distracted his foes with his inimitable brand of snappy patter.

If he arrived on the scene in this issue and asked to speak to the person in charge of the attacks, tried to broker a deal and negotiated monetary terms, then that would be out of character. But that's not what happened. Not even close. He's making a funny comment in the midst of a fight in the same way that he always does. That's all. To see it as anything more than that is simply looking for an ax to grind.

As a matter of fact, the offhand remark highlights the inconsistency of how the character is supposed to be portrayed in this very run.

He runs a multinational company. He can learn to speak Mandarin while learning defensive driving. He has an abundant source of money as well as toy-like cars, planes, subs and techy gadgets to take on James Bond-esque villain societies. It begs the question: how could Peter be plausibly unprepared for any situation or even fail at this point?

It harkens back a bit to the start of Big Time: if Peter can make an invisible or bulletproof suit, why would he NOT wear it all the time? With all of these resources at his disposal, Peter should be unstoppable at this point. Why not go all the way with it and create a global Spider-army at this point, much like SpOck? It sure would make the world safer, such as countries where May does her charity work. If his reach truly is global, and his resources truly unlimited, he's shirking his responsibility by NOT doing it at this point.

So he's either portrayed as Batman-level, hyper-competent, or it's back to the default Peter-in-peril situation where he has to be saved by Clash, Anna Maria, Silk or the young villager in this story. Neither representations are particularly interesting. And one almost needs a neck brace to cope with the whiplash caused by this take on Spider-Man.

[shgs]

There are also wire transfers, done easily and electronically, or Peter with the resources he has now, just has a pile of cash or the country's currency air-dropped in. What's it matter how he pays them off when the character's resources are intimated to now be unlimited?

It matters because you just held up the "I'm not joking I've got my checkbook right here" line as proof that Peter wasn't joking.

Now you say he might have paid some other way, so I take it you have changed your mind about him being literal in this instance?

Because Peter being serious was kinda the crux of your whole argument a moment ago.

[frizb]

Is this seriously going to be the norm for every spoilers thread for every new Spider-Man issue? Are the Slott haters so petty that they feel the need to find the least important thing about each new issue and then exaggerate why it's such a big problem and why Slott is the worst thing to happen to Spider-Man since BND? Is this what it was like during Superior and volume 3?

Seems to be that way, unfortunately.

[boots]

Seems to be that way, unfortunately.

it’s the pettiness of it all that really grates isn’t it?

[Frontier]

Is this seriously going to be the norm for every spoilers thread for every new Spider-Man issue? Are the Slott haters so petty that they feel the need to find the least important thing about each new issue and then exaggerate why it's such a big problem and why Slott is the worst thing to happen to Spider-Man since BND? Is this what it was like during Superior and volume 3?

Well...I can for sure say that there were certainly several people who were not happy with volume 3 and posted quite a bit about it.

[Spidey5640]

Anybody else getting the vibe that a possible Mockingbird/Spidey romance is just down the road? I'm probably overthinking but with her being in Amazing and also in Silk makes me wonder. Plus with Pete's new globe-trotting lifestyle it makes sense as he's not going to hook up with the girl-next-door anymore.

[rward777]

Anybody else getting the vibe that a possible Mockingbird/Spidey romance is just down the road? I'm probably overthinking but with her being in Amazing and also in Silk makes me wonder. Plus with Pete's new globe-trotting lifestyle it makes sense as he's not going to hook up with the girl-next-door anymore.

Not if Slott is still using that no female superhero romance rule. What gave you that idea?

[rward777]

What about Lian Tang?