What do you get when you mix a writer who may have lost some of his joy for writing with an artist notorius for not meeting deadlines? A brand new headache for me.
While at Marvels and Legends on Friday, I happened to pick up a copy of Wizard. No I didn't buy it! I'm not that stupid, I just skimmed it. Inside, I read that Marvel is planning to start up a fourth Marvel Universe monthly Spider-Man book in 2007, this one with the creative team of Jeph Loeb and J. Scott Campbell. Oh joy.
Look, I know the book is at least a year away, and that it could very well be good. Campbell might get stuff in on time, and it's a certainty Mary Jane will look nice (assuming Quesada has)n't killed her by then. I've never had a strong reaction to Loeb's work one way or the other, and I'm aware that his loss has probably affected his writing. Still, Loeb might be revitalized by his work on *shudder* Onslaught Reborn. All the same, I say this now as a huge Spider-Man fan, directly to Marvel: WE DO NOT NEED ANYMORE SPIDER-MAN BOOKS!
The ones you have now aren't anything special, so maybe you should focus on making them better, rather than just adding more to the pile. Here's some suggestions:
1) Tell JMS that his last two issues of Amazing have been fine, and to keep going with an emphasis on technology. Under no circumstances do you let JMS tell anymore stories that involve magic and Spider-Man. And this is from someone that enjoyed the Spider-Man/Loki team-up. But clearly we can't trust Stracyznski to use magic responsibly, so it's just going to end with people get hurt, like him losing his hands because I CHOPPED THEM OFF!! Keep Deodato Jr. away, as I'm in agreement with Len that his art style necessitates darker stories. This fellow you have now, Kirkman, he's OK. Or see if Bagley's interested in doing two Spidey books.
2) Tell Peter David that his book has the word "Friendly" in the title, and so maybe he could cheery-up the stories a little? How about something simple like Spider-Man stopping Electro from robbing the bank, and saving the day, while cracking jokes? Oh yeah, it might not be a good idea to fight a guy with electricity powers when your costume is made out of nanites. I guess we should go back to wrestlers trying to unmask Spider-Man so they don't die then. Get Mike Wieringo back on the pencils anyway. His art style goes nicely with happier stories.
3) Tell Aguirre-Sacasa to not write Todd MacFarlane rip-off stories. Tell him using the Lizard, the Black Cat, and the Puma is fine, but can we please get versions that aren't berserk? Puma and Lizard are a lot more interesting when intelligent. Tell Angel Medina "Thanks, but no thanks." Get John Romita Jr. back on the case. This will instantly elevate this title.
4) Or better yet, cancel Sensational, and put Romita Jr. back on Amazing with JMS.
5) We all know that the "Iron Spidey" costume is just a temp job, until Peter pulls his head from his hindquarters. Do the same with all these new powers he's gotten. The night vision? Gone. Being able to sense vibrations through his webbing? Who cares? Get rid of it. Stingers? Hella gone. Organic webshooters? Dissolved, withered, out of here.
Yes, this means The Other was a monumental waste of time, but that's still an improvement over what it is now, a monumental piece of crap. Think about all the unanswered questions like: what was up with the mysterious disease Peter had at the start of it, that was going to kill him if Morlun didn't? Or, how the hell is Morlun alive? He dissolved after their first fight (which was good). If certain spiders are able to shed their skin once a lifetime, in essence be reborn, then why was it such a big upsetting of the balance that Peter did it? He used the abilities of "The Spider" so why the need to create something to offset his continued existence? See what I mean? If we make the story worthless, it's so much easier to ignore, to just say "It never happened."
Of course, I'm ignoring the major determining factor: money. Sigh, why should Marvel ever learn their lessons? I can't wait for the six-month crossover that spans all four books.
2 comments:
Of all the projects Jeph Loeb is slated as sole writer for with Marvel, I say that only Onslaught Reborn will ship. Why? One, profits go to the Sam Loeb Foundation. Two, Rob Liefeld will eventually get his art finished. Three, back in the days of Cliffhanger comics, both Joe Mad and J. Scott Campbell failed to ship books because they were playing video games (and, last I heard, neither one has cut back).
We don't need any more Spider-man books, even if the J. Scott Campbell book does ship (which it won't).
A book called "Friendly" shouldn't be dark or depressing.
I shouldn't be saying this, but I will anyway--my best friend met Angel Medina and heard he was A) pissed that he had to draw the Iron Spider and not Spider-man and B) that he hasn't met one fan that likes the costume. Not one.
Has Marvel not learned the free lesson of Crisis Burnout? Haven't they seen that everybody doing big mega-crossover year long events kills the average comic projects from either main company? The answer, sadly, is "No." special miniseries and one shot event books sell big, partially because they only have to sell for a finite number of months, opposed to the average books, which have to sell monthly.
As a Spidey fan, I'm in full agreement. It is a very good book, don't get me wrong, but when Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane is by far the best Spidey book Marvel are publishing, things are wrong.
Yes, let's fix the current titles before putting out new ones. It's not hard, Marvel. Come on.
Stupid Marvel.
Post a Comment