The Four Color Media Monitor

I usually agree with much of what the Mad Goblin of Spidey Kicks Butt has to say, but what he has to say towards the end of his latest essay on Spider-Man unmasking in Civil War is one of the few things where I'll have to disagree:

Is it Permanent?

I haven't a clue - you'll have to ask Joey Q. But it should be. I didn't say I wanted it to be permanent. But it should be. Anything less is a dramatic copout. The god Loki returning the "favor" he owed Spider-Man as a result of assisting in the rescue of his daughter in Amazing Spider-Man #504 (April 2004), a massive mindwipe by Dr. Strange, spinning the earth backwards, travelling in time, rebooting the Marvel Universe, Superboy punching through a wall - all of these are out and out cheats. Admittedly, they would be perfectly logical within the context of how the Marvel Universe operates, but they would be dramatically lazy.

Like I said, I usually agree with him on many things, and there is much to think about within even this entry of his, but...how can a reversal be a copout when what was done in Civil War was already contrived and forced to begin with, just like a whole busload of things Marvel's done ever since the turn of the century?

Now of course, if Marvel does reverse the unmasking of any characters for whom it was poorly written, that would only be a minor step towards making reparations, which is a completely different story. But at least it would be but a step towards making repairs more possible, maybe under a new editor in chief!

Whatever the outcome though, that doesn't mean that Quesada can be let off the hook so easily (and now that I think of it, nor can Dan DiDio). But at least it would be getting somewhere, even if it's just a cosmetic step towards repairing things.

In any case, this is what I think can be described as "Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome": they agree or admit that the steps taken were poor, yet the people commenting on such matters feel that "the show must go on". But that's exactly what led to Hal Jordan's taking so long to be redeemed in some way or other (though as far as I know, it still may not be satisfying), and it's also what could lead to Stephanie Brown, the Spoiler, lying in ruins herself for who knows how long before steps are finally taken to repair the damage done to her, and Tony Stark could continue to be defamed as a bad guy, ditto many other characters in the DCU and MCU.

That's why, simply put, the show cannot go on, because it won't make things any better, for the characters or the storytelling involved. So, any steps that can be taken to as least make it possible for better writing to return someday would be welcome.

Labels: dc comics, marvel comics, Spider-Man