So Sins Past is still in continuity?
Reading this entry at The Savage Critics, but mainly the comments that came with it, I've gotten some clues that, wouldn't you know it, of all the things JMS did in his 6-year run on ASM, Sins Past still appears to be in continuity! According to this comment:
True, JMS actually voiced his complaints about some of the editorial mandates he was facing over the years. But I think that's because Quesada was willing to let him, far more than Dan DiDio is willing to allow any freelancer working for him to do. Why? It's vaguely similar to some politicians, who trade blame against each other, so as to confuse matters, but otherwise don't seem to have any real problems on anything. And Quesada probably felt that he could get away with things much easier this way.
And I guess this explains why I really can't feel sorry for JMS if his work got deleted altogether. I'm only sorry that it had to include the erasure of the Spider-Marriage and that the only thing remaining from JMS' rather pedestrian run appears to be the most reviled story of all: Sins Past. But then, this is Quesada who's behind all this, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. What this does tell is what he must think of Gwen Stacy, and of the innocent image established for her when she perished in 1973, which is - not much.* Is it any wonder then that he'd make sure to tarnish her in retrospect, effectively violating what Mark Gruenwald advised against years ago?
Maybe JMS wasn't in favor of having Mephisto be the source to erase the marriage, but again, if he really didn't like the mud he was trodding through, he shouldn't have even bothered to put on those galoshes.
And if that's how it is, then I guess there's really no reason to spend time and money on JMS' current run on the Mighty Thor. It's already beginning to drop in sales though (last time I looked, it was down to 101,000 copies) so I wouldn't be surprised if people are beginning to realize that he's not all he appears to be. His stories are unlikely to be well remembered in the near future either.
* Which could probably explain why he doesn't want to bring her back as JMS was thinking: not because he respects Gerry Conway's old story as one of Spidey's motivations, but because he'd like for Gwen to lie in reputational ruins.
...this is one of the many reasons why I don't trust Quesada to "fix" Spider-Man (aside from the fact that he helped "break" him in the first place), because of all the things that "One More Day" was already being used to retcon away, Quesada specifically insisted that Gwen and Norman's kids be kept in "Brand New Day" continuity, and he's gone on record as saying that "Sins Past" is one of his favorite Straczynski stories, precisely because of Gwen and Norman f***ing and having Goblin-kids.And according to this earlier comment:
Anyone with storytelling sensibilities that bad should be banned from ever telling any stories, ever again.
JMS recently went on the record to say that he was on board with the retconning of the marriage from the very beginning. His differences with Joe Q. were over HOW Mephisto did it. Rather than simply have Memphisto undo the marriage act, JMS wanted to make it more of a "Back to the Future" scenario by changing something in the past that would have set Pete on a different life course. JMS actually wanted to retcon the book EVEN FURTHER than Joe Q. and reset everything back to circa Amazing Spidey #97-98. He even wanted to bring Gwen back, which editorial nixed. And he has said that one of his regrets was that he didn't get to retcon Gwen's kids out of existence (whom he intended to be Pete's until that idea was also nixed).But as this comment tells:
I don't see that JMS necessarily got screwed. I mean, the man willingly participated in One More Day. He didn't have to, but he chose to. He screwed himself.Which brings me to say the following: maybe JMS really does have some sincere positions, but if he was willing to along with this till the very end, then I find it hard to buy into any of them. He could have jumped ship any time he wanted to, and never come back, at least not until Quesada made a departure. But he didn't. And if I'm not mistaken, he's still current writer of The Mighty Thor, isn't he?
True, JMS actually voiced his complaints about some of the editorial mandates he was facing over the years. But I think that's because Quesada was willing to let him, far more than Dan DiDio is willing to allow any freelancer working for him to do. Why? It's vaguely similar to some politicians, who trade blame against each other, so as to confuse matters, but otherwise don't seem to have any real problems on anything. And Quesada probably felt that he could get away with things much easier this way.
And I guess this explains why I really can't feel sorry for JMS if his work got deleted altogether. I'm only sorry that it had to include the erasure of the Spider-Marriage and that the only thing remaining from JMS' rather pedestrian run appears to be the most reviled story of all: Sins Past. But then, this is Quesada who's behind all this, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. What this does tell is what he must think of Gwen Stacy, and of the innocent image established for her when she perished in 1973, which is - not much.* Is it any wonder then that he'd make sure to tarnish her in retrospect, effectively violating what Mark Gruenwald advised against years ago?
Maybe JMS wasn't in favor of having Mephisto be the source to erase the marriage, but again, if he really didn't like the mud he was trodding through, he shouldn't have even bothered to put on those galoshes.
And if that's how it is, then I guess there's really no reason to spend time and money on JMS' current run on the Mighty Thor. It's already beginning to drop in sales though (last time I looked, it was down to 101,000 copies) so I wouldn't be surprised if people are beginning to realize that he's not all he appears to be. His stories are unlikely to be well remembered in the near future either.
* Which could probably explain why he doesn't want to bring her back as JMS was thinking: not because he respects Gerry Conway's old story as one of Spidey's motivations, but because he'd like for Gwen to lie in reputational ruins.
Labels: bad editors, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, Spider-Man
