The Four Color Media Monitor

Marvel's own site interviewed Spencer about his plans for Spidey, and the most laughable part has to be his plans to turn Aunt May into some kind of crimefighter. First:

Marvel: What kind of book will your AMAZING SPIDER-MAN be? For every new writer, there’s always the struggle to balance the competing interests — and screen time — of Spider-Man and Peter Parker. What’s going to be your take on that?

Nick Spencer: The story really always begins and ends with Peter. He’s the heart and soul of the thing, and what makes Spider-Man special. You’re always trying to balance those personal struggles with the high-flying adventure, and in the best stories the two are playing off of and feeding off each other, dovetailing in weird and wonderful ways. Being Spider-Man should always come at a cost to Peter — that’s the great responsibility that comes with the great power.

One thing that struck me looking at the history of Spider-Man comics is how many different kinds of stories you can tell with the character. He can bounce between genres and tones so easily, I want to take full advantage of that. So some months there will be laughs, some months there will be tears. In some stories the universe itself is in danger, in other stories Peter’s missing laundry is in danger. We want to just tell good, foundational Spidey stories. We keep saying “Back to Basics” for a reason. We want to give people the Spidey they’ve known and loved for decades, and remind them why he’s the best character in comics.

But is Mary Jane Watson of the best too? So far, he/they remain shrouded about this part. And what if the variety of stories he alludes to includes highly politicized propaganda? If that's what he'll take advantage of, then he's aiming low and mega-cheap, not to mention throwing away what could be far better ideas.

What's more, it's incredibly insulting at this point to say being Spidey should always be a heavy price for Peter Parker, because that's exactly what's brought down the quality of stories for over 2 decades, starting with the Clone Saga. Now for the aforementioned joke of a plotline:

Marvel: Which supporting characters from Spidey’s storied past will get prominence as you launch the series?

Nick Spencer: I have to be careful here, as I don’t want to tip my hand too much on what’s to come, but I will say a big part of the thrill of this job is getting to write the best supporting cast in comics. I’m excited about writing Aunt May, and giving her a story where she’s really controlling her own destiny and showing us how Peter was raised by a hero in her own right. [...]

If this is some sort of attempt to turn May into a vigilante, it's head-shakingly ridiculous, and sounds more like the cliched publicity stunt. Especially if Mary Jane's not deserving of the same.

Bounding Into Comics provided some panels from the story he's got involving some Avengers cast members as guests, and not only is the artwork wooden and otherwise unappealing, Carol Danvers suffers the worst in facial designs. As you might've expected with these clerks running the store. Predictably, Luke Cage is still subject to the baldness cliche. So regardless of whether Mary Jane's marriage to Spidey is restored, one thing that's clear is: the quality of both writing and illustration hasn't been, and Joe Quesada's continued reign is still reason to stay away from Marvel.

Labels: dreadful artists, dreadful writers, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, Spider-Man, women of marvel