It's rare, but occasionally there's a story that so offends the comic-reading community that it collectively decides to completely ignore that story.The classic example is the Silver Age issue of The Flash where a character named Mopee announces that he caused Barry Allen to gain his super-speed powers. It was silly, absurd, and everyone quickly decided that "It Never Happened." Mopee was never mentioned again, except in the pages of Ambush Bug.
It happened again years later when they decided to explain why no one notices that Superman and Clark Kent look exactly alike. The explanation was that Clark was unconsciously using super-hypnotism to make everyone see him as frail and timid. Again, the story was immediately ignored and never mentioned again.
The Amazing Spider-Man has been dealing with some of that, as Mephisto wiped out everyone's memory of Spidey's secret identity at the same time he did away with the marriage of Pete and Mary Jane.
Because the event has had a lasting impact on the character, fandom can't ignore it - although many of us wish we could. To add to the problem, continuity glitches keep popping up, and writers feel obliged to explain them away, even though doing so just annoys the readers.
For example, apparently Pete knows that his identity was revealed to the public - and now is a secret again. He explains it as a kind of mind wipe - but how did it happen? Does he remember Mephisto doing this? What about Mary Jane? Or is there another explanation?
This issue wraps up a two-issue team-up with the Fantastic Four, and Pete's explanation (or non-explanation) to Mr. Fantastic borders on the incomprehensible.
They'd have been much better off to just leave us with "no one knows who Spidey is." The more they try to explain it, the muddier the continuity waters get.
It's like the old line, "We can't miss you if you won't go away." The sooner they stop dredging this up and trying to explain every detail, the sooner fandom can get back to enjoying Spider-Man's adventures. Hopefully.
Grade: B-
2 comments:
Ah, Chuck I have to differ with you. I thoroughly enjoyed this issue (and the one before it), and I haveta tell you, when Peter revealed himself to the FF at the end, I got choked up! This pages after laughing out loud at some of the shenanigans. Oh, I totally agree with you about the whole reboot thing, as you know. It was stupid nonsense and they didn't have to do it. If they had just done these stories under the old scenario, what would have had to change? Not much, and it wouldn't have mattered. I have to say I am a convert to the old-school fun storytelling and the art has for the most part been terrific, although I'm not crazy about the constantly changing creative teams (but that's the price you pay for a 3x a month book I guess). Anyway, it didn't bother me that they had to explain away the mindwipe or whatever it was. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. I give it an A-.
Pete, I can agree with you up to a point. I liked the basic story and I liked the humor and the characterization of the FF. The art was fine, although I didn't care for the "three artists in one comic" approach.
I just can't get past the ham-handed way they've handled the "mindwipe." How does Spidey know how the mindwipe works, since no one knows his secret? The touching reveal was undermined by the exact same scene last month in "New Avengers."
How do they explain the "reality wipe," since there had to be a long paper trail after Spidey unmasked?
But I really think the biggest problem with the series is the mutiple creators working on it. I'd much rather have a monthly comic with the same team, instead of this crazy quilt approach.
The sales have been dropping steadily, so maybe they'll fix this after issue #600. But I'm not holding my breath waiting.
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