#classic asm

[butchpeterparkr]

Listen I’m a professed lover of the Watts characterization of Peter I do I think writing him as a genuinely sweet guy is a good character choice with what they were going for in that trilogy. BUT I also love in the comics when he’s got a nastier side to him, because don’t we all??? And I think it makes sense for adult Peter to have a little more acid.

Amazing Spider-Man #262 - Script and Pencils: Bob Layton

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Zeb Wells was never, ever QUALIFIED to write for Spider-Man. As in, if I was hiriing for the job of Spider-Man writer, he'd never have even made it to the interview stage.

See, I'm an old geezer Spider-Man fan. I was there back in the early-mid 2000s when Wells first came onto the Spider-Man scene. That was when he was younger, fresher, more full of energy and less cynical. And even then his stories were mediocre at best, mercifully confined merely to fill-in issues here and there.

Fill-in issues that weren't even on ASM but on the side-books like Peter Parker: Spider-Man and dubiously canonical anthologies like Spider-Man's Tangled Web. Beyond that, he did occassional mini-series and one shots.

His ONE legitimately good story was the origin of J. Jonah Jameson, a single issue in which Spider-Man himself barely ever appeared. That was around 2004(ish). Zeb Wells unironically peaked on Spider-Man 20 years ago and it wasn't even a particularly high peak either. It was more like a small hillock.

Sure, he finally got to write ASM between 2008-2010 during Brand New Day, but like...who DIDN'T get to write ASM back then? It was coming out 3 times a month with a rotating creative team, amongst which Wells was never touted as one of the superstar writers. Love or hate them, Dan Slott, Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Bob Gale, and even an out of retirement Roger Stern were who the Marvel promotional machine hyped up. Again, love or hate them, back in 2008-2010 these were BIG names to suddenly be working on Spider-Man. In other words, when Wells finally got 'promoted' he was essentially a mere fill-in writer AGAIN.

That being said, he did get one really big chance to bat when he was tasked with doing the biggest Lizard story of all time, 'Shed'. Reinventing a classic Lee/Ditko villain. Leading directly into Grim Hunt, the storyline that was the culmination of much of what BND had been building towards? Writing a story that was going to be one of the last in the BND era in fact? This was Zeb Wells' shot to make a name for himself in the annals of Spider-Man History.

And he succeeded! By which I mean 'Shed' was debated as potentially one of the all time WORST Spider-Man stories ever, and unquestionably the worst Lizard story there had ever been.

Shed was to Curt Connors what One More Day was to Peter Parker. A nonsensical plot geared towards a complete and utter character assassination. We are talking about a story with cannibalism, fratricide, potential sexual assault, vomit inducing art and egregious continuity fuck ups to the point where even the very first Lizard story directly contradicts it. This story was SO bad that even a manchild crybully troll like Dan Slott tried to walk it back, doing no less than 2 stories across 5(ish) years in which he cleaned up some of the mess Wells had left. Further repairs were applied during Nick Spencer's run, in particular during 'Hunted'. Yes, 'Shed' was so godforsakenly terrible it took multiple stories across almost 10 years to fix it.

THIS was the guy Marvel picked to be the 'main writer' during the Ben Reilly Beyond era, aka Brand New Day 2. His 'promotion' was to be brought out of Spider-Man writer's jail (where he belonged) so he could once more be the rotating writer in a tri-monthly set up. Except now he was to BND2 what I guess Dan Slott had been to BND1.

The difference being that BND1 had more writers and many/most of them had WAY more status to their names than any of the BND2 writers. Like, it is ridiculous to suggest Kelly Thompson or Saladin Ahmed in 2021 were anywhere near the Big Name status Mark Waid or Joe Kelly enjoyed in 2008. Even Slott back then, who hadn't yet become AS big as he would later (undeservedly) be, was still someone most of the fanbase had WANTED to write for Spider-Man for a good long while before then.* Wells was now simply swimming in a much smaller pond, his seniority being the microscopic edge he had over Thompson and Ahmed.

And yet, Chip Zdarsky when he took over Spectacular Spider-Man had way less experience than Wells had with the character. Nick Spencer too, he'd mostly just written a great mini-series in Superior Foes of Spider-Man. And of course, Roberto Aguirre Sacasa had never written Spider-Man when he was hired in 2006. Neither had Paul Jenkins in 2000. Neither had JMS in 2001. Love it or hate it, Marvel are not opposed to hiring new blood, untested blood even, for ASM or other monthly Spider-Man titles.

So, you have to wonder, why DIDN'T the younger guns Kelly Thompson , Saladin Ahmed or any other fresh blood take over after the Beyond era? Why CHOOSE Wells when he's been hanging around the block for about 20 years?

Incompetence? Yes...but also because it is patently obvious that NO ONE ELSE WANTED THIS JOB!

Wells was not hired because of his talent. He was hired because Marvel were DESPERATE. As they say, any port in a storm, right?

Because of their dogmatic enforcement of the post-One More Day state of affairs, because of how they treated Nick Spencer as a result of that, because of their general incompetence in running their entire company for the past 15+ years, Marvel have burned their bridges with too many creators. The anti-OMD writers don't want the job because they naturally want to undo OMD. The pro-OMD/neutral writers don't want the job because the fanbase naturally will yell at them for enforcing the post-OMD status quo. And neither want the job because the blatant interference Nick Spencer endured is gross and not worth the hassle, not when substack, indie and possibly even other editorial departments at Marvel/DC are options for them.

Shit, when you really think about it, Zeb Wells isn't the fundamental problem. He is just the latest symptom of it.

*Not me. In 2008 I wasn't opposed to Slott writing ASM per se. But his work on She-Hulk and Spidey-Torch, whilst good in their own right, hadn't hypnotised me into thinking he was obviously be a great fit for ASM. Unfortunately, most people were hypnotised.

[gremlingirlsmell]

I submitted Jumping Over It with Super Mario to smwcentral!

Jumping Over It with Super Mario is a "Getting Over It"-style experience. There's 3 levels that you can play in any order, just beating any of the three means unlocking the credits and beating the game:

jumping over it

the main attraction of the hack and the most challenging level. highly inspired by classics such as Carl Is Such A Nice Guy and Ultra Slope Muncher. You climb a mountain and try to surmount the insurmountable. requires kaizo precision/knowledge and a lot of patience

9 hole challenge

a fun simple golfing challenge in super mario world. using the MOLF asm by dtothefourth, mario turns into a golfball! saves after every hole. can you stay under par?

notVANILLA SECRET 3

mario has gained the power of commitment: he is committed to every single jump and once he is in the air he is steadfast on keeping his trajectory. can you overcome a somewhat familiar seeming breezy sea of dolphins?

I hope you enjoy this hack! Just make sure to bring a lot of patience. Good Climbing!

[stepmarchen]

I am a hardcore NoShu shipper, and I absolutely want them to admit they like each other and kiss already! But I admit I’m also interested in how Shuri will react to everything. She not only has trauma from Johannes accusing her of having a lover behind his back, but also just from putting the Neuschwanstein children’s wants/needs before her own for so long that choosing something solely for herself (like starting a romantic relationship) will most likely feel utterly nerve-wracking to her. I’m excited to see how she grows as a character!

I am too! The slow-burn romance in ASM is so real sometimes!!

Part of me wonders if there will be a classic confession scene? Because I feel like we already got one with Nora saying "You have me" at the end of the Swordsmanship Tourney Banquet. Like they definitely know they like each other but they're so repressed it hurts LOL

I want to see Shuri finally live her sexy, free, and single life with Nora after "completing" her duties as their stepmother 😭😭

[oliveroctavius]

Hi, it's me again!

Do you know if there's a playlist somewhere of what music the Coffee Gang would listen to?

I feel like maybe a few artists were mentioned in the comics from what I've read so far, but I wonder if you had an inkling/headcanon/any idea what the characters would enjoy.

... Now that I'm thinking about it, the weird temporality of comics might make this an issue...

Oh this is a super fun question which I have no ready-made answer for. (If anyone reading this does have a playlist made or opinions on the subject, share 'em in the notes!)

Going by the comics timeline, I'd start with late 60s/early 70s rock and disco hits. MJ seems the most tuned into new music by way of youth culture and dance venues. Stuff by the Beatles, Beach Boys, Monkees, the Foundations, the whole top 40s list. (ASM #45/130)

Emphasis on female solo acts, maybe: MJ pulls an Aretha Franklin album from Peter & Harry's shelf, and I bet she likes Nancy Sinatra. Wherever she goes, the first thing she does is often to turn on some tunes. For the most part, she's the group tastemaker.

As for Peter, I'm guessing this ask was prompted by ASM 136:

It's a running joke that being Spidey keeps him a decade behind [current date] pop culturally. Ella Fitzgerald's career dates back to the 30s; I like to think that most of Peter's music taste + collection is inherited from Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Though humorously cynical nerd Pete might've had time to latch onto Tom Lehrer pre spider-bite, the way some modern high schoolers have a Weird Al phase.

The Osborn-Parker record collection is probably mostly Harry's, covering similar cultural territory to MJ's tastes. Maybe there's a never-opened Wagner opera in there courtesy of Norman. The girl on the cover of Hip Hug-Her always reminds me of Gwen, but I have no idea where her music taste might go. Movie soundtracks, maybe?

ASM 151 has notes on JJJ's music collection, of all people: Guy Lombardo, good lord. (And Mantovani is an orchestra conductor.)

Flash is a bit mysterious because his background took a while to fill in. In the far future of ASM 574, he listens to Tom Waits on Peter's recommendation. I was kind of nursing the headcanon that his dad kept Johnny Cash around the house and referred it to the only music for real men left in the world but rarely played any of it, until Flash got around to listening on his own and to his surprise really emotionally connected with it and reclaimed it into his own music taste...

In any case, there's a bit of music still left once Gwen leaves the scene. Kung Fu Fighting is PeterMJ's song, for one.

One of the last big nights out of the classic era is to the disco in SSM 24! This delightfully camp villainous music group is unfortunately not available on any music platforms, but KC and the Sunshine Band, the Bee Gees, the Jacksons and the Trammps certainly are.

And finally, based on this random panel whose issue I've forgotten, I like to think MJ got everyone into new wave at some point. The B-52s, Talking Heads and the Waitresses have reminded me of her. I also think her modeling connections would introduce her to the NYC weird art scene of that era, like Klaus Nomi, Grace Jones, and Laurie Anderson. By that time it would mostly be the Watson-Parker music taste, though.

Well, that's a whole lot of links to individual songs and not a coherent playlist at all, but I wanted to cover as many different bands/eras/ideas as I could work in. I'm sure I missed some though.

[usafphantom2]

Classic shot of F-15A 76-0086 carrying an LTV ASM-135 anti-satellite missile on a centerline hardpoint, taking off out of Edwards AFB. Photo made by Al Chang

@Skytrailerdotnl via X

[juune-moon]

Previously on: Braving the Elements

In the latest episode of the official Avatar-verse podcast, hosted by Janet Varney (va for Korra), we heard from Elsa Garagarza and Angela Song Mueller, both of whom worked on the show. Bryan Konietzko was also present and this exchange happened when asked about ships:

JV: Ships! Any ships that you like, that you lean into, in the course of Avatar?

ASM: Elsa? Do you have a-? [laughing]

EG: You know what? I was very shallow so I always liked the zutara ship [laughing] because they were both tall and handsome, so I always shipped them together, but that was so shallow. But no, my favorite ship will always be k@t@@ng, so [he] ended up being quite a handsome man.

ASM: Yeah!

JV: That’s very true.

EG: I just go with the classics.

ASM: Yeah, I—Zutara for me. I don’t know, there’s something about the 12 year old or 11 year old falling in love I felt was a little like…mmmm, you know? Seeing my kids around that age right now too, it’s just a little like, I’m not ready for them falling in love [laughs].

JV: I hear ya, it’s been a large topic, I mean for being quote-unquote shallow, it’s been a real topic of conversation on Braving the Elements because a lot of people feel that way, a lot of people feel like— A@ng really feels— of course he goes through something as well, but it’s true, it can be hard for us to overcome his first moment of seeing Katara and us kind of going: Aww! Versus…

ASM: Yeah

JV: …you know, the energy between Katara and Zuko, but uh—

BK: Bad boy doesn’t always win y’all!

[laughing]

JV: He’s not that bad!

BK: I’m filling the roll of Dante right now—

ASM: I love this

[more laughing]

JV: He’s not that bad. [doing her best impression of Dante Basco] Bad boy doesn’t always win.

BL: He hired an assassin to kill Aang!

ASM: I mean…

BK: Is she just supposed to look over that on their date? You know?

JV [as Dante]: This guy…

BK: Like, “remember that time you hired an assassin?”

JV [still as Dante]: Listen, his—he had a dad that was not cool, umm. [Bryan laughing] His dad was very bad, he had to overcome that.

Regular JV: I mean listen, I could do that forever, I’m not gonna put you all, or Dante through my impression of him forever.

[all giggling]

End of topic.

I just found some things interesting. First of all, I was squirming in my seat knowing that Bryan was there, just waiting for his response! And he did what I expected which was to completely disregard Zuko’s entire arc lol!

Zuko≠bad boy!!! #zukoisaturtleduck

And zutara as ‘shallow’? But @@ng grows up to be handsome! That’s not shallow?? That argument never made any sense to me since it’s the other way around!

I do commend Janet, ever the diplomatic avatar, still fighting that zutara fight! Incidentally, she has stated on the show that she also ships zutara (and I just love her). It’s always interesting to me to hear from the people who worked on the show, especially around br¥k£.

Thoughts? Does anyone else listen to this podcast? Will I be able to sleep tonight? Find out next time on: struggling through life!

[episodicnostalgia]

Comic Book Break: The Venom Symbiote

Featured art by Ron Lim: Covers for Marvel Tales #266-268 Mark Bagley: Carnage/Spidey/Venom Poster Ron Frenz: Cover for Amazing Spider-Man #252

I grew up as a Spider-man fan in the 90’s, which means I (predictably) thought Venom was the coolest villain of all time.  My Dad introduced me to Spidey’s ‘modern era’ shortly after Carnage first hit the scene, which means the Symbiote villains were a hot topic.  As such, my first introduction to both Venom and Carnage would be in the pages of ‘The Amazing Spider-man’ #365, and boy did that issue leave an impression. 

You see up to that point my fascination with the web head was moderately new, and I remained largely ignorant to the finer points of his lore.  My Dad had just begun to re-discover comic books for the first time since his childhood, and this particular issue was a extra sized anniversary edition, replete with a holographic cover, character histories, and even a handful of bonus stories that were framed around various side characters who could reminisce about Spider-man’s classic tales.  It was a handy way to bring new readers up to speed, and it worked well enough on my Dad (much to my approval) for him to continue collecting until the Clone Saga ruined everything.  ASM #365 also featured this absolute BANGER of a poster by Mark Bagley.  Check it out!

That image was seared into my brain, and two things became abundantly clear to me 1) Those villains were unequivocally, the greatest characters in modern literature, and 2) I needed to know why. Obviously I asked my Dad who those guys were, and he proceeded to explain the basic premise of the Symbiote suit and it’s history with Spider-man.  Needless to say, I became obsessed with finding an issue, ANY ISSUE, that featured Venom and/or Carnage; I wanted to know everything about these guys.  The only obstacle that stood between me and my goal was my age, as I was still quite young, and I think my folks were just the tiniest bit leery of exposing me to a characters who looked and behaved like, if we’re being honest, bloodthirsty hell demons (or brain thirsty, as the case may be).

As luck would have it, my dad found a pretty fair compromise in the pages of ‘Marvel Tales’.  MT was a series that featured reprints of classic-or-topical spider-man comics from days of yore, often with new cover art by a current artist.  Since the introduction of Carnage was turning heads towards the Spider-man books (also around the same time the comic book speculators boom was taking off)  it was a prime opportunity for Marvel to reprint the issues of ASM that introduced the original symbiote creature (written by Roger Stern).  So, my dad bought me several issues (pictured up top, and immediately below) to satiate my curiosity for another year before I finally got finally see Venom himself, and in the mean time I was simply delighted to be reading the origin story as I went.

Since those days, my interest in Venom has wavered dramatically depending on the project/medium/who’s writing him, and I’ve found much of what’s been produced fairly underwhelming; but my admiration of the design for Spider-man’s black costume has remained steadfast.  If I’m being (perhaps heretically) honest, I almost prefer the black costume to the original.  Something about it just feels so correct for the character, and clearly I’m not the only person who felt as much.  Despite some initial push-back,  the black costume had garnered enough support by the end of the 8-issue symbiote saga, for it to be brought back as just a ‘regular costume, but with the symbiote aesthetic.’ From that point on, it would feature regularly for several years before Venom officially inherited the look.

And just to be clear, no I wouldn’t ever truly want to replace Spider-man’s classic look, but you gotta admit, the black suit looks mighty slick.

[mysteriorb]

Hello my friend and fellow Mysterio enjoyer. I have some fun questions for you if you’re down to answer, no pressure though!

1. Can you show us your favorite Beck behind the Bowl?

2. Which version of Mysterio’s costume is your favorite?

3. What’s your favorite story line for Mysterio? Or comic issues?

hiii i only just saw this because im usually on mobile and it wont show me asks

my favorite beck behind the bowl is the version from ASM 195

2. my favorite of mysterio's costumes is the classic one from the older ASM comics. i also like the version from symbiote spider-man but i wish they'd given him boots. the FFH version of him also looks really cool, especially his light up cape.

3. symbiote spider-man is one of my favs. i like when mysterio is given depth and he also has some funny moments. i also enjoyed the one where he traps spider-man in a theme park (ASM 66.)

[spider-xan]

The main ASM comics line is still a mess, and on the Connors side of things, I'm still annoyed that his one moment of reckless heroism aside bc that's a classic core trait of his that I wish writers remembered more often, his characterization in this storyline is just him hating his lab assistant and bitching about him every time he says anything, and his working for Oscorp out of nowhere feels like a mix of tying him into this plot for some reason (why bother when he feels like he could be anyone with this writing) and Wells being like, 'He always works at Oscorp like in recent adaptations, right?' (no, he does not), but him suddenly wearing and using Doc Ock's original arms is ridiculous, yet hilarious for at least two reasons:

Otto was the one who depowered Curt in the first place back at the start of the Sinister War arc, so it does seem fitting for him to temporarily regain superpowers by taking on Doc Ock's superpower.

There is a part in Insomniac Spider-Man 2 where at the Emily-May Foundation, Peter is examining Otto's prototype prosthetic arms in their regular human arm form and briefly wonders if Curt ever tried testing them himself, but concludes he probably did not bc after the Lizard thing, he's probably put off from testing anything on himself.

Also, this isn't the first time a version of Curt or the Lizard has worn Doc Ock's arms bc there was an alternate Octo-Lizard character that was exactly that years ago in a Captain America and Black Widow comic that I remember not being very good.

[oflgtfol]

Okay same venom 2003 anon again. I dont have anything else to add to what ur saying as again i didnt read venom 2003 So im just nodding respectfully and wisely to everything your saying but re ur tags is the artist you mean Humberto Ramos? Bc if it is if it helps he's a pretty unpopular artist amongst people (though usually for criticisms about his art being “too cartoony” instead of anything meaningful like the objectification of women which i personally despise when people do that. No more realism sexy super models i want hyper stylisation ONLY in my comic books just to piss those people off). I also personally do not care about him as an artist no hate nor respect towards him but again the bar is so low 😭 ive seen so many genuinely boring deeply misogynistic artists who treat women the exact same awful objectifying way but who get passes in comic book spaces because their art is more Conventionally Likeable. Like if im gonna be forced to see a woman be drawn as only one body type and face and breasting boobily id much rather take the uglier style or the more stylised style just to have something Interesting To Look At then Another Boring Generic Guy Drawing Semi Realism with Soft Shading Based off 1950s Pin ups but thats just me personally as a lifelong comic book guy

YES HUMBERTO RAMOS. i hate the venom 2003 art but in the past two hours i've come to realize that humberto ramos is my real enemy here and the only real fault of venom 2003 is its resemblance of ramos's art (of course in addition to its own home brewed sexism).

i really love stylized art and i hate realistic styles. i love the classic ASM look because it struck a nice balance between the two: the 1960s-80s need to depict the human form in a standardized, realistic way (likely due to toy sales, at least if its caused by the same phenomenon of 80s cartoons, a la he-man, having that same look to them), but the flat colors, limited color palette, and cell shading were so so wonderfully simple and sleek in a really fun way. gave such a distinct Look to the comic, and the simplicity of the colors also made the realistic lineart not too realistic. it just felt very intentional, very careful, very creative with their technological limitations, and it's such a timeless look that has aged so well even still to the 2020s

so while i love the classique look, i also love when comic styles go even further to really break the mold and stylize further!! herrera in venom 2003, and ramos's whole *gestures broadly* COULD be good, if only they were done a little bit more purposefully, and yknow, minus the outrageous sexism

and yes sexism is overall so entrenched in marvel comics and i wouldn't be surprised if it also infected literally all other comic companies out there, considering We Live In A Society. anyone who dares to argue that misogyny doesn't exist needs to go become a comic geek and read hundreds of marvel comics and see

1. how utterly shallow women are characterized compared to their male counterparts

2. how female characters so rarely get to exist on their own outside of a male character; ie. female characters who are only side characters for a male hero, or superheroines who are literaly just "female version of xyz popular male character!", etc etc etc

3. the way women are visually depicted compared to men. men, especially the superheroes, are still subject to white patriarchal standards of beauty of course, but the huge muscles they're drawn with are a form of power, a "look how cool i am." you will never get that with a female character. they are only ever depicted with the same fucking face, the same fucking body type, the same fucking curves and tasteful cleavage and pouty lips and cat eye makeup.

4. and while the men have these like insane muscles that do not exist irl, they at least get to POSE in ways that are not sexualized. the women characters, even if their designs are not objectifying, will still be posed so that their butts face the camera, they have a pretty side profile to show off the silhouette of their breasts, etc. if you really pay careful attention to the way women are placed in comic panels compared to men it's so insane. so fucking insane

but yknow, all of those things tend to manifest in subtle ways, ways that you really can only pick up when you've read so many comics over a decent amount of time, and when you're otherwise prepared to read for and pick up on sexist elements. so i guess i REALLY draw my line and get pissed the fuck off beyond belief when comic writers and/or artists then begin to just be, blatantly, fucking sexist. a la those terrible panels from ASM spider island. a la that one she-hulk issue. a la spider-man/red sonja. when it's blatant it means you give NO fucks, it means you don't even believe women are people because you don't expect them to be engaging your works and thus you don't expect any sort of audience outcry from your blatant sexism, it means you literally only see women as objects for your male audience to oogle over, it's beyond frustrating

[clonerightsenthusiast]

okay I've seen a couple tags now and I'm dying of curiosity - what is the magic shotgun that eats sins??

oh, you've done it now. the magic shotgun that eats sins is actually just the tip of the iceberg of this deeply, deeply stupid story.

So. Our story begins in 1985. Peter David writes a four-part story in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, called The Death of Jean DeWolff. It will become known as one of the all-time greatest Spider-Man stories.

The Death of Jean DeWolff follows Peter as he investigates the murder of his friend, police captain Jean DeWolff, as well as several other murders by a serial killer calling himself the Sin-Eater. The Sin-Eater has super soldier-esque physical abilities, but no other powers. He uses a regular ass shotgun to kill people he believes have transgressed against society. The Sin-Eater is pretty explicitly a narrative foil for Spider-Man, and it is thematically extremely important that he kills people. Put a pin in that.

The Sin-Eater appears in this story, and then a sequel story (I'm not sure exactly how much later, about a year or two I think?) where he dies.

Now. Flash forward about 35 years. Nick Spencer, my greatest enemy, is the writer on The Amazing Spider-Man. For reasons that truly elude me, he decides to resurrect this classic villain, but... different. The Sin-Eater is no longer a slightly physically enhanced serial killer. Now he has the power to sense evil in people's souls. And, most importantly, he has a magic shotgun. That eats people's sins.

What does this mean, you ask? How does anything, let alone a gun, eat people's sins?

Excellent question. Moving on.

Now a lot of the details of this plot are fuzzy for me because I've done a really excellent job of repressing most of Nick Spencer's writing and I wish to god the current writers would stop reminding me about the dumb shit he did. But the broad strokes are that Sin-Eater forms a cult and starts shooting villains with his magic shotgun. And when he shoots them, they don't die. He eats their sins, and they stop being villains. They repent and decide that they're good and nice now. And also Sin-Eater gets their superpowers. Those are also sins, I guess.

This all comes to a head when he takes aim at the man in the Spider-Man canon with the most sins to his name: Norman Osborn. Sin-Eater wants to shoot him and make him good. Peter, who doesn't trust like that, wants to stop him from doing this. Norman, who's the worst, is being generally unhelpful to both parties. (Also there's this whole thing where all the other 616 spider-people (and also Gwen, who doesn't even live in this universe?) debate whether to interfere because of future visions of Peter dying and blah blah blah it's not important.)

Peter ultimately fails to keep Norman away from the Sin-Eater (I think he shoots the Juggernaut and gets his powers or something) and Norman gets shot with the magic shotgun. And his sins are eaten.

What does that mean, you ask again? Great question.

So I honestly forget what happens to the Sin-Eater because it literally does not fucking matter. Because it's time for Nick Spencer's grand finale, which really fucking sucks and is so bad seriously do yourself a favor and don't read it, and Norman Osborn is, like, nice now. I don’t have screencaps on hand of that but I do have this one of another extremely stupid thing that happens in Last Remains. God I hate that story. When will somebody eat Nick Spencer’s sins, I want to know.

So after that trainwreck finally ends, the book passes hands to a new set of writers for the next chapter of ASM, Spider-Man: Beyond, and he's still like this. Norman isn't really around for the next arc (which focuses on my bestest boy Ben Reilly), but his sins are!

They get put in someone else.

Spider-Man: Beyond ends, and Amazing Spider-Man gets handed to Zeb Wells as the new writer. And Norman is back in the limelight. And his sins sure are still gone. And between that and Gold Goblin, a spin-off just for our good pal Norm, we really start to get a look at what it means for his sins to have been eaten by a magic shotgun.

And it um. Well. Um. I get the feeling Nick didn't really leave a lot of notes? If he put any thought into it at all.

So. What does it mean for your sins to be eaten? Norman refers, often, to his sins being "gone". But the actual events still very much happened; everyone still remembers them happening; their effects are still very much felt. But Norman now has a conscience, and is haunted by guilt for the many many many terrible things he's done.

He even has a big ol' Wall of Guilt vision board featuring: Peter Parker listed four times; his own son whose life he ruined in countless ways listed third; the baby he had killed like, more than halfway down the board; a whole host of Clone Saga throwbacks (which I, clone saga lover that i am, appreciated at least; hashtag justice for seward trainer) but also notably not Ben Reilly, who nevertheless shows up like a week later to kick his ass for all the shit he did to him.

This isn't super relevant but I just find this giant monument to his own crimes that is simultaneously kind of overboard and also still somehow incomplete really funny. Anyways, it's proof all the bad shit he did is still very much real.

And now here's where we return to the sins. Because as you'll remember, Norman's sins aren't just gone. They're in somebody else. Specifically a clone of Ashley Kafka, another character who's been done dirty. And having Norman's sins put in her have made her evil. And not just that, they're physically killing her. Here are Norman's thoughts on the subject:

And he's read some science about it, so I think we have to take him at his word.

Now. There's a lot here. Let's recap the things we now know about sins:

They are linked to but a separate thing from the actual bad thing that you did

Are ALSO linked to your superpowers, maybe.

They prevent you from feeling remorse. In their absence you feel REAL bad about what you did.

They can be transferred to somebody else who had absolutely nothing to do with the actual things that spawned your sins

They make you evil

They physically kill you. This may just be if you have somebody else's sins that don't belong to you, because Norman did not seem to be dying of sin poisoning before he got shotgun'd

Losing them does not stop you from considering murder a legitimate solution to your problems

They can die, or at least go out of the world if the person holding them dies.

[Blaseball voice] A sin is a physical concept

So. Because Nick Spencer wanted to bring back a classic, little-used villain, and I can only assume went "his name is Sin-Eater? got it, I understand his deal completely", we all have to wrestle with the theological implications of a magic shotgun that eats sins. As my beloved roommate said when I explained this to them, the idea that feeling bad about your sins means they don't exist (at least as far as you’re concerned) could cause a schism in the Catholic church, and personally I can't wait until whoever the pope is in the Marvel universe finds out about this.

In conclusion: Just read The Death of Jean DeWolff instead okay it's so good especially if you like a real hard look at Peter's dark side and also Daredevil is there it's a great story don't subject yourself to this bullshit read something worth reading instead.

^ me @ Nick Spencer

(and look there are whole other rants about how the way norman has been treated by the other characters and especially peter in light of this bullshit doesn’t make sense and also nick spencer’s arc more generally and also harry and I almost went into a rant about ben reilly at least three times in this post even though he’s not even really involved in this but I will leave them for another time)

[stepmarchen]

So.... while we're waiting for ASM Season 3, how about a little off-topic tuesday? (this won't be a regular thing, i promise!)

Here's what I've been reading during the hiatus! (romcom edition!)

This Love is a Traves-tea!? It's an adorable romcom manga about a woman named Chako who's running away from her psycho stalker ex and straight into the arms of a hunky tea maker!

It's got all the cute embarrassed pining of a classic romance manga plus who can resist daddies daddy-ing? Idk about you but i'm a sucker for manga about found families and the kids are hilarious in this! Chako also makes a super charming FL, I love her sweet sincerity.

Wakaba-chan Wants to Make it Clear! The rough and sporty Wakaba-chan lives a not so secret double life, hiding her feminine side from her longtime childhood best friend and crush, Daiki!

I know what this manga looks like. But coming from the creator of A World Where Everything Definitely Becomes BL vs. The Man Who Definitely Doesn't Want To Be In A BL, this manga is 1000% more wholesome than you'd expect! It's a super short and sweet slice-of-life romance manga that needs more fans!!

Life with Muta It's the comedic life of two arranged roommates, except their lifestyles are complete opposites! Akari's life is filled with trash and trashy men while Muta's a complete minimalist with no room in his heart for romance!

While short, this manga has so much amazing potential, as it takes one step away from being a spinoff to Marie Kondo's guide to tidying up to a whirlwind tale of romance. Plus, when our ML is this kind of guy... don't you just HAVE to know more?

+divider+

Nekozuka-kun Wears a Secret Mei is an officer worker whose mind is more focused on cats than her love life! Her company junior, Nekozuka just so happens to remind her of her family's raggedy stray cat. Little does she know, there's more truth to her imagination that she thought!

This is another new manga with an amazing first chapter! If you love cats and you love blushy MLs, this is the one for you! I can't to see where this goes!

.

.

.

+1 not so funny but just as heartwarming bonus

Just a Few Words From the creator of Promised Cinderella and Firefly Wedding, follow the lives of a married couple stuck in a rut, attempting to make it work.

This has a happy ending, I promise. It's five chapters, finished. Please, it's so good, go read it! It'll only take you 30 minutes max!

What have you been reading?

[razanulhoque]

After finishing Marvel's Spider-Man 2, I've been reminiscing about Spider-Man 2: The Game (2004) again.

And I kept thinking about Mysterio in that game, and even though he wasn't in it much, he was a stand-out for me. That whole "B-movie alien" vibe was awesome!!

So I wanted to draw a classic ASM cover with Mysterio, but with Raimi Spider-Man and Mysterio in my own homage.

Hope you like it!

[dispatchdcu]

Amazing Spider-Man #50 Preview

Amazing Spider-Man #50 Preview #MARVEL #marvelcomics #comics #comicbooks #news #mcu #art #info #NCBD #comicbooknews #previews #reviews #spiderman #Amazon #peterparker #asm #amazingspiderman

Amazing Spider-Man #50 Preview: GUESS WHO’S BACK?! THE GREEN GOBLIN RETURNS in this landmark and massive issue of ASM that boasts not only a double-sized main story but some instant Spider-Man classics by legends and legends to be! The Sins of Norman Osborn have found their way home and Norman shows his true color – green. But is it truly that simple? Spidey and Gobby’s brutal fight is one for…

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 057: Dazzler + Black Cat Always Lands On Her Feet (ASM 203-206)

MASTERPOST

Hey, today we're finishing up Marv Wolfman's run! I'll give my thoughts at the end.

There was supposed to be some Spectacular issues before this post, but I wanted to get on with it, so here we are.

Really cool cover, by the way.

Spidey thinks this lady's chased by Will O' The Wisps, but she faints when he rescues her. When she wakes up, she doesn't seem to know that name...

I don't know anything about Dazzler (except... she's a X-Men), but she seems really cool and original. She also gets away from him, good for her!

YES. THIS IS ALL I'M ASKING. Peter interacting with his friends half-dressed! I'm a simply guy.

Betty and Peter were never a thing recently though. Like, can we really say they "broke up" when... they... weren't together? They had a vague fling but that's it. And they're going to see Star Trek, that's nice!!! I'm almost at the ending of DS9 season 3. Haven't watched the other shows, and I'm very slow, but still, I enjoy it.

Meanwhile, Dazzler gets hit by her mysterious enemy... the Lightmaster! Back from SSM. OoOoOh, I'm scared.

The basic thing is, he needs light, and she produces light. It was only a matter of time! Their interactions blow up the nearby cinema, and Peter quickly becomes Spidey once again.

The fight is fun!

Well that sucks for her, because her power is really cool. I love that she gets energy from concerts.

Spidey saves Dazzler, but she's still hell-bent on eliminating him!

Nice panel!

He escapes her by webbing her eyes. A classic!

Oh I'm sure he'll get to a bottom alright.

We get a quick update on Aunt May: she's not dead, and she's even getting better! Crap.

Spidey surmises that Dazzler got possessed by the Lightmaster, but he's a dumbass.

He eventually saves her with that big machine, and when Dazzler asks how she can repay him, he says they'll figure something out.

Let's hope it's a concert ticket he's asking for. In the comments, people were quick to notice the innuendo (the line coupled with their immediate physical intimacy certainly implies *things*.)

Now, onto Black Cat's return in 204!

Our story starts with Black Cat, apparently alive (who doubted that?) and taking pictures of our favorite wall-crawler. Then she gets in a museum to steal a cute statue of a couple, but she's interrupted.

I love those kisses, it's ridiculous, but lovely. And that cat shadow!

Spidey arrives too, and the cat shadow gimmick continues!

I love it!

She escapes, and Peter ponders about how attractive she is. I'm ready for this couple! I'm ready!!!! Curious to see how it goes!

At the Bugle, Robbie's accepted to lead the newspaper in place of Jameson. He's become a changed man! Very irascible.

BUT WHO DO WE SEE AGAIN?!

RANDY!!!!! MY BOY!!!!! I MISSED YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, at Felicia's place...

Oh, I love this. It's so silly, but so good!

At the Globe, Barney tries to push Peter and April closer. I'm not against April being less bitchy.

Later...

Felicia's not being very slick there, but it's comics, so whatever. That left panel of Peter changing, though? Very erotic.

I'm glad to see Flash and Sha Shan again... I don't remember Cissy, maybe she's in Spectacular. Sounds inconsequential either way. But this new date, Dawn Starr... Very 80s haircut right there. Not sure I'm a fan, BUT she immediately says she's into Peter, so you know.

Oh, but it gets better! She's a science major (another one!) and... she's one of Peter's students! I'm into that, I like the drama. Peter's not of the same mind, though. He's already got enough drama as is!

By the way, I'm not completely fond of this issue's colors... We'll see how it goes...

At the Guggenheim museum, Spidey and Black Cat have another fight.

Oh, she's a funny one for sure. The writing's becoming more horny, and I'm also here for it.

Once again, the Black Cat gets away, but with the statue this time! Oh, and we get news on Jonah! He's amnesiac now. "Jonas Harrow" says he's gonna help him, but he's got those terrifyingly goofy glasses that indicate he's not a nice guy.

Black Cat steals another thing (and is quite disappointed that she saw no resistance from the folks there), and we get a promise that the next issue will have a surprise ending. A kiss, a kiss!!!!

YES.

Marv Wolman's run is officially finished at this point! David Michelinie's a guest writer for 205, but his run will occur about five years later. Let's see how he fares here.

That's a really beautiful panel.

At Peter's workplace (the university!), he finds Dawn...

We got a kiss! I didn't expect him to go down that line, though. But I'm here for the messiness. I presume it won't last long...

Peter thinks things are looking up on him, but that's not exactly a sentiment I share.

Spidey and Black Cat have a little fight again, and she gets away again.

Later, at the Daily Globe, Peter meets Pamela Dean, society editor and possible new love interest? What is going on here?

Did Peter breaking up with MJ finally open his dating prospects?

There's a solid theme of love going around in these issues. Black Cat targets art about love, Pamela Dean wants to write a story about an artist who does romantic and erotic art... This feels like a new era.

Peter's convinced Black Cat's building a shrine to her father with those thieveries, and I think he's completely wrong about that. The likely actual person she loves is... well, Spider-Man, of course.

Love these panels.

At his office, Peter finds an intruder... and our dear miss Dawn is welcomed by none other than Spidey!

.

.

.

Iran? What the heck, Peter.

Oh, Peter... (He looks so cute when he's angsty.)

Hey, does anyone know if this area really exists? I'm curious. Ross Andru drew real buildings, so...

So Felicia's exchanging the art she stole for the Helen Epistle, a love letter to Paris from Helen of Troy.

Just kidding! She's actually stealing that one too.

Meanwhile, Peter has an appointment with Bellflower, the erotic art collector that Felicia just threatened. He seems busy, and Peter smells the ruse.

Do you know what else is jangling?

Anyway. BC and Spidey have another confrontation, BC escapes, but Spidey tracks her and is completely surprised to see he was wrong about Felicia's daddy issues.

I love her expresssion on the left!

... You know what, that's actually a solid ending, because at first, Peter didn't care about his responsibility (the Dawn kiss), but then he got the backlash from that (disappointment and betrayal), so here, he chose to do the right thing. That's good.

206 time! Roger Stern is here. He'll stay for a while. I've seen people say to skip the Wein and Wolfman issues, so I'm curious to see what Stern brought to the game.

Turns out Jonas Harrow, who also created Hammerhead, the Kangaroo and Will O' The Wisps in the first place, is the one who's been making Jonas mad. He used rays or something on Jonah's office, which explains why Robbie was irritated last issue!

I'm sure Jonah will be back to his old self anyway... but I kinda like how it ties up neatly this background arc that has been running for like, ten issues at this point. Neat! Didn't expect it either.

At the Bugle, Robbie and Marla discuss what to do regarding Jonah's disappearance, but Jonas Harrow doesn't like this and turns up his rays. They get in a fight, and when Peter intervenes, he pushes them away rather violently.

Ew.

The rays cause everyone to be angry, but Peter activates the fire alarm to make them evacuate the building. Smart!

He eventually finds and breaks the rays emitting gadget, and then Harrow dares him to fight him. When he sees Spidey, Jameson gets his memory back. Much more effective than Harrow's tentative treatment!

I love the middle panel, but this is also why I cannot bring myself to care about Jonas: he sucks.

So... Marv Wolfman. Definitely an improvement on Len Wein if you consider the entirety of their runs, as it's more consistently solid.

I did love the graduation issues, the relationship drama, but the May arc was annoying, although I can appreciate the ambition. I think my problem lies moreso with the corresponding Spectacular issues, but it wasn't Wolfman, so...

I just feel like Wolman's cast isn't coherent the way Stan Lee and Gerry Conway's were. Still, there was an attempt to emulate Lee and Ditko's style at some point. Jameson was faaaar too involved in all of that to my liking, but it was a bit original at least, compared to previous times. Some characters acted out of character too (Ned and Harry)...

It's not a perfect run, and I don't gel well with Wolfman, but it was alright. Good, even.

Welcome, Mister O'Neil. Show me what you've got!