Posted on 01/10/2008 12:33:03 PM PST by pgyanke
Those who know Spider-Man only from Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in the movies might be surprised to learn that in the comic book, the web-spinning hero has been married for almost 21 years.
That's why the comic world is in an uproar over Marvel Comics' decision to undo the marriage of Peter Parker and red-haired bombshell Mary Jane Watson, reversing two decades of storytelling.
In Amazing Spider-Man #545 last week, Peter and Mary Jane make a tearful deal with the devil-like character Mephisto: In exchange for saving Aunt May's life, Mephisto erases all traces of the Peter-Mary Jane marriage from memory.
In the issue out this week, subtitled Brand New Day, Peter Parker returns to his roots -- young, nerdy and single. Aunt May is alive and well and Mary Jane is again just part of the cast. The marriage never happened.
"People are very upset. They erased a lot of stuff that had been set in stone," says John Newman, manager of Ultimate Comics in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Wednesday as customers came in to buy the opening chapter of Brand New Day. To help emphasize the new start, Amazing Spider-Man will go thrice-monthly.
"We knew it would be a very controversial thing to do," says Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor in chief, who believed so much in the project that he drew the crucial issues himself. "Looking into the future, this is really the right thing to do for the long-term health of the character."
Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962, was a hit, connecting with young readers because he was a geeky teenager, shy with girls and uncertain of how to use his powers. But in 1987, Peter and Mary Jane, by then a fashion model, got married. Marvel had instant regrets.
"I remember editors and editors in chief lamenting that a married Spider-Man was not where we want to be," Quesada says. "A married Peter Parker makes for a less interesting soap opera than a single Peter Parker going about his nerdy kind of life."
Writers tried everything: The couple separated for a while. She miscarried. And in a much-criticized story line, Marvel tried to convince readers that Peter Parker had not gotten married, but his clone. That didn't stick, either. Then Quesada took over and insisted the marriage just couldn't continue.
"Nobody wants to read about a married Spider-Man," says Craig Shutt, a columnist for Comics Buyers Guide. "But in the short run, it's a terrible idea. It disrespects the readers by saying everything they read is wrong."
At DC Comics, Superman is married to Lois Lane, disrupting that title's long-standing tensions. DC declined to comment for this story.
Quesada is steadfast that for Spider-Man, the move is the right one: "Ultimately we have to do this to keep this character fresh for this generation and generations to come."
But the retrocontinuity of Marvel now has it that Captain America was NOT the first to drink the “super soldier” formula. It was put forth in a recent series that he was the first “white guy” to get the perfected formula after it’d been tested in poor black men.
As the Clearasil turns.
Its time to let a new generation of kids grow up with Peter Parker.
Whats next, geriatric Spiderman? Course not...take him back to who he is.
yo
Here's something written by his collaborator, Larry Niven.
Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex
Cheers!
You know, at first read I thought, "It's just a comic book," but after I read what you said, it made me think again. & it seems like most characters in the media are portrayed as single, aren't they?
It worked for the Dark Knight. 
Peter and MJ have been married 21 years! Wow, time flies. I haven’t followed Spider Man comics for some time, but I would think that it would be relatively easy for a decent writer to come up with fresh ideas for the character and his wife.
a darkie ‘eh?
Is there something wrong with a next-generation Spiderman? We were treated to Peter coming of age and marrying... can’t they keep their marriage and the storyline? Seems to me they could... with a more talented and open-minded script.
How juvenile is it to revert your character to high school geekiness in order to “keep him fresh”. It demonstrates an immature worldview. If your character is getting too mundane, pass the torch. Can his spider powers pass to his kids? Can he, the great scientist that he is, duplicate the process that gave him his powers? Enhance them maybe? Screw it up and create something unpredictable? Lots of possibilities.
seems kinda juvenile to need to hang onto him when its time to let him go
parallel titles running Spidey at diff points in his age might work...I guess 
Maybe it was while back, but didn’t Marvel reprint the first issues? The kids can have those.
The kids need to let Spidey go. Let him age, have his hair fall out, get a belly, and make appointments to get his prostate examined. : )
by wolverine
or Mr. Fantastic.
he sure was
“I always knew Spidey was a homo.”
I played in a poker tournament with him at the Bellagio, 2-3 years ago in Vegas. He is.
The editors at both DC and Marvel really suck. There’s a damn good reason comics are dying, and the people running the comic book business are part of the problem.
Joe Quesada, Marvel’s editor in chief, also killed off Captain America. Soon there will be an Illegal Alien superhero.
Of course, these are all just comic books.
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