Post by Ozymandias on Sept 29, 2016 6:01:30 GMT
For nearly a decade (December, 1976 - April 1985), we had three clearly differentiated Spider-Man books: one based on the costume and two more focused on his civilian life. At the time, Peter Parker was still studying, while he kept his professional career as a photographer at the Daily Bugle. This duality, allowed for two different scenarios and their respective supporting casts. Some characters, like Aunt May, were allowed to appear in ASM and PPSSM indistinctively, but the majority were "assigned" to one title or the other. That didn't preclude, of course, the possibility of sharing characters, for particular purposes.
Then along came WoSM, to replace a dated MTU, and all of a sudden, we had a Spider-Man book without a clear "territory". The result was a disjointed title, that tried to present the lead in unusual scenarios, incorporating some second rate characters (Kathryn Cushing, Joy Mercado) in a failed effort to acquire some sort of a personality. But the thing is, what other choice did they have? They could've maybe restricted the use of the older, non-affiliated characters (May, MJ, Flash..), to the new title, but other than that, without re-enacting the formula previously used in MTU, I don't see a way to keep a third truly independent, Spidey comic.
I'm talking about that period of time, right now it'd be difficult to even have a credible alternative to ASM, which is probably why there isn't one.
Then along came WoSM, to replace a dated MTU, and all of a sudden, we had a Spider-Man book without a clear "territory". The result was a disjointed title, that tried to present the lead in unusual scenarios, incorporating some second rate characters (Kathryn Cushing, Joy Mercado) in a failed effort to acquire some sort of a personality. But the thing is, what other choice did they have? They could've maybe restricted the use of the older, non-affiliated characters (May, MJ, Flash..), to the new title, but other than that, without re-enacting the formula previously used in MTU, I don't see a way to keep a third truly independent, Spidey comic.
I'm talking about that period of time, right now it'd be difficult to even have a credible alternative to ASM, which is probably why there isn't one.