I Just Want To Forget...
Even though I don’t remember the exact day, I remember that the month was August and the year was 2000. Why do I remember this month and year so well? Because this was the month and year that comic book artist Joe Quesada was hired as the new Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics. I remember discussing with fellow geeks at my local comic book store about how excited we were about this brave new move.
Mephisto Joe Quesada
For Marvel fans everywhere, the feeling we felt might be compared to the same feeling Democrats across the country felt when Obama was elected President in 2008. This was because we felt Joe Quesada was finally bringing a ray of light during a very dark period in Marvel Comics history. See, when the 1990s hit, the comic industry started taken a dive, and in 1996 Marvel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It wasn’t until August of 2000 when Marvel started recovering from the scare.
If that weren’t enough, the 1990’s also saw a “Clone Saga” in the Spider-Man books, a teenage Tony Stark running around as Iron Man in the Avengers books, and other controversial storylines that polarized fans and led to decreases in sales on many of Marvel’s flagship books. So, like many fans at the time, I felt that Joe Quesada’s charisma and creativity that he displayed in the books that he was drawing and editing at the time (Daredevil, Black Panther, etc.) was exactly what Marvel needed to come out of this hole that they had dug themselves in to. And, for at least a little while, Joe Quesada did actually manage to dig Marvel back up and out of that abysmal hole.
During the first six years in his tenure as E.I.C., Quesada oversaw controversial yet insanely popular storylines such as Civil War, House of M, and others. Sales were up, fans were happy, and Marvel Comics was enjoying a renaissance period after the Dark Ages of the 1990’s. That is, until the autumn of 2007 rolled around.
One More day
This was the time where Joe Quesada decided to put his own personal interests in front of the interests of the fans who butter his bread; hence the reason “One More Day” dawned on us. For those who may not know, “One More Day” was a storyline that ran through the Spider-Man books in 2007 where Peter Parker made the conscious decision to sell his marriage to Mephisto (who is the Marvel Universe’s version of the Devil) in exchange for the life of his Aunt May, who was dying at the time from injuries inflicted by a shotgun.
“After his Aunt May has been shot, Spider-Man seeks help to save her life. He encounters the demon Mephisto, who offers to save her life if Spider-Man gives him his marriage. Spider-Man and his wife Mary Jane Watson agree, and this part of their history is erased so that, effectively, they have never been married. The storyline set the stage for a restructuring of the Spider-Man titles, resulting in the cancellation of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and The Sensational Spider-Man, with Amazing Spider-Man revamped as a thrice-monthly publication.
The decision to abruptly end Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s marriage and the events of “One More Day” were heavily criticized upon the series’ conclusion, although the artwork received praise.“ wikipedia
- Amazing Spider-Man 545
This was all done due to Joe Quesada’s eerily extreme hatred for Peter’s marriage. You can read his rant about how much he hates the marriage here at CBR.com. At that moment Quesada imposed his own personal vision of how the Spider-Man universe “should” be onto the loyal fans who’ve followed Peter and MJ over the years, without presumably thinking, for one moment, about the desires of those same fans who were the ones responsible for Marvel’s recovery as well as making Joe Quesada financially well off.
“One More Day” was the shotgun blow to the stomach. What happened next was nothing short of an evisceration as Peter continued on with his life after his agreement with Mephisto, as if his 20 years of marriage (1987-2007) to Mary Jane never even existed. But Joe didn’t stop there! No, 0n top of that, Peter had no job, no house (he lived upstairs in his Aunt May’s home, again). He had nothing! It was like all the character development that had been made with Peter in the last 20-30 years up until 2007 was now obliterated, wiped clean, as if we the reader had made the same exact agreement Mephisto MADE WITH Peter.
From then on out, the Spidey-books were back to the status quo of the 1960’s and 1970’s. This “new” era of Spider-Man continuity is dubbed “Brand New Day”, in reference to the fact that it’s a brand new continuity. To make things even more bizarre, a new love interest is introduced in Peter’s life named “Carlie Cooper”, who is also rumored to share the same name with Joe Quesada’s daughter. Think Joe Q. might be getting just a little bit too personal with Marvel’s flagship character now?
Carlie Cooper
Fast-forward three years later to the autumn of 2010. Spidey book sales are the lowest they have been in years, which you can read about here. Apparently, fans are still resentful about the fact that the marriage was “magically” erased with thirty years of character development flushed down the toilet.
Joe Quesada then makes an announcement that “Brand New Day” is ending in Amazing Spider-Man #647, which can be read here. The clouds suddenly parted and the rays of heaven had shown as many fans, including myself, took this to mean that Peter and Mary Jane were getting back together, and that Peter was getting his old life back . This horrible continuity, hatched by the evil Mephisto and his twin goblin brother, Joe Quesada, was finally coming to an end with a wooden stake in it’s heart!
I Want Your Love
… And like all horror movies the bad guys, and bad stories, JUST DON’T DIE! After reading Amazing Spider-Man #647 last week, pretty much nothing’s changed; Mary Jane is still out of the picture, Carlie Cooper is still Peter’s love interest, and Peter is still unemployed. So how is Joe Quesada able to tell us “Brand New Day” is ending, when pretty much the entire status quo of BND is still intact? How come we’re still giving Marvel our money for this mundane mediocrity? How come fans aren’t asking for Joe Quesada’s head!? Or at least his job?
I don’t know about you but for me, as a consumer of Marvel Comics, I feel like someone has pissed on my leg and then tried to tell me that my leg is wet because it’s raining. Well you know what? It ain’t raining Joe, and I want my $3.99, times a hundred, back! Peter and Mary Jane were the Clark Kent and Lois Lane of Marvel. They had the kind of strong and almost magical chemistry that few couples in the history of comic books, and even real life, have ever had.
For twenty years, Mary Jane was Peter’s rock, and I felt they complimented each other in a way that no couple in the history of comic books, not even Clark and Lois, have ever been able to do. So, for all that to be taken away in one panel and for me to spend my emotional and financial investment over the last three years, waiting for this whole mess to be retconned only to be misled by Joe Quesada is a giant kick in my face while my wallet is emptied. I’m now convinced that Brand New Day will NEVER end as long as Joe Quesada remains Chief Creative Officer.
So, how about it, fellow comic geeks? Do you feel like I do, that Peter Parker’s character has taken a step backwards since One More Day? Is Joe Quesada acting in the interest of the fans, or even in Marvel’s best interest, or is he really just interjecting his own personal agenda, his own twisted vision of Spider-Man without thinking about what the fans want? Most importantly, Should Joe Quesada be set free from his responsibilities at Marvel’s helm or maybe even step down from his post as Chief Creative Officer based on what he’s done to Spider-Man’s character? What do YOU think?
One More Day: MJ & Spidey
Written by Douglas Appich
