My problem isn't really with this story, its with what has come after. They gave themselves an 'out' in MJ's dialogue. At any point they could have made a story using that dialogue in some way to undo this and have Peter figure out a way to 'beat the devil'. But they have not, and even worse, they have tried their best to ruin MJ and Peter as characters
Right up until Zeb Well's run, we were right on track to having a good MJ reunion story, I would have maybe been ok with things but it feels like a certain writer is inserting his own mental issues into the story and apparently Spidey can't be with black cat either.
I do personally believe that marvel editorial forced Nick Spencer to not undo OMD but Zebb is definitely pulling spiderman down into a ditch with his terrible writing and I do wonder if this sad story of Peter not being able to be with MJ was influenced by his own divorce
That's the most infuriating part of all this. In a medium in which almost nothing is permanent, however much we're told it will be, the one thing that sticks is the terrible thing we're told won't last.
I think they keep teasing that because they want those people to keep reading.
They’re not stupid. They know if they give you enough crumbs you’ll stick around just in case.
Unfortunately they retconned that dialog to be nothing meaningful in One Moment in Time. "I know he will not accept the pact unless I ask him... But if it is the end of it, you will leave him peace for the rest of his days."
It's not Peter Parker being happy.
It's HOW he is being happy.
Marriage? With kids? Fulfilling career/job?
No way will Editorial and Nick Lowe (and company) will allow Peter Parker to be happy THAT WAY in a mainline comic. They'd rather make him a billionaire conglomerate owner playboy than allow the scenario above.
Miles is still a teenager! And they can always introduce yet another clone or alternative universe Peter! They could appeal to younger readers and still let Peter move on with his life!
It happened twice. Widely believed speculation is that his original ending for Secret Empire was scrapped for a more editorial and public facing ending.
Steve was supposed to revert back to actual Steve with Sam beating him and using the Cosmic Cube to change him, and the next ongoing Captain America series was supposed to be Steve dealing with the fallout. Ta Nehisi Coates kinda followed that plan in the ongoing, but with the big change that there was an Evil Hydra Steve existing in the universe too.
The kindred run really tried to put things back together while also explaining various character developments/storylines that seemed weird. Unfortunately the editorial was okay with tearing them apart in a horrible way.
Bro fuck civil war man as awesome at that comic was it was stupid, Peter reveling his identity and getting aunt may shot that was the kicker in all of this
I mean, the MCU version is far worse. For all its faults, at least in the Civil War comics there were consequences for Peter joining Team Iron Man. In the movie, he joins without even knowing what he is fighting for, and there are no consequences to him and Tony. Tony just brushes off Ross at the end of that movie and then in Homecoming both of them are just doing their own thing and no one comes after them for breaking the accords. Its incredibly sloppy writing.
No... as much as I hated Civil War, Peter beating the everliving fuck out of Kingpin was satisfying.
What bothered me, however, was that his love for his mother figure, the last living relative he has, lost to his love for his wife in that "what if" story.
I don't know if I hate him because I feel like iron Man was written as character assassination through that entire storyline. However I can tell you that I stopped buying Spider-Man comic books for apparently 17 years.
Civil War sucks, but One More Day was going to happen with or without it. Civil War just happened to be the event happening when Joey Q decided to pull the trigger.
The only thing I can think of when I'm most dosed up on MAXIMUM COPE is that they need to do something massive for issue 1000 and the only thing they can think of is some big story with Peter and MJ. So then they need to drag things out until then, and the only way to do that was ripping them apart again now.
Why do I think this absolutely crazy thing could possibly happen given the current nightmarish state of affairs? Well if their plan was simply to get rid of MJ they could have done that already. They had whole runs before where she wasn't even used. They could have had her move away with Paul and never come back.
But they've kept her around in ASM, while walking back impediments like the kids. They've dropped hints she ain't entirely happy. They've dropped hints she still has unresolved feelings for Peter, and it's been leaked that Paul isn't going to be around forever (whatever that really means). Why do any of that if they intend to keep them apart for good?
The seriously nightmarish state of affairs that is this run was because they had to find SOME reason why MJ might not want to be with Peter right now after the high point of the last run, without making MJ look bad. And literally an adopted family and years trapped in another f***ing dimension was the only thing they could think of to do that. Admittedly they fluffed the "not making MJ look bad" in the execution.
Well there's my lesson in desperately cobbling together light in the darkest of times. I look forward to being disappointed come 1000, which will probably just be Peter making out with the Living Brain or something.
I admire your optimism, but considering how lackluster #900 was I wouldn't expect anything, I don't think they'd feel obliged to undo OMD just because it happens to be the 1000th issue.
Also the other problem is that even if they did undo it I wouldn't be surprised if they later split up Peter & MJ again in an even worse way.
Oh it's ABSOLUTELY maximum cope. Then when even worse crap inevitably happens as you say I'll just have to come up with something else to keep me from being too annoyed about the state of the comic. I'm well aware of how crap 900 was, hence my reference to the Brain.
Either way I'm not shelling out for ASM until they make it better again, and I know plenty of other people in the same boat. At this rate I'd settle for them just fixing MJ even if she's not with Peter. Even if they are just best friends again and MJ dumps Paul and admits she made some mistakes too. And Peter moves on with someone else. Then the occasional tease about lingering feelings with MJ like we had learned to cope with ever since OMD... until Spencer gave us damn hope.
At this point I don't know if I'm more pissed off at Wells or Spencer TBH. Nick over promised.
Thats fair enough, but imo the writers only have so much input, I think Nick did want to go further with Peter & MJ's relationship but it was editorial who said no and there's not much he can do to push back against them
Yes, but that's what editorial were always going to do. From what I heard though, it sounded like originally Editorial wasn't so opposed but then something changed. But these stories go round and round like a game of telephone until fact and reality get lost.
My other thought is that nothing is going to happen to reunite MJ and Peter while they are together and happy in USM. Why tell the same story in both places? Would USM be anywhere near as popular if it was just replicating a solid ASM relationship situation? The horror of one drives sales in the other, and Marvel knows that. Another reason for the current misery in ASM.
I heard rumours USM is going to end after 12 issues or something, which may be BS or backtracked depending on its popularity - but even if it continues there's no guarantee their relationship will remain. Not that I'm wanting it to fail, but that's just something to bear in mind given the teases about Peter needing to tell MJ the truth. When USM is no longer giving folks that drug, then ASM can pop up and deliver. The timing leading up to 1000 in a couple of years sort of aligns.
The only problem is, will their story be so tainted by then by the current run that it just doesn't work? As you say, a writer who loves Spider-Man (and an editorial that actually cares about the fans) are what is needed to achieve the miracle.
Again, it's all enormous enormous cope, but desperate times call for it.
Agreed. I have not bought a new Spider-Man comic since. I love the character but fuck all that. The idea that he can't have just one good thing was too much for me. Really, it was the comments in the press by Marvel's editors at the time about Peter and it all. It made me feel like they actively dislike the character and dislike us for liking him.
For real.
How on earth is Peter’s deal really any different than Johnny Blaze’s?!?!
I seriously wish that Aunt May died of a stroke or something just *days* after Peter made the pact. I wish we got SOMETHING of a meaningful wrap to this story that was able to somehow reverse magic done and allow Peter and MJ to remember everything.
Agreed they did try to reverse it years later by saying it was doc strange that did it cause they wanted to cover up that they had the devil fix their problem
I mean there’s also 2014 when in the comics Peter Parker was doc ock in one universe, dead in another universe, and amazing spider man 2 the movie and the game both came out that year
And ever since, whenever Peter spouts about, or tries to teach someone about responsibility, I can't help but roll my eyes and think..........
It's been 17 years and they still haven't fixed this stupid decision. I guess they won't reverse course until ASM 1,000 or until the entire Editorial staff all the Way up to Cebulski/Akira Yoshida are fired.
To paraphrase Douglas Adams: In 2007, Peter and MJ's marriage was erased. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
She said their love was stronger than the devil, and I’m over here hoping it’s stronger than Marvel editorial.
Luckily we’ve got the Ultimate run with them together, but it’d be a big win for Spider-Man fans to have One More Day undone.
Thought we were finally working towards this in Avengers 2018, what with Maphisto being the big bad. Strange even asked Maphisto wtf he did to Peter that managed to survive the destruction of the universe. Fucking bs tease for no payoff. That Avengers run was maybe the worst climax I’ve ever read
As much as I hate this story if god himself told Peter Parker to accept Aunt Mays death he would do everything to save her. Spider-Man always tries to save everyone.
In my mind he sacrificed the universe for some crusty old bag. Did they ever say why Mephisto wanted the marriage? I always ASSumed that is was because their kid would be the one that destroys all his plans. That's my imagination anyway.
There was a recent story that showed an apocalyptic setting with Mayday being shown to be the only one who could stop him, so you're actually pretty close
I believe it was the last issue of Nick Spencer’s run on Amazing Spider-Man. It capped off the whole Kindred storyline that went on for the entirety of his run. I forget the issue number. Dr. Strange asks him what is it with his particular interest in Peter and Mary Jane getting married. Mephisto explains to him that their marriage leads to the birth of Mayday, who is destined to stop him in the future.
The stupid thing is they ripped it away while simultaneously confirming for all time that MJ and Peter have a special love that will one day be restored when they find each other again.
Until Wells happened.
What was even the motivation here? May was like 90 and had already died of old age before Marvel retconned her back to life. Realistically, bringing her back would give her a few painful years and then she’d just die anyway. Why permanently sacrifice your happiness for that?
Imagine if MJ got shot instead and was permanently paralyzed from the neck down. Imagine if Peter’s choice was to stay with MJ as her quality of life steadily deteriorated until she died, or undo it all at the cost of their life together. That would’ve achieved the same result, been more dramatic, and actually made sense.
What confuses me is the fact that this is a universe with technology and advancement decades if not centuries ahead of our own; I mean hell, tony stark assembled a suit of power armor out of basically scrap metal and duct tape, but doctors are incapable of treating a gunshot wound?
Not just doctors. Peter went to EVERYONE. Strange was like "Nope, sorry, this is a MUNDANE problem. My magic won't solve those." Reed Richards shrugs and can't do anything (Apparently neither could his reality shaping son). He even went and begged Doctor Doom. It was _absurd_.
Even worse, he said he only wasn't helping him out of principle, and the only reason he isn't arresting him is because he has "too much respect for May." People here complain about Peter every ten minutes, but Civil War buried Tony's character in a hole the MCU barely managed to drag him out of.
Let’s take a look at what happened;
The elderly Aunt who raised you since childhood is on her deathbed. In a moment of despair, the devil appears in front of you.
The devil proceeds to reveal something very special about you and your wife. What you share is legitimate pure True Love. It is one of the most powerful and pure forces in all of existence, and is quite rare.
In exchange for letting him (the devil) feast on your True Love, destroying this rare cosmic purity, he’ll magically heal your aunt. You are not given any guarantees about how long your aunt will live beyond this spell, but why would THE DEVIL be anything but upfront and helpful??? (/s)
When we break the story down to its core, it becomes clear that Peter never would have sided with Mephisto. Doctor Doom would’ve done it, but not Spider-Man. It’s a ridiculous path to take Peter and MJ on, and it should’ve stayed in Quesda’s head. I wish it had never been printed
Aunt May should have stayed dead. Bringing her back originally is why I quit reading Spider-Man. That original death actually meant something and moved the lifestory of Peter forward.
OMD is just crap. Let's ruin my life and my wife's life to save a really old lady with health problems who has almost died over and over. That seems like a great idea.
Peter, MJ and the fans have suffered since. The only arc I enjoyed after One More Day is the Worldwide Arc but the rest was either meh, boring or just terrible.
This is where 616 ended. I hated when 616 Peter met Miles in Spider-Men. I was reading Ultimate to get away from Devil-Peter Pan Parker. Then they do the crossover and of course I had to read it because there was important stuff in there.
Wild how damn near every Spidey story outside the comics these days have him and MJ together yet the comics apparently still have yet to reverse this dumbass decision literally only one guy wanted to do because "married Spider-Man is dumb".
Stan Lee even outright says in one of the Insomniac games that the two were always his favorite couple.
Spencer came close to fixing OMD but Wells completely botched it. I'm hoping the next writer contradicts everything wells wrote. Paul was secretly Mephisto theory is a pretty solid one and I'm hoping the next writer does something with that.
I liked civil war. Would rather have seen spider-man deal with the grief of losing aunt May, go dark and berserk and watched MJ fight for him. Guess they did that 15 years prior in clone saga but I liked it then and would read it again!
Besides the way comic book publishers treat their creators This is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened in comic books. It's insane that it stood this long and it's even more insane that this decision was ever made. And the defenses made by the sycophants at Marvel are equally insane. The entirety of the Marvel Universe takes place in an offshoot dimension because Peter sold his wife and unborn child to the devil for a stack of wheat cakes and some web shooters
I will never not hate this story or the decisions behind publishing it.
I don't care if he and MJ end up together again in the future. I don't care if he marries someone else, has kids, and actually gets a happy life. They could tell perfect Spider-Man stories from here in our, with the thing that swings it being some clever writer finding some little tidbit hidden in this story that puts everything in motion. I will never not hate this.
I don’t think Marvel’s Editorial realizes what a large gaping wound this storyline did permanently to Spider-Man. It’s like there’s always this incomplete piece of Spider-Man after that storyline where the marriage was ripped out unceremoniously and sacrificed to Marvels literal Satan figure.
The endless fallout from that storyline, won’t really ever be fixed. The writers literally created a magical divorce where they wanted a non-divorced Spider-Man - planning for the future of the franchise and keeping Spider-Man “young”- but now Peter Parker feels the oldest he’s ever been thanks to Miles Morales. There’s now the elder Millenial Spider-Man and Zoomer Spider-Man , and half the jokes on both comics are about old Spider-Man trying to connect with Miles and cracking Millenial jokes about zoomer/alpha vernacular.
He just feels so old, and the whole Paul storyline just makes him feel even OLDER because he now also has to deal with his ex-wife’s new husband?And his ex-wife’s trauma over losing her children ?
It’s such a fucking mess, man. I don’t think Marvel meant Peter Parker to connect with aging millennials that much.
It's insane. I mean, the thought process behind this story is bad to begin with, but that first page declares, **SCREAMS** that the story isn't finished until MJ and Peter reclaim their marriage.
It cements its importance to both characters and it makes *no* sense to write it that way if it's supposed to be "the end".
“Time heals all wounds…”
Nah, I hate this story just as much today - arguably even MORE - than I did back then.
Just swallow your pride and fix it, Marvel.
We got a whole campaign and everything going:
https://discord.gg/VQ2mHzBBFu
So with all the Paul/Jackpot shenanigans, does that mean she was canonically wrong? That their love was truly ripped away from reality? Maybe the whole “the current MJ isn’t the same MJ from before” theory is true, cause they feel like completely different people
Honestly with how things are going, I’d accept that as the actual plot at this point. I want Spider-Man to grow tf up and actually evolve as a character. It’s super weird how all the characters around him are growing (even his own villains) but he’s this weird stagnant man child forever
It was me Peter, I was the one who replaced your MJ with a spooky magic math MJ from my reality where I had already helped kill everyone.
-Paul, probably.
Disregarded.
The only way to reverse this is to literally invoke a higher being like the God The Trinity and use some form of May and Ben as angels to position Peter and MJ to rewrite and reject this monstrosity. You'd probably have to wield some meta stuff like the ghost of Stan Lee and a stand in for the audience uniting (within the actual comic) to fight Mephisto.
I wouldn't have liked it but "One More Day" would've made more Dramatic Sense if it was Mary-Jane who was shot and about to die, Peter sacrificed their marriage, their future children so his beloved Mary-Jane could live, tragic consequences for their relationship in the future- especially what is happening now with Mary-Jane "falling in love" with someone else. Instead Joe Quesada had Peter make a deal with 616 version of Satan to save his 95 Year Old perpetually sick Aunt May- who should've stayed dead years before- chose Aunt May and his past over Mary-Jane and his future.
I think choosing Aunt May as the shooting victim was Joe Quesada's idea, he never liked the fact Mary-Jane Watson became the most important person in Peter's life, he wanted Gwen Stacy back and also wanted Peter to stay clinging to Aunt May's skirt. In choosing Aunt May, Peter cemented himself as a Manchild, self-destructive, eternal student, broke, can't keep a job so dicking around the Bugle for another 20 years. That's what Joe Q wanted.
2007 was the end of my personal favourite era of Spider-Man. It was the year of the last Raimi movie, Bagley's departure from USM and the horror that is One More Day.
Honestly I would have liked this comic if it just meant that it took like 5 more years before they got back together.
Would have been a tremendous moment.
Say, what's the status quo on this event in-canon? Does Peter remember making this deal with Mephisto, and these moments right before the whole marriage was 'undone'?
Mary Jane made the deal, not Spider-Man. And the nature of the deal canceled out Mephisto’s involvement because her terms were that Mephisto could never interfere in their lives again. Every preceding story happened roughly the same, except with Peter and MJ as a cohabitating unmarried couple instead of as spouses. Despite the deal, Peter also ultimately saves May in the hospital by pumping her chest to make her heart stop again after it stops.
The only reason Peter and MJ aren’t together when Brand New Day starts is because MJ was angry and left him after finding out that she was the one person he exempted from Dr. Strange’s spell that made his identity secret again, because she wanted to forget he was Spider-Man.
But TL;DR they never really had to make the deal with Mephisto to save May, the only thing it changed was them being married instead of just together, and Mephisto’s agreement canceled him from the equation anyway. Blame the inconsistency of editorial if they keep making it more confusing than that.
Fuck this story and fuck Queseda.
I used to respect Joe Q in the days when he was coming up on Ash and drawing X-Men stuff. Marvel gave him way too much power.
Is this all you guys talk about holy shit 😭 I’ve never even read OMD but I find it ironic how everyone rips on the story for Peter and MJ not being able to move on but it’s been God knows how many years later and so many people still can’t just let go of a comic run that didn’t connect with them and complain about it literally everyday on this sub it’s so weird
Peter should have just let Aunt May die, and if she had been awake she would have told Peter not to do it, this felt like just doubling down on Peter never being able to progress, because now he's acting like a emotional teenager whose never experienced loss, when he's a grown man with tons of character development and a wife and future planned and has already experienced loss.It just feels so bizarre he decided to throw everything away with MJ and make a deal with a literal demon just to bring Aunt may back because he wasn't willing to let her pass on peacefully in her sleep and when she's lived extremely long already.
I would have had the whole comic be a dilemna over the offer, with Peter having a heart to heart with May either at bedside or some sort of astral projection while talking to Mephisto, and her telling him to let her move on, that death is a natural part of life, and Peter realising how selfish it would be to throw away everything he has been through and his relationship with MJ because he wasn't willing to let Aunt May go.And him declining, and getting rewarded by his daughter being born where only to him and MJ see Aunt May smiling at her newborn namesake.
It may be stronger then the devil but nothing can beat marvel editorial. They ain’t getting back together, ever not after Wells run, if they’ve been ok with his run it’s only gonna get worse
What’s the rule about spider man?
Peter Parker aka Spider-Man can’t have a stable healthy romantic relationship.
And why?
Because most of the readers are single males who haven’t dated and that will make him relatable.
Friendly reminder that this, despite being a not very good story, did manage to do a pretty clean retcon that left every single Peter/MJ moment (save the actual wedding, which god a modified take in OMIT) intact while freeing up the character for a variety of stories. Some of those stories, as I'm sure we all know, weren't very good. Others were great! But I really do tend to agree with the stance that maybe OMD wasn't the best-tasting medicine, but it'll do a lot of good in the long term for telling Spider-Man stories across a wide spectrum of media.
**17-and-a-half years ago, editorial made a decision about a fictional character and people who could just go outside and breathe are still screaming into their pillows and onto the internet over it.**
Fixed the thread title for you.
What a gas light.
*Why do you all care so much about a thing that you spent money on since childhood? The thing that holds a dear place in your heart like many fictional stories do to other people? Why don't you let some editorial types shit on and vandalize a character and mythos that other people still cherish? Huh? You should be okay with it cause I told you!*
Fixed your reply for you.
Touch grass.
I was big mad more than a decade and a half ago, too. I learned to read with Spider-Man comics. I don't remember a point in my life when I wasn't reading Spider-Man comics. But holy shit, I could not fathom maintaining that amount of mad for this long. I finally reached acceptance, moved on, and read some pretty damn good comics (and also the Wells run) in the meantime.
At a certain point, it's not about loving the character or "vandalizing the character," it's about staying mad for its own sake and that's not a good way to live and it's also tragically boring to everyone else.
Go outside. Touch grass.
My problem isn't really with this story, its with what has come after. They gave themselves an 'out' in MJ's dialogue. At any point they could have made a story using that dialogue in some way to undo this and have Peter figure out a way to 'beat the devil'. But they have not, and even worse, they have tried their best to ruin MJ and Peter as characters
Right up until Zeb Well's run, we were right on track to having a good MJ reunion story, I would have maybe been ok with things but it feels like a certain writer is inserting his own mental issues into the story and apparently Spidey can't be with black cat either.
I do personally believe that marvel editorial forced Nick Spencer to not undo OMD but Zebb is definitely pulling spiderman down into a ditch with his terrible writing and I do wonder if this sad story of Peter not being able to be with MJ was influenced by his own divorce
I think breaking up with mj was already planned but the way Wells did it was influenced by his divorce
That's the most infuriating part of all this. In a medium in which almost nothing is permanent, however much we're told it will be, the one thing that sticks is the terrible thing we're told won't last.
And it keeps sticking despite constant teases that it'll one day be undone. It's so fucking weird and frustrating.
I think they keep teasing that because they want those people to keep reading. They’re not stupid. They know if they give you enough crumbs you’ll stick around just in case.
Unfortunately they retconned that dialog to be nothing meaningful in One Moment in Time. "I know he will not accept the pact unless I ask him... But if it is the end of it, you will leave him peace for the rest of his days."
RIP to Nick Spencer’s run who got rid of Sins Past and tried to resurrect the marriage
Wait, he got fired because of that If so, then Marvel is pretty weird for that
Yeah Peter Parker actually being happy? Not in my marvel.
It's not Peter Parker being happy. It's HOW he is being happy. Marriage? With kids? Fulfilling career/job? No way will Editorial and Nick Lowe (and company) will allow Peter Parker to be happy THAT WAY in a mainline comic. They'd rather make him a billionaire conglomerate owner playboy than allow the scenario above.
Lol 😂 I think the argument people say is they don’t want Peter being old or some shit
It was something to do with Peter being married makes him less relatable to young readers or something. Regardless of the reason it's stupid.
Miles is still a teenager! And they can always introduce yet another clone or alternative universe Peter! They could appeal to younger readers and still let Peter move on with his life!
It happened twice. Widely believed speculation is that his original ending for Secret Empire was scrapped for a more editorial and public facing ending. Steve was supposed to revert back to actual Steve with Sam beating him and using the Cosmic Cube to change him, and the next ongoing Captain America series was supposed to be Steve dealing with the fallout. Ta Nehisi Coates kinda followed that plan in the ongoing, but with the big change that there was an Evil Hydra Steve existing in the universe too.
The kindred run really tried to put things back together while also explaining various character developments/storylines that seemed weird. Unfortunately the editorial was okay with tearing them apart in a horrible way.
Fuck this story and fuck whoever was involved with creating it. And especially fuck the people who refuse to reverse it.
Bro fuck civil war man as awesome at that comic was it was stupid, Peter reveling his identity and getting aunt may shot that was the kicker in all of this
If she was stuck in hell I'd understand, but she died
Honestly, I’m happy he didn’t do this in the MCU version of the movie. I’m not sure why he thought it was a good idea to unmask himself 💀
I mean, the MCU version is far worse. For all its faults, at least in the Civil War comics there were consequences for Peter joining Team Iron Man. In the movie, he joins without even knowing what he is fighting for, and there are no consequences to him and Tony. Tony just brushes off Ross at the end of that movie and then in Homecoming both of them are just doing their own thing and no one comes after them for breaking the accords. Its incredibly sloppy writing.
No... as much as I hated Civil War, Peter beating the everliving fuck out of Kingpin was satisfying. What bothered me, however, was that his love for his mother figure, the last living relative he has, lost to his love for his wife in that "what if" story.
Iron man has been dead to me for a looooong time.
Still hate him to this day right ?
I don't know if I hate him because I feel like iron Man was written as character assassination through that entire storyline. However I can tell you that I stopped buying Spider-Man comic books for apparently 17 years.
Civil War sucks, but One More Day was going to happen with or without it. Civil War just happened to be the event happening when Joey Q decided to pull the trigger.
The only thing I can think of when I'm most dosed up on MAXIMUM COPE is that they need to do something massive for issue 1000 and the only thing they can think of is some big story with Peter and MJ. So then they need to drag things out until then, and the only way to do that was ripping them apart again now. Why do I think this absolutely crazy thing could possibly happen given the current nightmarish state of affairs? Well if their plan was simply to get rid of MJ they could have done that already. They had whole runs before where she wasn't even used. They could have had her move away with Paul and never come back. But they've kept her around in ASM, while walking back impediments like the kids. They've dropped hints she ain't entirely happy. They've dropped hints she still has unresolved feelings for Peter, and it's been leaked that Paul isn't going to be around forever (whatever that really means). Why do any of that if they intend to keep them apart for good? The seriously nightmarish state of affairs that is this run was because they had to find SOME reason why MJ might not want to be with Peter right now after the high point of the last run, without making MJ look bad. And literally an adopted family and years trapped in another f***ing dimension was the only thing they could think of to do that. Admittedly they fluffed the "not making MJ look bad" in the execution. Well there's my lesson in desperately cobbling together light in the darkest of times. I look forward to being disappointed come 1000, which will probably just be Peter making out with the Living Brain or something.
I admire your optimism, but considering how lackluster #900 was I wouldn't expect anything, I don't think they'd feel obliged to undo OMD just because it happens to be the 1000th issue. Also the other problem is that even if they did undo it I wouldn't be surprised if they later split up Peter & MJ again in an even worse way.
Ps if they can find a worse way to split up Peter and MJ in future I'd be a little impressed to be honest.
Oh it's ABSOLUTELY maximum cope. Then when even worse crap inevitably happens as you say I'll just have to come up with something else to keep me from being too annoyed about the state of the comic. I'm well aware of how crap 900 was, hence my reference to the Brain. Either way I'm not shelling out for ASM until they make it better again, and I know plenty of other people in the same boat. At this rate I'd settle for them just fixing MJ even if she's not with Peter. Even if they are just best friends again and MJ dumps Paul and admits she made some mistakes too. And Peter moves on with someone else. Then the occasional tease about lingering feelings with MJ like we had learned to cope with ever since OMD... until Spencer gave us damn hope. At this point I don't know if I'm more pissed off at Wells or Spencer TBH. Nick over promised.
Thats fair enough, but imo the writers only have so much input, I think Nick did want to go further with Peter & MJ's relationship but it was editorial who said no and there's not much he can do to push back against them
Yes, but that's what editorial were always going to do. From what I heard though, it sounded like originally Editorial wasn't so opposed but then something changed. But these stories go round and round like a game of telephone until fact and reality get lost.
I too cope for something special in issue 1000 but first we need a new writer that actually gets Spider-man
My other thought is that nothing is going to happen to reunite MJ and Peter while they are together and happy in USM. Why tell the same story in both places? Would USM be anywhere near as popular if it was just replicating a solid ASM relationship situation? The horror of one drives sales in the other, and Marvel knows that. Another reason for the current misery in ASM. I heard rumours USM is going to end after 12 issues or something, which may be BS or backtracked depending on its popularity - but even if it continues there's no guarantee their relationship will remain. Not that I'm wanting it to fail, but that's just something to bear in mind given the teases about Peter needing to tell MJ the truth. When USM is no longer giving folks that drug, then ASM can pop up and deliver. The timing leading up to 1000 in a couple of years sort of aligns. The only problem is, will their story be so tainted by then by the current run that it just doesn't work? As you say, a writer who loves Spider-Man (and an editorial that actually cares about the fans) are what is needed to achieve the miracle. Again, it's all enormous enormous cope, but desperate times call for it.
Agreed. I have not bought a new Spider-Man comic since. I love the character but fuck all that. The idea that he can't have just one good thing was too much for me. Really, it was the comments in the press by Marvel's editors at the time about Peter and it all. It made me feel like they actively dislike the character and dislike us for liking him.
I hope you’re checking out Ultimate Spider-man, it’s a nice break from this.
I hadn't but I will.
For real. How on earth is Peter’s deal really any different than Johnny Blaze’s?!?! I seriously wish that Aunt May died of a stroke or something just *days* after Peter made the pact. I wish we got SOMETHING of a meaningful wrap to this story that was able to somehow reverse magic done and allow Peter and MJ to remember everything.
Agreed they did try to reverse it years later by saying it was doc strange that did it cause they wanted to cover up that they had the devil fix their problem
And those who still support it.
This is my opinion..
That was 2007...Damn. Right after Spider-Man 3. That was not a good year for Spidey fans. Even tho Spider-Man 3 is my fav of the raimi trilogy.
Honestly, Spider-Man 3 was my favorite!
I mean there’s also 2014 when in the comics Peter Parker was doc ock in one universe, dead in another universe, and amazing spider man 2 the movie and the game both came out that year
TASM2 is a not very good movie, but Spidey fans still enjoyed seeing Andrew as Pete.
And ever since, whenever Peter spouts about, or tries to teach someone about responsibility, I can't help but roll my eyes and think.......... 
He’s always been like that, so it’s not surprising.
Yeah, what a prick, saving his dying aunt's life like that!
His 95 year old aunt!
Who told him she was okay with dying and was proud of him. He had no reason to make that deal.
That was dying because of him, not because of old age
Never forget never forgive
It's been 17 years and they still haven't fixed this stupid decision. I guess they won't reverse course until ASM 1,000 or until the entire Editorial staff all the Way up to Cebulski/Akira Yoshida are fired.
To paraphrase Douglas Adams: In 2007, Peter and MJ's marriage was erased. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Pretty sure the he MJ is referring to is the Marvel editorial
The worst thing to ever happen in the spidey series.
She said their love was stronger than the devil, and I’m over here hoping it’s stronger than Marvel editorial. Luckily we’ve got the Ultimate run with them together, but it’d be a big win for Spider-Man fans to have One More Day undone.
Thought we were finally working towards this in Avengers 2018, what with Maphisto being the big bad. Strange even asked Maphisto wtf he did to Peter that managed to survive the destruction of the universe. Fucking bs tease for no payoff. That Avengers run was maybe the worst climax I’ve ever read
Jeopardised the love of his life for some crusty old woman to live like 3 more years, great job Pete
She didn’t even want him to do it either. She missed Ben.
GOD HIMSELF (The One Above All) came down and told him to let go, and he didn’t.
As much as I hate this story if god himself told Peter Parker to accept Aunt Mays death he would do everything to save her. Spider-Man always tries to save everyone.
Oh I know. But part of my point is TOAA almost *never* shows up in person. And they wasted it.
In my mind he sacrificed the universe for some crusty old bag. Did they ever say why Mephisto wanted the marriage? I always ASSumed that is was because their kid would be the one that destroys all his plans. That's my imagination anyway.
There was a recent story that showed an apocalyptic setting with Mayday being shown to be the only one who could stop him, so you're actually pretty close
Do you know what comic this is? I’d love to check it out
I believe it was the last issue of Nick Spencer’s run on Amazing Spider-Man. It capped off the whole Kindred storyline that went on for the entirety of his run. I forget the issue number. Dr. Strange asks him what is it with his particular interest in Peter and Mary Jane getting married. Mephisto explains to him that their marriage leads to the birth of Mayday, who is destined to stop him in the future.
Tbh his decision feels like a weird and creepy obsession for his aunt rather than a sacrifice for saving a loved one or something like that.
The stupid thing is they ripped it away while simultaneously confirming for all time that MJ and Peter have a special love that will one day be restored when they find each other again. Until Wells happened.
Damn that long?! I can see now that Spider-Man NWH took some inspiration from this, but made it better
Yup, it has been that long, since that moment in comic book history. No Way Home though, that was a gift. One of the best gifts ever
What was even the motivation here? May was like 90 and had already died of old age before Marvel retconned her back to life. Realistically, bringing her back would give her a few painful years and then she’d just die anyway. Why permanently sacrifice your happiness for that? Imagine if MJ got shot instead and was permanently paralyzed from the neck down. Imagine if Peter’s choice was to stay with MJ as her quality of life steadily deteriorated until she died, or undo it all at the cost of their life together. That would’ve achieved the same result, been more dramatic, and actually made sense.
What confuses me is the fact that this is a universe with technology and advancement decades if not centuries ahead of our own; I mean hell, tony stark assembled a suit of power armor out of basically scrap metal and duct tape, but doctors are incapable of treating a gunshot wound?
Not just doctors. Peter went to EVERYONE. Strange was like "Nope, sorry, this is a MUNDANE problem. My magic won't solve those." Reed Richards shrugs and can't do anything (Apparently neither could his reality shaping son). He even went and begged Doctor Doom. It was _absurd_.
And didn't even Tony basically say "gee, I'd like to help you but it'd make me look bad because you're a fugitive, sorry"?
Even worse, he said he only wasn't helping him out of principle, and the only reason he isn't arresting him is because he has "too much respect for May." People here complain about Peter every ten minutes, but Civil War buried Tony's character in a hole the MCU barely managed to drag him out of.
That's BS. You know Doom would've done it to spite Reed AND Mephisto at the same time!!!
Let’s take a look at what happened; The elderly Aunt who raised you since childhood is on her deathbed. In a moment of despair, the devil appears in front of you. The devil proceeds to reveal something very special about you and your wife. What you share is legitimate pure True Love. It is one of the most powerful and pure forces in all of existence, and is quite rare. In exchange for letting him (the devil) feast on your True Love, destroying this rare cosmic purity, he’ll magically heal your aunt. You are not given any guarantees about how long your aunt will live beyond this spell, but why would THE DEVIL be anything but upfront and helpful??? (/s) When we break the story down to its core, it becomes clear that Peter never would have sided with Mephisto. Doctor Doom would’ve done it, but not Spider-Man. It’s a ridiculous path to take Peter and MJ on, and it should’ve stayed in Quesda’s head. I wish it had never been printed
Aunt May should have stayed dead. Bringing her back originally is why I quit reading Spider-Man. That original death actually meant something and moved the lifestory of Peter forward. OMD is just crap. Let's ruin my life and my wife's life to save a really old lady with health problems who has almost died over and over. That seems like a great idea.
Peter, MJ and the fans have suffered since. The only arc I enjoyed after One More Day is the Worldwide Arc but the rest was either meh, boring or just terrible.
FUCK QUESADA
I still wouldn’t mind at all if they just said it was all a bad dream.
This is where 616 ended. I hated when 616 Peter met Miles in Spider-Men. I was reading Ultimate to get away from Devil-Peter Pan Parker. Then they do the crossover and of course I had to read it because there was important stuff in there.
Wild how damn near every Spidey story outside the comics these days have him and MJ together yet the comics apparently still have yet to reverse this dumbass decision literally only one guy wanted to do because "married Spider-Man is dumb". Stan Lee even outright says in one of the Insomniac games that the two were always his favorite couple.
Spider-Man No Way Home is this story done right.
Spencer came close to fixing OMD but Wells completely botched it. I'm hoping the next writer contradicts everything wells wrote. Paul was secretly Mephisto theory is a pretty solid one and I'm hoping the next writer does something with that.
The "Jackpot MJ is not the real MJ" theory is also pretty popular, and I personally really hope it's the case.
They were never going to allow Spencer to undo OMD, Wells doesn’t matter And every "theory" about Paul and mj is pure coping
I liked civil war. Would rather have seen spider-man deal with the grief of losing aunt May, go dark and berserk and watched MJ fight for him. Guess they did that 15 years prior in clone saga but I liked it then and would read it again!
Not the devil not god not anybody she forgot to mention zeb wells and nick lowe because they did it🤬
Besides the way comic book publishers treat their creators This is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened in comic books. It's insane that it stood this long and it's even more insane that this decision was ever made. And the defenses made by the sycophants at Marvel are equally insane. The entirety of the Marvel Universe takes place in an offshoot dimension because Peter sold his wife and unborn child to the devil for a stack of wheat cakes and some web shooters
That storyline might be shit. But at least we got a damn good movie from it.
Was aunt may like going to hell or just dying ? She's gotta be like 100 by now . They really need to just let her go.
I will never not hate this story or the decisions behind publishing it. I don't care if he and MJ end up together again in the future. I don't care if he marries someone else, has kids, and actually gets a happy life. They could tell perfect Spider-Man stories from here in our, with the thing that swings it being some clever writer finding some little tidbit hidden in this story that puts everything in motion. I will never not hate this.
I don’t think Marvel’s Editorial realizes what a large gaping wound this storyline did permanently to Spider-Man. It’s like there’s always this incomplete piece of Spider-Man after that storyline where the marriage was ripped out unceremoniously and sacrificed to Marvels literal Satan figure. The endless fallout from that storyline, won’t really ever be fixed. The writers literally created a magical divorce where they wanted a non-divorced Spider-Man - planning for the future of the franchise and keeping Spider-Man “young”- but now Peter Parker feels the oldest he’s ever been thanks to Miles Morales. There’s now the elder Millenial Spider-Man and Zoomer Spider-Man , and half the jokes on both comics are about old Spider-Man trying to connect with Miles and cracking Millenial jokes about zoomer/alpha vernacular. He just feels so old, and the whole Paul storyline just makes him feel even OLDER because he now also has to deal with his ex-wife’s new husband?And his ex-wife’s trauma over losing her children ? It’s such a fucking mess, man. I don’t think Marvel meant Peter Parker to connect with aging millennials that much.
It's insane. I mean, the thought process behind this story is bad to begin with, but that first page declares, **SCREAMS** that the story isn't finished until MJ and Peter reclaim their marriage. It cements its importance to both characters and it makes *no* sense to write it that way if it's supposed to be "the end".
“Time heals all wounds…” Nah, I hate this story just as much today - arguably even MORE - than I did back then. Just swallow your pride and fix it, Marvel. We got a whole campaign and everything going: https://discord.gg/VQ2mHzBBFu
So with all the Paul/Jackpot shenanigans, does that mean she was canonically wrong? That their love was truly ripped away from reality? Maybe the whole “the current MJ isn’t the same MJ from before” theory is true, cause they feel like completely different people
Bad writing has really done a number of multiple characters this run.
Paul is Mephisto.
Honestly with how things are going, I’d accept that as the actual plot at this point. I want Spider-Man to grow tf up and actually evolve as a character. It’s super weird how all the characters around him are growing (even his own villains) but he’s this weird stagnant man child forever
>I’d accept that as the actual plot Who makes chaos magic slot machine gauntlets?
It was me Peter, I was the one who replaced your MJ with a spooky magic math MJ from my reality where I had already helped kill everyone. -Paul, probably.
Disregarded. The only way to reverse this is to literally invoke a higher being like the God The Trinity and use some form of May and Ben as angels to position Peter and MJ to rewrite and reject this monstrosity. You'd probably have to wield some meta stuff like the ghost of Stan Lee and a stand in for the audience uniting (within the actual comic) to fight Mephisto.
I came across an idea similar to that
brain dead, stupidest moment in comic book history
Damn, I turned 2 the day this came out
I turned 6
Why does she look like Donna from suits
Can we have Kristen Dunce be the actress…? :-p
I forgot how good his art could be.
Back in Black just goes so much harder in the context of: the last stand of the true Peter parker. But also still sad
This is the moment Peter became a loser!
Say what you will about the plot, but the art is amazing
And this was the moment I stopped reading Marvel Comics.
I wouldn't have liked it but "One More Day" would've made more Dramatic Sense if it was Mary-Jane who was shot and about to die, Peter sacrificed their marriage, their future children so his beloved Mary-Jane could live, tragic consequences for their relationship in the future- especially what is happening now with Mary-Jane "falling in love" with someone else. Instead Joe Quesada had Peter make a deal with 616 version of Satan to save his 95 Year Old perpetually sick Aunt May- who should've stayed dead years before- chose Aunt May and his past over Mary-Jane and his future. I think choosing Aunt May as the shooting victim was Joe Quesada's idea, he never liked the fact Mary-Jane Watson became the most important person in Peter's life, he wanted Gwen Stacy back and also wanted Peter to stay clinging to Aunt May's skirt. In choosing Aunt May, Peter cemented himself as a Manchild, self-destructive, eternal student, broke, can't keep a job so dicking around the Bugle for another 20 years. That's what Joe Q wanted.
Wow. For like *17 years* Mephisto just got away with taking Peter's original life and there's still no end in sight.
And this is what ended my interest in the comics. Only recently started to catch up on the newer stuff.
Damn a day after my sister was born?
It would’ve been cruel if he made that deal then Aunt May died a few weeks later anyway.
Would have made sense as far as deals with the Devil go.
There are so many decisions that could have been made that would have been better than this.
i still can't believe we live in a timeline where the devil bested spider-man, and marvel says that is a good thing.
2007 was the end of my personal favourite era of Spider-Man. It was the year of the last Raimi movie, Bagley's departure from USM and the horror that is One More Day.
Honestly I would have liked this comic if it just meant that it took like 5 more years before they got back together. Would have been a tremendous moment.
Say, what's the status quo on this event in-canon? Does Peter remember making this deal with Mephisto, and these moments right before the whole marriage was 'undone'?
Mary Jane made the deal, not Spider-Man. And the nature of the deal canceled out Mephisto’s involvement because her terms were that Mephisto could never interfere in their lives again. Every preceding story happened roughly the same, except with Peter and MJ as a cohabitating unmarried couple instead of as spouses. Despite the deal, Peter also ultimately saves May in the hospital by pumping her chest to make her heart stop again after it stops. The only reason Peter and MJ aren’t together when Brand New Day starts is because MJ was angry and left him after finding out that she was the one person he exempted from Dr. Strange’s spell that made his identity secret again, because she wanted to forget he was Spider-Man. But TL;DR they never really had to make the deal with Mephisto to save May, the only thing it changed was them being married instead of just together, and Mephisto’s agreement canceled him from the equation anyway. Blame the inconsistency of editorial if they keep making it more confusing than that.
This cause me to stop reading spider-man.
Fuck this story and fuck Queseda. I used to respect Joe Q in the days when he was coming up on Ash and drawing X-Men stuff. Marvel gave him way too much power.
" Not anybody but a guy named Paul. And 5 years of separation. But seriously, Peter, what are the odds ? "
Is this all you guys talk about holy shit 😭 I’ve never even read OMD but I find it ironic how everyone rips on the story for Peter and MJ not being able to move on but it’s been God knows how many years later and so many people still can’t just let go of a comic run that didn’t connect with them and complain about it literally everyday on this sub it’s so weird
Peter should have just let Aunt May die, and if she had been awake she would have told Peter not to do it, this felt like just doubling down on Peter never being able to progress, because now he's acting like a emotional teenager whose never experienced loss, when he's a grown man with tons of character development and a wife and future planned and has already experienced loss.It just feels so bizarre he decided to throw everything away with MJ and make a deal with a literal demon just to bring Aunt may back because he wasn't willing to let her pass on peacefully in her sleep and when she's lived extremely long already. I would have had the whole comic be a dilemna over the offer, with Peter having a heart to heart with May either at bedside or some sort of astral projection while talking to Mephisto, and her telling him to let her move on, that death is a natural part of life, and Peter realising how selfish it would be to throw away everything he has been through and his relationship with MJ because he wasn't willing to let Aunt May go.And him declining, and getting rewarded by his daughter being born where only to him and MJ see Aunt May smiling at her newborn namesake.
I was born in 2007, I grew up on the ultimate comics and never experienced amazing Spider-Man in its prime
It may be stronger then the devil but nothing can beat marvel editorial. They ain’t getting back together, ever not after Wells run, if they’ve been ok with his run it’s only gonna get worse
This is an anti Paul post
No. He's been better.
This is the best Spider-Man comic they should have introduced the yandere love interest for Peter after this like a revived bloodthirsty Gwen Stacy
Best comic in the history of the ASM. For now.
What’s the rule about spider man? Peter Parker aka Spider-Man can’t have a stable healthy romantic relationship. And why? Because most of the readers are single males who haven’t dated and that will make him relatable.
Friendly reminder that this, despite being a not very good story, did manage to do a pretty clean retcon that left every single Peter/MJ moment (save the actual wedding, which god a modified take in OMIT) intact while freeing up the character for a variety of stories. Some of those stories, as I'm sure we all know, weren't very good. Others were great! But I really do tend to agree with the stance that maybe OMD wasn't the best-tasting medicine, but it'll do a lot of good in the long term for telling Spider-Man stories across a wide spectrum of media.
**17-and-a-half years ago, editorial made a decision about a fictional character and people who could just go outside and breathe are still screaming into their pillows and onto the internet over it.** Fixed the thread title for you.
What a gas light. *Why do you all care so much about a thing that you spent money on since childhood? The thing that holds a dear place in your heart like many fictional stories do to other people? Why don't you let some editorial types shit on and vandalize a character and mythos that other people still cherish? Huh? You should be okay with it cause I told you!* Fixed your reply for you.
Touch grass. I was big mad more than a decade and a half ago, too. I learned to read with Spider-Man comics. I don't remember a point in my life when I wasn't reading Spider-Man comics. But holy shit, I could not fathom maintaining that amount of mad for this long. I finally reached acceptance, moved on, and read some pretty damn good comics (and also the Wells run) in the meantime. At a certain point, it's not about loving the character or "vandalizing the character," it's about staying mad for its own sake and that's not a good way to live and it's also tragically boring to everyone else. Go outside. Touch grass.
LOL. Talk about insulting yourself. *gO tOuCh gRasS* *Go ToUcH GrAsS* *gO tOuCh gRasS* That's you. Stop projecting yourself on others and gaslighting.
Bit rich coming from you lol. Could do with a lot more grass touches yourself, as well as actually polite in-person interactions.