Chad, I see your point about Mallah and the Brain, and I totally agree with it. I did like their romance in Morrison's Doom Patrol, but, like Morrison's Doom Patrol, it seemed that the characterization chosen by Morrison could be written only by Morrison, and the characters should have reverted to their previous merc mentalities when he left the book.

Also, I did like The Other.

Yeah. Bendis has this style that he does well, and shoehorns it on every character. So Aunt May and the Punisher all end up talking the same way."

ROTFLOL !  Good one Peter !  I bet May and Castle could really swap some stories !

Dan, don't tell me you liked "The Other."

Paulo -

Actually I did not.  I am not loyal to Spider-Man like I am to the FF.  Re: "The Other," I only bought Amazing and not the crossovers.  I experienced conceptual gaps in the story.  Didn't like the villain either.  Too much violence !  I was glad when that arc was finished.

Dan, thank you for not telling me what I didn't want to hear.  ;-)

David, don't want to dispute tastes but can you explain why you liked it?  I'm trying to get an idea of its appeal.

The only writer I'm enjoying at all that would be considered "modern" is Robert Kirkman. 

Glad you can enjoy him Joe.  My first Kirkman was Fantastic Four Foes.  FF is my "ONE" comic that I will not part with.  Foes was a 6 issue mini.  I got to #4 and dropped it.  I did not care for the way Kirkman was treating the FF.  No dignity and no respect.  After that experience I decided I would never read Kirkman again!

Paulo -

You're a Spidey fan. Why didn't you like "The Other?"

What I dug about them was their purely criminal/mercenary mentality,
their willingness to lay it all on the line. Shrewd instead of intelligent,
vicious instead of artful, living in an amoral villain universe.
+++++++++++++++++++
Does Mallah and the brain's feelings for each other change the above?

I think it removes a basic integrity from the characters, deriding them in a specific way. Basically the "romance" angle seriously degrades what is a fairly interesting relationship...Mallah and the Brain have a relationship whose (former) mystery lent them a depth other super-villains did not have. Their rare bond, I think based on the simple fact that Mallah was "adjusted" by the Brain to a higher intelligence, and loyal to the Brain for his improved existence, speaks enough about their relationship.

Morrison's one-note, one-issue joke, and that's what it was, took away an interesting dynamic. You don't see too many super-villains who can stand each other at all, much less be as loyal as Mallah and the Brain. So I think it's an unfortunate loss in the DC canon.

QUOTE: You're a Spidey fan. Why didn't you like "The Other?"

To be fair, I'm not a HUGE Spider-Man fan.  I like the character but more as an icon than a character.  He's not in my top five (or even 10) characters.  I think the best stories about him were told by Lee and Ditko.

That said, the reasons for my disliking "The Other" (which I read in TPB form, borrowed from a friend) are several.  One, I thought the story was disjointed, both art and story-wise.  It's one thing to have different writers on a storyline but the art styles were too disparate.  I didn't care for Deodato's static, near photorealistic art (or his "casting" of Jason Priestley as Peter Parker).  I didn't like the art of the FRIENDLY segment at all (forget the artist).  Liked Wieringo's art, but it was hardly enough to save the story.

As for the story, the main thing is that it stems from the "Spider-Totem" idea, which I dislike immensely.  "The Other" pushes this bad idea even further, postulating that Spider-Man should accept the spidery part of himself and even has a dream where this were-spider scolds him for ignoring it.  *Shudder*  Spider-Man is not half-spider, half-man.  He did not become merged with a spider like Seth Brundle became merged with a fly.  He's a man with spider-like abilities.  Add Morlun plucking out Peter's eye, as well as Peter sprouting bone-like spikes from his wrists, sucking on Morlun's head and you've got some questionable story developments, at best.  Then, of course, you've got Spider-Man shedding his skin and wrapping himself in a cocoon to emerge later, with a brand new body.  I could be wrong, but I don't think this occurs in nature.  If not, it's an odd thing to come from a writer who wants to emphasize the spider-icity of Spider-Man and included little facts and factoids about spiders in his run (he even introduced an athropomorphic wasp-creature as a villain).

I also hated, hated, the scene where Peter, May and MJ dress up in suits of Iron and storm Doom's castle to use his time machine.  Ugh!

I think this story might work better for an alternate reality Spider-Man, perhaps or Spidey-like character, but for the mainstream, iconic character, it's just a disaster.

Anyway, that's why I disliked "The Other."  Aren't you glad you asked?  :-)

Chad, that's not the only time Morrison made a joke of long established characters. In New X-Men he implied through a phallic symbol that Cyclops was impotent and couldn't get it up for Jean. He then consistently implied Jean was a whore who would throw herself at Wolverine because she was a sex freak. While Emma Frost was some kind of cool bad ass who could solve all of Cyclops sexual problems.

QUOTE: Bendis has this thing with his dialog." "A thing?" "Yeah, this thing." "What sort of thing?" "Everyone uses the same speech patterns." "Everyone?" "Yeah, everyone."

• Female:" Last night"
• Male: "yeah"
• F:"U were so good in... in...
• M:"Bed?"
• F:"Whoa! yeah."
• F:"I don't wanna sound like a whore"
• F:"But I felt I deserved 2 B punished w buttsecks"
• M:"buttsecks orly?"
• F:"rly! mmmm."
• M:"MMMM
• Everyone: "MMMMMMMMMM..."
• Postman walks in:"MMm... mmm... yeah"
• Dog strolls by:"MMMM..."

TO BE CONTINUED

QUOTE: I didn't like the art of the FRIENDLY segment at all (forget the artist).  Liked Wieringo's art, but it was hardly enough to save the story.

The artist whose name you can't recall on Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's portion of "The Other" was indeed Mike Wieringo.