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Eric Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2366
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| Posted: 29 January 2014 at 6:21pm | IP Logged | 1
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I never had any problem with MARVEL TEAM-UP, as the stories seemed like "side stories" that could fit in AMAZING's continuity wherever there was a gap. They usually didn't have the supporting cast or any big life changes, and that was fine with me. Like someone posted above, at this point with so many heroes running around, it was LIKELY that Spider-Man would run into them!
The real problem started for me with SPECTACULAR, which DID include the supporting characters and had important life events happen--it sort of seemed like a parallel life for Peter/Spidey.
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Daniel Gillotte
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 11 October 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2662
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| Posted: 30 January 2014 at 1:09pm | IP Logged | 2
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I always thought of Spider-man as every other Marvel hero's pal, literally the friendly neighborhood Spider-man. At the same time, Peter was a loner, or at least unlucky a lot. Kind of like- no matter how powerful or well-liked his alter-ego was, it was still tough being Pete.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133325
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| Posted: 30 January 2014 at 1:39pm | IP Logged | 3
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It's important to keep a historical context, here. The first issue of MTU went on sale in 1972. Many of you, therefore, have never lived in a world (or been aware of a world) in which Spider-Man WASN'T regularly teaming up with other characters. It is not UNUSUAL to you that he should do so.It's kind of like trying to discuss STAR WARS with someone born after 1977. Darth Vader was ALWAYS Luke's dad, right?
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Gene Best
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 October 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4598
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| Posted: 30 January 2014 at 1:40pm | IP Logged | 4
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Well put, Daniel. I've never really articulated it this way, but Spider-Man reminds me of the "sad clown" stereotype. Unhappy and troubled in real life, but a bigger, more fun/actualized version of themselves "onstage".
And putting my adult-marketing-guy hat on, Stan summed up the Spider-Man brand so well with "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man". This guy was NOT "The Last Son of Krypton" - he was a guy who once almost lost a fight to The Black Widow because had the flu.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12715
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| Posted: 30 January 2014 at 7:22pm | IP Logged | 5
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I bought the first MTU as a kid and I was already used to seeing Spider-Man interact with The Human Torch from the Ditko days, so it was OK. I missed some issues and then got the one with Iron Man, but even from the cover that one threw me for a loop. Not that I disliked it, but it was odd!
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Eric Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2366
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| Posted: 30 January 2014 at 7:46pm | IP Logged | 6
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Going back to the very beginning, Spider-Man was always meeting, teaming up with, or running into other heroes all the time, whether it was big meetings with the Fantastic Four in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, the Hulk in #14, Daredevil in #16, the Human Torch in #21, Dr. Strange in Annual #2, or heavy cameos from EVERYBODY in Annual #1. You could say that MARVEL TEAM-UP was just a natural progression of these stories that Stan and Steve did from the very beginning.
Sure, it's an "expansion of the brand," but it didn't seem like an intrusion. But even though I grew up on MTU, when they started SPECTACULAR, it DID seem like a watering down to me. When they made AMAZING weekly a while back, I really gave up.
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Brian Floyd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 8586
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| Posted: 31 January 2014 at 3:15am | IP Logged | 7
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Spider-Man is a horribly ruined character. Brand New Day
was the final nail in the coffin for me, and I've not read
any Spider-Man titles since it was announced. Nor do I plan
to.
And the whole "Sins Past" storyline should be permanently
ignored or even retconned out of existence. Absolute
rubbish, and JMS should never ever be let near Spider-Man
again.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133325
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| Posted: 31 January 2014 at 4:33am | IP Logged | 8
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Going back to the very beginning, Spider-Man was always meeting, teaming up with, or running into other heroes all the time, whether it was big meetings with the Fantastic Four in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, the Hulk in #14, Daredevil in #16, the Human Torch in #21, Dr. Strange in Annual #2, or heavy cameos from EVERYBODY in Annual #1. You could say that MARVEL TEAM-UP was just a natural progression of these stories that Stan and Steve did from the very beginning.••• Stan and Steve had a way of making those guest appearances feel SPECIAL. Unlike MTU, there was nothing routine about Spider-Man meeting up with those other characters. He could still be presented as a loner and and outcast without anyone saying "But he just teamed up with this guy, and this guy, and this guy..." According to your profile you were born in 1966, making you roughly six years old when MTU came along. You didn't have the first hand experience of the comics you list, so again it's all about context.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12715
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| Posted: 31 January 2014 at 7:14am | IP Logged | 9
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Context, for sure. My experience was that I discovered Spider-Man, probably through the TV cartoon, but also by reading Lee-Romita and at the same time older Lee-Ditko issues that some relative had. Lee-Romita definitely did not team Spider-Man with other superheroes. My memory may be off, but I can't recall a single instant. But even Lee-Ditko didn't consistently do it either. Out of dozens of issues, Spider-Man ended up meeting other superheroes still quite rarely, and in terms of his ongoing adventures or important stories, all those meetings were pretty much irrelevant.
Now, for me, it happens that to have been reading Lee-Ditko, even after the fact, as I was learning about Spider-Man meant that I felt it not so odd to "team up" Spider-Man and Human Torch in as much as they were both teenagers. But with Thor and Iron Man?!
Again, as a kid, I still enjoyed many of those stories. But even then they almost felt like they were "imaginary" compared to the real Spider-Man stories in ASM.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133325
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| Posted: 31 January 2014 at 7:19am | IP Logged | 10
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Truth to tell, when Jim Shooter asked me if I wanted to do some TEAM-UPs, I was relieved he wasn't offering me the "real" Spider-Man book. Spider-Man had been one of my favorite characters since I picked up the first issue, and I would have felt SO intimidated, had I been asked to draw AMAZING.MTU felt "safe."
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Rod Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 936
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| Posted: 31 January 2014 at 7:17pm | IP Logged | 11
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I'm glad you chose MTU. The tarot cover you did for a Spider-Man/Doctor Strange MTU was what was got me to buy one of my first comics off the shelf from the local newsagency.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133325
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| Posted: 31 January 2014 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | 12
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I had to Google that cover! No memory of it!Geez, I've been doing this a long time!
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Topic Closed)
