"As you point out, the logistics of juggling multiple, interlocking creative teams on such a tight schedule are nightmarish. I'm not sure why the Marvel editors would set themselves up for such headaches. Such an intricate web (pun intended) seemingly is an invitation for blown deadlines and other troubles."

The thrice-monthly thing pretty clearly seems to be nothing more than a cash grab.  Since The Road to Civil War started in AMAZING, it's sold more than the other two Spider-monthlies combined.  The last two years have made it clear that the folks buying AMAZING simply don't want to buy other Spider-titles, so M****l is trying to "trick" them into doing it.  The way they're going about it, though, seems destined to fail.

Mike

What's implausible is having GWEN STACY in that situation.

***

BINGO! That's what drives me nuts about some current writers. It's true that almost anything is possible in fiction, and there's really no kind of story that can't be told, but too many writers fail to realize that it is NOT appropriate to tell ANY story with ANY character. It's fine to have a "hero" who kills his enemies, but if that tendency is suddenly tacked on to Captain America, for example, the writer is just plain WRONG. There's no other way to put it.

++++++++++++

Gwen isn't the only character who suffered in that story.

Mary Jane is revealed as a lying, manipulative b**** who put two innocent children in danger because she never bothered to tell Peter that they existed.

Peter is revealed as a blind fool who was completely unaware of Gwen's duplicity, and probably would have been dumb enough to support her and her bastard offspring after she dumped them on him.

Norman Osborn is revealed as a dirty, creepy guy (as opposed to being merely a ruthless businessman and a bad father), and for some reason, he acts like the Green Goblin and knows that the kids' blood is "special" when Gwen threatens him, at a point in time BEFORE he snapped and his Green Goblin memories returned in ASM # 121.

To quote the very logical wisdom of a certain Vulcan...

"If I let go of a hammer on a planet that has a positive gravity, I need not see it fall to know that it has, in fact, fallen."

These fictional characters had well-established characteristics and personalities LONG before JMS and his ego came along. No one will ever convince me that any of the behavior in that story is in-character or well-written.

And it especially was irritating to me because JMS's Babylon 5 is
one of my favorite shows because the characterization in that story
is so tight.

+++++++++

I haven't read or watched any of JMS' other works, so I can't comment.

But the one thing I do firmly believe is that he doesn't know the first thing about Spider-Man, to say nothing about writing the character and his supporting cast properly. I don't think any writer who actually understands the dynamics of the character or his supporting cast could do the things JMS has done to the mythos.

Though it could be argued that the goal of the story could have been to
make the readers DISLIKE Gwen so much, and be so turned off to her
once the truth was revealed, that they would forget about her once and
for all.

The thought crossed my mind when I read it!

++++++++

Never crossed my mind. I don't even see that version of the character AS Gwen Stacy in any way--just an ego-driven writer's attempted rewriting of history. The story made me dislike the writer, not the characters. A good writer's work should make him appear invisible to the audience, since the characters are the focus of attention. A bad writer will draw attention to himself.

The first thought that went through my head when I read SINS PAST was how to fix this travesty.

Mark me down as one that stopped buying all Spider-Man titles as a result.

I haven't read it in a while -- but is there anything in it that precludes Gwen being clone-Gwen or MJ being duped into believing the story (Mysterio/Mesmero/Green Goblin)?