Can't the Beyonder come in and fix everything

Marvel has backed themselves into a lose - lose scenario

Dave Phelps wrote: I just don't know how thorough it will be, but the marriage will likely be gone (dang it) and the secret id presumably restored.

"Dang it"?!?  Both of these resets get a big, huge, honkin' HALLELUJAH from me!!!

You have to keep something in mind: the whole impetus behind the Clone
Saga was to get Spider-Man back to his roots.

The impetus behind the last six years of Spider-Man seems to have been
to take the character as far away from his roots as possible.

That's why I've long made the argument that it was relatively simple to
undo all that the Clone Saga had wrought upon Spider-Man. "The test
results were faked! Ben was the clone along!" Done. Back to our
regularly scheduled programming.

Not NEARLY as easy to get Spider-Man back on track after everything
that's been done with him over the last six years.

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Glenn my idea of undoing Sins Past is to say MJ had post hypnotic suggestions given to her while in labor, by the medical staff on Norman Osborne's payroll. The twins were created by good old Miles Warren as a fail safe to kill Peter.  

Everything else could be easily ignored. Accept the unmasking, but a quick cosmic thing could wipe everybodies memories of it. I think a reboot should be the last resort.

Matt Reed wrote:  Dave Phelps wrote: I just don't know how thorough it will be, but the marriage will likely be gone (dang it) and the secret id presumably restored.  "Dang it"?!?  Both of these resets get a big, huge, honkin' HALLELUJAH from me!!!

Yeah, I figured they would.  (Hope that didn't come across as snarky.)  I'm all for the secret id restoration, but really hate the idea of an annullment by mystic reset button.  I know some people are in the "I don't care how they do it, just get rid of the damn marriage!" category, but I'm not one of them.  If they want to split them up, be honest about and actually divorce them.  Then after the initial aftermath never ever EVER use the "d" word again.  If Peter and MJ start dating again, imply a former serious relationship as necessary, but never come out and say "used to be married."  (I know it wouldn't be that easy in real life, but in fiction you get to bend the rules a bit.)

But if they absolutely must do it so they can do all of those super-awesome Spider-Man stories they just haven't been able to do because of the marriage, I really hope they'll try to not have MJ as THE Love Interest.  Even though MJ has obtained that role retroactively thanks to the marriage, the fun of the single days was that Peter actually had more than one. 

Liz was an early candidate, but then came Betty.  Then they were written out and along came Gwen.  Then she was killed off and here's MJ.  Then MJ went away and Peter played the field a little, with Black Cat being the most serious of the bunch.  And then of course MJ came back to stay.  If it's all about MJ, then you've completely lost the fun of those old times.  (Even Kitty in Ultimate comes across as "an obstacle to true love" rather than a serious contender for the top spot.)

But based on Swing Shift and the preview pages, Mary Jane somehow ends up as a superhero named Jackpot so my hopes aren't particularly high about that.  (sigh)

Glenn Greenberg wrote: You have to keep something in mind: the whole impetus behind the Clone Saga was to get Spider-Man back to his roots.

Why is that "roots" seems to be "single by any means necessary?"  I mean, even without the dye job and name change, does adding five years of wandering around the country thinking he's a clone to the backstory really fit the "normal guy in a superhero suit" mold that made the character popular in the first place? 

See, divorce I can see fitting the "classic mold."  Maybe it comes from taking 13+ years to catch up to Peter's age in the comics, but I've never really thought of his youth as being his core appeal.  Heck I was 14 when he got married and I thought it was a really cool development. 

I remember Roger Stern once saying that one of the great things about the character is the reader knowing that however their day went, Peter's was always worse.  Thing is, that's not really the case.  As Stan so nicely put it, "Who says we never give Spider-Man a happy ending?!"  It's the mix that's interesting.  There are plenty of times where things have gone well, but then later came crashing down (or come close) both due to circumstances and Peter's own foibles.  He buys a bike, but then later has to sell it.  He finds his first love in Betty Brant, but then her brother dies and their relationship dies a slow death.  He finds happiness with Gwen, and she gets killed.  He gets to live in a nice apartment with Harry, but then Harry goes nuts, blows up the apartment and Peter is stuck living in a dump. 

So now he's finally found happiness in the arms of Mary Jane.  What could be more "Peter Parker-like" than something going horribly wrong, they have trouble handling it, and then they eventually splitting up?  If you're really interested in playing up the youth, you can do that too and treat it as a cautionary tale against getting married too young.  Plus, you even have the relative speed of the wedding to say they rushed to marriage, which also can be used to discourage the teenage readers from taking the plunge too soon.  (Like I said before, do NOT use the D word after the initial aftermath.)

And there you go, Peter's single again in a story that actually fits the tone of the book rather than importing a warmed over Star Trek storyline.  

Glenn Greenberg wrote: The impetus behind the last six years of Spider-Man seems to have been to take the character as far away from his roots as possible.

I'd say the last year or two fits the "make his life a living hell before the reset button" mold (which I imagine seems oddly familiar to Howard and JB), but I don't know WHAT JMS was thinking with the Other.  Sins Past I can at least understand, even if I think it was wrong headed.

Glenn Greenberg wrote: Not NEARLY as easy to get Spider-Man back on track after everything that's been done with him over the last six years.

Eh, I could do it in six issues.  Tops. ;-)

Hey Howard, since we're talking about Spider-Man and all, is it okay if I ask you a question about your Web run? 

Assuming you remember that far back...  in Name of the Rose, you had Richard Fisk become a "young Kingpin."  When Terry Kavanaugh did the follow-up story, he revealed that the Richard Fisk who had become the Kingpin was actually Richard's friend Alfredo.  Was that your original plan or did Terry come up with that on his own?