AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544

How can Peter and MJ enter a crowded hospital without being recognized?

Part of the whole point of Spider-Man is that he's everyman. Peter may have outed himself on TV, but let's face it, he looks like a pretty average schmo. It's not that surprising that a bunch of people in the hospital with their own issues going on would fail to recognize a pretty ordinary looking guy as Spidey.

since he's outed himself, he's a little more than the everyman now.

and what MJ? She's supposed to be a supermodel/actress... lol

I've been waiting for May to die for 30 years. I still can't believe we've had her around for the last 10 or so instead of Pete's & MJ's daughter.
May at death's door is just sooo overdone. While I can sorta appreciate the "dangers of the secret-identity revealed" aspect, here's hopin' for the final nail in her coffin.

I'm with Kurt.
I read this issue before I put it on the stand - it came across not only as trite (good description) but overblown.

Peter has lost people before. The lesson he learned from losing Ben was of personal responsibility.
What's he learning from his Aunt dying? That the Punisher is right? That the ends justify the means?

This whole Civil War business isn't returning Spidey to what he was. Its not even really reinventing him.

It's destroying him.

Luckily I'm not a big Spider-Man fan or I'd be all pissed off. As is, I'm mildly annoyed and chalked it up to more "brilliance" from Marvel as of late. --- yes, that was dripping acidic cynicism.

I haven't red this one yet, but I'm planning on it this weekend. but to address "How did he admit May to the Hospital?"
They showed that in the last issue, He was dressed as a hospital worker, and said she was a transfer. The Hospital staff bitched about it, but due to the busy nature of an ER it is entirely plausible that they would admit a transfer patient coming in on an ambulance, being delivered from what appears to be a hospital staff member.
And like Krasch said, Peter isn't Tony Stark, or some famous star, he's had his face splashed across the t.v. screen for about 2 months MAX. And a lot of people don't watch much t.v. so it's entirely possible for him to be able to move around inconspicuously.

Quesada's a hack, and an even worse editor-in-chief.

I pity Marvel for what he's done.

muchdrama,
I couldn't disagree more.

muchdrama--

You can't place all the blame on Quesada. JMS is at the helm of ASM, even when he isn't writing all of the issues. And Millar is the jack-ass behind Civil War.

I'm sad to say I'm just BORED by it all.

gimmicky, forced, overly-melodramatic storylines... I can't believe I used to make fun of people who watched soap operas...

this is just... it's no fun. I'm not into lamenting the "raping of my childhood" or whatever the popular phrase is, and I don't think that DARKER automatically means better. should it be analyzed that a publicly "outed" Spider-Peter (and movie star/super model wife MJ) shouldn't be able to be recognized walking into an emergency room with a victim of a gun shot wound? um... when we're talking about a story about a guy who was bitten by a radioactive spider (that we now understand was spiritually guided... that's Straczynski for you, leaving his mark) -- do we really have to bicker with logic and proceedures?

in the old days of the letter cols, they'd give someone who could explain away an issue like this a "no-prize." well, I'm sure I could find a very simple explaination that would feel "real" within the context and so forth, but I instead feel the swell of "WHO CARES?"

Spidey used to be fun. sure he understood great power (etcetera) the hard way, but he still lived and loved and kicked ass the way we dreamed we would if we had spider-powers and that's what we loved about him. (I say "loved" in it's past tense, because he feels dead to me... and many others too.)

crackin' wise was his way of dealing with his own anxiety to the situation, and a way to vent his intelligent outlook life that he wasn't brave enough to do as Peter. now... it just feels phony. forced.

Spidey's turning into Napoleon Dynamite's uncle Rico, a guy unwilling to give up the fact that he's grown up... next thing he's going to try to electrocute his balls in an effort to travel back in time and save Gwen.

I feel like the last, best Spiderman moment was in the movie SPIDERMAN 2, which played like a greatest hits of the series' best. since, I've tried, but no one seems to care about having fun with the character any more -- so I don't think I'll be picking this one up (as I haven't been getting this book for a few years now, though I glance 'em over -- sadly breaking my "collection").

Civil War & "outing" & SRA and all the rest, it's a convoluted mess. I don't want farfetched melodrama. I read other comics for better stories, and things like INVINCIBLE for better books on superheroes.

kinda harsh lashing towards my favorite superhero, but gotta call it how I see it.

I have no idea what their "back to basics" is going to be... but they've long since lost me so I doubt that I'm gonna care, and I think that hurts the most (cause I really want to).

I will say that Marvel has collectively been doing its best to beat me away with a stick for several years now.
I have many bruises, and often wonder if I'm a masochist.

I also used to try to keep dislike DC for so long, but eventually better story-telling and far-more consistent characterizations drew me past my prejudices.

Kneejerk I still think "Marvel over DC" - I do - but when I actually think about what I've been reading and enjoying, DC overall has me entertained while I only read Marvel for certain authors (Whedon) and out of strict love for certain characters despite how poorly they are often depicted (Cyclops, Silver Surfer, Rogue, Blink)
Now Marvel's had a few GREAT things (Annihilation, anyone? Planet Hulk? Astonishing X-Men? Runaways?), some good things (Carey's run on X-Men, World War Hulk, New Warriors), but these are so heavily outweighed by the majority of what Marvel is doing . . .

DC, on the other hand, for me at least, is maybe starting to collapse under its own weight of what it started back with Identity Crisis, but the fact that we are STILL dealing with the ramifications of that and STILL seeing evens unfold that started then, as opposed to just milling through the next NEW BIG EVENT as at Marvel, impresses me regardless of execution.