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As Optimuslivs4evr said, I really can't get worked up over another "death".
Batman died and came back and so did Captain America.
So I really don't care much now. We all know they come back, so why bother?
It always seems to come back to Spider-Man, doesn’t it? Just when we thought we were out, they pull us back in: this time with the death of the wallcrawler. A couple weeks back, Marvel teased the upcoming Death of Spider-Man story on the cover of Marvel Previews #88. It seemed a bit gimmicky and quite hasty, especially considering that Marvel finally put all that Mephisto rewriting history stuff to rest with the One Moment in Time storyline. But Spider-Friends around the world breathed a sigh of relief when they found out it was the Ultimate version of Spider-Man who was slated to take the big dirt nap, not the real one. Wait… what?!?!
Look, we’ve obsessed over superheroes just as much as any of you have, maybe even more. We’ve argued about continuity mistakes and poor characterization. We’ve complained about constant death and rebirth and we spent like, a year and a half complaining about Peter Parker making a deal with the Devil (excuse us, a devil). We even refer to the traditional Marvel Universe as “the 616” but it always makes the minds at Mania chuckle a bit when we hear that… “It’s okay, it’s not the real Spider-Man” or even better, “Spider-Man is already dead.”
It’s one thing to mock and criticize poor writing or uncharacteristic decisions made to further an editorial edict, but doesn’t it seem funny to refer to one version of a fictional character as the real one? Makes us wonder if older fans, when reading Crisis on Infinite Earths, remarked “It doesn’t matter, that’s not the real Flash.”? When Batman’s back was broken by Bane, did people say “Whatever… the real Batman lived on Earth Two and died in Adventure Comics #462!”?
And sure, we’ve referred to the Devil’s Due run of G.I. Joe comics as imaginary as opposed to the definitive Marvel series which obviously existed in the real world… but we’re trying to make a point here. Do as we say, not as we do. The point is, Spider-Man is not real. None of them are; especially when they’ve had their history rewritten and rebooted time and again. Furthermore, while old fogies like us might consider the 616 Spidey as the real one, readers who were introduced to the Ultimate line first probably call him the real Spider-Man… and they’re right.
And we’ll go ahead and get off our sterling white pony now.
The one aspect of mockery that we’ll certainly engage in is referring to a stunt like this as a gimmick meant to raise sagging sales and draw attention to a line that is clearly failing. With other ‘90s icons like Doomsday and Youngblood making the rounds, we wonder if a darker version of the Ultimate Spider-Man will soon appear, complete with a mullet and spiked webshooters on the outside of his costume? Wasn’t there a Clone Saga in the Ultimate universe a while back? Could it be that when Peter Parker passes, he’ll be replaced by Ben Reilly or a reasonable (Ultimate) facsimile? One could only hope to see a new Spider-Man sporting a leather jacket or perhaps a cybernetic, Blublocker-wearing Spider-Man.
But in all honesty, gimmick or otherwise, we think the Death of Spider-Man is actually pretty damn cool. Think about it: Spider-Man can’t die. Not really. We all know that if he did die, he’d be back within a year and the backlash (especially after all that Mephisto stuff we mentioned earlier) would be insane. Not enough for anyone to actually make good on their threats to quit reading Marvel Comics, but insane nonetheless. But the beauty of the Ultimate Universe is that Spider-Man can die – especially if the Ultimate line is selling as poorly as we’re assuming without actually checking any sales statistics – they’ve got nothing to lose!
While we’ve never really had a huge problem with the Ultimate Universe, we’ve never really followed it much either. Our Ultimate experience has pretty much consisted of a few Ultimates trades we’ve picked up in ½-off bins, some Spidey comics we got from our local library and a lot of Wikipedia reading. It was the Ultimatum event and subsequent Requiem and relaunch of the line that really got our attention and actually got us interested in keeping up with the Ultimate line. Similar to our love for the Pre-Crisis DC Universe and Earth Two, we love the idea of a Marvel Universe in which anything can happen and actually does.
Up to this point, at least as far as we know (and excepting the Gwen Stacy clone), in the Ultimate Universe, dead actually means dead. Just like the previously mentioned Caped Crusader-turned-Gotham City Commissioner, we like the idea of seeing mainstream heroes retire or die or… just change. In the Ultimate Universe, especially if the line isn’t as hot as it once was, Spider-Man actually can die and stay dead. Why not? There’s no real reason to bring him back, is there? It’s not like it’s the real Marvel Universe!
But we’re not kidding ourselves here; we know he’ll be back. Or at the very least, a replacement will pop up to take his place: because you can’t have a Marvel Universe – whether it’s the real one or some imaginary, fictional version – without Spider-Man.
As Optimuslivs4evr said, I really can't get worked up over another "death".
Batman died and came back and so did Captain America.
So I really don't care much now. We all know they come back, so why bother?
Batman didn't die in infinite Crisis...he was shot with some eye beam who sent him in some sort of time stream thingy (because, why shoot someone with a death ray or a gun when you can shoot batman with some eye beam that doesn't really kill...).
The ultimate universe is fun and interesting but Ultimatum really killed the flow of this universe for me. I don't want to blame Jeoph Loeb for this but....I can't blame anyone else also.
The idea to kill some characters was interesting and showed Marvel had balls but the way it was done and the writting.....peeeeweeeuuu, stinks like your week-old grandmas diapers.
At least, for me, the ultimate spider-man is better then the REAL (that's right commies, I said it) sipder-man. He DIED for me after OMD and I don't read the character anymore. I can survive the marvel universe without a fictional, real, clone, 616, 859 or whatever you want to call it spider-man, I just don't care anymore.
that's right...i'm still bitter.
I made good on my threats to never buy Marvel again after OMD. Not that Marvel cared. Spidey and all the rest have been dead to me for years now. Rot in hell Ultimate Spidey.
I've always thought if Marvel wanted Spiderman single again, why not have a villain kill Mary Jane? It would have made more sense, and it would have sold a lot of comics. I quit Spiderman after OMD cold turkey, and I have no plans of returning.
Here's a thought, if you can't increase sells by great storylines, get new writers. Killing off a hero is a cheap way to spawn interest in a comic. We know they are coming back, so why do it?
They already did kill Spider-Man.
It's called Brand New Day. I am still waiting for the real 616 Peter Parker to return...
It's not that I think of the 616 characters as the "real" ones, it's just that I stopped caring about the Ultimate universe when they killed Gambit.
Actually, I did make good on my promise to quit buying Spiderman, right after the Mephisto turnaround. I'm just tired of the gimmicks and plot twists that are intended only to sell more titles. How about just giving us a great story to read? I can go to a comic shop and buy a run of any marvel title before 1973, and they were great. Fantastic Four, New Gods, Swamp Thing, Iron Man, Superman, and Spider-man... they were packed with drama, action, adventure and most of all FUN. Bad things happened in the lives of these characters, but the writers and artists never lost sight of the fact that this was supposed to be entertaining. Maybe by aiming at a younger audience, they were able to something that they can't do now that they are aiming at the more sophisticated, older comic consumer. The problem is, I'm older and I'd still rather read a back issue than something new. In closing, I think they need to date comics pre-Gwen Stacy and post-Gwen Stacy to pinpoint the moment when comics were no fun anymore and the writers/artists began taking themselves too seriously. While I'm sure there are exceptions and there have been some stellar moments since, the fact is that overall Marvel and DC just couldn't hold my interest. Maybe that's why the movies do so well. The people making them remember when comics were fun.
Spider-man will remain dead to me until he's married to Mary Jane again.
Actually several characters have "died" in the ultimate u. Magneto, Beast, and Prof. X, just to name a few. Some came back quickly, some lasted awhile longer. Peter parker won't stay dead for long.