Well Alex I'm not going to 'flame' you...I admit I think BND might be a good read...But there is just no reason for this new status quo, and that is the problem that has been adressed thousands of times here.

It is a lame and lazy view on why we need to have the new status quo. Eris was dead on with her comment: you can have stories on their marriage, everyone doesnt need to be single and lonely in most comics. If FF can do it, Cage/Jones can be married, then Spider-Man can be married too. To be honest, I dont think JMS or anyother writer has given a chance with their marriage...Its usually just like a quick talk and kiss in the issue then its back to fighting...Clearly if your not trying to make this marriage work, then of course you would want to end it.

I just feel that its so lazy on how they had to rework the entire universe. It doesnt help that the interviews with Joe Q and JMS makes it even worse for the fans. Saying that somethings did happen, but actually didnt is just confusing. Pete said it best with Civil War; why do people somewhat remember his unmasking? If this is a 'new' universe then they shouldnt remember period...it has to be they remember or dont; make up your mind! Plus if its ok to keep Gwen dead, why did they feel that keeping Harry alive was a good idea? Other then bringing him back as Green Gobin II..what other purpose does he serve in this story?

Again I think BND sounds great! I wouldnt mind reading a Year One type of story on Spider-Man or maybe just introduce these villians into the Ultimate universe...But reworking an entire universe just to end a marriage is just too much....If you want to end the marriage, then kill MJ!! It's alot more interesting and it brings Spider-Man to a whole new level then by just reworking status quo.

Joephisto and Marvel knew they screwed up, with their "new direction" of Spider-Man. This is why they were so quick to "explain" the "magic". I also believe Sony Pictures had a hand in the future direction of the book.

How long before the new team fails to live up to 3 times a month? Something besides the history of the book will be lost. The art is going to suffer.

Who are they gonna bring back next? Uncle Ben?

Truth is I don't read Spider-Man. I'm sympathetic to the fans, everything I hear would make me mad too. Honestly the company's lead hero making a deal with the devil? Yeah that'll go over real well.

However you do have to hand it to Marvel, they got what they wanted. We're talking about it, everyone is talking about it. Dozens of articles all over every comic site, even showing up in national newspapers.

"No such thing as bad publicity," as they say.

I've heard others say the same, but I disagree. There IS such a thing as bad publicity. And I actually think Spider-Man might be walking that line right now.

Why do I say that? I think the whole "deal with the devil" thing could potentially really hurt the character. I think a big appeal of Spidey lies in the fact that he's the guy who, when the odds are against him, still does the right thing. Now, at what some might argue is his lowest point, he does what I think most people would agree is about the most WRONG thing he could have done: make a deal with ultimate evil. You can't really spin that one a positve way for the kiddies. And that's what makes me wonder if it's going to become bad publicity among parents in particular.

Now of couse, that may not happen. But then again, I don't believe it's beyond the realm of possibility either.

I'm curious about whether or not other people think that could be a problem.

Well I agree with the caller completely (couldn't ever make out what her name was). It's lazy. It makes fans feel stupid for reading the past twenty years or so, that does not matter now.

It's like eating a huge meal with lots of good and bad tasting stuff, then vomiting it all over your shoes, only to start eating again.

I agree with the emo chick from the video too! I Havent been behind ANYTHING marvel has done this WHOLE year, execpt World War Hulk. I disliked the Death of Cap. I hate the Skrull invasion. I liked the Idea of Civil War but I thought it was exacuted in the worst way. And truth be told I HATE Ultimate Spiderman!!! I think the stories are dumb and cant relate to them because I dont have an extra chromeasome like the rest of the writing team on the book! I wish marvel would do away with the ultimate line!

Nothing 'ultimate' about it. It's lame, weak and lazy as all get out. I was infuriated by the Clone saga and I'm infuriated by this. The wholesale erasure of...well, everything...is such a chicken-poop move.

Boooooooo to Marvel on this one.

So. I think the last issue by JMS itself was beautifully written. But to have such an idea happen in an ongoing series... it doesn't bode well.
JMS did some amazing stuff with Spider-man on his 8 year run. 8 YEARS. There were a couple times i winced, but otherwise I thought it was an amazing run, and he did amazing things for the Spider-man Mythos. I personally loved the Totem idea, and I don't think it was badly received by others either. It's rare when someone goes back and changes trademark facts, and that they actually still work. Now, everything he did counts for nothing in continuation. He's back to using web shooters, the new powers are gone, the Totem thing is gone, everything that JMS did is now defunct.
And bringing Harry back to life. You can't retcon 1 character, especially someone as intertwined as Spiderman is, without having it affect other stories. What is going to happen with Norman Osborn over in Thunderbolts now that his son is alive. Osborn has done many things, having him cross swords with a multiple characters, such as Luke Cage in the pulse, mostly because he has known who Spider-man is, and blames him for killing Harry. So has this now not happened? A retcon of this magnitude has created so many holes that I don't see being filled.

I'm thinking Marvel was prepared for all this negative feedback, but see it dieing down in time, and that's why they did it. It's no secret that they have always regretted allowing Spider-man to 'grow up'

I love this show, i recentlyc ome into knowledge of this shhow and would like if my question could be answer.
I would like to start a comic book store, How would i get the supplied of comics and others materials form marvel or DC comic? and What types of comics are hot right now?

This first issue was a great read. There was nothing poorly written about this. Some people just want to not like it so maybe you should just leave it be if you can't be objective.

Didn't much like the affected "viewer opinion" either. These are COMIC BOOKS people. Just enjoy them for what they are and don't go over analyzing them. It ruins the fun for you and for anyone who happens to read the same (comic) books as you. Thank you Alex for at least having the sense to "give it a chance".

As an objective person who only picks up ASM when it is relevant to something else I'm reading(except this time), I found it to be very enjoyable. This one issue was better and more enjoyable to read than a whole lot of recent ASM issues. Granted, they were dealing with heavy issues which kinda sucks the fun out of any comic. They couldn't have gone on like that forever. ASM needed this change (or some kind of change) desperately. Those who read every issue of ASM may have lost sight of this need because you just want ASM to stay the same forever. That would be a sure way to kill the book though.

I didn't necessarily like they way they arrived here that much but the end result (1 issue in) was worth it IMO.

Who was that tatooed guy in the black and white video and what the heck does 'didnt address the vernacular' even mean?

I must say that I had no problem with Spidey's marriage ending & starting in a new direction with BND...it was the execution to get to this point that feels like a sucker punch to the gut. The whole "deal with the devil" and POOF everyone forgets is the cheapest and laziest cop out in story telling PERIOD !!

But throughout the many, many years I've read comics I've realized bad things and poor stories happen to the characters we love to read about... but we got through them. Just like we'll get through OMD / BND because there is hope. And that hope
is....Geoff Johns!!

Lets face it, if Geoff Johns can restore Green Lantern to the hero he is from the Hal/Parallax/Spectre mess in GL Rebirth & make sense of the headache inducing continuity of Hawkman....he could fix this tangled web!!!

If the fans reject the "flavor" of NEW Spider-Man will Marvel bring back CLASSIC Spider-Man? Marvel will look like a marketing "genius" just like Coke in the early eighties. If they wanted to tell stories of an unmarried Spider-Man why not create a new title where the stories take place before he got married? Everyone knows that we could use another spider mag each month - they could call it "Swinging Single Spider-Man".

I hate the whole Brand New Day I liked that Peter and MJ were the closes thing to a superhero relationship that worked well besides superman but still you know what I mean

I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. The storytelling reminds me of stories back in the day where he fought baddies, tried to find steady employment, etc. I like that they brought back the web shooters but I am not happy that they retconned the whole "The Other" story. Why did I waste my time and money on that. I don't like that they brought back Harry. How will this affect Norman Osborn at the Thunderbolts? I like that they did not bring back Gwen Stacy. Finally, what will this mean for his Avengers membership? I never liked him being in so many books so if all of a sudden he's not over there, good riddance. All in all, I'm disappointed but I'll keep picking it up to see what happens next.

"I also believe Sony Pictures had a hand in the future direction of the book." -HipHopHead

HA! I actually had theory that dealt with the new set of spider-films being made but I quickly dismissed it
because I thought it was way too crazy, but now that there is some one else that has a similar line thought it doesn’t make that weird, I guess. Well this can mean that there’s another person in this world as crazy as me… anway here it goes. My theory is that in the new set of Spider-films the team that made the first 3 isn’t coming back, some of them are but no all, so this basically means that they can and probably will head in a new direction. That new direction is to directly follow a storyline from the comic books. The Spider-history that Spider-man has now is toooooo convoluted with toooo much info tacked on so a soft reset was performed to have a story that can easily be done as a film, or can continue on in a film.

This is why Spider-man now sort of resembles what he was in the films, he single but MJ is still in the background, Aunt “I cannot die” May is still alive, Osborn Jr. is alive, and Pete goes back to being a goof. With this new setup ( if this happens ) they are thinking that they can easily bring the comic books fan over to the new film series, which WILL have some resistance if the OG team doesn’t come back, and they may also bring some movie fans into the comics. Those that may want to learn more about the story that will take place in the new set of films.

This was one of my crazy ideas as to why there was this huuuuuge reset of Spider-man. By the way, Osborn is going to be the new Hobgoblin 17, or whatever number he is on now. He will probably be a good guy too.

To me, the "real" Spider-Man is the Peter Parker who is married to MJ and has a daughter in Tom DeFalco's excellent SPIDER-GIRL series. He's still recognizable as the hero we grew up with, and now, he has learned that perhaps the greatest responsibility and the greatest power is in raising a family.
Yeah, I know it sounds corny - but there ya go.

Worst move Marvel has ever made in it's history. In one, four issue arc, Joe Q went from the best EIC Marvel ever had to the worst. I feel completely betrayed for all the Spider-man issues I have read since I started reading comics in 2001. It all meant nothing. And then some two-page crapshoot tells me what I'm supposed to know about spider-man? People don't remember the face of who unmasked during Civil War? I REMEMBER!!! What kind of BS Reboot is that? And then the page tells me to live with the change and let what happened in the past not exist. BULL$#!#!!! I'm not buying Spider-man any more. I don't care if Stan Lee is writing it or Alex Ross is doing the art... Joe Q won't have my $2.99 three times a month.

I will no longer buy Spider-Man. They destroyed it for me.

I bought the second issue this week, hoping it would be good. I couldn't bear to read the entire issue. That's how betrayed I feel.

What the most sad part is about this whole story is that wonderful talents like Slott and Mcniven are being used to pull readers into a story that has not substance. What happened to the heart in this story? Great, May is alive but Peter acts like shes more of a hinder then anything his loving aunt. So I'll just be flipping through this one at the store and not wasting my (Still just) 299 pennies.

I agree with what you are saying. Also, nobody remembers his face after the unmasking but... it was recorded. I'm sure it's up on youtube. Probably pictures in the papers. So... they all disappeared?
And I'm not sure what is going on with Harry. In the 2 page spread, it says he doesn't remember being the new goblin. Now, spoilers, but I know why he doesn't remember. Isn't it because... he died as the goblin?

Can you address these issues, please?

Also, do you think the editors will see the negative backlash and retcon this retcon?

During Civil War, I thought Doctor Strange was going to erase his appearance from everybody's memory. No. Instead, it's something even more corny. Mephisto?

I couldn't get ahold of issue 545, so I was bemused as to Peter's secret identity being once again a secret and his return to the single life. If I understand it correctly the retcon is due to him dealing with the devil?
That's a load.

Even I can see they could have achieved the same result by an occult means which still leaves his moral fibre intact.
Imagine for me;
Dr Strange did not brush Peter off because he couldn't help but because he was unsure the price incurred by the occult daliance would be acceptable, not being one to give false hope and all that.
Finally one of his feelers come through but the trade is on the borderline of acceptable, all evidence of Spiderman's true identity will be removed from existence. Spiderman will have never revealed himself to the world, the secret would break his marriage to Mary Jane up due to its semblance of an affair. Even Peter would be unsure for a time about the alter-ego or why he walked the streets at night in sweats and a mask.
Dr Strange reveals the deal to Peter and Mary Jane, leaving the decision for them to decide- it also having a time limit. Peter says yes, MJ says no, and it looks like MJ has disuaded Peter but at the last minute he closes her out of the room and urges Strange to proceed.
The condition that Peter subjects to is meant to wipe all good from the public facade of Spiderman and leave him reviled in the eyes of the public.
Peter regains his memory by resubmitting to the symbiote which still retains some shaky memories of the truth, whose alien nature hides Peter's identity in hazy recollection though its biology is dangerously impacted as Peter's genetic imprint is wiped by the effect and returning the black suite for atime.
Thus dismantling all Peter's relationships and planting him once again at the butt end of the barrel.

See what I'm getting at, if you use Dr Strange as a buffer to the occult the retcon becomes an act of tarnished heroism rather than cowardice.
How hard is it to figure out?
He's Spiderman not the freaking Ghostrider.

Yes but atleast there is an out for the "Deal with the Devil", Loki still owes Spider-Man a favor. Hopefully someone will have the balls to use it.