Spider-Man: One More Day
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| One More Day | |
 Cover art for Amazing Spider-Man #545. Art by Joe Quesada. |
|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
|---|---|
| Publication date | September 2007 - December 2007 |
| Number of issues | 4 |
| Main character(s) | Spider-Man Mary Jane Watson Aunt May Mephisto |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada |
| Artist(s) | Joe Quesada |
| Inker(s) | Danny Miki |
| Colorist(s) | Richard Isanove with Dean White |
Spider-Man: One More Day is a four part, 2007 comic book crossover storyline, connecting all of the main Spider-Man series published by Marvel Comics. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada, with art by Quesada, it concludes the storyline of the fallout of Spider-Man's actions during the 2007 Civil War crossover. It starts in Amazing Spider-Man #544, continues in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 and The Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #41, and concludes in Amazing Spider-Man #545.
After his Aunt May is shot, the superhero Spider-Man searches for help in saving her life. Spider-Man meets the demon Mephisto, who offers to save her life if Spider-Man gives him his marriage. Spider-Man and his wife Mary Jane Watson agree, and this part of their history is erased from all memory so that they have never been married. The storyline set-up a restructuring of the Spider-Man titles, resulting in the cancellation of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and The Sensational Spider-Man, with Amazing Spider-Man revamped as a thrice-monthly publication.
The decision to abruptly end Peter Parker and Mary Jane's marriage and the events of "One More Day" were generally panned upon the series' conclusion, although the artwork received praise; several publications declared that the series was one of the worst comics ever, destabilizing the franchise.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The events of "One More Day" begin in Amazing Spider-Man #544. Peter Parker's Aunt May is slowly dying from a gunshot wound sustained during the events of Civil War. Peter Parker is forced to ask Tony Stark for financial assistance; Peter then sets out to help Aunt May any way he can.
In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24, Peter seeks council with Doctor Strange. Strange informs Peter that he can do nothing to grant Aunt May her life back. However, he helps Peter seek the aid of several others including Doctor Doom, the High Evolutionary, Reed Richards, and Doctor Octopus. Peter attempts to go back in time using a magic spell without Strange's approval, harming himself in the process. Strange heals his wounds and sends him on his way, encouraging him to be by his Aunt's side at her death. On his way to the hospital, Peter is confronted by a little girl, who says she holds the answer to his problem.
In The Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #41 Peter talks to the little girl, who runs off. While pursuing her, Peter encounters men whom a woman in red informs Peter are alternate versions of himself, from alternate timelines where Peter never became Spider-Man. The woman transforms into the demon Mephisto, who tells Peter he can save Aunt May. As payment, Mephisto wants not Peter's soul, but his marriage to Mary Jane. Peter and Mary Jane are given until midnight the following night to decide their answer.
The story concludes in Amazing Spider-Man #545 as Peter and Mary Jane agree to the deal after several hours agonizing over the choice. Mary Jane whispers an offer to Mephisto in return for removing the knowledge of Peter's identity from the world. Mephisto then changes history so that Peter and Mary Jane never married, and no one remembers whose face is underneath Spider-Man's mask. Peter wakes up alone in bed, living again with Aunt May. He attends a party being held for one of his friends, a resurrected Harry Osborn; Peter glimpses Mary Jane sadly leaving the party. The guests all toast a "Brand New Day".
[edit] Development
"One More Day" was announced as the concluding storyline of writer J. Michael Straczynski's run on Amazing Spider-Man in early 2007. Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada was announced as the artist for the storyline. While no plot details were given, Marvel issued a promotional image in February that consisted solely of the line "What would you do...with one more day?" against a background of spider webbing.[1] At a panel at the San Diego Comic Con in June 2007, Joe Quesada gave few details about the story, but described it as "a Peter-MJ story." At the same panel Marvel editor Tom Brevoort announced that Amazing Spider-Man would become the sole main Spider-Man title, and would be published three times a month.[2][3] Due to Quesada's known dislike of Mary Jane and Peter Parker's marriage, fans began to speculate he intended to dissolve their marriage in one form or another.[4]
Straczynski surprised many when he publicly revealed: "There's a lot that I don't agree with, and I made this very clear to everybody within shouting distance at Marvel, especially Joe Quesada... there was a point where I made the decision, and told Joe, that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the OMD arc. Eventually Joe talked me out of that decision because at the end of the day, I don't want to sabotage Joe or Marvel, and I have a lot of respect for both of those."[5]
Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada downplayed this disagreement with Straczynski, claiming that their rift was primarily over the "methodology" of how to erase Peter and Mary Jane's marriage, and that Straczynski was onboard with the editorial mandate of undoing the Parkers' marriage. Quesada said that various major Marvel writers, including Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Ed Brubaker, and incoming Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott had a hand in the story's development, and also claimed that he and Straczynski had planned to resurrect Gwen Stacy in Part Four along with Harry Osborn, but that a number of Marvel editors and writers had prevailed upon them to leave the venerated character dead.[6]
Quesada, answering questions for Comic Book Resources, said that every story that happened in the Spider-Man canon still "counted", with the only change being that, due to the world's newly-revised memories, Peter and Mary Jane didn't marry due to some unknown incident and the official unmasking of his identity to the public during the 2007 miniseries Civil War has been forgotten. A "back and forth" developed between Quesada and J. Michael Straczynski in separate interviews and messages, with Straczynski outlining some of his original plans for the "retcon" and conversations he had with Quesada about the storyline.[7]
[edit] Release and delays
The four issues that comprised "One More Day" were originally scheduled to ship weekly in August 2007. The story encountered delays due to Quesada's art duties. Sensational Spider-Man #41 was rescheduled for release in late October, and the concluding chapter of the story in Amazing Spider-Man #545 was rescheduled for November. The issues were again delayed in late October, with Sensational Spider-Man #41 and Amazing Spider-Man #545 resolicited for release on November 28 and December 27, respectively.[8]
The conclusion to the storyline, Amazing Spider-Man #545 was ranked 2nd in December 2007 Top 300 comics with preorder sales of 124,481.[9]
[edit] Reception
The storyline of One More Day was heavily criticized by reviewers and fans alike.[10] IGN reviewer Jesse Schedeen described Amazing Spider-Man #545 as "undoubtedly the worst comic Marvel published in 2007" and a "deus ex machina of the highest order". He admitted that writer Straczynski "had a great handle on the Peter/Mary Jane dynamic", making their potentially-final moments mean something, and that Quesada's artistic style made sense given the dark tone. However, he also dismissed the story as "infuriating and downright disrespectful to anyone who has come to love Spider-Man comics over the years." IGN published two "Additional Take" reviews for Amazing Spider-Man #545. Bryan Joel said that he'd been a "vocal supporter" of Brand New Day, but summarized the OMD story as "flip, weightless, and painfully brief". Richard George stated that One More Day "could prove to be the best example of editorial influence gone horribly, horribly wrong" and "in trying to preserve the appeal of Peter Parker, Joe Quesada has actually managed to fundamentally undermine the character." Both Joel and George agreed with their colleague in complimenting Quesada's artwork.[11]
Newsarama's J. Caleb Mozzocco agreed that Spider-Man was easier to relate to while young and single, but that retconning the marriage of Spider-Man was unnecessary due to the existence of titles such as Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel Adventures Spider-Man. He found the story confusing, wondering how this retcon made sense in the larger Marvel Universe as Spider-Man played important roles in New Avengers and Civil War. Kevin Huxford claimed, "you can feel editorial mandate dripping from this" and called the story "utterly ridiculous", while Lucas Siegel criticized Quesada's decision to have heroic Peter Parker make a deal with the Devil for selfish reasons. Richard Renteria felt that the story's conclusion was a missed opportunity "to add a new layer of guilt to Peter’s already rocky life by allowing May to finally have the send off she deserves", while Troy Brownfield felt that the storyline damaged Marvel continuity and Spider-Man's decision was "selfish and childish", not to mention "a big middle finger to the idea of marriage in comics". He speculated preferable endings to the story before concluding that "As it stands, Peter, MJ, May . . . and the readers . . . all got a raw deal."[12] A more positive view came from Brandon Thomas, who felt that One More Day was "an incredibly well-told story". He praised the writing, in particularly the morally ambiguous decision Peter has to make and the way he and Mary Jane deal with it together, as well as Quesada's art, which he felt set the tone of "guilt, regret, and despair". In regards to the change made in Spider-Man canon, he claimed that "Peter Parker being married really isn’t a vital component of the mythos" and that it allowed Marvel to make "big, sweeping changes to bring things slightly more into focus and back on message".[13]
Wizard praised the artwork, specifically the way Quesada differentiated visually between the dark and light tones before and after the retcon. However, they felt that "the entire set up and execution just doesn’t make sense" and failed to empathize with the characters and their decisions. They also criticized the use of magic in a largely science-based book, calling it "the biggest cheat since ‘Dallas’", and felt that the concept of making Spider-Man more accessible was undermined by the new and unfamilar characters.[14]
In their coverage of the storyline, Channel 4 News also compared the reaction to One More Day to that of Dallas, claiming "This controversial issue of the comic has been flying off the shelves but reaction from readers has been venomous." Channel 4 speculated that the reason for the storyline was to make the comics more similar to the financially successful films and merchandise, but this has not been confirmed by Marvel.[15][16]
Comic book historian Peter Sanderson criticized the story for using a supernatural element to retcon the marriage and not maturely dealing with the issue of divorce, arguing the writers had forgotten stories where Spider-Man dealt with causing the death of Uncle Ben, drugs and child abuse. He wrote, "I expect there are people who are professional comics writers and editors, and people who will someday become professional comics writers and editors, who are outraged that Marvel had Spider-Man make a deal with the devil. And these present and future writers and editors will be determined to undo it. We shall see whether it takes twenty years this time, or much less." He found the story better than the Clone Saga in the respect it altered an aspect of canon, instead of erasing it entirely. He also criticized the idea of a hero making a deal with one as evil as Mephisto, effectively the devil.[17]
[edit] Future direction
Marvel posted a sneak peek at the final pages of the first post-"One More Day" issue, Amazing Spider-Man #546, and a two-page spread penciled by John Romita, Jr. entitled "Spider-Man: The New Status Quo!", which established the new continuity of Spider-Man. The retcon brings back Harry Osborn from the dead (he had been living in Europe for many years), and explains that although Spider-Man unmasked himself during the events of Civil War, no one remembers who was behind the mask.[18][19]
[edit] References
- ^ George, Richard (2007-02-14). Spider-Man Has One More Day. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
- ^ Ching, Albert (2007-06-15). Heroes Con/WW: Philly '07 - Spider-Man: One More Day panel. Newsarama. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
- ^ Adler, Matt (2007-06-17). Spider-Man "One More Day" Panel Report. Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.
- ^ Weinland, Jonah (2007-12-28). The 'One More Day' Interviews with Joe Quesada (part 1/5). Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
- ^ J. Michael Straczynski (2007-12-04). "Re: OMD Irony". rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe. (Web link). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ Quesada interview on OMD
- ^ One More (More) Day? JMS Explains His Ending. Newsarama.
- ^ George, Richard (2007-10-23). Spider-Man: One More Delay. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
- ^ Top 300 Comics Actual--December 2007. icv2.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ Colton, David. Comic fans fume as Marvel erases Spidey-MJ marriage. USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse; Bryan Joel and Richard George (2007-12-28). Amazing Spider-Man #545 Review. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
- ^ Siegel, Lucas; J. Caleb Mozzocco, Keven Huxford, Richard Renteria, Troy Brownfield (2007-12-31). Best Shots: The One More Day Roundtable. Newsarama.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
- ^ Thomas, Brandon (2008-01-02). Ambidextrous #239: Brand New Bag. Newsarama.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ Book of the Week - Amazing Spider-Man #545. WizardUniverse.com (2008-01-04). Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
- ^ Ahmed, Samira (2008-01-19). Spiderman cuts his ties. Channel 4 News. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
- ^ Ahmed, Samira (2008-01-19). The new Spiderman. Channel 4 News. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
- ^ Sanderson, Peter (2008-01-21). Comics in Context #210: Divorce, Marvel Style. Quick Stop Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
- ^ Spider-Man: The New Status Quo!. Newsarama. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
- ^ IGN: WW Philly '07: Spider-Man's Brand New Day
