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Posted by Don MacPherson on September 6th, 2007
Amazing Spider-Man #544
“One More Day, Part 1″
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Joe Quesada
Inks: Danny Miki
Colors: Richard Isanove
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover artists: Joe Quesada/Marko Djurdjevic
Editor: Axel Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99 US/$4.75 CAN
Marvel gets its big Spider-Man event of 2007 underway with this issue of Amazing Spidey. There’s a problem, though… it seems as though this storyline has been underway for some time already. Writer J. Michael Straczynski fails to advance the plot in any meaningful way, making for a frustrating read for those who have been following the series. Straczynski and Marvel editorial seem far too focused on trying to make this Spider-Man story as plausible as possible, and that drive for realism just isn’t necessary. Quesada’s exaggerated approach to the artwork doesn’t suit the grounded tone for which the writer strives. He handles the larger-than-life qualities of super-heroes well, but when it comes to portraying the emotional turmoil of people rather than super-people, his effort falls flat.
While Peter and Mary Jane have found some help from a sympathetic soul, hiding the comatose Aunt May in a hospital under a false name with no means to pay for her treatment isn’t exactly a rock-solid plan. Peter has to find a way to pay for the hospital stay, and that means facing off against a former-friend-turned-enemy who just happens to have cash to spare. While that confrontation leads to personal peril, what’s causing Peter Parker even greater pain is the reality that his beloved aunt might never recover, that her death is an inevitability.
Here’s a question: is Joe Quesada still a big name when it comes to comic art? In the 1990s, his work was definitely sought after, by editors and fans alike, be it his earlier work such as Ninjak and Batman: Sword of Azrael. His work on Daredevil and management of the Marvel Knights line firmly established him as a major influencing factor in the comic-book industry. But aside from some covers and the occasional uber-late special project (*cough* Daredevil: Father *cough*), Quesada-as-creator has been something of an elusive creature. His contribution to one of Marvel’s flagship books and for a major event such as “One More Day” is significant. This will serve as his introduction as an interior comic artist to many newer readers or readers who left comics behind for a time in the early 1990s.
Quesada’s pencils here put me in mind of the style of Todd (Spawn) McFarlane and his various imitators. There’s an elongated quality to the figures and character’s faces, and exaggeration seems to be the defining characteristic here. That makes for a visual punch in the more extreme scenes, such as the super-hero fight scene and Peter’s web-gasm defence. But the focus here is on Peter’s personal plight and the ailing May Parker. Exaggeration works against the down-to-earth tone of those scenes. Look at the panels here from Peter’s conversation with May’s new physician. What’s going on with Peter’s jawbone (or is it a cheekbone) in the first panel? And how is he able to run in the next panel on what appears to be a broken leg? I admit these are minor details in a super-hero book, but they distract from the story all the same.
When I heard of the increased cover price for this key issue, I expected that the creators were offering extra pages of story and art, a longer-than-usual episode from the title character’s adventures. That didn’t prove to be the case. The main story is limited to 24 pages, and the rest of the book is filled with the customary ads and a bunch of “bonus” material, such as a Spidey profile/history, a costume retrospective and a look at how Quesada and company craft a page of comic art. On top of that, several pages of the main story were reproduced from one of Marvel’s contributions to this year’s Free Comic Book Day. Not only did I feel I didn’t get much value for the extra buck, but I was left with the impression that Marvel was trying to recoup expenses from that promotional effort. At the very least, it seemed as though the publisher is just trying to squeeze some extra cash out of what will no doubt be a popular event comic.
Straczynski handles the emotional turmoil that Peter and Mary Jane experience in this story quite well. The sadness, desperation and anger are palpable, and it all rings true. 
Peter’s choice to confront someone who poses him a major threat while also asking for help might have made more sense had he opted to do so earlier, but the faceoff provides a climactic closure for what was an important relationship in the title character’s life in the past year. The stress in the Parkers’ lives is clearly having a profound effect on MJ and Peter’s marriage. Aunt May’s potential demise really doesn’t hold my interest; she’s been ancient and fragile for years. But matrimonial strife… that’s territory that Marvel hasn’t mapped out quite so much.
The script here seems to go out of its way to address the logistics of what Peter’s trying to do to ensure May’s survival. Straczynski tries to cover every angle in an effort to convince the reader of the possibility of such an implausible circumstance. He balances real-world credibility with an effort to address continuity. Marvel Universe money is addressed here, and in the next chapter in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24, Marvel medical miracles will apparently brought to the forefront. But here’s the catch: I don’t care. Just tell the story. This is a super-hero story. The readers will be able to overlook plot holes, or at least get past them. They will, as long as the storytelling is compelling and entertaining. We’ve been reading about May’s impending death and Peter’s desperate bid to hold his crumbling life together for months.
It’s not holding my interest anymore. 4/10
September 7th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Y’know, I share the same view on Amazing Spider-Man. Seems to me that Spidey’s gone through so many changes when it comes to costumes/teams/relationships that no-one at Marvel seems to have a clue what direction to put him in anymore. Nothing Spiderman seems to do has any interest. Not even his public unmasking has done anything – no other characters close to Spiderman, like Flash, JJJ or Joe Robertson seem to have come to the forefront and brought fresh interest into the stories. It’s all lame, and to boot, they’re splitting up MJ and Peter now too.
I read Ultimate Spider-Man but with all other Spidey titles nowadays I just cannot be bothered to pick up and read them. After “Back in Black” – a marketing gimmick to co-incide with Spider-Man 3 (which was poor) – I’d had enough. Spiderman is so down on himself that it’s almost like reading old issues of Spawn!
September 7th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I didn’t think the art of Quesada was bad. I am with you Aunt May can die. She has been dying since “Day-One”, why should she have “One More Day”. How many heart attacks has she had? She can live on in the Ultimate Universe, where she was “born” with spunk.
Unmasking Spider-Man was a mistake. He was one of the few heroes who had a mask that hid his entire face. His Spider-Sense always kept him safe from being seen changing. Of course Dr. Strange or Professor X could reverse the knowledge in everyone’s head. (Though there is the Nixon Tapes
September 7th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I’ve lost interest in Spidey so much over the past few years. I’m tired of Marvel trying to do event after event after event. It seems like every story told in the Spider-Man books is “someone will die!” or “nothing will ever be the same again!” or “Peter has to make a decision that will change his life forever!” or “Hey! Check out his new costume/powers/haircut!” I’m getting sick of it. I’m with Don on this: stop trying to make an event out of everything and show me some good stories.
I think this is why I liked Paul Jenkins’ run on the Peter Parker book. They were single, self contained stories that needed no previous history or required reading from the rest of the Marvel Universe. And damnit, they were FUN, too. God, I miss that fun.
Oh, and Rob, I agree with you that they’ve dropped the ball on his unmasking. That said, there was a great issue of Peter David’s last issue of Spidey involving J.J. You should do yourself a favor and pick it up. That issue alone was worth the whole crap with the unmasking.
September 7th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I tell you, I cannot wait until Straczynski is finished writing Spider-Man. His run was interesting in the beginning, but it got real tired real fast.
Plus, I’m upset at the handling of the “Back in Black” continuity. According to “Amazing”, Peter dons the black costume after May is shot, and then is at her bedside near-constantly. But somewhere along the line, he finds time in the black costume to be in 2 other solo books, as well as New Avengers and World War Hulk… what gives?
Lastly, Quesada (who might as well be McFarlane) is terribly dated in his artistic style. Not bad for pinups, but his panelwork is grossly exaggerated and distracting.
September 7th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Old issues of Spawn LOL,,now that’s funny
Yeah Spidey and Spawn are at the same level.
Not very good.
September 7th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I don’t understand this preoccupation with providing a psychologically satisfying story as an excuse for hitting the reset button on Spider-Man.
Just have him wake up one day with the life you want him to be leading and explain it later.
All of the endless “getting there” holds no interest for me up front unless I’m curious about the shocking new status quo or whatever.
That’s why I was excited about the unmasking but as soon as the whole world knew who he was – he was on the run. A golden opportunity to explore what happens when Peter Parker gets everything he’s ever wanted was lost.
But I guess that was the whole point. Make Spidey’s life as miserable as possible so that the “reset button” life line is all that more appealing.
Am I the only person who thinks it’s going in that direction?
September 8th, 2007 at 7:25 am
I think Spiderman has never really recovered from the Clone Saga. Straczynski started very well on his run with Spiderman (to which I jumped back onto Spidey after the disastrous Clone fiasco) but I agree with Botch that the run became tired and stale real fast. I really tried to persevere with it but after Back in Black I thought enough was enough. Spidey hasn’t changed for well over a decade – he’s still as dreadful to read as he was back in the 90′s. I just tend to read all my Essential Amazing Spider-Man volumes instead. Those classic stories in there are so solid then can be read over and over again – the true identity of the Green Goblin, the Death of Captain/Gwen Stacy, Doctor Octopus marrying May Parker, the Spider Buggy – people remember the good old days! Nowadays, almost laughable stories like the Clone Saga, Public Unmasking and the recent Back in Black moments are all that Spiderman is remembered for.
Let’s face it – Ultimate Spider-Man is receiving more acclaim than its classic, longer-lasting counterpart these days.
Do you guys think that Spidey needs a reboot? A sort-of-Crisis-like reboot to restore it to a former glory, maybe? DC did it quite successfully (although maybe this current Final Crisis might ruin all that….).
September 8th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Rob wrote:
Let’s face it – Ultimate Spider-Man is receiving more acclaim than its classic, longer-lasting counterpart these days.
But Marvel, as a business, isn’t worried about acclaim. Amazing Spidey has been selling more than 25,000 units more than Ultimate Spidey for several months now, and despite negative reviews, “One More Day” is no doubt going to be one of Marvel’s biggest sellers for September and October.
September 9th, 2007 at 1:52 am
That’s the problem. The big boys like DC and Marvel can get away with farting out mediocre-at-best stories because they are still going to sell if they are associated with a famous character or event.
I guess that it is tied to the fact that they have the luxury of appealing to different age groups. If the books don’t make the knowledgable comic book buffs happy, they still have the younger crowd to take advantage of.
What’s their motivation?
September 9th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Every now and again I’ll check in on the ongoing Spidey series, but the only Spider-Man stories that I’ve enjoyed in the past few years have been the miniseries written by Dan Slott and Jeff Parker. They pretty much give me everything I want from a Spidey story: humor, melodrama, action, and characterizations which feel authentic. And the minis aren’t burdened with having to tie-in to every lame-ass crossover Marvel comes up with.
- Dex
September 11th, 2007 at 11:23 am
I know editors are busy people, but at no time while working on that panel did the inker, colorist or letterer say, “Joe, you want to take another look at this leg here?”
Spider-Man and the Marvel U need a reboot bad. They are way too invested in tracing their continuity back to the very first issue, and that idea that everything that happened in each issue happened to this guy in this timeline. With forty years of stories now, it’s just getting absurd. It’s not so obvious when you think of the heroes, but when you think about what Aunt May has gone through in the few short years since Peter was in High School, it boggles the mind.
I’ve been reading Spidey since the sixties, and when the fifth or six Aunt May hospital crisis rolled around, I realized that since the creators had no idea people were going to keep reading these things when they grew up, the reader was going to have to do his own mental reboot every five years or so.
The notion that a publisher would need to have a muti-year plan for a comic book character’s arc would have blown young Smilin’ Stan’s mind.
September 11th, 2007 at 11:32 am
The Mutt wrote:
Spider-Man and the Marvel U need a reboot bad.
Given Marvel’s sales numbers these days, one would be hard-pressed to convince its higher-ups of that notion.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
I expected “One More Day” pt 1 to either blow me away or bore me. For me it’s about the villains with Spider-Man. The family drama – be it May or Mary Jane – doesn’t do much for me. I flipped through it at the LCS, and seeing Aunt May in the ICU convinced me it would be the latter. I was hoping for something different, but apparently not this time. Besides, my copy of the cardstock embossed die-cut tombstone cover of Amazing Spider-Man #400 holds a special place in my heart (retcon be damned!).
September 11th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Well I’ll be the minority and say that I’ve enjoyed Amazing Spider-Man lately. I honestly believed it when Peter said he’d return to kill the Kingpin. Will he? Probably not. But I’m not fully convinced either way which is not an easy feat to pull off. Spider-Man’s process in choosing a side in Civil War also felt real and believable… all in all, I’ve been pretty happy with Spidey. Though I definitely am in favor of Amazing being more self-contained so I don’t need to read EVERY Marvel comic to understand the plot.
The unmasking bit… awesome. Over 40 years of being masked, it was time for a change. It opens up a whole new set of possible stories so I’m all for it. CHANGE IS GOOD. The “good old days” of the damn Spider-Buggy? Give me a break people.
I do agree that the Marvel Universe should be rebooted in the near future, not due to poor quality but for the massive amounts of continuity. “Universe Marvel” maybe? Has a decent ring to it…