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I'd figure Fraction wrote it specifically to challenge Quesada's little stupidity.

And I don't think it's Marvel entire that has a problem with the marriage. JMS, Peter David, and Roberto Playwright-Guy seem to be fine with it. I'd wager it's just Quesada, and maybe a few others.

Simple version of my point: Lots of people like the marriage. It's just the guy in charge that has his panties in a bunch about it. (I've always wondered what his wife thinks about his assertion that marriage took all the dramatic tension out of Peter's love life.)

By the way, have you heard the rumors about the FCBD book? The mind boggles.

"By the way, have you heard the rumors about the FCBD book? The mind boggles."

What are the rumors about it? All I've heard is that I "need" to get a copy because they're expected to be picked up fast because of something that happens in them...

I thought this was such a beautiful book, in every meaning of the word. Well written, tremendous art (I'd expect no less from Larroca) and just about the best Spidey or MJ story I've read in years.

No, I don't think their marriage killed anything - in fact, the very notion seems stupid to me. But if Marvel breaks them up, it won't "ruin" the character for me; I'll just lose interest for a while. And even if it's a permanent change, I'll always have this book to remind me why their marriage was such a good idea in the first place.

I don't know what "One More Day" is about. I've seen house ads, but I avoid spoilers and speculation, so other than what I've read here, I have nary a clue. Sure, I'll be a bit disappointed if that's the avenue they take, but at the end of the day, they're just stories - and Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1 was a very, very good one.

PS: interesting that Marvel took Salvador's signature and the "after" bits off the cover entirely...

--yo
magnetic fields attract, but what was with the rhinos?

Great call, yo. Why would they remove the sig? Weird.

well, it was poorly placed - it falls under the logo. But on a digital file, you just cut that out and nudge it down a few pixels. It'd fit perfectly under Spidey, rather than over.

On a related note, I recall hearing a rumor (an urban legend, if you will) that Marvel is purposefully avoiding drawing any attention to their homage covers: though it's a long-standing tradition to have the "after so-and-so" tag on new covers that ape old ones (when did that start, anyway?), they seem to have abandoned it. Not that this book was a direct rip-off, as I call them, but it just reminded me. There was a whole slew of New X-Men covers recently that were based on old X-Books, but none of them had any indication of such. What's up with that?

Okay, enough of my derailing the discussion. Back to discussion of this fine book, which I think was the best of the week...

I never had a problem with the marriage and I hope it's not the direction Marvel is gonna take. MJ has become a layered and well developed character over the years we've known her and she surves a good purpose as Peter's emotional anchor.

Plus, give the guy a break. Naturally, there needs to be drama or there's no story to tell but without some degree of joy in Peter's life to counterpoint it I think it would probably turn to overkill soon enough. No dark without light and vice versa, you know, ying yang, balance and all that.

One thing I liked about this issue, apart from the story itself, is that the "Issue" box on the cover explicitly says "One-Shot".

Has Marvel been doing that for a while, and I just didn't notice? Whatever the case, it's a nice touch. I'm often picking up some unfamiliar #1 and trying to figure out whether it's a standalone, part 1 of 4, or part of some 88-issue crossover extravaganza.

One more day will be about May, not MJ. Remember Quesada saying he hated Speedball and he was going to die...
Same thing's going on here.

I was also pleased to know that Fraction can write a comic that isn't "too cool for school." I liked the over-the-top 'hipness' in Cassanova, but when I started getting that vibe from the Punisher... well, I worried that he might be all about that. This wasn't like that at all, so I was pleased.

That's actually a big question I had about Fraction too so I'm looking forward to getting to the store this weekend and giving it a look.

Good review and I very much agree. This was an excellent read and Fraction does a great job. There is just so much depth in this issue and I couldn't believe how long it took me to read it, which is strange in this decompressed age we live in. The art was beautiful as well, Larroca & Roca are a very good team.

I think this demonstrates the major problem with the marriage, actually. I mean, half of the best moments are flashbacks to when they were going out.
"Stupid, Boring, Chicken-Man." I identify far more with that than anything else in the book. And they can't write stuff like that for the current character.

It's a great book, and a great affirmation, but I think it highlights that they're a happy and strong couple, who trust and respect each other and aren't in any danger of splitting up. And if I was an editor, I'd hate that, because there's no relationship tension to deal with. And without any tension, there's no story.

I always assumed Joe hated the marriage because it closed off some really good relationship storylines. But is there anything written since JMS started that is "derogatory"? Half of the best stuff in his early run was Peter and MJ repairing their relationship.

But is there anything written since JMS started that is “derogatory”? Half of the best stuff in his early run was Peter and MJ repairing their relationship.

Oh, no. Sorry if I gave off that impression that I felt that the comics themselves seemed derogatory. They have not. It's all been outside the comics that the marriage has been maligned.