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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Betrayal to the characters as well as the fans., January 4, 2008
This issue is the conclusion to the four-part story-arc "One More Day," by J.M. Straczynski and Joe Quesada.
As a whole, this story-arc was an insult, both to the characters as well as the fans. It sacrificed character for the sake of plot, continuity for the sake of event. This story-arc was a means to an end, and the means were incredibly, distastefully awful.
Peter Parker makes a deal with Mephisto, who is the Marvel Universe's Satan, to save his Aunt May. He must sacrifice his marriage in exchange.
There are several flaws in this premise:
1) There are several other mystic-types to whom Peter could turn: Doctor Strange, Loki (from whom Peter'd previously garnered a "boon"), THE ENTIRE MARVEL UNIVERSE. The Devil need not be an option.
2) Aunt May herself told Peter that it was her time to die (in a seance performed in a previous issue Sensational Spider-Man). He willfully disobeyed his Aunt May's _dying_ wish. This is pretty uncharacteristic of a man who has loves his Aunt to the grave.
3) Peter is making this deal, so that he can avoid having to deal with the guilt of Aunt May's condition. He made a mistake, which by accepting Mephisto's terms shows that he is not willing to live up to. This completely goes against the premise of his character: you remember something about "Great power. . ." right? He basically gets to AVOID individual responsibility by whitewashing his past with this deal.
And lastly, Mephisto's desire to erase Peter's unmasking is completely arbitrary and comes without any reason besides making way for future stories. It doesn't hold within the context of the story, and shouldn't be brought up.
Integrity, sticking by one's decisions, right or wrong, and accepting the responsibility for them aren't in the writing as well as Peter Parker himself. By having Mephisto arbitrarily remove Spider-Man's identity represents lack of integrity in the writing, because he had previously unmasked himself. Having Peter refuse to live up to his mistake represents his own lack of integrity. An issue that involves one, no less the other, does not deserve to be tolerated by any intelligent reader.
Away from the writing. . . the art had Joe Quesada's typical raccoon-eyed, big-handed, art. I'm not saying that it's good or bad. I'm saying that if you like him, you like him. If you don't, you don't. His art, like any other, is a matter of taste.
I'm very disappointed with this issue, and this arc. I really don't want to be, but I am. It betrays the characters, and it betrays the fans. You don't get much worse than that.
I don't understand why the first reviewer listed this book as a FIVE/FIVE stars. Although I'm more than willing to be enlightened, he or she didn't explain the issue's merits, if any.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
One More Day, more like one piece of crap, January 1, 2008
This is probably the worst issue of Spider-Man written in the past ten years. It has actually made me succeed in hating Spider-Man. It's a terrible story with an even more horrible ending. There isn't a single good thing to find about this entire issue.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Caused Me To Stop Subscribing, January 27, 2008
I have every Amazing Spiderman since #252. This issue is a slap in the face to all fans. I will discontinue reading Spiderman as a result.
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