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Web-head's Wedding

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WARNING : The following text contains various insults towards a large chunk of the Spider-man  fanbase and a deep-rooted tenderness towards 2 petty journalists, 2 redheads and an assembly of crooks and egotists. Read at your own peril.

Beforehand I have established 2 things :
1) You'll have Spidey-related drawings where Peter ould appear only indirectly (meaning that you do not see the good Mr Parker in the flesh in the posters. It's just that I am challenging myself).
2) I love the fuck out of this particular run, so I reread it properly and thoroughly to talk about the elements that DESERVE more attention AND genuine animated adaptations (OVA style of course...). As usual, musical references away !

Now it is important to understand how David Michelinie's control over the book went to understand how the execution of some of the plots came out. Usually we tend to separate this run following the 3 main artists (namely Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen and Mark Bagley ), but truth of the matter is that it has to be seen within the context of editorial control. As such we have the Jim Salicrup Era and then the Danny Fingeroth one. Predictably enough, Michelinie spoke highly of Salicrup's collaboration (as well as his association with McFarlane. So does Todd BTW...) BUT he said that under Fingeroth he did not have as much freedom as he wanted (even if it seemed to start out fine !).
In fact the start of his run up until ASM 363 (Oh it is a seminal issue BTW) is the part where he was on fire. From issue 364- 388 , a lot is indeed written under editorial pressure and NOT the direction he wanted to go with (the return of Peter's parents ? That was an idea from the editors ! He did not even know who these people were !). I can only theorize that had Salicrup stayed OR if Fingeroth were more lenient, his run could have lasted till ASM 400 (like he intended to...).
But as it is, I will give him the praise he deserves. His run is as important to Peter as Larry Hama's was to Wolverine ; many fantastic and entertaining elements that people love to ignore, downplay or bash ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtOPac…
And in all honesty , THIS Peter Parker is among the ones I do fucking love. In general I am rather cold towards Spider-man as a character, mainly the Lee/Ditko/Romita Sr iteration that people love and gush about WAY TOO FUCKING MUCH (you folks do know that at this point. I am more of a Venom dude for reasons that will be listed ), but Michelinie is clearly a fan of the ol' web-head.
His Spider-man is such a badass sweetheart with an adorable (and at times charmingly naive) quality to him that I simply can't be indifferent. SO I read these stories BECAUSE of him rather than IN SPITE of him. Yeah, you heard me : Michelinie's Spidey is at least on the Top fucking 3 and the detractors of this run can choke on removable Spider-cocks.
 Oh and BTW, Peter going back to Grad school ? Happens during Michelinie's run. I just want some folks to know that.

So without further a-due, let's get on with the show. And this is where the structure of my poster comes from bechan.deviantart.com/art/Sail… you're welcome !


I  TIGER ( FINALLY ) HITS THE JACKPOT !

[ ASM 290-292,ASM Annual 21,ASM 304,ASM 308-309, ASM 314 ]
Theme Song : Gold (Spandau Ballet)

One of the first reasons this run is talked about is the Spider-man marriage. Yet it's a shame few people adress the build-up to it AND more importantly,the proposal ! The whole proposal (and then wedding) arc is brilliant in its simplicity. David M. takes the MJ we've seen under Tom DeFalco's tenure (in which her backgroung was revealed...) and develops her from that point on. What ensues is our lovely redhead finds the inner strength confronting what haunted her: her sister and her father.
What happened in a nutshell is that her older sister, Gayle, got in a jam and as such her family and kids will suffer from that. Mary Jane sees her for the first time in years and, needless to say, reunions aren't exactly happy.In this case, while I can't blame Gayle for being angry at MJ, I DO understand why MJ ran away from her family : she feared that she'd die for someone else and , due to how this turned out for Gayle and their mother, end up utterly wasting her life and aspirations. And for all the "party-girl" image Mary Jane used, she fucking REGRETTED what she's done.
 The most significant quote though in this visit comes from Peter who wants the Watson sisters to reconcile. And I insist you remember it, it is very important for what will follow in this essay : "You're using your hatred as a shield , letting everything bounce off of it. Look at reality before it destroys you !".
As for the father ... well he's a douche. I mean there's no other way to phrase it, Mary Jane has a grudge towards the guy due to how he abandonned their family while she was a kid and now, because of him, Gayle risks a long sentence. The good news is that MJ gets him arrested. The bad news ? It's still her father so it ain't exactly easy for her to have him arrested despite her grudge.
And the arc features a fight against the Spider-Slayer where she helps Spidey the best she can : Knocking the robot's leg with a baseball bat ! Granted it distracts the Slayer just enough so that Peter goes Star Platinum on it shiny metal ass !
The interesting element in Michelinie's ASM is that MOST of the Villains fights seem to be breathers from Peter's harsh life. Not for him obviously and there's indeed ONE villain who's an absolute nightmare to confront, but they're for the most part written and displayed with a snappy levity to them.

The actual Wedding issue www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfiAs… finally occurs and... you know it's interesting to note that what David had in mind was different than what we had.In the initial draft, Peter was supposed to have a concussion (ouch !) and to see images of Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy. He would be hallucinating and asking them questions like, ‘Am I too young to get married? How will this affect my responsibilities as Spider-Man? Will I be a good husband?’. Then they went with Jim Shooter's idea.
Funny that even Fabian Nicieza had a different draft in mind for wedding of Scott and Jean. In his draft, the story was supposed to be told from Xavier's point of view and part would seemingly focus on the perils the team went through. I actually LOVE the issue we had (of course in part it comes from my desire to see Xavier put down like the tumor he is...).

As a glorious consequence, Peter now has a soulmate and more importantly, I have the character that will make me keep me reading. Yup, I am generally more of a Mary Jane fan than a Spider-man one, weird as it might seem. She even got me to read "Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane"... AND I LIKED IT ! GRRRAAAAAAHHH !
Her acting career starts out fine and she had considerable popularity... SO of course this shit ain't gonna be THAT easy ! Peter and MJ will get , at first, more money and luxury...Only to have them GONE AND end up poor and homeless on Christmas Eve. Triple OUCH !
One of the main factors for that fall is Jonathon Caesar, the owner of the luxurious building they moved to is also a huge fan of Mary Jane's Soap opera. So, OBVIOUSLY, he decides to marry her. And no, her consent is not exactly a high-priority to him. While she thankfully escapes the bastard's clutches, she also manages to save and help Spidey when he's confronting Styx and Stone (hehehe, calembour !)...and Michelinie does NOT cheat to make this scene work !
Afterwards, she is still shaken by the experience (and honestly can you blame her ?) and would get more than annoyed anytime Caesar is mentionned or when she'll confront him in later issues. And he did all he could to ruin her acting career...

Point is MJ and Peter are united for the better and against the worse and she is in many ways Peter's anchor to sanity (and Vice Versa). I mean with all the shit Peter has to face in this run, Mary Jane is seriously the friggin' Godsend that keeps on giving ! I love how their life is intersped with humorous moments to counter the grave ones ; static.comicvine.com/uploads/o… (Don't lie ! If you could , you would do that !) static.comicvine.com/uploads/o… (Excellent ! Now grab that pole there and shake your stuff !) static.comicvine.com/uploads/o… (Indeed, Leftovers are the best ...).
 And I'd like to add that while Michelinie was the first writer to write a married Spider-man, he swore to himself that he would never break them up under his tenure. He's Da Man !





II THE VENOMOUS MARRIAGE

[ ASM 300, ASM 315-317, ASM 331-333, ASM 345-347, ASM 374-375 , ASM Annual26-SSM Annual12-WSM Annual8 ]
Theme Song : Defy you (The Offspring)

And now we're at the reason this run is remembered in general : Mr V to the Nom !
I fucking love Venom and FUCK the CBR/Gamefaq/Spideykicksbutt morons, I LOVE his Lethal Protector version too ! The difference that I generally note goes like this ; Spider-man fans only seem to care about the symbiote as an antagonist. Venom fans like me value Eddie (and his symbiotic lover) as a CHARACTER and want to see him develop OR at the very least get a closure that'd make us proud (and the latter happened twice.). And what better ways to discuss the awesomeness that is the walking OTP himself than to check the irreplaceable original dude that Michelinie came up with and developped ! I'll add that I imagine him sounding like the Hank Azaria Venom (Daran Norris' version will be discussed another time since he occurs after Michelinie's run).
The way David characterized Eddie is that he's a victim-complexed unrepentant sociopath who would plow through a bus full of nuns in order to save a kitty who got stuck on a tree. Irrationality at its finest !
I will address some of the following (and full of shit) statements so that you understand the character PROPERLY. Class is in session...

"It seemed a tremendous leap in logic that Eddie Brock would go from suicidal and then homicidal over Spider-Man, all over something that was clearly his own fault."
Nah, really ? People blaming others for their own mistakes ?! That's absolutely UNHEARD OF ! People killing others over Bullshit reasons or due to pychotic episodes ? David Michelinie was definitely stretching our suspension of disbelief. Such instances are definitely out-of this world ! Complete fantasy !  

" For years, even going back to his first appearance in ASM #300, Brock's backstory has always been portrayed sympathetically "
No. It was never the case. He always was depicted as a raving, self pitying sociopath with a penchant for melodrama, macabre jokes and musical references.
 Maybe the word "sympathetic" changed its meaning and I wasn't aware of it but the only sympathetic character in Eddie's backstory was his ex-wife, Ann Weying. Especially when she explained to Spider-man that there's a large difference between how Eddie was when they were married and then became after the Sin-Eater debacle. And it is painful to see someone you love get mentally wrecked under depression and bitterness. Plus the whole reason Eddie's character is written that way is what makes him stand out. You're NOT supposed to sympathise with him, you're supposed to learn from him and try not to commit the same mistakes. And while on the subject of Eddie's ex-wife, here's my favorite quote "Blast it Eddie ! They say you're crazy but you've never been stupid !"...errr... moving on...

" Venom made Mary Jane seem like a wimp so that Michelinie makes him seem like a big threat !"
Errr... You fucking serious ? Because you could have a brain tumor without knowing it if you really believe this kind of crap.
THIS is what Venom would look like in real life cupcakerogues.files.wordpress.… . Yeah, Mary Jany is INDEED a coward for not confronting the 2 meters tall beefcake with sharp teeth and predatory smile !

" Venom has a such weak motivation to hate on Spider-man ."
Really dildo? Because from my reading and watching of Spider-man related stuff, most of Spider-baddies motivations are basically "Fuck you for ruining my hold-up !" or "might makes right"! And I am fine with that. Villains are supposed to be driven by hubris more often than not...
Compared to THAT, the loss of his reputation and his job gives Eddie a lot more plausible motive than them. It IS Bullshit and 100% blame-shifting but ONCE AGAIN, it IS what most people DO in real life ! Eddie is just an exagerated, antagonistic and semi-humorous representation of that.(If you disagree, then you frankly must live in an utopia OR have better luck than I!).
 Also Eddie's honor code...errr... Eddie's self-righteous self-delusion that he thinks is nobility compells him to AVOID fighting Spidey in crowded places. He ALWAYS demands a Mano Y Mano fight OR will go to great lengths to isolate Peter in order to off him properly. And Michelinie , once again, NEVER cheated around that whole isolation strategy. This has always been one of the best aspects of Venom (and one that SSM, an otherwise excellent series, utterly fucking ignored !).
And on the subject of Bullshit motivations, how come no one points out at Doctor Doom's reason for hating on Reed Richards ? Because it is every bit as petty and hypocritical as Venom's motivation. The difference is that Eddie did not barbecue his face over a scar AND has a muuuuch lower death toll.
Oh and the original intention for Venom ? The pregnant woman who'd lose her baby and become Venom devilkais.deviantart.com/art/A… ? Yes, her motive is undeniably sympathetic AND tragic BUT she would never work in the long run. She would be perfect for a one-shot but it would be too harsh to see Spider-man beat up repeatedly someone like that. Plus, much like Yukishiro Enishi in Rurouni Kenshin, this type of antagonist is ungodly HARD to give a proper conclusion to. Plus she wouldn't SURF THE WEB, SURF THE WEB !
Eddie Brock, hyprocritical meathead that he is, is not only FUNNY (actually THE funniest Spider-man villain) but happens to get his comeuppance in most of their confrontations (except in MY favorite fight where Spidey dupes him into believing he was dead and leave Eddie stranded on a desert island so he can live happy with his symbiote .). And it is more than made up for by the fact most Venom VS Spidey fights are pretty much like this www.youtube.com/watch?v=EykJCb… ... no seriously. Hell their very first confrontation could have ended with Venom screaming this www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWL9DS…

" Venom is the evil Spider-man"
This one is absolutely fallacious once you get to know Eddie's character inside out.
On the superficial aspects , YES. Venom looks like Spider-Man, has almost all of Peter's powers (no spider-sense), his own version of Spidey's witty banter and is DRIVEN by his hatred of Spider-man. But deep down, Eddie does not remind all that much of Spidey OR of Peter . Hell the only thing they've got in common as kids was that they were both straight A students...and even then Peter was a nerd and Eddie was THAT dude. You know? That student no one seems to mind or really remember ? Yeah that's the one.
The key here is once again Peter's quote  "You're using your hatred as a shield, letting everything bounce off of it. Look at reality before it destroys you !". In all honesty, and due to rereading this run, Michelinie's Venom is the opposite number of Mary Jane Watson-Parker.
... Weird ain't it ? SInce the book focuses on Spidey, people tend to think automatically that his villains have to be a broken reflection of him. Venom's chara design is perfect to make such an argument but HIS development and essence as a character reminds me far more of MJ.
Mary Jane, as I explained above, could not face the implication that she would die like her mother and as such screwed up by leaving Gayle. Eddie wrote an article where he denounced the wrong person , thinking of it as the story of a lifetime, and as such saw his career and reputation crash and burn in front of him.
The difference between both of them is brilliant in its simplicity ; Mary Jane is a regular and yet morally strong woman who can recognise her own flaws, does have her self-centered moments AND can face the consequences of her actions. Venom however, while he proved that he can be genuinely selfless on occasion, is in many ways a contemptible and, for all his superpowers, weak man who can't face his own mistakes.

Now it has been said that Michelinie intended to kill Eddie Brock off in ASM 400, and have the symbiote wander from person to person including more dangerous individuals than himself. However, as Venom rose in nuances and popularity, David wanted to write a similar storyline BUT with Eddie STILL alive and with the symbiote trying to return to him. The point would be different : ONLY Eddie and the symbiote are Venom. Anyone else in the suit...is just someone else in the suit, not Venom.
As for killing off Venom, I actually have no problem with it IF it is done properly and with respect to the character. Spider-man TAS did it well BUT THIS is just perfection www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvcke3… .



III THE OLD SCHOOL COMES BACK

[ ASM 297-298 , ASM 311-313, ASM 318-319, ASM 330, ASM 334-339, ASM 340-343, ASM 364 , ASM 368-373  ]
Theme Song : Get Back (Ludacris)


Since he's a huge Spider-man Fan, Michelinie was clearly fond of the classic rogue gallery AND the supporting characters that came before (unlike most writers who ignore pretty much anything post-Stern .). I have to point that this is the element in David's run that has the most ties to JM DeMatteis, but as I stated, the ties were seamless when he was still having control over the storylines.
Among the additions I enjoyed :

- Harry’s return as the Green Goblin. Though in this case, he did it to fight the Macendale Hobgoblin.

- All Scorpion fights (BTW, Gargan forcing Spidey to get him a Pizza during an hostage situation ? The genius of that scene can never be overstated !) were an absolute blast. I especially love how Michelinie has fun writing Scorpion WITHOUT downplaying the fact that he can give Peter a run for his money !

- The Vulture is depicted as being more tenacious and aggressive and it seems that fans complained about it. I don't get why, I think between him and DeMatteis handling, they really made Toomes into someone you don't fuck around with ! And yet folks still underestimate Adrian because of his age... not very wise !

- I like how Peter is not necessarily alone vs one or various fellons all the time : some issues showcase an ally at times like Paladin, Solo,Nova or the Punisher. The most memorable one for me is Cardiac. Elias Wirtham is a physician and surgeon, and the owner and administrator of a biological research firm. His brother Joshua's death was the result of corporate greed, who had a cure for his condition ready, but did not distribute the medicine due to it not being a "profitable" time for them... I honestly find him pretty underrated. A shame he doesn't get an appearance in animation.

- I really like the friendship between Styx (Jacob Eichorn) and Stone. You'd think they're only goons for Jonathon Caesar at first, but their background is quite compelling and even sympathetic.

- Shocker puts on one hell of a show on 2 separate occasions and delivers.

- The Lizard stories are okay... not really as great as TAS Curt Connors, but still he looked great (I dig MacFarlane's Lizard design ! ).

- Sandman gets his best character development ever. I love how Baker went from a petty thug to a reserve Avengers member AND gets to work for Silver Sable (who appears quite a lot in this run).

- The invasion of Spider Slayers was pretty cool (they even indirectly help Electro's robbery succeed !), though I do wonder why did Alystaire Smythe went through extra-trouble to change his own shape ...

- The way the relationship between Felicia and Flash grew and matured was pretty well-done considering how her initial plan was to use the good Mr Thompson to get to Spider-man.

- Doctor Doom guest stars in this run !

- The Chameleon here is presented as actual threat and good planner, assembling a team containing Scorpion, Tarantula And various cosplayers to take down a temporarily depowered Spider-man !  

- The whole return of the Sinister Six was great ! It had humor, superheroics and great drama.
First off, Michelinie built up this whole reunion since the early parts of his run. He dusted off Dr Otto Octavius of the mishandling he went through earlier, cured him of his fear of Spider-man and brought him back as the classy and ruthless motherfucker he is. And there's no better way to convey it than his new and improved design by Erik Larsen, it just doesn't get better than a white italian suit ! And the line up he picks  for his team ? Pretty cool ! Demogoblin, Vulture , Mysterio (nice use of the smokes BTW), Electro and Sandman (here against his will !).
Doc Ock's plan however was weird as hell ! I mean it makes sense in Spider-man logic (well this is a comic about a dude whose powers came from a radioactive spider after all !) but still it is pretty eccentric.
First he has his team steal the Burundite. Then he had some chemical they were going to dump into the atmosphere that would cure cocaine addiction oR making any consumer be prey to convulsions INSTEAD of getting high. Doc Ock's logic is that so many rich people enjoyed being addicted to cocaine, He would auction the antidote samples from the burundite so that they could remain unaffected by his chemical. Wouldn't it have been more profitable to threaten drug cartels instead (since they won't have returning customership if his plan succeeds) or even suggest alliances with some of them ?



IV WITH GREAT POWERS, FUCK RESPONSIBILITY !

[ ASM 344-345 ,ASM 361-363, ASM Annual 28  ]
Theme Song : Beast In the field (Benedictum )

Now anyone addressing THIS plotline does it with the Venom one and says 2 sentences about it. I won't do so because not only does it warrant its own paragraph BUT to do that would be a disservice to the 4th greatest Spider-man villain. You might already know that THIS is David Michelinie's absolute best SPIDER-MAN story while the proposal and wedding arc was his best PETER PARKER story. And he even said in an interview that this is was almost more satisfying to write than Venom AND the last arc that he was able to write AS IT IS and without editorial interference. Also it sold extremely well without any gimmick and without advertising or publicity in other Marvel books.

Popular misconception always associates him with a certain 14 part cross-over (that I will discuss more in detail and with a lot more glee than I did Spider-Verse...)  but always IGNORES the (genuinely brilliant) first arc he fully presents himself in!

First off, the build-up.  David Michelinie had been planning to debut this fellow a full year or so before he fully appeared. We only meet part of him when Eddie's in jail. And wouldn't you know, he and Eddie share quite the disdain for each other. Then Eddie is rescued by his lover (and unwittingly from his cellmate who wanted to shiv him...), but it did not bother tell Brock that it was performing mitosis. It's now-earthborn (and according to Michelinie, STERILE) seed bonded with the bloodstream with our pal here who waited a little while before escaping properly. And thus Cletus Kasady became Carnage much to the surprise of the readership at the time (it's always good to read these stories while thinking of the context at the time).
It is quite astute that Peter does not meet him OUTRIGHT. He has to look out for the guy and the more clues he gets about Kasady, the less he wants to confront the guy. And when they DO meet , Carnage was basically TOYING with Spidey. He doesn't hate him or anything, in fact he finds Peter kind of fun. Fighting Carnage is a whole complete different story than fighting Venom or any of the other villains... it basically goes like a mixture of these www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_wCUT… www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmRS_m… .
AND even when Peter has to team-up with Eddie to stop him, Cletus was just playing with them and escaping for the lulz. He was just too arrogant or drunk on his own sense of powers to take either Venom or Spider-man seriously.

What always struck me most about Carnage is how compelling and unique a monster he was in Spider-man's world, given how simple the concept behind him is. There was a real jouissance and heft to his character that Michelinie did a great job of portraying, making him a walking horror that is desirable to observe. This is something many other writers miss completely about the character (and part of why Michelinie was not pleased when Marvel decided that other writers could write him and Venom...). A lot of times, they diminish the fear he instills and his tricky demeanor to make him just some arbitrary nut. But Michelinie's Carnage was juuuuust right: the living perversion of the American Dream. And there's nothing animalistic about him : it is PURE UNADULTERATED WILL.
 
And yet, after taking a new look at Michelinie's Carnage stories and the adaptations that respected his vision (the way the ASM 2 Video Game handled Cletus ? Utterly BRILLIANT. I could not care less whether the symbiote was an alien or man-made, what really matters to me is if they got the character right ! ), I came up to the conclusion that , monovalent as he is, Carnage is the perfect negative Spider-man (as well as the sign that Peter GREW UP. Cletus is his baptism of blood !) !
Spidey is all about the responsibility that his powers come with, Carnage is all about being hooked on said power for your own sake. While Web-head is plagued by self-doubt and a justifiable anxiety he still managed to grow up AND has loved ones to care about, Cletus seems at peace with who he is... and yet never got over the loneliness he suffered during his childhood (he only had ONE friend...and a teddy bear...), hence why he WANTS people to BE like him. The secret ? Michelinie's Spider-man acts like an average candid dude, but deep down he's an amazing person. Carnage however, for all his cruelty, ruthlessness and talk about chaos, is just an ordinary kid seeking what any ordinary person wants (he knows that BTW but will not say it out loud).
Well there's also Jameson's reaction towards them :
Towards Peter : "PARKER ! In My office NOW !"
Towards Cletus : " NO Carnage-dono, YAMATE !"

Well that's what I have to say ! I guess I will deal with the others in due time... Anyhow, dear public, let's end this with the proper tunes ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFoPP0…

P.S. : In case you're wondering , I've read "Renew your vows". As a Mary Jane fan, I am content. As a Venom fan, I felt like the comic was flipping me off copiously...Eddie Brock threatening a baby ? Fuck you comic ! Not for being bad, but for utterly WASTING what could have been brilliant !
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Da-Invader's avatar

https://vimeo.com/79697570 Do you have any thoughts on how this fan film portrayed Venom? Do you think they nailed it, or was he too villainous even for 80s' Venom's standards?