So, this is the real end of Brand New Day. The next issue will be Big Time, something that I'm sure many fans are looking forward to. This issue is a really long issue with lots of sub stories in it. Here's my attempt to review it at one go.

Main Story
The opening scene is of a man who just got out of prison, getting a coffee at the same place that Rhino met Oksana. There we see a photo of Oksana in memory of her (She became the wife of the Rhino, who became good for a while, but died)

The next scene is of Peter and his moody friend Carlie. They were supposed to be picking costumes for a Halloween party. Carlie however is upset and does not want to go. She is upset at Peter for not making a move ( in short words). I am really not a big fan of Carlie, but lets carry on. Peter is then seen on the phone, explaining to Michelle how he will be late meeting Vin for his release from prison of some sort.  Vin is Michelle's brother who was a dirty cop.

In the next scene, Peter walk out of the store alone, and witnesses a kidnap by Overdrive ( some goon who can change cars into awesome cars). Peter uses a Spider-Man Halloween costume, since his is in the wash, and goes after the crook and catches him ( in short).

Michelle is seen next, surprised to see Peter already with Vin, early for once. Vin talks about Carlie with Peter ( he used to have a thing for Carlie). Peter says that he doesn't think anything will result from his relationship with her though.

Vin is next seen at the police station, walking free, approaching Carlie, claiming he needs her to listen to him. That night, everyone arrives for the Halloween party, which is also the last time we will ever see Harry since he is going into hiding to protect his son.

Peter arrives at the party dressed as Jonah Jameson Jr. He then sees Felicia at the party with Vin, who looks stunning as ever ( at least for this art). This Felicia however turns out to be Carlie, dressed as the Black Cat. Apparently Vin convinced her to come to the party.

In probably one of the more interesting scenes, Vin approaches Harry saying that his father ( Norman) sends a message to take care of the kid. He then lifts his sleeve showing a tatoo of the green goblin. After seeing Carlie with Vin, Peter needs to go out to get some air. There he sees MJ, dressed as Jackpot, who to my disliking convinces Peter to get together with Carlie. With that, Peter walks in the house, finds Carlie and asks her to be his girlfriend. The first story ends with them kissing in the kitchen.

Story 2 - Honor thy Father


After the party, Vin walks out to be greeted by Harry. Harry, somehow electrocutes Vin, threatening him never to threaten his son again. He then punches Vin bloody, wipes his hands and walks off.

Story 3 - Stand off
This story was really a waste. We see Mayor Jameson making a new law stating that citizens are not to touch public property, and that such things, like repair, for instance are for those paid to do it. Later we see that a lamp post has fallen and is obstructing traffic. Spidey tries to move it but is stopped by the police. After much negotiating, Spidey says he will lift it, so that the traffic can flow until the crane comes. Then the crane can lift it.

He holds the lamp post till the crane is 5 mins away. He then puts it down as ordered by the police, only to have the mayors car crash right into it. Turtled in the car, Spidey refuses to help Jameson out until he revokes the new law he had just made. Jameson eventually agrees and things are set back to normal.

Story 4 - Norah last day 
Peter notices Norah is having a bad day. He finds out that she is moving out of New York but does not want to tell why. That night, Spidey meets Norah, takes her around NYC, and then fishes out that Norah is leaving because her mother says she is not being a productive reporter in the city. Spidey advises her to stay and to help change the city as a reporter. The next day, Norah is back to normal, and is staying in NY.

Story 5 - American Hero
This story features Flash Thompson, former classmate of Peter, who looked up to Spider-Man. He went to the army and came back without legs. He recently wrote an article stating how he looked up to Spidey as an example to follow.

We see Flash by himself in an alley when he is attacked by muggers. He fights them off as much as he can till Spidey appears and helps him out. After the action the two chat. At the end of it all, we find that both parties look up to the other for inspiration.

Story 6 - You Again?
This is the story of Mia, the girl who kissed Peter at the very first issue of BND ( 101 issues ago) Apparently she was trying to get Harry's attention.

88 issues ago, she was standing outside the club waiting to catch a glimpse of Harry, hwom she is very much interested in.

79 issues ago, we see her at the FEAST looking for Peter, still hoping he can get her close to Harry.

56 issues ago we see her still looking for Peter at Jameson's Campaign headquarters, where Peter was supposed to be.

52 issues ago, Mia is talking to Venom, who at that time is posing as Spidey, asking questions about Peter. Venom later eats her dog.

47 issues ago, Mia hopes to get Peter's attention by catching Aunt May's wedding flowers. Unfortunately for her, MJ appears and steals the show.

44 issues ago, she finally meets Peter outside the coffee bean and exchanges numbers with him. We later find out that it was actually the Chameleon posing as Peter.

In this issue, she appears in the kitchen, witnessing Peter and Carlie kissing. Annoyed and depressed, she goes outside to the hall where she meets Harry. Harry talks to her and explains how he's leaving for good. Upon hearing this, she gets upset and storms out the house.

Thoughts
This was definitely a fantastic way to end Brand New Day. Fortunately I have some time on my hands to do a review of such a long issue. (Even if it is a few days late) The issue ends with some previews for coming stories, featuring Spider-girl, and an Osborn series. See the video for Big Time on the right side bar.

So, after quite a long delay, the issue is finally out. Amazing Spider-Man 641 - the finale to OMIT. I've got to say that they have done a great job finally cleaning things up. Personally however, I feel that the conclusion to OMIT is kinda shallow. This series definitely ruined my image of Mary Jane's once perfect character. Anyway, lets get on with it.

The Story


In the last issue, we found out that Dr Strange was behind the mind-wipe, that caused everyone to forget Peter's identity. Dr Strange was last seen discussing with Tony Stark and Reed Richards if they should proceed to mind-wipe the whole world, including themselves.

Don't ask me how, but at the end of the day, the three decided that it was best to carry out Peter's request. In the midst of discussion however, they worry quite a bit that something might go wrong, and that the results of their actions may catch up to them someday.

Dr Strange eventually returns to the physical realm asking Peter to get into the force shield he had created. Everyone outside the force shield would have no memory of Peter's identity. Peter goes in by himself, but realizes that he needs MJ to remember as well. His reasoning is that he can't live a life with MJ, lying to her about his identity.

Anyway, he runs out of the Shield to get MJ. Dr Strange is furious at this and tells Peter that there could be dangerous consequences. The two stay in the shield until the process is over.

In the next scene, MJ wakes up and is worrying about her family, friends and Aunt Anna - especially after receiving a death threat to all her family by the crook in the last issue. Peter explains to her that she is safe, and that no one remembers his identity anymore.

MJ is pretty upset that Peter allowed herself to remember though. She is essentially afraid that someone might find out about his identity again. If that happens, the process starts all over again. MJ can't live knowing that her friends and family might be in danger because of her relationship with Peter. (Lame, but acceptable)



As such, they break up! and say goodbye to all this



Back in real time, MJ kisses Peter and tells him that she loves him ( yay! ), but wants him to move on because she is not good enough for him ( what? ). She also explains that  there is someone else out there who is perfect for him.

It basically ends like that. Although, I'd say its a pretty loose ending, Peter, in the comic seems to be extremely happy and 'set-free.' As stated in the last page of the issue, he feels like he can take on the world. Very well then...

Okay,
So I do not usually, and have not been following the Dark Avengers. However, there has been some recent hype about Dark Avengers # 10 with the return of Mephisto. I have not yet read it, but I believe fans are hoping to see One More Day addresses in the next issue - Dark Avengers # 11

Here is a quick summary for what happened in Dark Avengers # 10 by Combustible Pumpkins on the Spider-man reviews discussion board.

To sum it up, folks were disappearing in a small town so Norman sent the Sentry over where he mysteriously disappears. Norman arrives shortly afterward with Hammer and the rest of the DA only for them to disappear as well. Last scene Norman's in front of five or six villains who were mostly cosmically or mystically powered, one of them being Mesphito. A lot of us were hoping the OMD deal would turn out a big event to straighten out BND's continuity since it's in quite a mess now.

Anyhow, I checked out the preview for Dark Avengers # 11 and saw this image



Although there is no dialogue in this preview, much like the previews for the Clone Saga, we can obviously tell that they will be addressing Gwen Stacy and her pregnancy from Norman, which as we know, resulted in the goblin twins being born. ( Sins Past )

For those of you who do not know, Sins Past was series before One more Day. In this series, it was revealed that Norman Osborn had sex with Gwen, who gave birth to two kids later. Obviously before she died.

These kids had abnormal growth due to the Goblin blood in them. They grew up faster than normal, were raised secretly by Norman to believe that Peter/ Spider-man and killed their mother. It was a very interesting, but controversial title.

As we know, since BND, no one, including Norman remembers Spider-man's identity. As such, there is no good reason why he would have killed Gwen Stacy. (Goblin killed Gwen as a way to get to Peter aka Spider-man).

Now that he no longer remembers, he must be confused as to the reason he killed her. The image above shows a floating pregnant Gwen, and Norman Osborn aka the green goblin aka leader of the Dark Avengers, in a Spider-man costume! How cool is that?

I will be getting this comic, and if it is worth reviewing, there will be a review up soon.

So, I was just browsing through a comic thread over at the CBR forum. I came across a topic regarding the JMS run prior to OMD. In the thread,there were some scans that brought back to mind why I liked Pre -BND so much.

Of course, there was a more responsible Peter Parker ( I suppose it comes with being married as well), who's situation in life was much different to the current one. I am not here to criticize the current BND run. The new story is completely different from the old one, and does have its own interesting stories.

Nevertheless, I have to admit that there is much to miss from the old, married Spider-man character. Here I will be highlighting his relationship with Mary Jane - one of the many reasons Anti BND fans are Anti BND. Check out this panel below.

I do not remember what was the situation in this comic. But obviously, Peter is not gonna be cheating on Mary Jane with a scantily dressed seducer girl. Let me see, who is it that this chic here reminds me of? White hair, blue eyes, appeared in ASM 606, sound familiar?

Now check out this scan below. This is what happens when you make jokes about Mary Jane. I do recall reading this, just forgot what issue it was. It was obviously during the time that Spider-man and family were staying at the Stark tower.






In the panels above, Mary Jane must have done something really bad, that I do not remember. Wolverine then makes some unnecessary comment and out he goes the unbreakable window.

Well, I hope Marvel restores this marriage at some point. In the mean time, we're back to Brand New Day. Peter is single, Mary Jane is last seen looking at Spidey and Black Cat making out, and Kaine back in town.


ps. I wonder if the new Aunt May even remembers living in the Stark Tower. Does she remember her crush of some sort aka Jarvis?

While waiting for the Amazing Spider-Man #607 issue to be released I decided to take a look at some old issues -before and devil came into the picture and turned things upside down.

Over the years, Spider-man had developed and grown as a character. From the initial high school kid, to college, to marriage, having marriage problems, landing a job as a teacher, revealing his identity to Aunt May.

Peter Parker has taken many many years to grow a number of years older. Some people did not like the idea of a grown Spider-man. As such, recently they have changed the Spider-man story what we know as One More Day. The reason for doing this was because Marvel wanted Peter to keep his image as a struggling, unlucky guy, who is single.


I will not take sides and argue as to whether or not this was a good decision. Not on this website at least. But personally, I would have liked to see Spider-man develop as a character, and yes, even grow old. An old Peter Parker does not mean that there has to be an old Spider-man.

Marvel is highly capable of introducing a successor if needed. After erasing the marriage, we know that anything is possible.

Below is an image taken from an issue where Spider-man goes into the future and sees himself... and yes, he is old. Personally, I like the suit with the jacket.

This is how I would have preferred Spider-man to age. Ultimate Spider-man,the newer comic series in which Peter Parker is back in high school (just not as nerdy as the original), can do all the single guy stuff. It would have been good to see the Marvel Universe 616, Spider-man mature and progress.

Anyway, this is just a quick look into the past and what could have developed from the Amazing Spider-man comic. Not to mention a happily ever after life of some sort for the hero.






Here we have Peter thanking God for his wife, Mary Jane in bed. No wonder, Mephisto wanted to end the marriage. And so ends the happily ever after..for now.

In the meantime, back in real time, the single, depressed Spider-man is hoping to get another chance with the Black Cat! Coming in issue ASM # 607 tomorrow.

Peter Parker - Mary Jane = Desperate, lost guy who is thinking of hooking up with a woman who does not like Peter Parker.