Amazing Spider-Man #673

[flint_marko]

Peter goes after Strange, demanding to know how Carlie could have uncovered his identity after his spell.



The thing he has to do is give MJ the antidote, since she still has her spider-powers.

Also, Kaine is now scarless, and from the looks of it I'm guessing he's going to be the new Scarlet Spider. I liked what they did with Kaine when they brought him back (before 'killing' him off), but I'm not too crazy about prettifying him and making him some sort of superhero. And why tease the possibility of bringing Ben back?

And Julia Carpenter, the new Madame Web (I still don't understand why they had to kill off the old one and make her the new one) apologizes to Peter about the loss that's to come.

Comments

[akodo_rokku]

AND CARLIE COOPER WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN.

[thehefner]

NOTE: CARLIE COOPER DIED ON THE WAY BACK TO HER HOME PLANET.

[crabby_lioness]

Those top two pages are the first time I've ever really liked the character.

Of course she's probably not gone for good. Probably will be right back after a six-issue arc.

[q99]

Well, as an *ex* who knows he's spider-man, she could be more interesting.

[domino_blue]

Is Marvel getting rid of the two most stupid ideas of the reboot...my god are they learning?

Re: Addendum to Mod Note

[fifthie]

The stupidest idea of the reboot was the reboot, and that's still there.

[icon_uk]

Carlie - I have to go now. My planet needs me.

"NOTE: Poochie Carlie died on the way back to his her home planet.)

[thehefner]

HA, comment twins!

[kevinroc]

I've always been fairly indifferent to Carlie because I didn't view her as important. Too new and too unpopular. So I didn't see a need to get attached or angry when we saw her. Just a kind of sigh.

All that being said, she had every right in the world to call Peter out on this. He deserved that. It's hard to see her not returning at some point because she knows but the question remains on what do you do? She can't be a love interest anymore.

Also, I'm glad the psychic blindspot is gone. That thing was way too convoluted.

[icon_uk]

she had every right in the world to call Peter out on this

Did she? Yes, he kept something from her, something important, but his reason for doing so was the usual, and fairly justifiable, one of superhero secret identities. He didn't do it to hurt her, or to spite her, but to try and keep her safer than she might well be if she knew. He certainly didn't do it to make his life easier.

I'd say it was comparable to certain real life examples like secret agents not being able to tell their family what they do for a living.

[shadowpsykie]

is it just me... or does Strange look a lot like Mephisto in that first panel?

also, yeah Carlie was actually interesting here, although her whining in that last panel of her's seems a little... harpy-ish.... or melodramatic...

i agree the "spell" was a stupid idea....

i'm still holding out hope that MJ stays a webslinger (it seems like Anya still is)

Mod Note

[salinea]

Could you avoid using words with a history of sexist uses like "harpy" please.

[mrstatham]

Carlie really, really doesn't get Peter, does she? It's utterly, utterly strawmannish of her to declare 'OMG, you're Spider-Man because you learned how to use your powers so fast!!' - Did she not see Mary Jane, or was she too busy being rubbish and turning into a giant spider? Or does she not understand that SOME people adapt better to certain new things than they do others?

Fortunately, I think most of us don't get her either, and can happily say good fucking riddance. Show her some respect? No thanks.

[fifthie]

I want to sincerely thank you for adding to my enjoyment of Carlie's exit.

That even her reason for figuring out Peter's secret ID is actually terrible bullshit really just makes it perfect.

[sherkahn]

If Carlie mattered to Peter, he could have stopped her.
Now that she knows, he could have told her about the Jackal, and that alone would have been enough to convince Carlie that not knowing would have been safer.

Oh well, now that we got that over with.

[biod]

You know Carlie, for that I won't even use my icon of you. Just sad that Peter's gone back to acting like a douche.

That said: "[Spider-Man's] a suit you put on to be like the rest of us".
Oh please tell me that's just her feeling angry and betrayed and not something Slott's actually going for. It didn't fit Superman when Bill said it, it doesn't fit Spider when Carlie does. Maybe Batman, but I am not opening that can of worms.

[biod]

GiantSpider!Carlie would still have been better though.

[xammax]

The conditions that mean I can buy Spider-Man again are starting to be fulfilled. According to Prophecy.

[misterbug]

I'm reminded instantly of the 1990s Valentine's Day special in which MJ - reacting to Peter's statement of 'Cool Guys Like Me' in quantifying some advice he gave to a nerd on-campus - gets his old horn rims and sweater vest out of their chest-of-drawers and reminds him that she married 'Peter Parker, the shy nerd who lived with his aunt'.

If Slott is trying to use Cooper as the voice of truth when she says 'Parker is just the mask', then he's just as much an idiot as she is. However, it looks more like he's just using that to demonstrate how utterly wrong for Peter she was all along.

If only he actually knew how to write Peter Parker, then maybe there'd be some hope for this title...

[starwolf_oakley]

If Slott is trying to use Cooper as the voice of truth when she says 'Parker is just the mask', then he's just as much an idiot as she is.

Well, it is like that line in Kill Bill Vol. 2: "Clark Kent is Superman's critique of the whole human race." The audience isn't sure if that is Quentin Tarantino's own opinion of Superman or not, but they are sure it isn't accurate (at least since 1986).

[filthysize]

Aaaand here it is, the biggest problem with Carlie Cooper. People want her gone because she's a poorly written character, but if you make her such a GREAT AWESOMESAUCE GIRLFRIEND in-universe, the moment you do something like this, you're going to make everyone realize that she's in the right and our lovable protagonist is a perennial fuck-up and a giant insensitive douchebag. And I'm not sure that's a personality audiences are supposed to associate with Peter Parker.

[mrstatham]

Except Peter has perfectly valid reasons not to tell her he's Spider-Man. It's an old chestnut, but the 'villains will hurt you to get to me' line is pretty on the mark here. I mean, Hell, she could've been dangerously hurt and not just humiliated by ending up nude in public with this story, and that's just because of some whacko turning everyone into spiders. If he told her, it opens up the door for everyone going after her or whatever, as per usual. Of course, the potential for that is still here.

And she's only in the right if you actually bought in to Slott's rather pathetic attempts to make her an awesome girlfriend; As it is, roller-derby's cooler when Ellen Page is doing it, and the tattoo stuff was a joke. Most fans seem to take every approach they've tried with her as a desperate, straw-clutching attempt to make her cool and likeable and someone worth keeping around. As it is, she's justifiably right in being angry about Peter lying to her, but you'd think she'd be more understanding about WHY he's lying.

[mullon]

So why is the art decent again (even though Peter still looks like a douche)?

Because..

[steverodgers5]

It's Stephano Caselli, and not (shudder) Humberto ramos.

If only the rest of the cross-over had had this type of art. I think I would have really enjoyed it, but alas..

[wizardru]

Hey, did they ever establish why MJ was like the last person to get Spider-Powers?

[stillanerd]

Yes. As shown last issue (and in a previous scans daily post I did) Mary Jane built-up a resistance to the virus because of living together with Peter and "sharing their toothbrushes" and what not for so many years. :-P

[stillanerd]

With regards to Peter and Carlie's break-up, I feel like this.

:-D

[his_spiffynesss]

What? The Ode to Joy part or the everything crashing down around him part?

[sinisterlink]

I love how in those last pages you can tell the whole time Dr. Strange is just thinking, "Peter, why are you so STUPID?! That's the last time I ever waste a spell on you."

As for Peter and Carlie breaking up...well, I wish I could say I cared at all. Maybe now Carlie can go back to being her own person instead of being "Peter's perfect girlfriend".

[cyberghostface]

At least Slott found a way to get rid of the blind spot, which never made sense to begin with and was used inconsistently throughout the duration of its tenure.

Also Carlie will probably return. There will be some grand reconciliation between the two where they profess each other's undying love one for another.

[terrykun]

Who was the other 'prize' of the Jackal's besides Kaine? Did they bring back Spidercide?

[akodo_rokku]

I thought he dug up Ben at one point, but I believe that was actually him and Spider-Cap digging up Kaine. He stole a big chunk of the Queen's corpse after she died though, that's probably it.

[silverzeo]

... wait WHAT? He unmasked himself to the Fantastic Four... he told Franklin about his own Uncle... and your telling me this weakens the spell? But... But... The Jackal knew, didn't he?

And what part of this spell said that it could keep ANYONE from finding out? how does that work? When someone gets close, like Aunt May doing lundary where Peter's Spidey-Jamas were left, do they get drowse and just forget what they're doing? And if this thing breaks, does that mean Aunt May will die? Making everything go back to they were before OMD... except Peter and MJ STILL weren't married?

[jcbaggee]

The official explanation was no matter how many clues they saw, they would never be able to connect the dots; kind of a magic "Hey, why did I come into this room again, oh hey that sure is shiny" whammy

[big_daddy_d]

Gotta be honest, I actually admire and respect that she put two and two together like that. If I'm surprised at anything it's that she's that upset considering how she seemed to be such a fan of Spidey and all. I do get she's upset that he never told her. When it comes to a relationship, secrets coming out and lies being exposed tends to be pretty disastrous. So..no Carlie bashing for me today.

[aximili]

I keep staring at your icon and wondering what the original source is...

[pyrotwilight]

That icon's from one of the later Marvel Zombies minis. Looking it up it seems to be from Marvel Zombies Return #1

http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=178488

[cypherfdp]

The end of an era, thank god. Time to go back to Peter being a complete douchebag who sleeps with random girls at clubs

[eyz]

Hummm... making way for MJ, much? -__-

And that epilogue with Strange... smelled it coming miles away! (after the retcon to be precise)

[fifthie]

I enjoy how Carlie's exit involved her being judgmental as fuck.

[sindra]

I know, right? Did someone decide to put of a shot of "uppity bitch" in their coffee this morning?

I mean, no questions of "What were you thinking?! Why did you lie to me?! Why would you think it'd be ok to hide this to me?", that would facilitate him actually being able to explain why he did what he did.

Just "Yup, you lied. You're an ass. I'm gone."

Which, you know.....I'm ok with for this character.