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.

[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.

[domino_blue]

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

[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.)

[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.

[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)

[thehefner]

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

[thehefner]

HA, comment twins!

[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.

[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.

[xammax]

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

[q99]

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

[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.

[biod]

GiantSpider!Carlie would still have been better though.

[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...

[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.

[nyadnar17]

Why would he tell her that? They have been dating for less than 6 months? A year? I don't think its smart to share a bank account with someone you are only dating, much less your secret ID.

[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.

[kevinroc]

Mary Jane told Peter earlier in Slott's run to come forward with Carlie.

What really upsets her is she's just called him out as Spidey and he is still lying to her face. She has major trust issues and from her perspective, the entire relationship was a lie. And he's insulting her and her intelligence by standing there and denying it.

And if he really cared about her, he would have chased after her instead of going to Dr. Strange and saying "What the hell, man?!"

(Again, the reason I never cared about Carlie was because it was clear from the beginning that she wasn't important. Just a distraction to create this eventual drama.)

[mullon]

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

[wizardru]

Let's be clear here: being Spiderman's pal is REALLY GODDAMN DANGEROUS. Being related to Spiderman is even worse.

Gwen Stacy: DEAD.
Captain Stacy: DEAD.
May Parker: Fiance dead. Stages Death. Threatened repeatedly. Shot. Brainwashed and turned against family.
Betty Brant: Husband becomes supervillain. Goes Insane.
Ned Leeds: Becomes Supervillain
Flash Thompson: Too many too list.
Anyone named Osborn: OMFG.

Carlie is being unfair here. Now, it's understandable why she'd react this way...but given his life history, it's really not surprising at all that Peter would keep his secret. I mean, they talk about the old Parker Luck...but really, compared to his friends, Peter is the luckiest guy around. I mean, DAMN.

[flint_marko]

Some of those had nothing to do with Peter, though. Not to mention, Carlie would still be in danger even if she didn't know his identity.

[filthysize]

But that's the disconnect I was talking about. Readers don't see her as awesome, but in-universe, everybody does. Even the ex fawns over her and thinks she's hot shit wrapped in gold foil. So when you've got this supposedly picture perfect character being betrayed and wronged, you've got to narratively bend over backwards to justify why she deserves it.

Consequently, why I've never been down with the old "I can't tell you because DANGER!" excuse is because the underlying implication of that is "I can't tell you because I don't trust you enough not to blab." It's a good reason not to have the whole world know, or not to have your villains know, but it's not a good enough reason not to tell the person you're sharing a life with, unless you just plain don't trust them to keep the secret. And finding out that your loved one doesn't trust you, no matter how right the decision is, can be very hurtful, which is what I interpreted Carlie's reaction to be.

I also find it insane to start a serious relationship with someone and hiding the fact that there's a potential life-threatening danger to either one of you. As you say, the potential is still there, and it's incredibly unethical to rob someone the opportunity to weigh in all the facts before they walk into a situation. Yeah, I understand that every superhero ever have this dilemma: "Al I want is a normal liiiiife." But it's impossible for me to get behind justifying the secrecy. That's why we appreciate the supportive love interests who do know, like how MJ and Lois used to be. Which is not to say I want them all to have this dynamic. I'm just saying that when a hero goes down this total secrecy route, you have to take the douchiness of it into account, and in this case, with Peter Parker and Carlie, I find the whole thing very misguided.

[shadowpsykie]

Anyone named Osborn: OMFG.

Hey, what happened to Harry....? after that whole "American Son" thing he just kinda disappeared... wasn't bringing him back on fo the big things about BND?