Amazing Spider-Man #25 - The Osborn Identity: Part One

[history79]

13 pages of a 40-page story and a 75-page issue

Comments

[reveen]

Y'know, I'd love to see an article or something chronicling the various character shifts and changes of styles Aunt May has gone through over the past 30 years. She's been a Granny Classic, an Ex-hippie Cool Old Person from Ultimate, and the high class old lady thing she's got going on now. Supporting characters like Alfred or JJJ have stayed roughly static over decades. She's switched it up more than most other comic characters I can think of.

[dcbanacek]

I like the Marisa Tomei version myself. :)

[cyberghostface]

lol from Rosemary Harris to Sally Field to Marisa Tomei... at this rate Jennifer Lawrence will end up playing her in the next reboot or two.

[cyberghostface]

Interestingly enough Alfred started out as a bumbling overweight detective who stumbled upon the Batcave. The current incarnation that we all know and love came from synergy with the 1943 serial.

With May the changes actually came because of Ultimate May. I remember reading that the reason why she found out who Pete was was because of how strong she was in USM so they had her discover his identity and make her less of a walking heart attack in the 616 titles. (Which of course regressed as a result of OMD)

[zachbeacon]

This is Maybot 3.0. The real May died in Amazing #400. After seeing how unbearably angsty Peter got without her in the Clone Saga, SHIELD concocted that stupid "actress" story and forced Norman Osborn to play along (he got the Thunderbolts as a reward for keeping his mouth shut).

Maybot 1.0 was obviously defective (explaining all the wildly out of character stuff JMS had her doing). Luckily the Kingpin had it killed right after it talked Peter into outing himself in CW.

Maybot 2.0 was too effective. She was quetly decommissioned after Peter became an independent adult and SHIELD couldn't use the LMD to spy on him.

Now they're over compensating by making Maybot 3.0 a helicopter parent.

(My head cannon makes more sense than actual Marvel continuity. Seriously, wasn't May buried alive for a while in the Millar run? How does an old lady with a heart condition survive that? Also this is still more plausible than the actress retcon)

[mastermahan]

That *does* make way more sense than Dead Actress May.

[burkeonthesly]

I'm behind this 100%.

[strejdaking]

"explaining all the wildly out of character stuff JMS had her doing"

Whut?

[bizarrohulk]

"The Uncle Ben Foundation"? What, does it give out free rice to the starving?

[mastermahan]

Why *is* that the name, instead of, say, The Ben Parker Foundation? Ben's first name wasn't Uncle.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

So what led to Peter learning Mandarin that was so important as to highlight it?

[deh_tommy]

Based on the books I've read, comic authors usually put these symbols (< >) over sentences to show the characters aren't speaking the language they normally would, and put an asterix to say which language they are speaking.

[sarahnewlin]

Silver Sable! Hope she lives

[mastermahan]

Oh, May, the reason you don't have grandchildren is that Peter's first-born was either stillborn or kidnapped by Norman Osborn, and the second was retconned out of possible existence when Peter sold his marriage to the devil.

[starwolf_oakley]

First pregnancy was retconned as well. Quesada specifically said "Mary Jane was never pregnant."

[bradygirl_12]

May's creeping me out a little in those early panels.