Now it’s a month later. And this is the only issue of this story to come out this month. If these were 4 issues of ASM, we’d expect 1 per month, but it’s not, so we expect 3 the first month and then 1 next month, and it did not happen that way. The Spider-Titles missed a combined 3 months during Back In Black, and now SSM 41 & ASM 545 each arrive a month late. And we all knew One More Day was coming, of course. And we all had a pretty good idea it would do what it does, though they officially kept it all under wraps. There was much turmoil. So the delays only made it worse. The little girl from the end of last issue looks like some kind of troll on this cover. The middle guy at bottom looks like Stephen King.
Boy, that credit text is not in perspective. Why even do that if not well?
Can you guess? She tipped it pretty hard this page. The girl lectures Peter in a way so vague it doesn’t really make sense about his lifestyle, then says her job is just to lead him to the next step. She goes down an alley and disappears. Following her brings Peter to a park bench with the middle guy from the cover on it. He says he’s a tester for video games, and says people like him get into that job because something is missing in their life. What on Earth are you yammering about, man?
JMS just kind of crapping on his own audience. But we’re nerds, we’re used to that.
You just have to imagine comicdom assembled, as Stan might say, reading this comic, assuming we know what’s going to happen, wondering what on Earth we’re looking at. PLUS the delays. This was among the least-satisfying reads in the contemporary history of comics.
I think life will provide you with plenty of evidence that the nerd, hated because he’s soooo smart and special, who will one day show those mean ol’ jocks by succeeding in life while they fail, is unmitigated horseshit, made up by losers who don’t take responsibility for their choices. I think back to my own high school days, where all the smartest kids were also popular kids. It’s bitter, self-aggrandizing, unpleasant people who aren’t nearly as smart (or even as ostracized) as they think who tell themselves this myth to feel better about their paradoxical high & mighty attitude toward others. And in my experience, rather than outperforming the popular kids as adults, they work at Walmart. I think the last 20 years of popular entertainment and internet malefactors have been a grand experiment showing us just how bad things are when the self-described nerds win. But no one’s looking for social commentary from me in the middle of this comic, so anyway. This guy tells Peter he’ll “take him where he needs to go,” then gives a long speech about how he’s rich and successful and can have anything he wants, but he’d trade it all for “her,” for a woman who honestly loved him. He leads Peter to a stoop with a mysterious woman in red on it, who says she’s always been right there.
Thus we learn, as if we couldn’t guess, that the pathetic nerd stereotype and the business man are alternate Peters, where he didn’t get bit by the spider, one where he “turned his rage inward” and one where he “turned his rage outward,” neither living a full life. Remember when this was a superhero comic book? Those were fun times. He’s told they’re just 2 of a zillion alternate possibilities, etc etc. He asks about the little girl, and is told he’s not ready to hear that one yet, but come on. A little redheaded girl who says she has a smart dad and a beautiful mom? We know what she is. The lady goes on to say he’s already failed. Everyone told him May is going to die and there’s nothing he can do about it. “But I can.”
Yes.
I think I just have to run this. Me summarizing it wouldn’t be sufficient.
Good night, folks! Tip your waitresses! I’ll save my commentary for next post. This month’s backmatter is, naturally, Mephisto’s handbook entry and a reprint of the Silver Surfer comic he first appeared in. This pointless backmatter cost money, by the way. These issues are a dollar more than the ones before them. Not only are they making you read this stupid dreck, they’re shanking you for it. The nerve of these people.