The "waterboarding" thing is definitely not a normal thing for Spider-Man to do--but so was basically leading a strike force to save the world. In a lot of ways, Peter was playing the role that Captain America does in the Avengers (and Steve had a recent mini-controversy with torture in Secret Avengers, too). I personally don't believe stuff like water-boarding and torture doesn't work in real-life, but I can take it in limited doses for the more hyperbolic nature of superhero comics.
If anything, the only problem I have with it is that the next issue they mention that they could get Sandman to help, tell him that if Ock succeeds, then Marko's daughter will most definitely die, and Spidey mentions that they probably shouldn't have used the acid bath treatment. Uh...if you thought of that right there, then maybe you should have at least tried using the daughter as leverage BEFORE you brought out the acid.
I will have to disagree about the "the jokes don't make me take the stakes seriously" thing. Yes, his humor is used to piss off his enemies, but it's also a defense mechanism for himself to have power over a daunting situation. I think him making jokes, even if they're just to himself, in this kind of situation is perfectly in character.
The Civil War novelization...makes sense. I'm sure it was mostly just to slim down things for everything in general. Doesn't make the parts you took out sound any less horrible, though. I will say this, though--Tigra being into Spider-Man isn't THAT crazy on a basic level. Not everyone's into the chiseled bodybuilder look--if you don't believe me, look around Tumblr for five minutes and you're bound to see more than a couple of girls salivating over Benedict Cumberbatch.
On the Astonishing #51 variant cover...as much as it annoys me, Breevort's response makes sense. Also, don't you think they're going to expect something like people drawing in Peter/MJ stuff for the sketch variant? I don't see how that's going to change their minds. Also, I don't see the whole "half of them are divorced or dead" thing being a good argument for Peter/MJ because all those fowled-up marriages still happened. It is kind-of an apples/oranges.
Yeah, the "Spider-Man saved Spain's economy" thing was...strange. I mean, the trip to NYC thing is a decent idea. The nekkid-drawing of Elektra idea makes more sense to me.
"Spider-Man! Make it rain!" That was hilarious.
"This is like going to Batman: Mask of the Phantasm looking for Kevin Conroy and getting Carrot Top." Again, I think this is a bad comparison, since this situation is a completely different show with different producers and creators, and this other character is not even a big player in the whole show. A better comparison is probably the Justice League: Crisis on Two Worlds where Batman was voiced by one of the shitty Baldwins who's name I don't remember--sure, I would have prefered Conroy, but they're not obligated to cast Conroy for every Batman related thing on the planet.
Good episode.
![[smilie=spidey_dude.gif]](./images/smilies/spidey_dude.gif "spidey_dude")
It said there were too many attachments for email, so I'll just post them here I guess. Let it be known though I'd like to be exempt from the contest, if I win George can keep the trade or give it to someone else. I'm just doing this for fun, and idk how my folks would feel about me getting comics in the mail from a late 30's Texan man I met online. 
I got pictures with them and wished I had remembered to print out a Love Crawlspace page for the pictures.
