Podcast # 393 Spider-History October 1999

6 Comments

1. This was actually my favorite era (Revelations to vol 2 #30) Makes me even less popular than defenders of the Clone Saga 😛

2. thank you much! I’d skipped a few issues post-reboot/pre-JMS (wonder why…)
   definitely gonna check that out!

3. It was revealed during the Howard Mackie/Erik Larson Spider Slayer story that he couldn’t do it because Jameson would feel he would have no motivation against Spider-Man if he knew who it was (extremely stupid plot). Not to mention the Emotional Spider Slayer that Smythe sent out could home in on the people who Spider-Man had an emotional connection to. Yet, never explained how it could see people miles out in the city but you know comic books. Howard Mackie besides admitting he was burned out and dealing with some health problems at the time focused on aspects of Fantastic Four because he was a fan of Bryne’s work on the book. Reason why the Negative Zone was in so many of his stories at the time. It is true about what George said, there were several interviews that the higher ups above the EIC wanted Peter single again. Quesada did do it for ego but it wasn’t like the higher ups were telling him not to. I remember in an interview a few years later with Lobdell and Niecrez that they said that Bob Harris was dealing with a lot of higher up influence on the books at the time. It wasn’t that he wasn’t doing his job but he wasn’t meeting company goals at the time and what lead to his firing.

4. as soon as I saw the “album art” for this installment, I was hoping they’d address the cliffhanger ending of Peter Parker #10 with Jonah about to unmask an unconscious Spider-Man. Was that resolved in another title or did Mackie just forget about it? I know it’s been rendered moot by Civil War, then OMD/BND, but 14 year old me would still love to know what happened.

5. Funny about the Stacy siblings. Paul was supposed to be revealed to be bi-polar but at the time in the late 90s. That seemed to be controversal, so they decided to not reveal it. They planted it with Mary Jane almost drilling Jill about why he was like that. They even talked about between Jill and Arthur that Paul stopped taking his medication but Bob Harris thought it was too “ER” and dropped it. Howard Mackie revealed it later on, I forgot where about the plot. The entire thing with Senator Ward was to tie into X-Men: The Hidden Years that Bryne was doing where they banished the Z’nox to the Negative Zone. They picked up on that plot point but by then, everyone wanted the story to be over. I think the biggest thing that Dezago and Wreingo did with the Looter was dragging the entire mystery about meteorite out. Just like Jill showing up with Peter out of nowhere at times. SHIELD agents just happen to show up just as someone was going to say what the meteorite was. The original story to resolve it was dropped, which was suppose to be the second honeymoon with them on a cruise. It was going to be revealed the meteorite was really an egg and the Looter acting the way around it was because he got into a “mother hen” though process. Even though he tried to use it as a ray gun at times (I don’t get that either). Yeah, it just got to the point there were these dragging plots with no to horrible resolutions. Things that would make sense but oh no, sales were too low. Let’s reboot!

6. I can’t sit near the front of the theater at movies ever since my toilet blew up in my face, so I know what its like when something blows up on you.

   GASP! A new podisode!