Overlooked Gems: “One Moment in Time”

Today we will be taking a look at One Moment in Time in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN vol. 1 #638-641 by Joe Quesada and Palo Rivera from 2010.

Before I can begin discussing why this story is such a profound masterpiece, I must first address its predecessor from 2007, One More Day.

As I’m sure most of us are aware, One More Day is a universally-beloved classic that is widely considered to be one of the greatest Spider-Man tales ever told. In this brilliant book, Peter Parker makes a deal with Mephisto (basically Marvel’s version of Satan) in order to save his Aunt May’s life from a bullet wound his own actions carelessly inflicted.

Now what exactly would the ruler of Hell want from Spider-Man in return? His soul? His life? His memories, perhaps? Nope, his marriage.

Why exactly is the Lord of Darkness’s ultimate evil goal to split up a couple?

Because their love is so pure and holy that taking away their marriage (not their love; their marriage) would apparently be an offense to God. That isn’t silly or ham-fisted at all. I mean, it’s not like there’s an obvious agenda here on Marvel’s part, right?

So like the true hero that we all know and love, Peter makes the deal.

Keep in mind that Peter made this deal not for the betterment of his aunt, but so he wouldn’t feel guilty over her demise.

Now a very small minority of fans would say that Spider-Man making a deal with the most evil being in existence for completely selfish reasons is wildly out of character, but they would be wrong. By turning our hero into a weak-willed, childish, unlikable git, Joe Quesada has successfully humanized him more than ever before. I mean come on, who wants to read about a character that stands by their principles and accepts responsibility for their actions instead of taking the easy way out like a chump? Not me!

Furthermore, Quesada finally succeeded in doing something that should have been done a long time ago: eliminating the marriage between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Mary Jane was always such a boring and unlikable character that fans clearly didn’t care about as evidenced by the fact that her marriage to Peter lasted two entire decades despite numerous attempts by Marvel to get rid of it beforehand. And even then, an alternate universe series that featured them as a married couple was created years after their break-up to cash in on the couple’s popularity–all because the fanbase clearly doesn’t care about their relationship.

She is also one of the most popular and famous supporting characters in all of comics, but that’s a pretty minor and insignificant detail. There’s also the matter of her and Peter being one of the most beloved comic book couples of all time…

https://www.ranker.com/list/the-many-gi … ionId=1151

http://comicsalliance.com/greatest-roma … es-comics/

http://screenrant.com/best-comic-book-couples-ever/

http://www.cbr.com/the-20-best-comic-book-couples/

http://www.truthfulcomics.com/blog/my-b … uples-list

http://news.entertainmentearth.com/2015 … el-and-dc/

http://www.ranker.com/list/top-10-marve … rkangel123

https://moviepilot.com/posts/3921176

https://www.theyoungfolks.com/top-10-2/ … k-couples/

http://www.craveonline.com/site/643715- … #/slide/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IiizV-HK0Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru_vDMO_VG0

http://majorspoilers.com/2015/02/12/top … k-couples/

https://www.popmythology.com/the-10-mos … tionships/

https://news.dailytoast.com/blogs/15-be … ok-couples

http://jakes-take.com/2013/02/the-10-be … k-history/

http://www.star2.com/culture/books/book … in-comics/

https://fandomfactory.com/2017/02/14/16 … couples/4/

http://www.cltampa.com/arts-entertainme … ok-couples

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/v … antasy/#/2

https://www.girlsaskguys.com/entertainm … ic-books-3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIG4WrCNxyY&t=370s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV8zpgfwJ7k

…but who really cares about any of that?

Besides, think of all the great love interests we’ve gotten in Mary Jane’s absence! Characters like:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such chemistry! What was so special about Mary Jane anyway?

https://www.cbr.com/12-times-mary-jane- … pider-man/

Absolutely nothing.

Anyway, after One More Day was met with widespread acclaim, Joe Quesada decided to make what everyone wanted: a followup! And sure enough, three years later, that’s what he did.

His goal with One Moment in Time was to show how and why Peter and Mary Jane never got married as a result of the deal. This was a fantastic idea because that was clearly the question every fan was demanding answers to.

But despite being rather well-known and discussed among the fandom, One Moment in Time still tends not to receive anywhere near the amount of attention that One More Day does. Well I’m here to remedy that!

Our tale begins with the answer to a long-lingering question: what did Mary Jane whisper to Mephisto?

You see, toward the end of One More Day, Mary Jane made a secret side-deal with Mephisto that Peter and the audience were unaware of.

So after three years of speculation and uncertainty, what did Mary Jane offer Mephisto?

That Mephisto has to leave Peter alone if she convinces him to take the deal…a deal he was ready to take regardless. So in other words, Mary Jane really didn’t offer Mephisto anything. Boy, Quesada sure knows how to deliver a satisfying payoff!

Cut to the present where we find our estranged couple meeting at Mary Jane’s apartment to discuss what went wrong in their relationship.

We then flashback to…

Oh I’m sorry, I must have accidentally posted pages from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN vol. 1 Annual #21.

Huh?

Wait…

Quesada actually just re-used pages from the famous wedding annual?

This might seem odd at first, but you’ll adjust pretty quickly when you witness how seamlessly Paul Ryan’s classic artwork transfers over to artist Palo Rivera’s new art.

See? Can’t even tell the difference!

So just like before, Spidey defeats Electro and his henchmen. But this time…

So Mephisto’s entire plan to sabotage Peter and Mary Jane’s wedding is to transform into a bird and release one of Electro’s punk henchmen from a police car? If you think this sounds stupid so far, trust me; it’s going to turn out as a work of pure genius.

Meanwhile…

More annual #21 pages?

Okay then…wait, what’s this?

What in the world is this? That wasn’t from the original annual…

Neither was that!

Wait…wait, I see what Quesada is doing; he’s adding new scenes that place further emphasis on the characters’ doubt about whether or not Peter and Mary Jane should even get married.

That’s great!

It feels completely organic and not as though Quesada is merely using the characters as mouthpieces for his own “single Spidey” agenda.

Later…

Like I said; seamless transitions!

Anyway, Spidey comes across the escaped thug from earlier trying to murder the police officer who arrested him.

Thankfully, Spidey swoops in to save the day.

But then…this happens.

A run of the mill, out of shape hoodlum manages to hurl a cement block nearly a dozen feet in the air and nail Spidey in the head with pinpoint accuracy despite his spider-sense warning him. But wait, it gets better!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Peter misses his wedding with Mary Jane.

So just to recap, Spider-Man, the superhero who has lifted tons of debris while on the verge of exhaustion…

…knocked The Hulk flat on his back…

…single-handedly defeated The Juggernaut…

…trounced The X-Men…

…beat Firelord, the former herald of Galactus, unconscious with his bare hands…

…defeated countless supervillains and more threats than one can possibly imagine…

…is taken out by some overweight nobody schmoe implausibly hurling a cement block at his face and then accidentally landing on top of him.

Well if that doesn’t make you want to read the rest of this story to see what other terrific twists Joe Quesada has in store, I don’t know what will!

I could go on and on about the many other excellent bits in this story; like how Aunt May survives her gunshot wound (the power of love!) or why Peter and Mary Jane eventually break-up (because she can suddenly no longer handle his life as Spider-Man), but after the sample I treated you to above, I’m sure you’re all just dying to go out and read it for yourselves!

If you’re a Peter and Mary Jane fan, you owe it yourself to read this work of art! By the end of this elegant extravaganza, you’ll be experiencing so many different emotions that you won’t be sure whether to laugh, cry or repeatedly bang your head against a wall!