Spider-Man

I have collected comic books off and on for over 30 years. I started collecting Spider-Man in the early 70's. I quit collecting when I got married in 1978. When I resumed collecting in the mid 80's I did not buy Spider-Man because there were two different Spider titles and my finances were limited. I started buying the title again in 2001 when one of my favorite writers, J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, started writing the series. I liked what he did, although a lot of people didn't. I stopped buying about two and a half years ago when finances once again dictated that I quit collecting comics. Now finances are good again and in a couple of weeks I will resume buying comics. However I will not be buying Spider-Man, at least the main version. Marvel puts out a couple of other lines, the Ultimate line and the Adventures line. I may buy one of those versions, I just haven't decided yet.

So why am I dropping Spider-Man? I do not like what they have done to him. For a quick overview of what has happened in the past, go here. Basically the powers that be at Marvel did not like his being married. Why I don't know. I thought it enhanced his image. To eliminate his marriage they had Spider-Man make a deal with Marvel's devil, Mephisto. To save Aunt May's life, he gave up his marriage. I am very glad I wasn't buying the title then because I would have been mad at myself for wasting my money to buy it. I have changed as a collector. I used to be a completist, wanting every issue of a title whether the story was good or not. Not any more. Comics are simply too expensive to buy something you don't like. I have read 8 pages of the new Spider-Man. They had a preview on MySpace and that clinched my decision. Aunt May was supporting Peter. He seems to have become a slacker. One nice thing about The Captain Comics Board is others will be buying the book so I can follow what is going on and if it gets interesting I will buy it again. Until then I if I want to read Spider-Man I have most of the Marvel Essential Spider-Man's, which reprint his earlier adventures. Before I forget, here is someone else who agrees with me about the direction the book is headed, another friend from the Captain Comics board who calls himself Cascadian.

Countdown is getting better. it is now 7/2.