Friday, January 23, 2009

About the Spider-Man Obama Comic



Here's my advice:

Don't buy it.

Ignore it. Ignore the hype. Ignore the fact that a President is on a cover (ZOMG, we've NEVER seen THAT before!). Ignore the fact that it's Spider-Man meeting the new President.

It's a marketing gimmick. That's all. And so far it's worked perfectly.

The fact of the matter is that this is nothing new. This is not some hot item that'll be worth thousands of dollars in a few years. This thing is entering it's THIRD PRINTING already. No one wants to spend millions of dollars on an item that isn't rare.

And you could have Jesus appear in the comic for all I care saying how much he loves Spider-Man, it WON'T undue him making a literal deal with the devil himself.

So don't buy it. Don't try to recreate the Superman #75 debacle from the early 90s. Don't support a book whose main protagonist supports solving your problems by negotiating with evil.

Just don't.

EDIT: Because of a continual attempt at spamming, I'm closing comments on this one. ‎

22 comments:

The Cheap-Arse Film Critic said...

Dude.

Let it go.

Cecilia said...

and here I was asking myself if you were ever going to say something about it XD

are you going to review it on video?? XD (I think I already know the answer... but I couldn't help but ask DX)

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Dude.

Let it go."

I will when Marvel convinces me that Peter Parker didn't make a deal with the devil.

People can cry "angry fanboy" or that I "can't accept change," but this isn't about a new costume or a character dying tragically. No, this is about breaking up the marriage in the most hackneyed, uncharacteristic, WORST way possible. There were a thousand different ways to go with the story, and the route they took was a big effing retcon that is so NOT Spider-Man that it reaches acorss the world and slaps Steve Ditko and ethical heroes in the face.

Unknown said...

i didnt read the actual part where he made the deal with the devil.. in fact the last issue i read of spider-man was a couple of issues before that one where he beats up the kingpin in jail.. :P i don't even think the danish translation is over with the "whole new day saga" yet.. there's european publicing for you.. Anyway i get where you're going with the whole "Deal with the devil" thing, it just isnt spider man.. even though he has been seen making questionable choices in the past that was just too far..

Maybe he and Ghost Rider can make up for it by beating up Mephisto..

Anyway.. i was going to buy the Obama issue.. but this issue convinced me not to :b

Premier Blah said...

Well, see, Mr Obama is all about Change and Hope, and Peter believes in Hope for a better life by Change with a deal with the Devil...wait, that doesn't sound right.
You know what they need? Biden with the X-Men. Instead of riding trains to Delaware they can fly around in their ship and travel to Alaska to fight a resurgent Sarah Palin. Don't tell me you wouldn't buy that.

Joshua the Anarchist said...

"Reagan's Raiders"? Haha, that would make an awesome Roger Corman B-movie.

And don't worry, dude. Eventually whoever signs Quesada's paycheck will take that stick out of his ass, fire the bum and make everything right. The fan outrage can't be ignored for long.

Anonymous said...

If you think this is insane, Erik larsen went all whiney on marvel for stealing his idea to put Obama on a cover of Savage Dragon! and people were actually supporting him, What's wrong with them?

Anonymous said...

You have every right to hate One More Day. However, letting it get to you in the way it is is ridiculous.
First of all, it wasn't Satan himself. It was Mephistoles posing as him.
Second, if you wanna be mad at anybody, be mad at Joe Quesada and Marvel. If it weren't for them wanting to retcon the marriage of one of the most beloved superheroes, Parker sacrificing it would never have happened.
If you're gonna be an angry fanboy, at least be angry at the right things.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

Mephisto is the Marvel universe's version of the devil. And even if he wasn't, it's still making a deal with a demon. And he wasn't posing as anything, right away it was Mephisto saying who he was.

I AM mad at Joe Quesada.

And bear in mind I'm also talking about reasons not to buy the stupid thing, be they new fan or old fan.

Unknown said...

I agree with you on this one Lewis. Spidy may have made a deal with just any demon, but an incarnation of evil itself! Just what was Quesada thinking? Why couldn't Spidy just have someone give a healing factor blood transfusion for Aunt May?

Unknown said...

Oh, just gave another thought. It would be worse if Spider-man went crawling(joke not intended) to the Goblin for help.

WeirdAL said...

Thank GOD I live so far, that these stuff dont get here...

Anonymous said...

I was rewatching your Top 15 WTF Moments in Comics video, and I realized that I knew why Black Canary was an Irish ninja (or at least the Irish part...)

For a while, my mom was engaged to an Irish man who owned a bar in New York. Frank Miller happened to frequent this bar, and they became friends. Apparently, they were good enough friends that Frank decided to give my mom's fiancée a cameo in a comic. In other words, the only reason Black Canary is Irish is so she could work at an Irish bar so one of Frank Miller's friends could have a cameo. (As I remember, he was the guy who got kicked through a window at the end of the scene).

Unfortunately, he and my mom split up, so I can't take pics of the autographed copy he had, so I have no real proof. I'd send this to you, but I don't know your email, and I don't know if you check the comments on your old posts, so I'm putting it here. The truth must be known!

M2 said...

You know, you're almost as pissed as I was when I saw the true ending to Chrono Trigger. But that didn't stop me from playing Chrono Cross. Just like the film Critic said: Let. It. Go.
I can understand that you're mad about the deal with some devil, but you don't know what it's like when you, after spending hours and hours playing as a character, you see them killed off in the last cutscene. You feel cheated. Badly. I usually agree with you because I'm not a comic fan, but I don't hold a grudge n Square Enix. I'm just hoping that they bring it back. You're telling US, to not buy a comic with Barrack Friggin' Obama on it JUST because Spidey meets Satan. I understand that you're mad, but for God's sakes, we, the internet, have heard enough. I still love your videos, but Jesus Earl Christ, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, life (or the story of Spidey in this case) goes on.

-SideSmash

Lewis Lovhaug said...

And again, the deal with the devil thing is only half of it. People are buying dozens of copies of it, as well, because they thing it'll be worth money someday. It won't.

And comparing an unsatisfying ending in a game to an unsatisfying plot development in a comic is different. You at least got some enjoyment out of the game itself and you've already spent your money. An ongoing story like Spider-Man forces us to vote with our wallets about the decisions they've made in the comic and that is what I'm doing - encouraing people to not buy something because of the moral lesson it's apparently teaching us and arguing against poor writing. This is our objection to it.

And so what if Barack Obama is in it? Does that issue in the Death of Superman saga that features Bill Clinton suddenly have higher intrinsic value for it? Or how about George W. Bush's pep talk to Sentry in World War Hulk? Or any of the dozens of comics that had Reagan in them?

Anonymous said...

If you ask me the issue isn't worth buying considering the part with Obama in it is only a few pages long sidestory that's really just okay (nothing particularly memorable) and to be honest considering how many of these there are, you could just stop at the magazine rack at your local grocery store and read that side story and be done with it.

In case anyone knows though, is the Chamelon really that stupid? I'm asking because I only remember him from the TV show.

Still I have to say I too am not over One More Day. Not only does it fly in the face of everything that "was" Peter Parker's character (whatever happened to "With great power comes great responsibility"?), but the fact that whatever problems OMD's story created with that of the rest of the Marvel universe was explained away by saying it was just "magic" is one of the worst examples of sloppy writing I've ever come across (and that includes fanfics).

For now the only Spiderman I will read and accept is the newspaper strip Spiderman, which to be honest really had me worried last year when they said they were going to follow the main issue's idea, but I was really relieved to find out that all they were doing was going back to the time when Peter and Mary Jane were dating and nothing else.

Anonymous said...

"I will when Marvel convinces me that Peter Parker didn't make a deal with the devil.

People can cry "angry fanboy" or that I "can't accept change," but this isn't about a new costume or a character dying tragically. No, this is about breaking up the marriage in the most hackneyed, uncharacteristic, WORST way possible. There were a thousand different ways to go with the story, and the route they took was a big effing retcon that is so NOT Spider-Man that it reaches acorss the world and slaps Steve Ditko and ethical heroes in the face."

I agree. The new stories are enjoyable, but whenever I'm reading these comics I still hear that voice in the back of my head reminding me WHY the stories are the way they are. I'm sure someone will retcon this eventually, but it might not be until someone from our current generation steps in as a writer, which could be years into the future.

Kallikanzarid said...

LOL, you must be fucking RELIGIOUS to actually make such an argument xD

Anonymous said...

What? Because he is dissatisfied with the shitty way a character was handled?

Because he doesn't like the fact that a hero basically got reconnected in the stupidest way possible (and that's saying alot in ole' Petey's case)?

And what about his ideological background?

Yeah, he's religious. What of it? He's highly intelligent, and able to speak his mind. In fact, Linkara is alot like many of the theists I've met in my lifetime (I'm agnostic, myself).

Kalli, you must be a fucking dimwitted troll in order to make YOUR argument.

Anonymous said...

You know, the first time I read this post I was just skimming. When I saw: “Don't support a book whose main protagonist supports solving your problems by negotiating with evil,” I thought you were referring to Obama, and immediately flashed upon those pre-election smears about “Obama wanting to sit down unconditionally with America's enemies.” (Apparently, whoever ran that campaign never heard the axiom: “If you want peace, don't talk to your friends, talk to your enemies.”)

But now I see that you're referring to Spider-Man, not Obama, so that's fine. Absolute evil (like absolute good, for that matter) may be impossible in the human world, but in fiction and metaphysics, it's just fine.

And I, for one, am totally with you on “One More Day.” I'd probably be spitting mad myself if I read Spider-Man comics more frequently.

I am a big Star Wars fan, though, and after “New Jedi Order,” “Star Wars: Legacy,” and especially “Legacy of the Force,” I know exactly what it's like to see a major fandom butchered beyond all recognition or realistic hope of salvation. I feel for ya.

AirforceOne said...

Linkara, I support your view on these comics. Both the Obama one, and the one where he made a deal with the Devil. I feel that breaking up the marriage was a horrible thing. There were many ways to do it.

I however believe that they should have expanded their marriage. I mean come on, Mary and Peter went through a lot. They went through a Divorce, and then a Remarriage.

What ticks me off is that...don't they, or didn't they have a daughter? I remember me seeing some comics of a little girl somewhere around there. So it makes me believe that Peter sacrificed his little girl.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

Oh my, yes. Mephisto plainly admits as much that they sacrificed their daughter.

Mary Jane was also pregnant during the Clone Saga but suffered a miscarriage at the very end. In an alternate timeline, that daughter was actually born and raised and became Spider-Girl.