Â
I reread an interview in Wizard Magazine Number 176; June 2006 that gives me hope for the entire comic book world. In the Summer Preview, “Spider-Man†writer Joe Quesada answers the question; “What’s the Biggest Problem with Spider-Man Right Now?â€
Quesada says:
“I’ve said it before: that darn marriage to Mary Jane. It has been one of the biggest problems [in] writing Spider-Man stories [for] new and younger readers. Let me put it clearly—Spider-Man is one of the greatest, if not the greatest teen superhero ever created. He’s supposed to be a young, viable, single character. And over the course of 40-some-odd years, as writers grew older and stuff, they took Peter Parker along for the ride, forgetting about the fact that there were always gonna be 9-years olds who wanted to get into Peter Parker the same way that they did, which was as a young guy. Peter grew old and married a supermodel. Peter became Billy Joel.â€
This is an excellent quote. Not simply about Spider-Man (I never knew Spider-Man was hyphenated, but ok.), but about the entire comic book world in general. I see a shift occurring however; Writers and Artists, it seems, are returning to the roots stories of what made the titles great in the first place. Power Girl, Captain Marvel, and other titles are getting back to the basics.
Comic book writers need to stretch their brain and pull off something more creative, something more sensational than simply killing off characters. There are only so many times you can kill Superman. What would that be? I have no idea, Marvel Civil War was a start, even through I have some fundamental issues with the premise—but at least they are trying. Writers need to maintain the basics of the stories, which I believe is violated by the unmasking of superheroes, but they also need to think out of the box to win readers.
It is a good sign to see writers begin to recognize this dynamic for the future.