Monday, March 1, 2010

Spider-Man... FIRED!

Marvel Comics is so proud of their new storyline they're telling everyone about it. J. Jonah Jameson fires Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man 623. I guess if you've been crunched by the economic... uh... crunch, this is one way to feel a bit less inconsequential. Even superheroes lose their jobs!

Of course, it's Peter Parker, whose life is something of a soap opera tragedy. Not really the guy you want to identify with, but one whose life probably eerily echoes his readers' from time to time. I myself have the proportional speed and strength of a spider, for example. And this storyline actually seems like an especially clever and timely story development from the House of Ideas, and if the press releases are supposed to pique people's interest, they've succeeded in my case. I won't buy it, natch, but I will be following its development via the Internet from time to time.

But I have some questions because I haven't read a current issue of Amazing Spider-Man since approximately 1988. Plus I live in Japan where I have to make trips all the way to Tokyo to even look at a Marvel comic. So maybe some hardcore superhero comic fan passing by can help me out here:

1) Hasn't Peter Parker been fired before? Multiple times?

2) Isn't J. Jonah Jameson the mayor of New York City? Is he still publisher of the Daily Bugle as well? Isn't that a conflict of interest? Do you mind if this question is actually four questions?

3) For those of you who have been fired-- I never have-- do bosses actually scream your name, then "You're Fired!" as in, "PETER PARKER, YOU'RE FIRED!"? Seems in-character for Jameson, but don't companies usually do this stuff by e-mail or Skype these days?

4) Isn't Peter Parker a high school teacher, or did they do away with that via magic along with his marriage to Mary Jane?

I never in my wildest dreams imagined I'd put a link to an article in the New York Post here. And I guess Peter Parker won't be buying one of these now.

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