Spider-Man: One More Day

Events begin with the release of Amazing Spider-Man # 544. After the Civil War, in the Back in Black story arc , Aunt May was wounded by an unknown sniper. For her treatment, Peter Parker is forced to ask financial assistance from his former ally Tony Stark , and later seeks advice from Doctor Strange , who convinces him that he is not able to change anything and return the time back. Nevertheless, he supports Peter when he decides to turn for help to other heroes and villains - Doctor Doom , Reed Richards , Doctor Octopus , but none of them knows how to turn back time. In desperation, Parker uses one of Doctor Strange's spells without his knowledge and is injured. Strange heals his wounds and sends him to the hospital to his aunt.

On the way to the hospital, Peter meets a little girl who offers him a solution to all his problems, but then runs away. Following her, Peter encounters a group of men and a woman in red, and she tells him that men are versions of himself from alternative universes, where he did not become Spider-Man. Suddenly, a woman turns into a demon, who calls himself Mephisto , and says that she can save Aunt May. As a payment, he needs not Peter's soul, but a marriage with Mary Jane. Mephisto gives time for thought until midnight. A few hours later, Mary Jane and Peter decide to agree to a deal on the condition that Mephisto erases from the memory of people the memories of Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Mephisto tells the couple that the girl Peter met is their daughter, who will now never be born because of their decision.

The demon fulfills its part of the deal - it changes the story so that Peter and Mary Jane never get married, and no one in the world remembers whose face is hiding under the mask of Spider-Man. Peter wakes up in his bed at home, and his aunt is alive again. His best friend Harry Osborne , who died in The Spectacular Spider-Man # 200, comes to the party and introduces him to his girlfriends: Lilly Hollister and Carly Cooper. Peter briefly notices that Mary Jane is sadly leaving the party. All guests make a toast for a whole new day .

• Peter Parker / Spider-Man is a former New York photographer. During the Civil War events preceding the comic, he revealed his identity to the world and took the side of Iron Man, advocating the registration of superheroes. Because of his decision to take off his mask, he was fired from his job, lost many friends and put his relatives under attack, because of which his aunt May suffered. He later joined the opponents of registration, led by Captain America , but after the opponents were defeated, he was forced to hide together with the remaining unregistered heroes.
• Mary Jane Watson is a theater actress and wife of Peter Parker. She supported her husband in all decisions: she agreed to move with him to the Stark tower when he sided with Iron Man, and with her aunt May went underground when Peter joined the opponents of registration. Hiding under false names, she looked after the wounded Aunt May in the hospital.
• May Parker is the aunt of Peter Parker, who raised him after the death of his parents. After the war, when Spider-Man was on the run, she was badly wounded by a sniper hired by Kingpin , fell into a coma, and soon died in the hospital.
• Mephisto is a demon, one of the most powerful Ancient Gods that ruled the Earth from the beginning of its existence. He specializes in stealing souls and people's memories of important events. It exists in its own dimension and controls it itself, having at its disposal an army of demons.
• Dr. Strange is a powerful and fair superhero with magical powers. In the Civil War, he remained neutral, and after the war he joined the team of the New Avengers .

Occasionally, Reed Richards , Tony Stark , Harry Osborn , Thunderstorm , Doctor Doom , Silver Surfer , Morbius , Flash Thompson , Hank McCoy , Black Panther , Jarvis , Carly Cooper, Lilly Hollister appear ( ).

Background

The idea to remove from the plot the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson and the return of Spider-Man to its roots arose with Joe Quesada , who at that time held the position of chief editor of Marvel , as a necessary measure to preserve the character’s “longevity” for the next 20 or 30 years. According to Quesada, he and other editors have long been looking for the opportunity to start a new round in the Spider-Man series.

To take and remove the character’s wedding or to change something related to this is very simple. Just make a huge restart and say that some of the events did not happen at all. But, actually, here at Marvel, we don’t do that.

- Joe Quesada

Original text

It's very easy to un-marry a character, or fix something like that: you just do a huge universal retcon, and say a few events in history didn't happen. But that's really not the way we do it here at Marvel.

The opportunity to change events appeared after the release of the Civil War mini-series, where the public learns that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are the same person ^[1] . Quesada knew about Jay Michael Strazinsky ’s plans to leave Marvel, so he personally offered him work on One More Day as his last project ^[2] .

Writing

The development of the idea of One More Day began two years before its release, at one of the creative meetings of Marvel writers and editors. Quesada, Strazinski, Brian Michael Bendis , Mark Millar , Jeff Lobe , Tom Brevurt and Axel Alonso began to develop the plot, and later they were joined by Ed Brubaker and the new screenwriter Amazing Spider-Man Dan Slott ^[3] . The plot was announced as the last Strazhinsky project for Marvel, which debuted in the series The Amazing Spider-Man in early 2007. As an artist, Joe Quesada himself was involved, who, despite his responsibilities as editor-in-chief and selectivity in the choice of projects, agreed to engage in illustrating the plot. According to him, he felt his involvement in the creation of history and developed the project for so long that he could not disagree ^[1] .

Despite the fact that the plot details were not disclosed at that time, in February 2007 a promo poster was released, consisting of one line “What would you do ... with one more day?” ( Russian. What would you do ... if would you only have one more day left? ) ^[4] . At the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2007, Quesada unveiled several points in the upcoming episode, describing it as “the story of Peter and Mary Jane.” At the same press conference, editor Tom Brevurt said that The Amazing Spider-Man will remain the only series about Spider-Man and will be released three times a month ^{[5] [6]} .

Due to Qesada’s well-known discontent over the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane, fans began to reflect on his plans in one way or another to remove him from the plot ^[7] . According to Quesada himself, the 1987 plot of The Wedding! was due to a decision by editor Jim Shooter , which was the opposite of Stan Lee’s plans for comic books about Spider-Man and the launch of a comic book to attract a new generation of readers ^[8] .

Strazhinsky also did not fully agree with Quesada's idea. In a public speech, he said:

There was a lot of things with which I did not agree, and Marvel, and especially Joe Quesada, directly stated this. There was a moment when I made a decision and told Joe that I was going to remove my name from the last two issues of the One More Day story arc. In the end, Joe dissuaded me from this decision, and I did not want to sabotage him or Marvel, as I respect them both ^[9] .

Original text

There's a lot that I don't agree with, and I made this very clear to everybody within shouting distance at Marvel, especially Joe Quesada ... there was a point where I made the decision, and told Joe, that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the OMD arc. Eventually, Joe talked me out of that decision because at the end of the day, I don't want to sabotage Joe or Marvel, and I have a lot of respect for both of those.

Quesada commented on the disagreements with Strazhinsky, saying that their conflict lay in the very way in which the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane wanted to be removed from the plot, because Strazhinsky expressed an opinion against its cancellation.

Several authors of Marvel, who participated in the development of the plot, had a hand in the immediate creation of history, including Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Ed Brubaker and Dan Slott. At the time of writing the script, Quesada claimed that he and Strazinski want to resurrect Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborne in the final chapter, but this plot twist was rejected by several editors who considered the characters to remain dead ^[3] . Also, according to Quesad, the idea embodied in changing the current continuity of the narrative in the fourth issue of the storyline was invented by Strazhinsky back in 1971 in conjunction with the storyline Green Goblin Reborn! in which Harry Osborne started taking drugs. Peter was supposed to help Harry Osborn get to the rehabilitation center for drug addicts, which would open the creators the prospect of a change in plot. Mary Jane would have stayed with Harry, Gwen Stacy would not have been killed, and eventually Peter’s wedding with Mary Jane would never have happened. Quesada realized that such changes would entail far-reaching consequences in further storylines, so he decided to change Strazhinsky's script ^[8] . Although Peter and Mary Jane later appeared together in several flashback stories, Quesada called One More Day the culmination of their relationship, as well as the clarification of the relationship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker, which became close to the relationship between father and son during the Civil War. However, he hinted that both characters may appear in the future in the same storyline ^[1] .

In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Quesada said that all the events that happened to Peter do not go beyond the canon of the Spider-Man universe, they are still included in it, and the only changes are those that Peter and Mary Jane did not get married unknown reason, and the incident of exposing Spider-Man during the Civil War was forgotten. In some interviews, Strazhinsky spoke about the details of his initial plans to “restart” Spider-Man and about conversations with Quesada about this ^[10] . According to him, they sought to save as many events as possible, but some of them were inevitable. For example, in his opinion, the plot where Mary Jane is pregnant would never have happened ^[11] . After One More Day, Spider-Man lost the organic web starters he received in the Avengers Disassembled storyline, as well as the extra spider abilities from The Other storyline, and again returned to using mechanical devices, giving scriptwriters a reason to once again demonstrate ingenuity and intelligence Peter Parker ^[7] .

Quesada decided that the “ deal with the devil, ” a demon named Mephisto who took advantage of Peter’s weaknesses, was the best solution to his marriage with Mary Jane, better than their divorce, which would mean that they deliberately abandoned their relationship with friend because of danger or fear, and instead of parting, they chose a deal with the devil. Quesada also said: “Peter and MJ did not give up love for each other, they decided to sacrifice it in order to save lives. It was a very heroic story for me. But remember that I am an idiot ^[11] . "

Release Details

The four episodes in which the plot of One More Day was unfolding were originally planned to be released in August 2007 once a week. Due to the combination of the duties of the editor-in-chief and the artist, Qesada's output was delayed. The release of Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) # 41 was scheduled for release in late October, and the release of the final chapter of Amazing Spider-Man # 545 was scheduled for November. Later, the release was again delayed, and Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) # 41 and Amazing Spider-Man # 545 came out on November 28 and December 27 of the same year, respectively ^[12] .

Sales

The first issue of the crossover, The Amazing Spider-Man # 544, sold very well. According to direct sales , 146,215 copies of the comic book were sold, which put him on the second line in the top of the best-selling comics in September 2007, where he lost only to the fourth number of the World War: Hulk mini-series ^[13] . Sales of the remaining three parts of the storyline were less. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man # 24 sold 110,405 copies ^[14] , and The Sensational Spider-Man # 41 sold 100,300 ^[15] . The final release of The Amazing Spider-Man # 545 again took second place with sales of 124,481 ^[16] .

Reaction

For a sharp change in the plot, the series was criticized by observers and fans ^[17] . IGN reviewer Jesse Shedden described Amazing Spider-Man # 545 as “undoubtedly the worst that Marvel published in 2007” and “the highest degree of deus ex machina .” Another IGN columnist, Richard George, said One More Day could be one of the prime examples of worse editorial policy, and Quesada, in the pursuit of keeping Peter Parker attractive, actually undermined the foundations of both Marvel’s character and narrative style. However, George and Shedden praised the decoration of the series ^[18] .

Stan Lee, one of the creators of Spider-Man, praised the plot, noting the courage of the editors and creators necessary for such a sharp turn of the plot about the popular character. He compared the fans ’reaction to the series’s release with the 1987 storyline of the wedding of Mary Jane and Peter Parker, which also received a flurry of criticism ^[19] . However, in his newspaper page, Lee made a parody of One More Day , portraying it as a bad dream, and Peter and Mary Jane are actually still married.

Browsers at the Newsarama news portal generally reacted negatively to the comic. J. Caleb of Mozzocco agreed that Spider-Man was easier to understand and sympathize with when he was young and unmarried, but the idea of ​​removing marriage from the main universe seemed unnecessary to him because there were series like Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel Adventures Spider-man . He considered the plot to be confusing, and also showed interest in how it affects the Marvel universe as a whole, because Spider-Man plays an important role in the New Avengers and in the events of the Civil War . Kevin Huxford called the plot “completely ridiculous,” and Lucas Siegel criticized Quesada for forcing the heroic Peter Parker to make a “deal with the Devil” for selfish reasons. Richard Rinteria considered that the end of the plot could be used as an opportunity “to add a new layer of guilt to Peter’s not so simple life, allowing May to finally die.” According to Troy Brownfield, the storyline harmed the continuous storytelling, Spider-Man’s decision was “selfish and childish,” and the whole plot showed “the big middle finger on the idea of ​​marriage in comics” ^[20] . Brandon Thomas was more positive about the comic and called One More Day “an incredibly well-told story.” He especially liked the morally ambiguous decision that Peter had to make, and how she and Mary Jane could handle it, and Quesada's drawing, which, in his opinion, conveyed "guilt, regret, and despair." In relation to the radical changes in the overall narrative, he expressed this: “Married Peter Parker is not really a vital component” of Spider-Man stories ^[21] .

Samira Ahmed, in an article on the website of the British channel Channel 4 News, compared the reaction to One More Day with the reaction to one of the cliffhangers of the Dallas television series, stating that “this controversial issue of the comic book was scattered from the shelves, but the reaction of the readers was malicious” ^[22] . She also suggested that this storyline was created to make comics more like financially successful films and by -products ^[23] .

Andy Serwin, a Wizard magazine reviewer, also appreciated Qesada's art work, but he, however, summarized that everything, up to events and execution, “makes no sense” and does not allow empathy with the heroes and support their decisions. He criticized the use of magic in science fiction, calling it “the biggest swindle since Dallas,” and introducing new and unfamiliar characters that destroyed the entire concept of Spider-Man comics. Servin’s colleague, Kiel Feghley, was dissatisfied with the attempts of Quesada himself and other writers to somehow further unravel the tangle of One More Day events and expressed an opinion similar to the opinion of J. Caleb Mozzocco of Newsarama - not everything needs a constant narrative, but attempts to achieve it are far from always successful ^[24] .

Comic book historian Peter Sanderson criticized the plot for using supernatural power rather than divorce to reject marriage, which would be a more mature decision. He stated that the authors had forgotten the storylines in which Spider-Man had to deal with drug problems and child abuse, as well as feel guilty for Uncle Ben's death. He wrote: “I hope there are professional writers and editors of comics, as well as people who will become professional writers and editors of comics, and who are offended by Marvel forcing Spider-Man to make a deal with the devil. And these present and future writers and editors will have to redo all this. We’ll see if it takes twenty years or less this time. ” Nonetheless, he thought the storyline was better than The Clone Saga , as it only changed one side of the canon instead of completely removing it. He especially did not like the idea that the hero made a deal with such an evil character as Mephisto, who is actually the devil ^[25] .

The release of One More Day kicked off a series of story arches from the Back to Basics series ^[26] , where new characters appeared including Carly Cooper, Ryan Maxwell, Sean Boyle, Mr. Negative, superheroine Jackpot, villain Threat and others. Spider-Man regained his status quo , the work of a photographer, again became a bachelor and lives with Aunt May, as in the comics about Spider-Man of the 1970s. Due to the fact that the timeline was rewritten, Harry Osborn, who was considered dead in The Spectacular Spider-Man # 200, is resurrected and lives in Europe . From the comic book One Moment in Time it becomes known that no one knows who is hiding under the mask of Spider-Man, although some “vaguely remember” how Spider-Man took off the mask during the Civil War, but they do not remember the details ^[27] . Although Kesada at first was of the opinion that there was no point in explaining the details of the changes in the timeline, since they were magical in nature, other writers (and later Kesada himself in the comic book One Moment in Time ) made attempts to describe the events in more detail and answer questions that remained without response in One More Day . In particular, in One Moment in Time it becomes known that Mephisto prevented the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane from happening by launching a new chain of accidents in their time line ^[28] .

The storyline laid the foundations for revising Spider-Man comics by canceling all episodes except The Amazing Spider-Man . Although it began to be published three times a month, the cancellation of several episodes at once caused discontent among American fans. In order to have time to prepare a new issue, the publishing house formed a new creative team in the person of writers Dan Slott, Mark Guggenheim , Bob Gale and Zeb Wells , as well as several artists - Steve McNiven, Salvador Larrock , Phil Jimenez and Chris Bachalo. The groups alternate among themselves: the comic book Brand New Day , released immediately after One More Day , was divided into four volumes, each of which was written in turn by different working groups of artists and scriptwriters, but their main storyline was the fruit of a common collaboration ^{[29] [ 30]} . Bachalo and Jimenez worked on Spider-Man longer than other artists; in addition, at different times, Mike Macone, Marcos Martin, Barry Kitson and John Romita, Jr. worked on the series, and Mark Wade later took the place of Wells ^[29] .

Series Timeline

Collector's Editions

• One More Day Trailer at Marvel.com
• Spider-man: One More Day on the Comic Book DB
• Spider-man: One More Day Sketchbook on the Grand Comics Database