Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Pencils & 50/50 Cover by JOE QUESADA
50/50 Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
“ONE MORE DAY” PART 4
The riveting conclusion to the most-talked about -- and controversial -- comics event of the year. Brought to you by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. Brace yourself, Spidey fans, after this, nothing will be the same for Peter Parker!
The stakes have never been higher. At his darkest hours -- and he's had plenty -- Peter has always had one shoulder to lean on, one person who'd remind him who he is, who he was, and who he can be. Now he's about to lose that person. What will he do...what would you do, if you only had "One More Day?”
"So, here’s where I say something so controversial that your aneurysm will have it’s own aneurysm: I don’t think One More Day is that bad. I know, I know. Heretical, surely. I mean, the received internet wisdom (which I assume must be an oxymoron) is that this is the storyline that not only ruined 40-plus years of Spider-Man stories, but has salted the earth of Marvel’s publishing empire, assuring that no further quality Spider-Man stories can ever be told. That must be the case, right? Didn’t the story’s own writer, JMS, publicly denounce One More Day? Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily prove anyone’s point about One More Day’s quality or lack thereof. After all, George Lucas thinks The Phantom Menace is awesome. So, yeah, sometimes the creator of a thing cannot be the arbiter of its success. As for One More Day, there’s one thing I feel like everyone is ignoring: this story is the means to an end, not the end itself. Yes, the idea of Mephisto rejiggering Spidey continuity to provide future creators with a more accessible character isn’t the strongest idea ever. But the point is that it provides future creators with a more accessible character. In six months, once Steve McNiven, Zeb Wells, Dan Slott and whomever else Marvel can get have told 18 awesome issues of hip, clever, action-packed, forward-thinking Spider-stories, you won’t care about the mystical ‘Get Out Of Cause And Effect Free’ card that Quesada played on everyone, ‘cause you’ll be too busy enjoying the fruits of his much-much-much-maligned labor. And once the current internet hate-buzz dies down, I think we’ll all be a little more appreciative of the quality, but flawed, work done on this series."
THIS BOOK GETS 7 GRAHAMS OUT OF 10