I don't care who's decision it was...
It was a dumb idea.

Posted by Dusty. on 2009-04-09 20:22:13
I bo know. You fellahs run a tight ship that is kicking real *@&*#% these days. And it's not like Tony Stark, Barry Allen, and Bruce Wayne haven't done the whole reveal, unreveal, reveal thing. To me, it's a small detail, and often not really at the heart of the character.

I Believoort.

Posted by kyle-latino on 2009-04-09 20:45:17
really?
I can't believe people care so much about this. considering everyone else walks around with out a mask half the time i don't know why spidey wouldn't reveal his identity to them.

Posted by gaveedra on 2009-04-09 20:47:09
Almost everything on the Internet is Hyperbole. Ignore them Mr. Brevoort.

Posted by WadeParker on 2009-04-09 22:20:20
Whoever said that it just didn't make sense for P.P. to stay hidden behind the mask in the wake of the Secret Invasion was completely correct. Can't wait for the whole, "why couldn't I remember who you were?" conversation, it'll be sweet!
Nah, on second thought, Brian Bendis is the Marvel Overlord and everyone bows down and does what he says, he controls everything, check it out, Joe Q. won't speak while Bendis is waxing. Heh


Posted by thomas more on 2009-04-09 22:26:31
I've got to say, I liked it better when NOBODY knew. And I didn't actually understand why he not only unmasked, but told everyone his real name as well. I presume, though, that this is going to get undone again in the coming months (giving us an opportunity to find out how it got undone the first time)...

Posted by Fetsur on 2009-04-10 05:30:34
uh...
the unmasking avoid the "why couldn't I remember who you were?" thing, it is a logical move about characters behavior...

no ?

Posted by notapotatoe on 2009-04-10 06:27:17
The problem
The constant unmasking and remasking on this large of a scale just makes a joke out of the identity stuff. And yeah, it's a problem for Tony Stark as well; though I'm not reading his book so I don't know whether you guys are even attempting a secret identity for him these days (just that notion itself, "What his secret identity status this week?" underscores the ridiculousness).

Posted by CylverSaber on 2009-04-10 06:48:30
Whatever...
I was NOT expecting it in NA #51, and that's why it was cool. I nearly forgot that young Jessica was in high school with Peter so those scenes had me giggling in my chair.

It's good stuff and I totally trust that you guys know what you're doing.

ROCK ON!

Posted by pmpknface on 2009-04-10 08:00:30
One More (Hairy) Day
As long as the continuity remains consistant, I'm fine with the web-head revealing his identity to the Superhero Community. Brian Bendis isn't going to pull the rug out from what may have been the biggest Spidey shakeup since the Black Costume first appeared back in the mid-80's...and I'm sure the Spidey Brain Trust would never allow a major revelation about the character happen anywhere else but in Amazing Spider-Man.

The whole "Who Do You Trust" adage still applies even after The Skrull race is near extinction. It started with them and has carried over into Dark Reign.

If I was a man in tights and wanted to know who the guy next to me was that was going to have my back if it ever came down to it, I'd want to know who he was too.

With all the Marvel-Tech available out there, maybe Pete can have Reed Richards build him an "identity modifyer" which would protect his alter-ego by randomly displaying a face different from his when he unmasks himself. (Hey, it's George Clooney! He's Spider-Man!)

Keep up the great work! Make Mine Marvel!

Posted by bzoo2000 on 2009-04-10 08:29:10
Its more the consistency
Tom,

I think the real issue that some people have is that in NA, Peter acts one way about unmasking himself, while when he's going to possibly revel himself to the FF, his reaction is totally different. Why does Pete act in two opposite ways to the same situation. Is he supposed to trust the NA more than the FF. I guess, that's what doesn't make sense. And that these two reveals were weeks apart.

Posted by mastulogan12 on 2009-04-10 11:25:07
Tom,

My biggest problem with his unmasking was the fact that the New Avengers treated it like he had never told them who he was. They all knew at one point that Peter Parker and Spider-Man were one and the same, but were made to forget. Like Johnny Storm, shouldn't they too have known that they used to know?
The conversation between Jessica Jones and Peter was funny, but it didn't make any sense. Why didn't she respond to him earlier on in the series before she was made to forget? They were around each other. They hung out at the same place during the post-Civil War New Avengers run. He was unmasked then, why didn't she say something then?
It just seems that you've got these two isolated, very different responses. One group knows that they knew, and the other acts like they never knew (although we know they did).

Posted by challenger_15 on 2009-04-10 11:36:33
My promblem with the identitiy thing is that aunt may lived with the avengers and so did peter and during that time the avengers knew who he was so wouldn't aunt may ask the question why was I living in avengers tower or she doesen't remember that time and she is remarkably calm about forgetting at least a month or two months in her life

Posted by strawberry2k8 on 2009-04-10 13:17:27
Maybe if you guys had coordinated it, publishing wise, to have it explained before the New Avengers issue or at least put an editor’s note in the issue or online, this wouldn’t seem like an editorial mess. Because it actually is an editorial mess when people are confused why a certain plotpoint happened and no one explains it until a week or so later, so I’d appreciate it if Marvel spends more time actually making sure people understand their actions instead of justifying them later on.

Posted by Asian_Pirate on 2009-04-10 23:16:17
it actually makes a lot of sence. If i was on a superhero team such as the Avengers I wouldn't feel comfortable is someone kept going in and out, and i had no idea who they were. the only problem is have is going back to how the NA treated Brand New Day, It was like in one issue they knew him and the next they didn't. I would like one or two Issues of Na or AMS to explain his new history and to straighten out a few things.

Posted by veemon1002 on 2009-04-11 21:14:23
Come On!
He's okay revealing his identity to members of the Avengers, some he hardly knows at all, but isn't okay with Human Torch? Umm Never AGAIN comments he made?..OH I know FF issue must happen before New Avengers, apparently he will have some dramatic change of heart by then...seriously? This is supposed to make some kind of sense? The only reason he should reveal who he is to the Avengers is because they already knew!, and should be wandering why the don't remember now.

Posted by DS2008 on 2009-04-11 23:11:34
messy
I don't have a problem with him unmasking to either team but it must be asked: if he was fine with them knowing before OMD, why did Mephisto wipe everybodies memory and not just the general public's (and don't say it was him, I'll quote him from ASM 544. he claimed responsability for it).
also, why does nobody remember MJ and aunt may living in avengers tower. there are still far too many questions and inconsistencies surounding the remasking for my liking.

although at least they know he is now (again)

Posted by Janus Mesca on 2009-04-12 17:32:44
No, he wasn’t.

Peter was never really confortable wth revealing his ID to anybody. Daredevil learned by himself, thanks to the superhearing of Matt Murdock (same with Wolverine). As for the Black Cat, it took a while before Peter decided to reveal his identity (and she was his girlfriend and lover at the time).

So no, this is the kind of story that does not suit the character. But I suppose that you guys know better.


Posted by freyes2000 on 2009-04-13 07:27:49
Jessica...
"The conversation between Jessica Jones and Peter was funny, but it didn't make any sense. Why didn't she respond to him earlier on in the series before she was made to forget? They were around each other. They hung out at the same place during the post-Civil War New Avengers run. He was unmasked then, why didn't she say something then?"

Can we get an answer to this? Brian recently said that he couldn't wait to write the scene in #51 but he very well could have written it back when Peter FIRST joined the team. What gives?

Posted by hamgravy on 2009-04-13 09:44:27
Priorities
Mr. Brevoort, your priorities seem to be out of whack. Parker’s unmasking in NEW AVENGERS worked well, in the context of the story, much better than Bendis’s belated idea for the “Coma Girl” gag did. As people around the Web have noted, the “Coma Girl” gag is badly out of sync with the NEW AVENGERS series. Bendis and you should have realized that the opportunity to do the gag was gone.

Instead of lecturing readers on a topic that doesn’t require a lecture, why not tackle the ongoing evisceration of Dr. Strange’s continuity (plot and character continuity both) in NEW AVENGERS and the similar evisceration of Mockingbird’s plot continuity in REUNION? Doing so in a column or two might be difficult, granted, but the continuity violations are ruining the series and miniseries, which results in far more serious problems than the handling of Parker in NEW AVENGERS #51.

Whatever happened to the belief that continuity was an asset that solidified a character, provided story ideas, and offered a writer chances to show off his capabilities for creativity and attention to detail? The apparent belief now that continuity is something to be circumvented, ignored, or clumsily retconned into oblivion turns the definition of “professionalism” upside down.

SRS


Posted by Steven R. Stahl on 2009-04-13 12:40:54
Masks Off
Of course, secret identities seem to wax and wane from book to book. It seemed for while there that Captain America's identity was a matter of public record (he being a federal employee and all) Then there is his big televised unmasking in I want to say Captain America volume III? (that was the series just after the first run ended with another death of Captain America at the hands of an atom bomb in New Jersey, I want to say that was 2002) And then he's leading the forces to keep their masks (which isn't necessarily inconsistant) even though by that time his identity is pretty well established.

Posted by FredII on 2009-04-13 15:06:39
Be in Spriderman Musical!
There is an open call today in NYC for you to audition to be in the Spiderman musical with music by Bono! Check it out at http://blog.instantcast.com/

Also read up on the starts of your favorite Spriderman Movie !

Posted by Instantcast on 2009-04-14 11:19:08
spideymask / FF
Dearest Tom,

I agree with your statements, but I have to ask how Peter's feelings in NA#51 about unmasking to fellow heroes meshes with the current goings-on in Amazing Spider-Man in relation to Peter unmasking for the FF. (of course, I've only read the first issue of that story, so perhaps my question will be answered in the second, but I am curious.)

Posted by captainwinkie on 2009-04-14 11:58:16
I find I'm falling squarely into the "I don't care" camp. And I sort of hate feeling that way, but as a couple other people have said, the on-off-on-off-on-off trick is getting to be a lot like death-ressurection. It's losing any significance because I know it can be reversed at any moment. I like Bendis, and I don't think you're all being evil and stupid or anything, but it just seems like a pointless timewaster. Unlike death-ressurection, however, it seems just annoying to people who've been reading for awhile without the sales boost.

Posted by Muldrate on 2009-04-14 22:31:45
at the risk of repeating myself...
I posted this elsewhere, but since this thread is still active:

It could be an interesting story point if something in the Mephisto deal made it impossible for anyone to remember that Peter Parker is Spider-Man– no matter how many times he revealed his secret. That way, he can never be in a trusting relationship with anybody; this would twist Spidey’s “must keep his secret” aspect to “has no choice”– the effect to his personal life is essentially the same but without any hope of relieving the burden.

Posted by jakesaint on 2009-04-15 07:40:34
Lame. He should have kept his identitiy secret. This on again off again stuff is lame. Historically he's tried to keep knowledge of his identity to a minimum, but these days he's okay with it?

Posted by Rogersiscap on 2009-04-17 17:35:26
"THAT’S the part he needed a take-back on."

Umm... you mean the part you and the others like JQ had him do in the 1st place? You can't put the unmasking on previous editors/writers. YOU did that just so you could have an excuse to do OMD. There are so many ridiculous inconsistencies with how the ID thing and OMD in general has played out (May and MJ and others living in Avengers tower but no one knows why? GMAB) it really doesn't matter anymore how you address it. It's just a plain ol' mess.

Posted by coconutphone on 2009-04-18 14:54:04
Once again, Marvel is wrecking the Spider-man character bit by bit.

Posted by CAmbm on 2009-04-19 00:05:53
So...
If the reason for Spider-man accept that deal and Marvel does that bad think as let Spider-man accept a deal from Mephisto was to erase his identity from people´s mind and not because of the marriage so, why do that again. That´s the reason I really don´t care about Spider-man and most of Marvel´s comics and stories, great movie by the way.

Posted by claudio pahl on 2009-04-19 20:58:01