By Jim Beard
O.M.I.T. You've seen it, pondered it and attempted to decipher it-now, the truth can be told. This July, Marvel Comics proudly unveils the most shocking untold Spider-Man tale of them all: "One Moment in Time."
Written by none other than Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada with art by Paolo Rivera, "One Moment in Time" finally explains the truth behind Peter Parker and Mary Jane's cancelled wedding day. All will be revealed in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #637-640, every issue oversized to fully tell the tale.
"It's a blast," says Quesada of tackling the story. "It's a big weight off my shoulders. I've been promising fandom that the answers were forthcoming. The reason it took this long was to find a break in my schedule to be able to put the story together and to actually draw a portion of it.
"I've had it inside me for a really long time. One of the things about Brand New Day was that it did leave a lot of unanswered questions. The fact that I've had these answers for some time now has been frustrating from one side of it, but from the other side it's also taught me patience. To just wait and do this properly, finding the right window where it's going to work perfectly in this new continuity, this new world for Spider-Man. And hopefully fans will dig it."
Kicking off in 2008, Brand New Day ushered in a new era for everyone's favorite webbed wonder, following on the heels of Quesada's own "One More Day," which wrapped up the previous era. One of the biggest questions on the minds of Spidey's fans has revolved around Peter and MJ's marriage-or lack thereof. Not only does 2010 work well for Quesada's own schedule but for the series' characters and their fictional lives.
"The timing is perfect for this," he notes. "We have a window, and we have to hit that window full on, because the timing couldn't be better. It's the way that certain characters in Peter Parker's life are aligning right now, that are back on the scene.
"The story begins in the present, and then we dart around from the early days of Spider-Man, to unanswered questions from Brand New Day. Behind the scenes, things you didn't see. Things that you wake up to in Brand New Day after the whole thing with Mephisto and you're sitting there going,
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Quesada also explains that the story's title carries considerable weight within the narrative but cannot reveal more without spoiling the surprises ahead.
"The title is very telling from many levels, from 'One Moment in Time' to its actual acronym," he hints. "I keep telling people, 'All will be revealed with a whisper.' And I think that gives you a clue with where we're going with this."
One thing Quesada's definitely not whispering about: his partner in this venture, artist Paolo Rivera. In fact, the Editor-in-Chief trumpets his fellow illustrator, calling Rivera's presence a "thrill."
"I take great pride in Paolo as a person, as an artist; he's just such a dynamite kid," he touts. "His development as an artist has just been truly spectacular to watch. From starting out as being this brilliant painter, to now being this brilliant pen and ink guy who crosses generational lines with his style. It's stuff that harkens back to [Spider-Man co-creator Steve] Ditko in some ways, where he has this cool, hip, modern feeling to it that is not really like anything I've seen in comics today. As a storyteller he's just spectacular. In a lot of ways it's kind of like working with family with Paolo, we've known him for a very long time. For me, also, it was a great opportunity for him to be placed on a story that will be controversial [that] people will want to see but in a lot of ways it's going to be a coming out party for Paolo. People are going to go, 'Wow! This guy is really, really, amazing!'
"[One Moment in Time] is a story that really requires a lot of acting from the characters on the page; there's a lot of stuff that happens to our characters. They are run through the mill. But it's not just the people on the page, but also the atmosphere, the backgrounds that play into the conversations. I tend to use a lot of props as metaphors for what may be happening in a particular conversation. Paolo gets it; he's just a studious storyteller and that's why I think he's the perfect guy for this story."
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Thanks, Joe. I've been waiting patiently for this for some time. Very glad to hear Paolo is on this one, because he's definitely been one of my fave artists to come out of BND. I've been loving the stories, particularly bringing in an ensemble cast to give Peter a fuller life outside of the costume. Vin, Michelle, Flash, Harry, Carlie have all brought with them their own plots and revelations ...
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Thanks, Joe. I've been waiting patiently for this for some time. Very glad to hear Paolo is on this one, because he's definitely been one of my fave artists to come out of BND. I've been loving the stories, particularly bringing in an ensemble cast to give Peter a fuller life outside of the costume. Vin, Michelle, Flash, Harry, Carlie have all brought with them their own plots and revelations that have added color to Peter's world.It's also been great to see Spidey become more of an integral part of the Superhero community in the last few years. The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the X-Men, and even Deadpool have teamed up with Spidey to help him shoulder all that great responsibility.I can't wait to see how O.M.I.T. fits into the grand jigsaw puzzle of The Amazing Spider-Man's life!
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wow
:82cd3d53c4="silentprocess"]I seem to be one of the few that's a big fan of OMD. I think Spidey needed a change and OMD was the right direction IMHO. So I'm looking forward to reading this story.[/quote:82cd3d53c4]....Not to flame anyone for their interests, but I just would like to know why you do? Outside of him needing a "change".
I seem to be one of the few that's a big fan of OMD. I think Spidey needed a change and OMD was the right direction IMHO. So I'm looking forward to reading this story.
Ugh .. Why?You can't just heap answers at us now and blame it on scheduling!?!?This should have been priority like? Marvels Flagship character like come on?Now its been long enough for people to "settle" into OMD so we get this?The teaser art lead fans to beleive it was Pete finding the truth But we're just getting the "What REALLY happened" story is all.Don't get me wrong it looks intersting ...
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Ugh .. Why?You can't just heap answers at us now and blame it on scheduling!?!?This should have been priority like? Marvels Flagship character like come on?Now its been long enough for people to "settle" into OMD so we get this?The teaser art lead fans to beleive it was Pete finding the truth But we're just getting the "What REALLY happened" story is all.Don't get me wrong it looks intersting and well put together with Paulo R. But seriously ... This should have been adressed Right after OMD Now most of the fans who read ASM before OMD are gone? Thats the target market like? Basically its just going to iron out the kinks fans have had with OMD and try ease it into continutity but why wait till now?If we had this at the time the transition might have been easier. Now you've had time to look over all the miss-steps and pitfalls of OMD and its affects on continutity, think your answers over and prepare this as your answer?Don't pretend this was entirely planned from the begining either because if it was then why didn't the fans get the answers when they cared?For the record I do read Asm and am enjoying it at the mo. It hasn't been this good SINCE OMD I think. The first arc was good but nothing much after untill "New Ways To Die" Just so I'm not labeled as some anti-spidey hardcore NO-OMD fan.Just wanted to say my piece ...
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