One Moment In Time, Part 1
Writer: Joe Quesada
Art: Paolo Rivera, Joe Quesada, Danny Miki, & Richard Isanove
[rating: .5/5]
No. There will always be the occasional vocal person who didn’t like the story, and I understand that. When we set out to do this, everyone knew going in that this would be the kind of story that no matter what we did… we could have written the next Watchmen and people wouldn’t have cared.
After over a year of waiting, the mysteries of One More Day are finally explored, as we finally learn what MJ whispered to Mephisto. She makes him promise to leave Peter alone for the rest of his days, in exchange for their marriage. Mephisto agrees and the deal goes through. Moving back to the present–
No. No, fuck it, I can’t keep going from that. That is fucking retarded. Mary Jane Watson’s deal with the devil was he had to keep his promise. Are you fucking kidding me? He’s the devil (or a devil, if comic book logic is to be believed). Right off the bat, page one of the ominously titled OMIT slaps me in the face by trying to be thought provoking and chilling, but instead comes across as idiotic. Mary Jane was Spider-Man’s wife. She lived in Avengers tower, she watched him fight for years, she’s been held captive before, she’s put up with (and bested) Wolverine, and she actually believes this will work, because the devil is a man of his word?
The story jumps back and forth between Peter and MJ in the present day, who are discussing their failed attempt at marriage, and the day of their wedding by utilizing pages from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 with new art. ….well, at least the new art is gorgeous. There’s not a lot to say here, since 14 of the 46 pages of story are reused elements from the annual. The rest are either “scenes you didn’t know existed” (Hey Joe, those are called retcons, and here they’re pretty forced) or shots of Peter and MJ in the present, being just generally depressing people.
I won’t go any deeper into this so I won’t spoil it for you, but the long and short of it is OMIT is just more salt in the wounds. Much like One More Day/Brand New Day, the name of the game now seems to be taking Spider-Man, a character whose entire origin revolves around the acceptance of responsibility in his life, and make him an irresponsible, unlikeable schmuck, all in an effort to make him “hip”, “trendy”, and “relatable”. Sorry Marvel, but this isn’t the Peter Parker I want to relate to.
