To the Editor (01-Jul-2003)
Welcome to our letters page. These letters are answered by Jonathan Couper, who uses them as a chance to sharpen his otherwise dull wit. If you want a serious response, your chances will be increased by posing your question, respectfully, to our Spider-Oracle.
From FatherOfMonkey
Ten characters who need to return.
10) Mysterio: One of Spider-Man's greatest foes.
9) Jonathan Caesar: This character was really interesting, and I'll bet Peter and MJ are wondering what became of him.
8) Chip Martin: Remember the Schizoid Man from Spectacular Spidey 39?
7) Phillip Chang: This was one of the greatest friends ever to be introduced in Peter's life. It really annoys me that Peter always gets together with his ex-rival Flash Thompson. Is that Peter's only friend or something?
6) Marcy Kane: The alien "Ice Queen..." I think this graduate school period of Peter's life needs a ressurection.
5) Debra Whitman: She and Peter clearly weren't that compatible. It was obvious the whole time that she would never amount to Mary Jane Watson or Felicia Hardy. Still, Peter would probably like to see her again after all these years. Perhaps they could even make her a character in the Ultimate Spider-Man series.
4) Scorpion: I'll bet you're wondering why I'm mainly bringing up Peter Parker's pals and not Villains or Heroes. Well, they tend to bring back all of the good villains, but Max Gargan is definitely due for a return.
3) Kristy Watson and Gail Byrnes: Come on, MJ! Don't you care about your own family?
2) Betty Leeds: I really liked Peter's idea of getting back together with Betty Brant (1978-79). When he said those horrible things to her in Amazing Spider-Man #195, I got really depressed. She and Peter definitely weren't potential partners-in-marriage, but why did their relationship have to end so brutally both times?
1) Gwen Stacy: Gwen Stacy's death was too stupid of an idea to even be considered tradgedy. It completely took away the dramatic effects of both her father's and Uncle Ben's deaths. It was so random, too. The only reason I even tolerated it was because the killer was also punished, but now Osborn is back from the dead (a horrible idea). They brought Aunt May back; they brought Dr. Octopus back; they even brought back the Robot Master! Everybody who likes Spider-Man LOVES Gwen Stacy, so why on earth would anyone want her to stay dead?
Well... MonkeyDad. Here's what I think of your list!
Mysterio: He is back. Danny Berkhart was a co-creator of Mad Jack, but then abandoned that for the Mysterio role. Last seen, he was on the loose.
Jonathan Caesar: No need to wonder. He went to prison, got out, and was killed by another psycho MJ-stalker named Hal Goldman. Bit tough bringing him back, unless you can think of a good reason why HE should have a healing factor? Maybe he's a failed Norman Osborn clone?
Chip Martin: Went nuts, last seen under psychiatric care.
Phillip Change: Yeah, but those graduate days are long behind Peter now.
Marcy Kane: Left for another planet with her alien boyfriend, Jack of Hearts, and even if Peter did go back to grad school, betcha Marcy is long gone!
Debra Whitman: Headed West with Biff Rifkin, settled down, had 2.4 kids, drives an SUV to go shopping.
Scorpion: MAC Gargan is back with a vengeance, as shown in "Spider-Man: Sweet Charity", a one-shot from not that long ago.
Kristy & Gail: Now, for once you're finally on the money. Last seen, Kristy was an Au Pair for Normie Jr. That's a dangling thread that really does need sorting out!
Betty: Last seen comforting the Parkers while MJ was believed dead. She and Peter are now friends again, and she's bound to drift in and out again.
Gwen: NO! Second only to Uncle Ben on the list of people to NEVER bring back. Marvel tried a taste of bringing Gwen back with the return of her clone. It fell flat as a pancake. She's dead, and that's that. Get over it!
Anyhow, none of these guys are gonna be forgotten, because each and every one appears in the new Spider-Man Encyclopedia!
From MotMotMot
I hear people talking about "Gwen Stacy Syndrome" but I don't know what it means. Can you please tell me what "Gwen Stacy Syndrome" is?
Tell you? I can do better than that. Go stand by the edge of that bridge, and I'll show you!
From Gregory12
Do you know a site where i may be able to find Lee & McFarlane's Addresses.
Nope. But I got an email yesterday saying that for $29.95 I can buy a program that will let me "FIND OUT ANYTHING ABOUT ANYONE". It seems to have been sent to me by some sort of mailing list. Want me to give them your email? They're also selling really cheap Vi+agra!
From PuffyCheeks
ur site is the bomb i am spider-man's number 1 fan u probly get this all the time but i am his number 1 fan
Number 2, dude. Get in line.
From SectorStar
Dear Sir or Madame, I have a couple of Spiderman ?'s for you:
- Is the black cats silver hair her true color?
- Who won in Marvell vs DC/
- Do you know of any more good spiderman or x men sites I like yours alot.
Well...
- Dunno, but if Terry Dodson draws her neckline much lower, we'll find out!
- In war there are no winners, only losers.
- Hey, why would you go anywhere else!
From David and Colin
Hey, I coulda sworn in one comic book sometime in the 70's or 80's that Spider-man fought a villian with a winged suit who called himself "The Fly" or maybe "The Human Fly" . Can't find any reference to him online anywhere after about a half-hour search. Can you clue me in? The most memorable thing I recall about this guy was that he could create some sort of ultrasonic blast with his wings.
Yep, he was called "The Fly". And you are right about the sonic backlash. His name was Richard Deacon, and he forced Dr. Harlan Stillwell to empower him. Stillwell was funded by Jameson. Deacon was killed by the Scourge of the Underworld.
Naturally, there's even more info about "The Fly", plus a picture, and stats and powers, in Spidey's new 'Pedia... essential reading for every keen Spidey-Fan! (Plug, Plug).
From Harley R. Pageot
Hey Jon, I'm a huge comics fan and I adore your site. It has quite the wealth of information that even I'm uninformed about. It was partly this and partly my hideously outdated copies of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe which got me thinking. I'm eighteen years old and it's the summer, so I do nothing anyways.
In my FileMaker Pro program, I plan to start work on a database of all major (and eventually the tiniest most minute minor) characters that appear in current Marvel continutity. So I was just wondering if you would mind if I borrowed information from the 'characters' section of your site. Your site appears quite up to date and would save me a lot of time, rather than searching through old issues and trying to piece together information myself.
Well Harley, you've got a LOT of work to do to catch up to the Marvel Chronology Project, the Unofficial Guide to the Marvel Universe, and the Appendix to the Unofficial Guide, including the incredible Master Files.
From Trowa
How does Pete keep all the peices to his costume in one piece while he wearing it? I mean, you think it would separate like it did for the imposter Spider-Man in USM #29. So what keeps it all together? Mini hooks? Mini magnets? What?
At first I thought he used his clinging ability to keep it all together (which would explain why it doesn't rip when rips out of webbing and stuff). But that would have to get in the way sometime. Can he extend how far objects are that he clings so he only clings to the suit?
Nothing so fancy, I'm afraid. The hood is just long, and tucks into the top. The top tucks into the pants, and I think the boots go over the pants, but don't quote me on that last bit. Anyhow, it's nothing more than the wonders of lycra!
From Humza
you ugly son of a bitch it took you more than 5yyrs nto up date your f*#king website AAND THEN YOU GICVE THE WORDST REVIEWS INTHE WORLD. PLUS DAREDEVIL CAN KICK SPIDEYS ASS ANYTIME PLUS HIIS WEBSITE IS COOLER THAN URS U F&*KING NIMROD! LOVE ALWAYS HUMZA
Mom... I told you to stop emailing me at work!
From ATS
I e-mailed Stan Lee. What are the chances of me getting a reply?
'Bout the same chance as you getting to pilot the Concord to your coronation as the Crown Prince of Iraq.
From SDawg
Hey, I found this wild picture of this guy dressed up in a Scarlet Spider outfit. At first I thought it was from the 1970's T.V. show, but wasn't that before the Scarlet Spider? And later I found out it was Scott Leva in the costume. Wasn't Leva Spider-Man's stunt double? Just wanted some background on this and also wanted to know where I might find more of these pictures.
Hey, good find! We're pretty sure it's actually a photo taken from a session used to create a holodisk for the cover of a comic in 1995 or thereabouts, though just at the moment I can't seem to lay my hands on the exact comic.
From ThePictureKept
Okay, so the new Spectacular Spider-Man series is out. And there's been two issues so far. But I've been unable to find any new Peter Parker, Spider-Man comics in store or any info on the Marvel site regarding this.
Has PPSM just been dropped in exchange for SSM or am I just being impatient waiting for a new issue of Peter Parker. I heard nothing saying that they'd be changing names and re-starting back at #1, but I've heard nothing about any new Peter Parker issues either.
Hmm... your local comic shop guys should have been able to fill you in on this one. Yep, the PPSM title was just renamed to Spectacular. The two-part Sandman story was the end of PPSM.
From Stephanie
I Know you probably cannot tell me what of my Spider-Man Premium '96 collection is worth, but I was wondering if you could maybe send me somewhere that has card values, not the comics.
Wizard magazine every few month runs an issue with Card valuations instead of comic valuations. They also do figures every now and again. You just reminded me, it's about time I grabbed a new one. If I figure out how often they do the Card versions, I'll throw it into next month's letters column!
From SectorStar
dear editor did spiderman ever mutate into a manspider if so which issue was it and in spiderman vs superman who won
There's a couple of mutations of Spider-Man you may be thinking of. The first was in ASM #100, where Spidey grew six arms. The second was when he was mutated into Spider-Morphosis by Plantman, in ASM #437. Lucky for you, BOTH are featured in the upcoming Spider-Man Encyclopedia!
As for who won when Spidey met Superman? The good guys did!
From OQWE
Besides Stan Lee, What other writer made Spider-Man famous? What writer made everyone love Spidey? What writer drove Spidey to become the famous comics powerehouse he is today? One that is still alive and/or writing?
Well, truth be told, it was Stan Lee and Steve Ditko who made Spidey famous. They planted the seeds of his success, and saw them grow. Jack Kirby is often given a little credit too. Check our FAQ list for more info on the creation of Spider-Man.
Stan is no longer writing comics, really, he hasn't done for quite some time. He his, however, still producing the newspaper strip. Ditko is heard from now and again, but he keeps a very private life.