ASM 121 - Who should have been the one to die? 2 2

[romanheart]

/

As much as I like Aunt May, she would have been my choice.

 

[speedcake]

NO SPOILERS 

[UnboxingTreasures]

Based solely on the story from issue #1 - 121, I would say Mary Jane.

[Ken Aldred]

The problem with Aunt May is that she's pretended to be at death's door so many times and recovered so many times that it's become clear that she's an attention-seeking drama queen who's basically indestructible.  

So, it's futile to nominate her.

Edited January 15, 2019 by Ken Aldred

[MGsimba77]

They got it right. It allowed for the whole clone saga to unfold later. That was maybe the most exciting 10 issue run for ASM imo! Besides Aunt May Gwen was the closest to his heart. I don't think pushing a frail old lady off a bridge works & would've turned Conway into an evil devil worshipping monster 

[Schmakt]

I finally got copies if 121 and 122 recently and thought, despite knowing the basic story thanks to ad nauseam recaps, that it was handled really wonderfully just the way it was...

I did mean to ask... was there something about having to massage the dialog on the last couple of pages to make it clear that Spidey didn't actually kill her with the *snap*?

GG's explanation that she was already dead seems pretty weak. 

[Buzzetta]

7 hours ago, NamesJay said:

Based solely on the story from issue #1 - 121, I would say Mary Jane.

While I disagree in it being Mary Jane, I definitely agree that it should be considered only in the context of issues AF15-ASM121.  You cannot consider, what comes 'next'....

If you do consider that then you can only consider what comes until the end of that particular creative team since they would have known where the direction was of the characters they were writing for.  Therefore you can extend the story to issue 149.

Side note... Conway finishes his run with issue 149 on a cliffhanger with the Spider-clone. 

Goodwin scripts issue 150

Len Wein scripts 151 from there...

This begs the question... what happened? 

[Ken Aldred]

It's interesting to read the Conway run and see how little of the clone narrative there actually is; small bits and pieces in the early 140s up to the more continuous Spider-Clone story in the final issues.  Appropriate though in order to allow a natural grieving space after Gwen's death.  I like the way Mary Jane is given more character depth on the final page of 122; evolution to compensate for loss.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by Ken Aldred

[bababooey]

This guy's blog is fun.    http://crustymud.paradoxcomics.com/?p=139

[Cocomonkey]

Can I vote for it to have been Peter Parker, with Harry Osborn taking over the mantle of Spider-Man from then on?

[Point Five]

9 hours ago, romanheart said:

Eugene "Flash" Thompson

 

WHOA. I just learned something new today.

 

[Jaylam]

Based on the story itself in #121 no one should have died. Medically speaking, falling from the height of the George Washington Bridge would not have killed you instantly like the Green Goblin boasted, at least not until some intervention happens like hitting the water or being snared by Spider-Man's webbing and since the former didn't happen, it was the latter that killed her. The only thing that could have killed you instantly in that case is having your neck broke, which is precisely what happened and why Gwen died. It is the only plausible medical explanation based on the how the illustrations are presented (unless there is some un-seen way the Green Goblin killed her before knocking her off the bridge, after all, she seemed to be unconscious already).

Edited January 15, 2019 by Jaylam

[Bird]

I thought that there was a "SNAP" sound effect when Peter snares her that was maybe removed from subsequent printings?

[valiantman]

Who should have died? What if I want to vote for "Spidey's butt as the focal point of cover art" as being the thing that died? 

Edited January 15, 2019 by valiantman

[grebal]

21 minutes ago, Bird said:

I thought that there was a "SNAP" sound effect when Peter snares her that was maybe removed from subsequent printings?

Exactly.  The 'snap' was included specifically to be clear that Pete inadvertently killed her.

Quote

" In The Amazing Spider-Man #125 (Oct. 1973), Marvel Comics editor Roy Thomas wrote in the letters column that "it saddens us to have to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her. In short, it was impossible for Peter to save her. He couldn't have swung down in time; the action he did take resulted in her death; if he had done nothing, she still would certainly have perished. There was no way out." "

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by grebal
add quote from letters page

[newshane]

Anyone but Gwen. 

[Schmakt]

1 hour ago, grebal said:

Exactly.  The 'snap' was included specifically to be clear that Pete inadvertently killed her.

 

Yes, thank you!  That's part of what I was trying to remember...

But the 2nd part... if this is what happened, (and was intended) why the convoluted monologue about how she was already dead?

[ADAMANTIUM]

3 minutes ago, Schmakt said:

Yes, thank you!  That's part of what I was trying to remember...

But the 2nd part... if this is what happened, (and was intended) why the convoluted monologue about how she was already dead?

I always took it to mean, their plan was fool proof and that Spiderman could not stop the inevitable, ie she was already dead....

[Schmakt]

Just now, ADAMANTIUM said:

I always took it to mean, their plan was fool proof and that Spiderman could not stop the inevitable, ie she was already dead....

ah... I guess I'm reading it weird...

I think the non-verbatim quote was something like, "she was dead before she hit the ground."

She wasn't *literally* dead... She was just inevitably dead in a second or two.

*thumbs up*

[Schmakt]

1 hour ago, valiantman said:

Who should have died? What if I want to vote for "Spidey's butt as the focal point of cover art" as being the thing that died? 

And if my butt looked half that good in spandex I'd be sharing it with the world too