With excellent taste. I’ve seen the covers and trading cards; Emma’s twice the slutty hottie Jean Grey will ever be, redhead or no.
Query: Spider-Man: Loner or Overlooked Team Player?
I say Overlooked Team Player. I wish I could see Spider-Man (not the Ultimate teenager version) as a solid member of a solid Marvel super-team.
Spider-Man would make an excellent team player. He even tried to join the Fantastic Four in Spider-Man #1, but was rebuffed because he asked for their “top salary” (which is ridiculous, given that Reed essentially supported everyone anyway, ie, his patents were paying for the team’s expenses so they didn’t have to support themselves and could be full-time adventurers).
He’s worked as a reserve Avenger, though he’s never been a full-time member, partly because he won’t reveal his secret identity.
During the Maximum Carnage story line, he was essentially the HAIC* of all of the good guys defending New York.
He was a member of one team, possible the Devenders or Invaders or Secret Invading Defenders of Vengance or something like that.
But there is a practical reason why he has no team affiliation. For roughly the past two decades, he’s had three full-time books (the titles vary from time to time). Currently, he has two core continuity titles (Amazing and Spectatular, the two traditional core titles), a Marvel Knights title (no adjective), and an anthology (Unlimited). There’s just no more room to put him on a team title.
*Head Arachnid In Charge
Yeah, but Superman appears in 3 titles each month, NOT including JLA or Elseworlds mini-series or the occasional one-shot. Batman appears in 3 titles each month, NOT including JLA, Elseworlds mini-series and one shots.
Marvel could have Spider-Man in a team book if they really wanted to. But they keep harping on the “loner” angle where a much more logical progression would be to have him on a family-oriented team like the Fantastic Four.
Can you imagine the gadgets Spidey could come up with on Reed Richards’ tutelage/dime?
Unimportant nitpick:
I don’t recall the Avengers ever requiring members to divulge their identity. The time I recall he was seriously considered for full-membership (during a battle against Nebula), he got a little rattled with the heavy cosmic league they were fighting in. In the end, he and Cap agreed that his forte was more geared for local crime-fighting, rather than world-saving.
However, in a manner of speaking, Spidey is ultimate Marvel Universe team player.
Superman appears in four titles each month, Batman in five with four other affiliated titles where he makes regular guest appearances. They, like Wolverine, are overexposed. It weakens the character to have so many books. I’d argue that the four Spider-Man books are already too many. I like the way Marvel does its Avengers book. The characters there are the B characters who either have no book or their own or only appear in one other title.
If I were the God of comic books, it would be the law than no character would appear in more than two monthly solo titles and one team title. Superman should appear in Superman, Action and JLA. Batman should be in Detective, Batman, and JLA. Spider-Man should be in Amazing and Spectacular, and could be in a team book, using this plan.
Hey you!: You’re correct as far as I know about the Avengers not requiring divulging secret identities (though this seems inadvisable to me), but it is common place for those who have them, and I have read, though I’ve no cite right now, at least one story in which it seemed to make them a bit uneasy.
You are right in general, though, that it’s from Spidey’s end that the preference for flying solo comes. This seems to fit in with the history of the character quite well. He’s traditionally been willing to work with a partner (Human Torch or Black Cat, for example) but has trouble making permanent, long term alliances. I’ve little doubt the Avengers would have him if he wanted in.
Found it. Spider-Man was a member of the Secret Defenders, a covert super team run by SHIELD.
Ignore that. Misread my source. Spider-Woman was a member of The Secret Defenders.
I was probably being too cutesy before in the Loner/OTP query, so I’ll just put it plain: Is there any compelling reason for Spider-Man not to be a full time member of a Marvel superteam?
Ah, you guys are no fun. 
#1 Because his plate is already too full: Crimefighting, part-time teacher, husband to a great wife who has already demonstrated that she wants to see more of him.
#2 Although it’s not as bad as in the past, Spidey’s controversial public reputation would be a negative to any team that is associated with him.
#3 Spidey’s not much of a team player. Think back to all those “team-ups”: what is has been his gut reaction any time he encountered some other super-being dressed in spandex? Web first, ask question later. Some people just aren’t team players, I’ll bet you know some people like that in real life. Web-head is one of them.
On topic of Spidey not revealing his secret ID to the Avengers:
When he joined up on reserve status, he had to get scanned by one of the Avengers computers that determined his ID, ran an extensive background check, approved his status for Avengers membership and then purged all the newly obtained data from its database.
I think that another reason that Spider-Man has never joined a team is that it just doesn’t seem to fit with the character. Part of Spider-Man’s allure is that he never seems to catch any breaks and he’s almost always the underdog. If he’s suddenly a part of the Avengers or some other team he has a whole group of people to fall back on if he needs help and he’s no longer the underdog. This goes all the way back to his origin when he started off as the dork who’s picked on at school.
While Marvel hasn’t always made Spidey’s life a living hell, even when things go his way his good fortune will usually turn on him. For example, he did marry a supermodel but their relationship has been pretty rocky over the years.
Two questions, which I predict will go unanswered.
First…what’s Superman’s dog Krypto’s “origin,” in current continuity? I’m assuming he’s Kryptonian…but how’d he get to Earth? And when was he reintroduced to the comics?
And second…who has the most advanced space program: Marvel Earth, or DC Comics Earth?
In the animated Justice League, the U.S. has already launched a successful manned Mars mission. But in the comics, I remember hearing that Superman was once dispatched to change the batteries on a “Pathfinder”-type Mars rover. (In perhaps the worst use of resourses I’ve ever seen.) As for Marvel Earth…Jean Grey died onboard a space shuttle in the late 1970s. (Of course, with Marvel’s “rolling reboot,” that’s probably supposed to have taken place in like 1998, now.) And I think X-Statix showed an orbiting Space Station/Metahuman Prison that was seemingly public knowledge.
I’m relatively new to the Batman series of comics and I’m currently reading Knightfall.
Apparently Robin is dead, well Jason Todd is and the new Robin is called Tim.
So what have I missed?
Where’s the first Robin? 
I need to know what comics to read so that I can actually understand who’s who in Knightfall.
Apart from Azrael I’m a bit lost as to the evolution of the characters.
A chronological list of recommended reading would be very helpful.
The first Robin has grown up.
He protects a city named Bludhaven, some 300 miles from Gotham City.
Today, he’s called Nightwing.
BYW–in the last few issues, Tim has resigned from the Robin role.
The newest Robin is a girl.
Heck, Ranchoth – I thought someone else would have answered this by now. What happened to Fenris?
The new Krypto was introduced into the DCU back in 2001 in Superman #167 by Jeph Loeb in a 4-part storyline called, “Back To Krypton.” I won’t go into specifics, but the Krypton here is a false one, and a trap by one of Superman’s enemies, which Superman escaped. Krypto followed Superman back to Earth, where he was officlally adopted by the Man of Steel. Unlike his Pre-Crisis percursor however, the new Krypto has only normal canine intelligence and fights with all his strength as bestowed by the yellow sun; he is typically too dangerous to be let outside the Fortress of Solitude.
This is slightly more difficult to guage, because Superman and the Justice League will do research for STAR labs and the U.S. government at the drop of a hat; and Lex Luthor has recently appropriated Boom Tube tech from Apokolips for U.S. military use, but seemingly only to deploy weaponsinto deep space. Still, for some of the reasons you cited, as well as others (Marvel Earth has a military outpost guarding the Blue Area of The Moon – the nations of Latveria, Wakanda and the Inhumans all have abbreviated space programs, etc.) I’d say Marvel Earth. Besides, Reed Richards was involved in Marvel’s early space exploits, how can the Marvel U NOT be ahead?
New question:
What happened during the Crisis?
Wait! Don’t start in with “once upon a time there was a multiverse because both Flashes knew Superman…” What I mean is, I just finished reading the TPB of the collected Crisis and not having been reading comics at the time, there was one thing I didn’t quite get. (well, several things, but I’m not going to bother asking who funny-looking guy #4 on page 73 is) (don’t go look it up, that was a joke.)
The Crisis itself was published monthly for a year, right? And certain other book had some connections leading up to or away from the crisis proper. But in most books, did life just go on, detailing the last few adventures of the pre-crisis heroes? Or did the crisis intrude on their storylines? Like, what was Batman up to in his own book when not being generally useless on the sidelines of the Crisis? or Superman? Wonder Woman, etc… Was there any attempt at closure of storylines and such?
This was made even more confusing for me by the end of the crisis series. Knowing the outcome ahead of time, I expected the two supermen and superboy (1,2, and prime) to combine in some way to be the new post-crisis superman, but instead Superman 1 and Superboy went inside Alexander Luthor (?!?!?!) and Superman 2 went back to the new merged earth.
But the post-crisis superman is supposed to be different than the pre-crisis Superman-2, right? When did that change happen? Was it in the pages of Superman’s own title?
One more question while I’m here. Was there ever any attempt to explain that the DCU’s definition of antimatter was bogus? Did they mean something else by antimatter? Did they have a different name for what we call antimatter? Or was it just sloppy science?
Correct, monthly for a year. Almost every DC title at the time had one or more Crisis Crossover issues. They showed the red skies and temporal disruptions going on towards the end. I can’t speak for how Every book handled it… as I wasn’t reading every book at the time, but… All-Star Squadron is one I was paying close attention to - it was completely rearranged by the Crisis, as it was set on Earth-Two. They took a novel approach… a mysterious entity trying to tamper with time “held back” the temporal effects of the Crisis until it could change a few key things - so they wrapped up their plot, the Crisis changes hit, and the series wrapped soon after, replaced by Young All-Stars.
It was especially interesting, because, before the changes hit, there was a group photo of the entire squadron, including the Earth Two Superman, Batman, Robin, Green Arrow, Aquaman, etc. - when the photo was handed to Roosevelt the next day (after the changes hit) they’d been replaced by other, second-tier heroes. (Well, except GA, if I recall correctly, because of editorial oversight)
The Superman : Man of Steel miniseries dealt with the revamped Superman’s new origins. There are indications that it took some time for the heroes’ memories to adjust to the new timeline … so you have a post-Crisis story where Superman remembers Supergirl - who never existed post-Crisis.
Rubber science. Same as Star Trek. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. 
How some other books dealt with the Crisis:
Teen Titans basically ignored it, and just went on the way it had.
Flash ended its vol. 1 run shortly before the Crisis began.
Wonder Woman likewise ended its Vol. 1 run shortly before the Crisis began (Diana married Steve Trevor).