the Amazing Spider-man #601 - Marvel

Ok . . we've finally cracked the 600 mark with this book, so now they bring back the most confusing part of this One More Day story-line . . Mary Jane Watson. Don't get me wrong, I love this character just as much as anyone, but . . in typical Marvel fashion we're now going back on everything that was written and established in the story-line that basically 'reset' Peter's life. I thought Mephisto had erased this part of their history from both of their memories, not to mention the rest of the world. Everything is thrown into a tizzy when MJ shows up at Aunt May's reception. I thought it was hilarious though that Peter is all worked up over MJ, gets drunk trying to muster up the courage to talk to her, and then . . in typical male fashion . . ends up sleeping with Michelle, Vin's sister. There's a deal breaker if I ever heard one. I guess he does think to himself . . "Why would MJ make me that crazy? How many other lamebrain things did I do for the first time last night . . just because the ex I lived with and thought I'd marry popped up outta nowhere after a year?" So I guess the line isn't crossed . . with this story. But . . there have been other references in the last couple of months that Peter shouldn't have known about considering what Mephisto did to him. And, like I said, it's just aggravating because this is what Marvel does. It sets a character down a different path, for the story's sake, only to have the whole thing reversed down the line and take everything back to the way it was before the great 'shake-up'. I know it's a comic-book. I know it's just a story. But that's not the way it works in the 'real' world. When things change . . they change for good. Things seldom go back to the way they were. If so . . I have a period around my 30's that I'd like to revisit. I made some poor decisions and I'd really like a 'do-over'. Please! Anyways, there's a lot of other good stuff in this story. Jonah is carrying out his crusade against Spider-man. It looks like Peter may with the whole thing with Michelle never happened. And in the back-up story Peter gives some encouraging words to Jessica. Some 'food for thought', if you will. All in all, I thought it was a pretty decent chapter in our young hero's life. Mark Waid and Mario Alberti did a great job with the story. Brian Bendis and Joe Quesada do the back-up. Plus we get an amazing cover by J Scott Campbell. What more could we ask for? Oh yeah . . some consistent continuity!