Make Mine Maddening


Superior Spider-Man #9 is hitting comic shops in May. How is Marvel choosing to advertise it?

The hottest comic in comics comes to a turning point that will get you angrier than you were after Spidey #700!

That’s an interesting choice. See, I personally buy and read comic books because they make me happy. Sometimes they make me sad, sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they make me worried, but like any form of entertainment, the end result of these feelings is enjoyment. Never in my life have I said “Man, I want to get really angry. Can I please give you $4 to make me mad?”

See, there are lots of things in this world that make me angry for absolutely nothing. Just a few days ago Target and Apple Support wasted my entire afternoon performing “troubleshooting” on my iPod, only to tell me after several hours that my issue wasn’t covered under the warranty. And there were all the bigots shooting their mouths off last week about why I shouldn’t get equal protection under the law because the person I’ll eventually want to marry has boy parts instead of girl parts. Not to mention the time my landlord didn’t pay their gas bill and my apartment building didn’t have hot water. Or that creepy son of a bitch who decided stalk me a few years ago. All these things made me angry, and they didn’t cost me one red cent. And you know what else? I didn’t enjoy a single one of them.

A wise man once said “Anger leads to hate.” And if Marvel is trying to intentionally anger their customer base, I kind of hate them for it. “Angry” is not an emotion I like to feel. You’d think out of everyone on the planet, the people who produce comics featuring The Hulk would understand that.