What Roger Stern Says About Spider-Man's Love Life (first entry)
Hello ladies and gentlemen. Since this is my first post, you'll have to forgive me if I make any particular spelling or grammatical errors, not mention that this is probably going to be a little crude in terms of format. With that advanced apology out of the way, I'll get down to business.
In today's interview with Comic Book Resources (March 19, 2010), famed comic writer extraordinaire, Roger Stern, talked about and promoted his upcoming story in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man this month called "Something Stops the Juggernaut," which is, to some degree, a spiritual "follow-up" to his classic (and quite excellent) "Nothing Stops the Juggernaut" (ASM # 229-#230). Anyway, there was one particular section of the interview that caught my attention:
Question: Another important supporting character in this story is Carlie Cooper. What do you find most interesting about Carlie?
Roger Stern: Carlie is the first woman in Pete's life who really shares his interests. They're both science geeks. In fact, when it comes to forensic science, Carlie can give Pete a run for his money in the smarts department. Plus, she definitely has guts. When Doctor Octopus had her tied up with Octobots, she still tried to arrest him. And she was the one who invited Johnny Storm to be her date to May Parker's wedding.
For any of you old "WKRP in Cincinnati" fans out there, Carlie is like a more outgoing Bailey Quarters. For those of you who watch "Bones," she's Camille Saroyan - or a socially adept Temperance Brennan - to Mary Jane Watson's Angela Montenegro. Carlie may be the nerdy-girl, but she's not lacking in social skills.
There's a real sweetness to Carlie, even when she's elbow-deep in bloody body parts.
Q: And now that it seems like Pete and Carlie are trying to start up a romantic relationship what do you think they see in each other?
RS: Geez, why are fans always trying to play matchmaker for Pete? Let's take things one step at a time, guys. In the scheme of things, Pete hasn't known Carlie all that long. She has become a good friend, though. It was Carlie, after all, who found him his current apartment. Will she become more than just a friend? I don't know. So far, they're having trouble just getting together for dinner. Conflicting schedules, and all that - and whose schedule has more conflicts than Pete's, right?
What do Carlie and Pete see in each other? Well, as I said, they're a good intellectual match. He admires her spirit and resilience--and he thinks she's cute. She admires his wit and realizes that there's a decency to Pete, despite his sometimes clueless behavior. Plus, she thinks he has a nice butt.
What do I personally think? Allow me to paraphrase Tom Hanks from "That Thing You Do": Mary Jane is the wild one, Harry is the troubled one, Pete is the smart one, and Carlie…well, Carlie is special, isn't she?
That's what I think, anyway.
comicbookresources.com/
Well, this reminded me of something else 'ol "Uncle Rog" said on "Stern Talk: The Unofficial Roger Stern message board" when he responded to this question:
"Berry: Dear Mr. Stern,
I am just a curious fan from Germany, who really enjoyed your work on the Avengers, Spider-Man and especially the goblins.
You stated more than once that in your opinion the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane was a mistake.
According to Newsarama you think, he married the wrong girl. So is there a 'right' girl he could've married?
RS: Not at the time. When I was first writing Amazing Spider-Man, I was planning to introduce a new romantic interest for Pete…a young woman who might have developed into the right girl for him…but I never got around to it."
sterntalk.yuku.com/topic/606/t/Questions-for-Mr-Stern-Spider-Man.html
Perhaps I'm mistaken here, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least that, given that Stern wanted to come up with a romantic interest that could have potentially become "the right girl" back when he was still the regular writer for Amazing Spider-Man, that he's now attempting to apply that concept onto the character of Carlie Cooper. Not to mention it serves to underscore the fact that Marvel is actively now promoting her as one of Spidey's "greatest loves" alongside Mary Jane Watson, The Black Cat, and even Gwen Stacy as evidenced by this solicit for "THE MANY LOVES OF THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1":
Peter Parker may be short on luck but his life sure isn't short on beautiful, intelligent women and here, Marvel is proud to present three all-new tales of Spider-Man’s greatest loves. First, Spider-Man finally strikes it rich thanks to the help of the beautiful Black Cat and superstar creators Chris Yost and Michael Ryan. But it’s one payday he may live to regret. Then, Webhead stalwart Fred Van Lente teams with rising star Javier Rodriguez to take you back to a chance meeting between Carlie Cooper and Gwen Stacy--and how it changed their lives forever. Finally, legendary Amazing Spider-Man writer Roger Stern checks in on Mary Jane Watson. How is Peter's ex coping in a Spider-Man world?
marvel.com/catalog/
That's right. The same Roger Stern, who also stated that Peter and Mary Jane getting married was a "mistake" AND who has nothing but praise for Carlie, is also going to be writing a story showing how MJ, as Peter's ex, is "coping." Just to be clear here, I think Roger Stern is one of the greatest writers who has ever graced the pages of Spider-Man comics; but not only do I disagree with his view that MJ was "the wrong girl" for Peter to marry (although to be fair, he says he really likes the character and, as the interview with CBR also reveals, he was the one who came up with the idea to develop her family background) but I really don't see what this apparent fascination is for Carlie who, based on what development she has gotten, comes across as a hodgepodge of Gwen Stacy and Debra Whitman.
Of course, what's funny about all of this is that, despite the fact Marvel is now trying to actively promote Carlie Cooper as a love interest, she's barely been on anybody's radar screen even though she's been a prominent supporting character in the comics for a little over two years now. Remember this teaser Marvel put out at the beginning of the year? image3.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID19312/images/Spider-Man_2010_Teaser.jpg Well, when those pictures first came out, virtually every blog and website I went to that talked about this either mistakenly thought Peter was kissing MJ in that image, or they couldn't identify the woman he was kissing--that is until somebody had to post in their comment section to correct them, including Wired Magazine: www.wired.com/underwire/2009/12/2010-spider-man/. And to me, that should speak volumes with regards to how Carlie, as a potential new love interest for Peter, is really catching on with the readers.
In today's interview with Comic Book Resources (March 19, 2010), famed comic writer extraordinaire, Roger Stern, talked about and promoted his upcoming story in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man this month called "Something Stops the Juggernaut," which is, to some degree, a spiritual "follow-up" to his classic (and quite excellent) "Nothing Stops the Juggernaut" (ASM # 229-#230). Anyway, there was one particular section of the interview that caught my attention:
Question: Another important supporting character in this story is Carlie Cooper. What do you find most interesting about Carlie?
Roger Stern: Carlie is the first woman in Pete's life who really shares his interests. They're both science geeks. In fact, when it comes to forensic science, Carlie can give Pete a run for his money in the smarts department. Plus, she definitely has guts. When Doctor Octopus had her tied up with Octobots, she still tried to arrest him. And she was the one who invited Johnny Storm to be her date to May Parker's wedding.
For any of you old "WKRP in Cincinnati" fans out there, Carlie is like a more outgoing Bailey Quarters. For those of you who watch "Bones," she's Camille Saroyan - or a socially adept Temperance Brennan - to Mary Jane Watson's Angela Montenegro. Carlie may be the nerdy-girl, but she's not lacking in social skills.
There's a real sweetness to Carlie, even when she's elbow-deep in bloody body parts.
Q: And now that it seems like Pete and Carlie are trying to start up a romantic relationship what do you think they see in each other?
RS: Geez, why are fans always trying to play matchmaker for Pete? Let's take things one step at a time, guys. In the scheme of things, Pete hasn't known Carlie all that long. She has become a good friend, though. It was Carlie, after all, who found him his current apartment. Will she become more than just a friend? I don't know. So far, they're having trouble just getting together for dinner. Conflicting schedules, and all that - and whose schedule has more conflicts than Pete's, right?
What do Carlie and Pete see in each other? Well, as I said, they're a good intellectual match. He admires her spirit and resilience--and he thinks she's cute. She admires his wit and realizes that there's a decency to Pete, despite his sometimes clueless behavior. Plus, she thinks he has a nice butt.
What do I personally think? Allow me to paraphrase Tom Hanks from "That Thing You Do": Mary Jane is the wild one, Harry is the troubled one, Pete is the smart one, and Carlie…well, Carlie is special, isn't she?
That's what I think, anyway.
comicbookresources.com/
Well, this reminded me of something else 'ol "Uncle Rog" said on "Stern Talk: The Unofficial Roger Stern message board" when he responded to this question:
"Berry: Dear Mr. Stern,
I am just a curious fan from Germany, who really enjoyed your work on the Avengers, Spider-Man and especially the goblins.
You stated more than once that in your opinion the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane was a mistake.
According to Newsarama you think, he married the wrong girl. So is there a 'right' girl he could've married?
RS: Not at the time. When I was first writing Amazing Spider-Man, I was planning to introduce a new romantic interest for Pete…a young woman who might have developed into the right girl for him…but I never got around to it."
sterntalk.yuku.com/topic/606/t/Questions-for-Mr-Stern-Spider-Man.html
Perhaps I'm mistaken here, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least that, given that Stern wanted to come up with a romantic interest that could have potentially become "the right girl" back when he was still the regular writer for Amazing Spider-Man, that he's now attempting to apply that concept onto the character of Carlie Cooper. Not to mention it serves to underscore the fact that Marvel is actively now promoting her as one of Spidey's "greatest loves" alongside Mary Jane Watson, The Black Cat, and even Gwen Stacy as evidenced by this solicit for "THE MANY LOVES OF THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1":
Peter Parker may be short on luck but his life sure isn't short on beautiful, intelligent women and here, Marvel is proud to present three all-new tales of Spider-Man’s greatest loves. First, Spider-Man finally strikes it rich thanks to the help of the beautiful Black Cat and superstar creators Chris Yost and Michael Ryan. But it’s one payday he may live to regret. Then, Webhead stalwart Fred Van Lente teams with rising star Javier Rodriguez to take you back to a chance meeting between Carlie Cooper and Gwen Stacy--and how it changed their lives forever. Finally, legendary Amazing Spider-Man writer Roger Stern checks in on Mary Jane Watson. How is Peter's ex coping in a Spider-Man world?
marvel.com/catalog/
That's right. The same Roger Stern, who also stated that Peter and Mary Jane getting married was a "mistake" AND who has nothing but praise for Carlie, is also going to be writing a story showing how MJ, as Peter's ex, is "coping." Just to be clear here, I think Roger Stern is one of the greatest writers who has ever graced the pages of Spider-Man comics; but not only do I disagree with his view that MJ was "the wrong girl" for Peter to marry (although to be fair, he says he really likes the character and, as the interview with CBR also reveals, he was the one who came up with the idea to develop her family background) but I really don't see what this apparent fascination is for Carlie who, based on what development she has gotten, comes across as a hodgepodge of Gwen Stacy and Debra Whitman.
Of course, what's funny about all of this is that, despite the fact Marvel is now trying to actively promote Carlie Cooper as a love interest, she's barely been on anybody's radar screen even though she's been a prominent supporting character in the comics for a little over two years now. Remember this teaser Marvel put out at the beginning of the year? image3.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID19312/images/Spider-Man_2010_Teaser.jpg Well, when those pictures first came out, virtually every blog and website I went to that talked about this either mistakenly thought Peter was kissing MJ in that image, or they couldn't identify the woman he was kissing--that is until somebody had to post in their comment section to correct them, including Wired Magazine: www.wired.com/underwire/2009/12/2010-spider-man/. And to me, that should speak volumes with regards to how Carlie, as a potential new love interest for Peter, is really catching on with the readers.
