Not sure. It would probably have to do with some combination of the Jackal, Normon Osborn in prison, the Shocker and the Trapster though.

I have some ideas, but I'd say that whatever Slott could come up with is probably better than what I have in mind, considering he did a pretty good job setting up what could have been the 'fix' in the first place with stuff like Scarlet Spiders and "Peter Parker was pretending to be Spider-Man to help us out" kind of stuff. If he manages to pull another trick like that that undoes the main damage of OMD/BND/OMIT and the whole 'selling marriage to the devil' BS, I will definitely give the book a look.

I'm going to trust that if he's doing as good a job on the book as you're saying (which given my enjoyment of stuff of his I've read, I'm not doubting) and he has any interest in undoing OMD/BND/OMIT to begin with (which, for me, is the real question here), he'll be able to pull it off in such a way that'll make me happy and get me to give the book a chance (and probably turn me into a regular reader while he's at it).

I personally think that Slott is doing a lot to undo the damage of OMD/OMIT. (I left out BND because it didn't cause the damage; it was just the fallout.) He's accomplishing this by telling a really good Spider-man story that is character-driven, moving the status quo forward (science gig/new suits/new girlfriend), faithful to the characters (Peter = wise-crackin' nerd, MJ = super model, black cat = sexy un-easy alliance, etc.), and most importantly FUN. If you want to "fix" Spider-man, tell good Spider-man stories. It's that simple.

There is one major caveat to the above: stop bringing up OMD/OMIT! Readers will eventually learn to live with the new status quo, but only if you don't constantly undercut it by bringing up OMD and OMIT. To see that this is true, all you need to do is look at the bad feelings that were created in the first issue when Peter and MJ laughed at the thought of them living together. In time, the pain of OMD/OMIT will fade, but only if the writers stop picking at the scab.

As a bit of an aside, it is my opinion that we need to come to peace with the fact that, for better or worse, Peter and MJ's marriage is gone forever. I honestly believe that ship has sailed. Because for every person that hates OMD and OMIT, there's another person who loves the 3 years of BND that came out of it. You can't undo OMD without also undoing BND, and if you do re-retcon OMD, you're still going to upset a lot of people. (I guess there is always the possibility of some genius writer coming along that can turn these lemons into lemonade, but there is a greater chance that it will only make things worse. I believe it's better to leave it alone.) That's just my opinion after reaching the acceptance stage of grief. You're mileage may vary.

I think the answer is so obvious and so simple that it's staring us in the face and we don't even know it. The answer is: OMD!

Now, before you crucify me, let me explain. If the marriage never existed, if the spider-baby never existed, there is no telling how the Clone Saga actually played out in this new continuity. In other words, we, as readers, have never seen the BND version of the Clone Saga. Think about it: if Harry Osborn can be alive, Ben can be alive as well.

Now, we do know some things. We know from the recent "Who Was Ben Reilly?" storyline that Peter and Kaine believe Ben is dead, but we do not know the circumstances surrounding his "death". Peter and Kaine could be mistaken. Ben could just be in hiding.

Personally, I think they should bring Ben back. Peter could use a "brother," who could relate to his problems. And, I think the Marvel universe would be a better place if there were multiple Spider-men running around. (See DC's Flash, GL and Batman.) The above logic would also apply to the Slingers. There's no reason they can't bring them back fairly easily, and I say the more the merrier!

Ben dissolved right in Peter's arms. Unless he had powers like Sandman, I'd say he's dead.

I don't know, who has been Reilly ???
Besides William Bendix & Jackie Gleason, that is.

Ben dissolved in the original continuity. Did that also happen in the "Who is Ben Reilly?" storyline? I don't remember seeing that, but I could be wrong. That was an awful story arc and I tried to put it out of my head almost as quickly as I read it, which may be why I don't remember it exactly.

EDIT:
I am going to answer my own question. Here is a link from the comic that shows (although in flashback) what supposedly happened to Ben Reilly: http://i.newsarama.com/preview_image...036033_col.jpg

I think it is vague enough that you could explain it away if you wanted to.

From Wikipedia:
After dying, Reilly's body decomposed rapidly, Spider-Man barely managing to get Ben's body out of public sight before it collapsed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Reilly

If you read the Marvel Wiki about Ben Reilly, it mixes up the story of Raptor, which was a story/timeline set in the past, with Ben's death saying that Ben met Raptor after Ben's death. That would mean Ben somehow faked his own death.

http://marvel.wikia.com/Peter_Parker...y)_(Earth-616)

But, as I said, it mixes up the story's timeline.

Beyond that, the Marvel wiki blends the pre and post OMD continuities together (badly). It talks about MJ being pregnant, which Joe Q. said never occurred in post OMD/BND continuity because Peter and MJ would have taken proper precautions to avoid being in a family way. But, if MJ never becomes pregnant, then Ben would have never discovered that Peter was the clone and he was the actual Spider-man, and Peter and MJ would never have moved to Portland, and on and on... Change the fact that MJ was pregnant and huge ripples affects occur to continuity. Joe Q. and Tom Brevoort have also said that many of the pieces of prior continuity still occurred, just differently than we remember.

I guess this is my larger point, we don't really know what happened. All we've gotten post-BND is flashbacks, snippets of what happened. Maybe Ben Reilly did fake his own death. (I don't know how this could have happened, but it is entirely possible given what else we don't know.) What I am saying is that Ben could be alive. And, I hope he is.

Wow. Has it been three years? I can't believe I haven't bought an issue of ASM in three years. My comic pulls are so low now I can't even believe that its been that long. OMD/BND started a chain reaction for me that had me lose a lot of faith in comics. I am down to only getting Cosmic Marvel, and Batman and Robin on my pull list.

How would I fix Spider-Man? I would stop mentioning OMD/BND/OMIT ever again. If they are truly never going to revisit the storline with Mephisto, then nevery mention it, tounge in cheek, inside joke, or any other story line way ever again. If you have no intention of ever doing anything with that again, then don't waste any time on it. Write your new stories and make them as good as you can. People will forget, the new readers will never know, and there will never be a need to bring it up.

Also, quit rewriting all the stories that have been written. Write Peter in a new and bold way, make him a cop, or a forensic investigator. Make him a full time Super Hero on the payroll to a science company. Make him a world traveler, Spider-Man in Europe would be interesting. Do stuff that has never been done. Break the status quo.

Are you kidding with this stuff?

1) New Girlfriend = CSI (and also adorable roller derby enthusiast)
2) Pete: Working for science company

Stop being a holdout!


Also, just mentioning that the Bugle is back and a decent background piece of the NY scene.

Jack,

Sorry. No can do. I appreciate your effort, and I respect your opinion, but I have no desire to read spidey anymore. They decided they didn't need my money three years ago, and nothing has changed that. Just giving my opinion on how to fix it for new readers.

You'll be converted back. Spidey will be your Godfather III.

I thought Godfather III was suppose to be the bad one of the trilogy or something.

Or is that the joke?

Jack,

That is not a good analogy. III was not a very good movie. Maybe if you had said something like Indiana Jones III, I would be with you, but GFIII, man, that ain't helping your case.