page_title: Spider-Man: One More Day
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: Spider-Man: One More Day / Reception
caption_attribution_description: Joe Quesada at Comic-Con NYC 2008
context_page_description: "One More Day" is a four-part 2007 comic book crossover storyline, connecting the three main Spider-Man series concurrently published by Marvel Comics at the time. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada, with art by Quesada, this story arc concludes the fallout of Spider-Man's actions during the 2007 Civil War crossover. "One More Day" starts in The Amazing Spider-Man #544, continues in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 and The Sensational Spider-Man #41, and concludes in Amazing Spider-Man #545.
  After his Aunt May had been shot, Spider-Man seeks help to save her life. He encounters the demon Mephisto, who offers to save her life if Spider-Man gives him his marriage. Spider-Man and his wife Mary Jane Watson agree, and this part of their history is erased so that, effectively, they have never been married. Additionally, the demon erases the world's collective memory of Spider-Man's secret identity, which had been exposed in Civil War #2.
context_section_description: One More Day was panned by fans and critics. IGN reviewer Jesse Schedeen described Amazing Spider-Man #545 as "undoubtedly the worst comic Marvel published in 2007" and a "deus ex machina of the highest order." He did admit that writer Straczynski "had a great handle on the Peter/Mary Jane dynamic," making their potentially final moments mean something, and that Quesada's artistic style made sense given the dark tone. However, he also dismissed the story as "infuriating and downright disrespectful to anyone who has come to love Spider-Man comics over the years." IGN published two "Additional Take" reviews for Amazing Spider-Man #545. Bryan Joel said that he'd been a "vocal supporter" of "Brand New Day", but summarized the OMD story as "flip, weightless, and painfully brief." Richard George stated that "One More Day" "could prove to be the best example of editorial influence gone horribly, horribly wrong" and "in trying to preserve the appeal of Peter Parker, Joe Quesada has actually managed to fundamentally undermine the character." Both Joel and George agreed with their colleague in complimenting Quesada's artwork. Tim Marchman of The Wall Street Journal stated that having Spider-Man make a deal with the devil-like Mephisto is "the rough equivalent of having Z-movie director Uwe Boll film a studio-funded prequel to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver."
  Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee praised the storyline and what he perceived as the courage its creators showed in so drastically changing a popular and well-established character. Lee said changes are needed to keep a series fresh and compared the criticism from fans to the backlash Marvel Comics received when Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson married in the first place. The Spider-Man newspaper strip adopted the "One More Day" retcon in its version of "Brand New Day" (along with "The Wedding!", one of just three stories to appear in both the Spider-Man comic book and newspaper strip), but reader reaction to the erasing of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage was so negative that Lee, who wrote the strip, opted to conclude the story by revealing that it was in fact a bad dream. As such, Peter remains married to Mary Jane in the newspaper strip continuity.
  In a roundtable review at Newsarama, J. Caleb Mozzocco agreed that Spider-Man was easier to relate to while young and single, but that retconning the marriage of Spider-Man was unnecessary due to the existence of titles such as Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel Adventures Spider-Man. He found the story confusing, wondering how this retcon made sense in the larger Marvel Universe, as Spider-Man played important roles in New Avengers and "Civil War". Kevin Huxford claimed, "you can feel editorial mandate dripping from this" and called the story "utterly ridiculous," while Lucas Siegel criticized Quesada's decision to have heroic Peter Parker make a "deal with the Devil" for selfish reasons. Richard Renteria felt that the story's conclusion was a missed opportunity "to add a new layer of guilt to Peter's already rocky life by allowing May to finally have the send off she deserves," while Troy Brownfield felt that the storyline damaged Marvel continuity and Spider-Man's decision was "selfish and childish," not to mention "a big middle finger to the idea of marriage in comics." He speculated preferable endings to the story before concluding, "As it stands, Peter, MJ, May . . . and the readers . . . all got a raw deal." A more positive view came from Brandon Thomas, who felt that "One More Day" was "an incredibly well-told story." He praised the writing, in particular the morally ambiguous decision Peter has to make and the way he and Mary Jane deal with it together, as well as Quesada's art, which he felt set the tone of "guilt, regret, and despair." In regards to the change made in Spider-Man canon, he said, "Peter Parker being married really isn't a vital component of the mythos" and that it allowed Marvel to make "big, sweeping changes to bring things slightly more into focus and back on message."
  Wizard praised the artwork, specifically 
caption: Joe Quesada, co-writer and penciller. Wizard felt his artistic decisions enhanced the series.
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