Item the first: The new "Mary Jane Watson As Domestic Pussycat Girl" statue. Linkety-link via rimrunner

Item the second: In the new Spiderman: Reign mini-series, Spidey gets the Frank Miller treatment. After MJ dies due to poisoning from Pater Parker's radioactive sperm, a wrinkled old Spidey comes out of retirement (and her coffin, in which the old blue-and-red suit was buried with her) and goes on a violent spree of bloody justice in an NYC run by a strong-arm mayor and his brutal police.

Item the last: Toby McGuire as Spiderman. I think TM makes a decent Peter Parker, but I realize that I never felt he really got a handle around the whole wisecracking smart-ass that is the classic Spiderman. That semi-juvenile attitude of his was alwyas essential to.

Spidey was never all THAT haunted. Not like the Punisher or Batman. Those cats were vigilantes. Spidey was a crimefighter. Spidey was never out to extract bloody vengeance to soothe his tortured rage like those other cats in black. And I hear the 3rd movie (to say nothing of the comics) is exactly heading that way. No wonder I'm not rushing out to see it.

I miss my friendly, neighborhood Spiderman.