Spider-Man has always been my favorite Marvel character, but in recent years, it's been harder to really enjoy his books. Stories involving a mystical line of spider totems and the sudden appearance of Gwen Stacy's now-adult children from a teenage fling with Norman Osborn -- these are stories born from an attempt to be edgy, clever or somehow different, but the fertile ground of Spidey inspiration was clearly running dry.

Then the Powers That Be over at Marvel decided it'd be really cool if Spider-Man revealed his Peter Parker identity to the world during their big Civil War event. And, while that led to a few good stories, it left them with an untenable situation that made further plot developments almost impossible. Clearly, the criminals would take advantage of this newfound knowledge, and when the inevitable shot from the dark came, Peter ducked and his loving Aunt May took the bullet, leaving her -- as she has been so many times over the years -- on the edge of death.

For a while there, it looked like Marvel would take the big step and let this kindly old lady finally be reunited with her beloved husband, the late Uncle Ben. But no. The creative team decided it could only tell good stories from here on out if 1) May lived; 2) Peter's secret identity was forgotten by everyone in the whole wide world; and 3) Peter and Mary Jane were no longer married.

So, how to accomplish this? Why, a deal with the devil, of course!

I really hate to say this, but I am really glad J. Michael Straczynski is moving on as Spider-Man's writer. The guy is just fresh out of good ideas.

So, yeah, the devil (Mephisto) pops up and, because the soul is a passe bargaining chip these days, tells Peter and Mary Jane he'll save May's life and make the world forget Peter's secret ID if he can steal away their marriage and all memories of ever being married. And Peter, who has always claimed to love his wife more than life itself and whose aunt has been on death's doorstep for several decades now ... chooses his aunt.

Bad storytelling all around. The art by Marvel editor Joe Quesada is pretty good (although Peter for someone reason looks like a muppet). But the concept is weak and, frankly, no amount of good execution is going to sell a bad concept.

Marvel apparently believes its readers can't identify with a married character, which contradicts the growing trend of older, married people (like myself) reading comics. The medium is not just for kids any more, Joe. Besides, the Marvel Universe is filled with wild and crazy singles; you couldn't let one marriage survive among your big-league titles? (The long-lived marriage of Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four also splintered during the recent Civil War storyline.)

Anyway, a writer who believes the only way to get around a bad plot development is to make a deal with the devil should probably just throw up his hands and pass the script over to someone with fresher ideas. Unfortunately for Spider-Man's fans, this team waited too long to step down.