George R. R. Martin Slams One of Marvel’s Most Controversial Stories

George R. R. Martin recently opened up about his feelings toward comic books during a talk with Popverse.

He said he has always loved reading comics and enjoys that there are so many stories available. But he also admitted that not everything about the medium works for him.

He said he gets bothered when publishers erase or restart long-running stories. In his words, “I do have frustrations with it, too, I have to admit. I sometimes… I don’t like retcons. I don’t like reboots. You know, I’m watching, I’m following a character or a superhero or something for years, sometimes decades, and then they come and say, ‘Oh, no. None of that stuff happened. We’re just going to start the whole thing over again.’ That always annoys the hell out of me.”

According to the conversation shared by Popverse, Martin brought up one well-known example from Marvel. He mentioned the controversial moment when Spider-Man’s marriage was erased.

He said, “Peter Parker married Mary Jane.” He was referring to Marvel’s One More Day and Brand New Day storylines, where Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s entire marriage was wiped from continuity. Martin added, “You can’t undo these things, but they do nowadays. But what can you do?”

The One More Day storyline became one of the most debated comic arcs Marvel has ever released. In that story, Peter and Mary Jane made a deal with Mephisto to save Aunt May’s life after she was shot.

The price of that deal was their marriage, which Mephisto erased from reality. Fans were upset because Peter and Mary Jane had been together for years, and their relationship was a major part of Spider-Man’s history.

Many readers felt the story took away a mature and meaningful chapter of the character’s life simply to return him to a single, younger status. The reset also created confusion about what events from past comics still counted, which added to the frustration.

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