hi kevin! sorry, but this reply is going to take up so much screen space.

re: incredibly mundane flashbacks, i think that helps too. i thought peter's rebellious teen phase was cute, and its not hard to imagine him over-correcting into the peter we see in the original ditko tales. probably the reason flashbacks are red flag for me is what you said, they're used to introduce cheap melodrama. (how many retcons have been delivered via flashback?) maybe that's why i'm so down with supreme, which is like 50% flashbacks.

re: that moment, i liked it too! peter was kind of a dick, but in a way you can understand, and even empathize with. he's just tired of it all... so are we, buddy.

honestly i haven't been paying attention to the hellgate stuff at all--it just makes my eyes glaze over. except for this variant cover by leo romero that totally rocks (and makes me wish comic covers still tried to sell you on the contents of that specific story). romero is a great artist, and i'm very happy they tapped him for that new spider-man cartoon