Peter David has recalled mixed emotions about the arc: in a 1990 installment of "But I Digress", his then-weekly column in the "Comics Buyer's Guide", David stated he was unnerved by the stream of fan mail demanding he bring DeWolff back, and how "Spidey Editor Jim Owsley was even told by confident fans at an Atlanta Con, "Nah, she's not really dead."" David however firmly refused to bring her back, arguing a resurrection in a comic book death-style would weaken the story. David also stated that this story established him as a writer, but he was also pigeonholed as a writer of grim and gritty stories. In 1990, David conceded that "people still tell me that "The Death of Jean DeWolff" is their favourite of my work."