Was JMS run a preparation for OMD?

[SwedishSpidey]

One of the major gripes about JMS run on AMS was that his stories about mystical totem mumbo jumbo didnt feel very much like Spider-man. I can agree on that, and I think his best stories are the ones where the more down to earth stories. "The Conversation", "Digger", New Doc Ock, the stand alone filler issues, etc.

One of the problems OMD was that Mephisto isnt a typical Spidey villian, and that a pact with a magical / mystical creature feels out of place in a Spider-man story.

I have been thinking - could the mystical totem theme in JMS stories have been an atempt to make OMD feel less forced?

[Will.S]

I suppose I could see the logic behind that but Mephisto still comes out of nowhere.

I'm not saying that I advocate a mystical end to that run or anything but they could have just as easily used Loki or some other mystical element that isn't Mephisto because in no where during that run is Mephisto seen or even mentioned.