Quote Originally Posted by Dan Slott View Post
Each month Marvel has consistently sold two issues of ASM in the Top 10.
At the end of every fiscal year, the overwhelming majority of Marvel's best selling books out of everything they've been doing has been the Wells run of ASM.
The books coming out of Nick Lowe's Spider-Man Office have dominated the American comic book market.

For the Spider Office, doing that is NOT a guarantee. There have been times when the Avengers Office has taken those spots, times when the X-Office has done that.
For the past few years, the Spider Office gets to make that claim.

Ultimate Spider-Man is a runaway success. The creative team and editorial team working on it are both brilliant! And readers are doing what they should be doing-- they're voting with their wallets! I have no doubt that every issue of USM will be in next year's list of Marvel's top selling issues.

Here's the thing tho: ASM is going to be holding its own there too. Yes, USM is blowing the doors off. But that hasn't stopped ASM from being as successful as it has been-- twice a month-- in this market. Whether it's a book you, personally, enjoy or not-- there is a market for it.

When Marvel suddenly has a goose that lays a PLATINUM egg once a month that doesn't mean that they should turn around and possibly kill one of their other geese-- especially one that's laying two GOLDEN eggs a month-- and one that has consistently lain two GOLDEN eggs a month year in and year out for some time.
With all due respect, Dan, this argument makes no sense to me personally.

For starters, the odds that the majority of ASM buyers aren't also going out and buying USM too are most likely very low. Now I'm sure there are a few fans here and there who prefer what Wells and Lowe are cooking up over at the main Spider-Office compared to what Hickman is doing with USM- but I doubt that they make up the majority of ASM's sales, at least going off of the percentages of sales and the admittedly hear-say/anecdotal experiences I've had talking with other comic fans at my local comic shop.

Meanwhile, USM's sales show rather clearly that there's a huge demographic out there of Spider-Man fans who have been silently "voting with their wallets" for years now by not going out and buying ASM due to the status quo set up by OMD. There's quite a lot of money being left at the table by Marvel every two weeks where a new issue of ASM comes out with this current status quo. Like Garlador said, the fans are speaking out and voting with their wallets here. The ball is in Marvel's court now.

Also, as an aside, I actually wanted to run an idea by you, Dan. If OMD were ever undone or Peter and MJ were remarried in 616, couldn't Marvel also just launch a new Spider-Man book in the vein of what DC did with Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, where all-star talent at the company could come in and do short self-contained prestige stories of three to five issue long stories are set across various points in Peter's early career, be it when Peter is in high school (like what DeMatteis is currently doing with Shadow of the Green Goblin) or in college with Gwen?

Now this is just me speaking here, as I admittedly prefer a status quo of Peter being older and married to MJ... but I personally wouldn't see any problem in also supporting a book that focuses in on the early days and lets talent at Marvel strut their stuff on projects that'd be potentially easier for newcomer readers to pick up and read. Heck, as a Batman fan, some of my favorite comics with the character came from that LotDK title.

Then again, for all I know, I suppose there could've already been a book like that in past and I just never heard about it. Either way, I'd love to hear what you think about that idea, Dan!