Can we admit that ASM title is in a sales slump?

[CrimsonEchidna]

It didn't happen because Slott had to fight his way through a stupid summit that decided to kill Hulk instead. Bendis shock value deaths have become a joke more than ten years ago, how he is even allowed to pitch this stuff is beyond me. Professor Thorgi is one of the biggest advocates for Marvel legacy characters out there, and even he agrees that for example, Tony Stark's "death" in Civil War II was poorly handled and made just to create room for a character that didn't feel like earned to become Iron Man to begin with.

Except that's not want happened at all. Bendis used Peter as a placeholder of an example of who could die but then the summit settled on Hulk instead. The whole idea of Slott having to struggle to keep Peter alive is nothing but a 4chan fantasy.

Same way Secret Wars was totally going to get rid of the Mutants and put them on their own separate planet until they didn't.

Or how Generations was totally going to end with all the old heroes getting booted out of the MU and the main Marvel universe would just have the legacy characters.

[ijacksparrow]

Except that's not want happened at all. Bendis used Peter as a placeholder of an example of who could die but then the summit settled on Hulk instead. The whole idea of Slott having to struggle to keep Peter alive is nothing but a 4chan fantasy.

Not a 4chan fantasy and I take offense on that. It's reported in the article I've posted. I get that you are a Miles Morales fan but trust me, I'm not alone in thinking that Bendis is holding that character back. Even people that are actually fans of him see that. And I'm not a hater on Miles, I actually think he has enough potential to become his own character. But being his own character also comes with leaving Spider-Man's shadow behind. He has potential, but as long as he is Spider-Man and the actual Spider-Man is around, he will be the "other" Spider-Man, not really the real thing. It's a complete different situation than Clint and Kate. With them it feels novel and the characters are so different that it makes sense to have a book pairing the two together. Spider-Man doesn't need Miles, and Miles doesn't need the Spider-Man name anymore. It's time to move on - from both the alter ego and Bendis writing him.

[CrimsonEchidna]

Not a 4chan fantasy and I take offense on that. It's reported in the article I've posted. I get that you are a Miles Morales fan but trust me, I'm not alone in thinking that Bendis is holding that character back. Even people that are actually fans of him see that. And I'm not a hater on Miles, I actually think he has enough potential to become his own character. But being his own character also comes with leaving Spider-Man's shadow behind. He has potential, but as long as he is Spider-Man and the actual Spider-Man is around, he will be the "other" Spider-Man, not really the real thing. It's a complete different situation than Clint and Kate. With them it feels novels and the characters are so different that it makes sense to have a book pairing the two together. Spider-Man doesn't need Miles, and Miles doesn't need the Spider-Man name anymore. It's time to move on - from both the alter ego and Bendis writing him.

I read the article you linked and all that it says was Bendis used Peter as his placeholder. Everything else is you filling it to fit your narrative.

[Kevinroc]

Congrats, you won the thread. Can I get your autograph?

LOL.

Actually, if Sony comes up with a own name for Miles, they know more about protecting Spider-Man's brand than Marvel Comics itself. I think that the fact that up to this point that film doesn't have a name yet is quite telling that there are discussions about getting Morales his own alter ego so it wouldn't confuse audiences on who the character is

The movie's not due out until the end of 2018. The fact that we have over a year until its release and it doesn't have an official title yet means very little. But when its title is unveiled, it's going to have "Spider-Man" in it. I honestly don't know how anyone could legitimately think otherwise.

[WebLurker]

Spidey, Wallcrawler, Araña. Whatever name that isn't actually Spider-Man. He isn't Spider-Man and never will be Spider-Man, regardless what Bendis says. I don't even think his animation film will actually be called Spider-Man, by the way.

"Spidey" belongs to Peter alone (IMHO). But the you just want him using a different handle? The fact that he's a Spider-Person is okay in and of itself.

[comicscollector]

With Amazing Spider-Man being the best selling comic book without counting with the Batman,Events comic books of Marvel and DC,Star Wars comics and Walking Dead comics,so i don´t think that ASM is in a sales slump.
Events that are the main ones of the big two usually sell quite well,being many times to be the best selling comics of the month,Batman comics have been quite popular from some time now and are best selling comics,Star Wars comics is the same as Batman (more now with a new movie in December),Walking Dead comics have been the exception of a comic book out of the big two to be a best seller as well.
By looking at August sales of 2017,the ranking of ASM is on par with just the usual exceptions selling better that ASM.

[Scarlet Spider-Man]

With Amazing Spider-Man being the best selling comic book without counting with the Batman,Events comic books of Marvel and DC,Star Wars comics and Walking Dead comics,so i don´t think that ASM is in a sales slump.
Events that are the main ones of the big two usually sell quite well,being many times to be the best selling comics of the month,Batman comics have been quite popular from some time now and are best selling comics,Star Wars comics is the same as Batman (more now with a new movie in December),Walking Dead comics have been the exception of a comic book out of the big two to be a best seller as well.
By looking at August sales of 2017,the ranking of ASM is on par with just the usual exceptions selling better that ASM.

So, ASM is the best-selling comic...if you ignore all of those other comics lol.

[WebLurker]

So, ASM is the best-selling comic...if you ignore all of those other comics lol.

Well, being in the top tier is hardly a failure, esp. if Batman and Star Wars are among the few things that are doing better.

[David Walton]

I don't know anything about the sales side of things. It seems as though Marvel is pretty happy with ASM especially as measure against general decline in other areas.

I can only speak to myself, personally, and why I haven't bought a Spider-Man book in a while. I feel like Marvel has lost interest in Peter Parker. The most popular Spider-Man story of the past decade plugged Doctor Octopus into the role and sidelined Peter for over a year. On top of that, Peter's adventures are increasingly less grounded. It began with the Avengers push in the early 2000s and it's only accelerated since then. Spider-Man gets brain-swapped, travels to alternate dimensions and carries out covert attacks on sovereign nations. I feel like there are other books I could read to get those kinds of stories. When I read ASM, I want a book about Peter Parker, the everyman, the hero struggling to balance his heroic life with obligations to friends and family.

[Spiderfang]

I don't know anything about the sales side of things. It seems as though Marvel is pretty happy with ASM especially as measure against general decline in other areas.

I can only speak to myself, personally, and why I haven't bought a Spider-Man book in a while. I feel like Marvel has lost interest in Peter Parker. The most popular Spider-Man story of the past decade plugged Doctor Octopus into the role and sidelined Peter for over a year. On top of that, Peter's adventures are increasingly less grounded. It began with the Avengers push in the early 2000s and it's only accelerated since then. Spider-Man gets brain-swapped, travels to alternate dimensions and carries out covert attacks on sovereign nations. I feel like there are other books I could read to get those kinds of stories. When I read ASM, I want a book about Peter Parker, the everyman, the hero struggling to balance his heroic life with obligations to friends and family.

I share your sentiments, a return to the basics would be most welcome.

[oldschool]

I don't know anything about the sales side of things. It seems as though Marvel is pretty happy with ASM especially as measure against general decline in other areas.

I can only speak to myself, personally, and why I haven't bought a Spider-Man book in a while. I feel like Marvel has lost interest in Peter Parker. The most popular Spider-Man story of the past decade plugged Doctor Octopus into the role and sidelined Peter for over a year. On top of that, Peter's adventures are increasingly less grounded. It began with the Avengers push in the early 2000s and it's only accelerated since then. Spider-Man gets brain-swapped, travels to alternate dimensions and carries out covert attacks on sovereign nations. I feel like there are other books I could read to get those kinds of stories. When I read ASM, I want a book about Peter Parker, the everyman, the hero struggling to balance his heroic life with obligations to friends and family.

Well said; I agree 100%

[Miles To Go]

I don't know anything about the sales side of things. It seems as though Marvel is pretty happy with ASM especially as measure against general decline in other areas.

I can only speak to myself, personally, and why I haven't bought a Spider-Man book in a while. I feel like Marvel has lost interest in Peter Parker. The most popular Spider-Man story of the past decade plugged Doctor Octopus into the role and sidelined Peter for over a year. On top of that, Peter's adventures are increasingly less grounded. It began with the Avengers push in the early 2000s and it's only accelerated since then. Spider-Man gets brain-swapped, travels to alternate dimensions and carries out covert attacks on sovereign nations. I feel like there are other books I could read to get those kinds of stories. When I read ASM, I want a book about Peter Parker, the everyman, the hero struggling to balance his heroic life with obligations to friends and family.

Well said.

Marvel thought removing the marriage would make the stories interesting, but they've shown more of an interest in the surrounding world of Peter Parker than anything that centers on him. People complained about JMS not using the supporting cast half as much and being fixated on May and MJ in ASM? I recall them were around aplenty in the satellite books, and were more frequent then than they are now.

Marvel have always had a long standing grudge against any hero who has been disrespectful to their loved ones. Hank (for slapping Janet), Scott (for abandoning Maddy and cheating on Jean), and you can include Peter in that (for the Mephisto deal). It's clear being forced into a creative clusterfudge with Spidey irked Marvel significantly, they're just as mad they resorted to OMD as the fans are, and have punished the centerpiece of the brand for it ever since.

[theoneandonly]

I wonder if any appreciable difference would be observed or not in the supposed slump if old hadn't happened.

[suemorphplus209]

Well, being in the top tier is hardly a failure, esp. if Batman and Star Wars are among the few things that are doing better.

Which is why it's still sad that the comic book industry as a whole is in a slump. I mean, even very well praised comic books aren't doing as well as they used to be. 40 to 50 thousand being considered good nowadays is just sad. There's potentially more people who could be buying comic books in general. I honestly would like to believe that maybe, just maybe, they would just at Marvel figure that the comic books have a better outreach in their placement and their advertising and maybe attract more casual customers. If they sold more comic books, they could afford to charge less as well. But whatever, I do realize that ASM is top tier, but top tier isn't that great comparably speaking.

[WebLurker]

I wonder if any appreciable difference would be observed or not in the supposed slump if old hadn't happened.

Yeah, I'm personally of the opinion that OMD, if it didn't harm the franchise, didn't really help that much either; most of the post-OMD praise seems to be based on Dan Slott's work, not the status quo in which he came into.