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

[boots]

Can we all just agree that people on both sides of the issue have done nasty things to each other at different times and leave it at that?

i will agree that anonymity gives people freedom to be arses. even though i think i'm fairly moderate here, i'm still less behaved than i am on my social media

[Kevinroc]

because of off topic threads on cbr? that's a unique perspective...but i like it!

CBR has way more power than I thought.

We have to use this power responsibly! We must! For it is... the right thing to do!

But temptation is everywhere!

(Let's go eat some chips, everyone!)

[boots]

CBR has way more power than I thought.

We have to use this power responsibly! We must! For it is... the right thing to do!

But temptation is everywhere!

(Let's go eat some chips, everyone!)

cbr members head off to eat chips, comic book industry simultaneously returns to 90s peak numbers.

coincidence?

[Kevinroc]

cbr members head off to eat chips, comic book industry simultaneously returns to 90s peak numbers.

coincidence?

Oh, we can boost the sales on All-New Wolverine by eating chips? I really like that book.

[boots]

Oh, we can boost the sales on All-New Wolverine by eating chips? I really like that book.

i believe in potato power

[Kevinroc]

i believe in potato power

I'm not gonna lie. Potato power sounds delicious. Does it come with gravy?

uh...yeah. this board just gets weirder and weirder

I don't think we're helping with that. (But at least we have a sense of humor.)

[boots]

I don't think we're helping with that. (But at least we have a sense of humor.)

are you saying our chip to sales theory is not scientific? please provide sources and citations

[Kevinroc]

are you saying our chip to sales theory is not scientific? please provide sources and citations

Forgive me, Senpai! Doubt has clouded my mind!

[Uncanny Mutie]

If I had to go up against Batman, I wouldn't want to talk about it either.

LOL!!! Good point............

[Bor]

Just wanted to say this whole thread is screenshotted and going to Disney. Dan, you need to seek help.

You need help now just for making a bad joke that anyone with half a brain could see through?

[Magnetic Eye]

Yeah, after OMD onward I was truly surprised at how rude certain heads at marvel would get at various forums, literally telling long time customers to stop buying in quite snarky ways. Fans have always disagreed or not liked certain directions, but it felt to me anyway, that things had REALLY changed within comics and how people spoke to each other in general, on forums, and in society even ..just so rudely...just because they don't agree on whatever the topic. It's why I took a 3 year break or so from all boards. I started reading more DC when I've always been a Spider-Man and Marvel loyal guy for decades. No one was attacking their customers at DC to the same level certain high ups at Marvel were aggressively doing it imo. Sad.

Indeed it is truly sad. I was a loyal Marvel guy, in fact I began reading Marvel Comics as a kid from 1974 onwards. But no longer, especially over the last decade my Marvel pull list has slowly dwindled down to just one title and I may just be dropping that title soon. Not bad from someone who was buying 15 - 20 titles a month for many years. I have always collected the Batman books from DC. I'm now reading more DC plus titles from independent publishers simply because of the quality of stories. I'm determined to only follow true comic book writers and artists. For all I care Marvel Comics can drown in it's stomach-churning cesspool of mediocrity, their increased hatred of fans and their stupid SJW political agenda. They simply aren't dedicated to making great comics anymore.

[ijacksparrow]

I don't think so.

Saying it's in a sales slump suggests there's something uniquely wrong with this title, which leads to solutions that are applicable to this one book (Swap out Slott, Bring back the marriage, Make Peter a reporter again) which ignores that it is doing better than any other Marvel Universe ongoing title.

I agree with this.

With that said, it's about time for Marvel to address issues with the Spider-Man line. Because there are issues with the Spider-Man line, literally none related to Dan Slott or how he approaches and supports the creation of new characters and Spider-Man related comics that exist right now.

I'd argue that first, Amazing Spider-Man is still their best selling title of Marvel Comics because of Dan Slott. With that said, Dan is easily their most underrated comic book writer because despite giving Marvel their best selling title and being the writer that many consider one of the best Spider-Man writers of all time, he still is treated very poorly when it comes to creative summits. I mean, Dan shouldn't have to fight an argument with Bendis over NOT killing Spider-Man - AGAIN - like it was openly publicized last year in New Yorlk Daily News. I'm truly tired of how Bendis tries time and time again to make Miles Morales THE Spider-Man in the main universe. Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Period. The End. Not up for discussion. I don't think the Worldwide Parker Industries saga had the opportunity to actually run its course and it felt rushed and not earned and I don't blame Slott for that. I blame Marvel's editorial for allowing Bendis to keep Miles as "the" Spider-Man in New York while Peter went global.

This leads to my second point, I love Jason Aaron and Mark Waid. Truly love both writers and I think Aaron is doing amazing work with Thor for years now. With that said, I can easily imagine a scenario that would help both Amazing Spider-Man selling more comics and also The Avengers: I wish that Dan Slott was the guy writing the "All-New, All-Different Avengers", and that would coincide with Parker Industries rising to the top and Peter funding The Avengers through that period. Sam Wilson Cap would still be the leader, but I'd like to see Dan getting to write the core flagship book of Marvel and actually make it mean something, both in universe and as a bigger selling point for Marvel readers overall. Slott is talented and has proven time and time again how good he can be with big arcs like Spider-Verse, and I wish he would be allowed to go crazy and make history with The Avengers like Hickman did. It'd make him the architect of the flagship books and that would obviously be better than what we've been getting from the Avengers books since Hickman's Secret Wars. Can you imagine a Dan Slott and Stuart Immonen Avengers comic with Spidey, Sam Cap, Vision, Torch, Mockinbird, Thor and maybe She-Hulk? Because I can and I bet it'd be glorious.

Which reminds me what might be the biggest issue: TOO MANY CHARACTERS CALLING THEMSELVES SPIDER-MAN RUNNING AROUND. When it comes to DC, only Batman is Batman. I'm honestly sick of Marvel Comics trying to keep Miles Morales using Spider-Man's name. I'm sick of Bendis trying to make Morales into Spider-Men and leeching on Spider-Man's mythos. And judging by the Spider-Men II (Ugh) sales, I'm not alone on that. There are way too many Spider-Man related characters running around in the main universe, and I do think that is doing harm to Spider-Man's brand in the long run, just like I agree with Marvel that keeping him married was damaging him in the long run and things got better after that was unmade - and no pro-marriage Spider-Man, they are never bringing the marriage again other than in renew your vows, so make sure of not letting that book get cancelled. The solution for too many Spider-Man like characters running around in my opinion would be first, give Miles Morales his own alter ego, it's downright dumb at this point; make like Detective Comics and bring Amazing Fantasy back and give that book a talented writer (Robbie Thompson comes to mind) and make a covert "team book" out of that, with Miles Morales, Silk and maybe even Superior Ock, Spider-Gwen and Scarlet Spider too.

And last but not last important, don't make stupid decisions. Like Mister Mets put on other thread the other day about what to do if Marvel wanted to make Spider-Man sales get worse:

Some stuff I'd do...

1. Fire Dan Slott as publicly and painfully as possible. It should be clear that he's not given the chance to tie up loose ends, or to even finish stories. This will get his fans pissed.

2. Hire no-name talent. Should someone do good work, move them to another title ASAP.

3. Have stories that are both political and self-righteous, with characters alienating the rest of the supporting cast with their stridency.

When I read this, the first thing that came to my mind was the rumor that Nick Spencer is replacing Dan Slott after Amazing Spider-Man #800. We all know that Secret Empire / Captain America is easily the most hated Marvel Comics storyline of all time. Regardless how much you enjoy or not the writing of the guy, from a business standpoint a decision like that is completely unjustified, since Spencer isn't really known for his books high sales, actually quite the contrary. The reactions on social media about a possible Nick Spencer take over are tepid to put it mildly.

I think Dan Slott's deadlines for Amazing Spider-Man looks gruelling, and I do think he needs to rest a bit, but I don't want him leaving the book anytime soon. If that's unavoidable, either get Christos Gage to fill in or get Joe Kelly to write Amazing Spider-Man. That's the only possible name that I'd be happy seeing writing the comic other than Dan Slott, but I literally don't want him to stop and if Nick Spencer takes over, I'll be done buying Marvel Comics until that changes.

[Bor]

When I read this, the first thing that came to my mind was the rumor that Nick Spencer is replacing Dan Slott after Amazing Spider-Man #800. We all know that Secret Empire / Captain America is easily the most hated Marvel Comics storyline of all time. Regardless how much you enjoy or not the writing of the guy, from a business standpoint a decision like that is completely unjustified, since Spencer isn't really known for his books high sales, actually quite the contrary. The reactions on social media about a possible Nick Spencer take over are tepid to put it mildly.

Ehm no we dont know that. Going be sales, general reviews and fan reaction that not something we all know at all. OMD alone has had a whole lot more hate then anything from Secret Empire.

[ijacksparrow]

Ehm no we dont know that. Going be sales, general reviews and fan reaction that not something we all know at all. OMD alone has had a whole lot more hate then anything from Secret Empire.

Trust me, it is. Secret Empire had negative LOCAL NEWS report on both TV and newspapers. Here in Brazil, in the US and other countries. That never happened with either OMD or Clone Saga. It was a colossal PR nightmare that made Disney literally to step up before the start of Secret Empire and literally spoil that Captain America would be back again. They had press releases for that. Trust me, Secret Empire / Hydra Cap is easily THE most hated Marvel storyline at this point. There's no precedent how much a Marvel story was hated as much as this one. No hyperbole at all making that claim at this point.

[Bor]

Trust me, it is. Secret Empire had negative LOCAL NEWS report on both TV and newspapers. Here in Brazil, in the US and other countries. That never happened with either OMD or Clone Saga. It was a colossal PR nightmare that made Disney literally to step up before the start of Secret Empire and literally spoil that Captain America would be back again. They had press releases for that. Trust me, Secret Empire / Hydra Cap is easily THE most hated Marvel storyline at this point. There's no precedent how much a Marvel story was hated as much as this one. No hyperbole at all making that claim at this point.

Trust me its not. OMD had the same kind of press and protests from religious organisations. So yeah its completely hyperbole to say that. This has in no way been a bigger PR nightmare then half a dozen other stories.