How do you feel about Spencer/Ottley on ASM?

[Johnatellodi]

A huge part of my hesitation towards the team comes from the precedent they set with Dan Slott. I think he had some great stories, but was on the title way too long. Now, while I'm interested in seeing what Spencer and Ottley can do, the idea that they could be on the title as long as Dan, is too exhausting to ignore.

I think it's a solid team. Not a fantastic one. Marvel should be going all out for this.

[comicscollector]

I have not read that many stories by Spencer,read just a few Captain America stories and Superior Foes of Spider-Man.
So i don´t have that much of a informed opinion about the Spencer stories,having said that the comic books i did read by him were interesting and a good read so i am intrigued to see what have Spencer in store for the main Spider-Man comic book.
Ottley art i have even a less informed opinion,lol.
Have never read any comic book illustrated by him,but after looking to see how were the illustrations of Ottley in other comic books i have to say he seems as a good choice to be the Spider-Man artist.
So i am cautiously optimistic about the new creative team in Amazing Spider-Man.
Plus in light of the proven track record of the quality of the Amazing Spider-Man stories in the last years i would take a guess and say this new creative team will not disapoint.

[Marvel/DC Fan]

I'm going with a wait and see. At least I will like the art.

[regg215]

Great points, David; I have been a longtime Cap reader and his book is and always has been "political". Whether it is the storyline where he quit in the 1980's after disagreeing with the White House or the post-9/11 issues, he has always---and should always----have a political bent to his stories. I think Spencer got criticized for a few different reasons: the HydraCap change was a pretty bold one (even though everyone should have known it would be retconned), he was on the title a long time and---most likely---a lot of people may have disagreed with his personal views. In other words, I find it is pretty common today that when people tell entertainers of any kind to "keep politics out of it", they almost always disagree with their particular take on things. Lastly, and I doubt many would argue this point, our country has become extremely polarized lately and there is a lot of hyper-sensitivity on both sides of the political spectrum so any kind of expression of opinion regarding the current state of affairs is going to invite criticism.

While I agree that Cap has pretty much always and probably should be political, I think the difference with Spencer was how much he clearly despised anyone who doesn't think the same as he does politically. When you basically write that anyone who didn't vote like you did as hydra that's a bit extreme, And then rather than clarify on the point or explain his position through social media he essentially doubled down and confirmed that was what he wanted to do and how he felt about people who weren't leftist in their politics. While I am not exactly thrilled with where we are politically as a country to take something as complex as politics and boil it down to a sentiment that "if you don't vote like me: you are evil" was too far. Previous Cap runs have certainly touched on politics but there was seemingly more balance from those writers in their stories and they certainly didn't flat out tell fans who disagreed with them that they were essentially nazis.

Secondly to take a character who was created by two jewish creators as a way to fight nazis when the USA wasn't involved in the war yet and to turn him into a nazi is completely tone deaf and disrespectful regardless of your intent. While marvel as a company has certainly relied on shock value as opposed to story telling the last few years this was by far the worst decision that they allowed to happen. There are certainly compelling narratives around characters experiencing change and almost every hero goes through an era where they are temporarily turned evil or brainwashed but turning someone who is supposed to reflect the best of america into a nazi was too far.

[KC]

I am really looking forward to it. I think Spencer will deliver a run of the same quality as his Ant-Man run.

[LooneyKoala]

I would sign up for Waid and Samnee right now over virtually every other possible creative team! That would have been awesome.....

So would I! I never thought I’d be buying Black Widow Or Captain America each month, but they made both a reality. One of the best creative teams in comics at the moment.

Looks as though Samnee is leaving Marvel after Cap #700, and I'm not sure what Waid's current relationship with DC is.

They would do some really amazing things with Superman in my opinion! Or anything they want to work on. Such a great team.

Yeah... I’m gutted about that because it means no chance of getting the pair of them on a book like this... If they both did a Superman series that would be great! But honestly, I’ll read anything they do together!!

[Mister Mets]

Captain America is inherently political. We're talking about a guy who punched Hitler before the US officially declared war, discovered Nixon was involved in the Secret Empire, and quit rather than become an official government operative answerable to Ronald Reagan. There have been stretches where Cap was a more conventional superhero and they tend to be forgotten.

I guess I'm saying I can't think of anyone who's had a successful Cap run without a 'blindspot' for their politics.

Someone will probably mention Roger Stern, but he brought Cap's New Deal brand of liberalism into play again.

The issues isn't that Spencer has tackled politics, or that he did so in Cap. I argued politics with him on the old Bendis Board years ago before he was a comics writer. My concern is more about his view of people who disagree with him.

I do prefer the illusion that the person writing the story thinks that the people who disagree with him or her on politics generally want what's best. Otherwise, I find it hard to trust the writer's view of the world.

[JasonEsta]

I don't follow his writing. Hopefully he steps it up.

[Spidey5640]

Great points, David; I have been a longtime Cap reader and his book is and always has been "political". Whether it is the storyline where he quit in the 1980's after disagreeing with the White House or the post-9/11 issues, he has always---and should always----have a political bent to his stories. I think Spencer got criticized for a few different reasons: the HydraCap change was a pretty bold one (even though everyone should have known it would be retconned), he was on the title a long time and---most likely---a lot of people may have disagreed with his personal views. In other words, I find it is pretty common today that when people tell entertainers of any kind to "keep politics out of it", they almost always disagree with their particular take on things. Lastly, and I doubt many would argue this point, our country has become extremely polarized lately and there is a lot of hyper-sensitivity on both sides of the political spectrum so any kind of expression of opinion regarding the current state of affairs is going to invite criticism.

Good points by each of you. I wonder how much influence Spencer's Social Media presence had on the negative reactions to his Hydra/Cap. If all there was for people to judge him on was the comic itself, would that judgment be different?

[Spidey5640]

I would sign up for Waid and Samnee right now over virtually every other possible creative team! That would have been awesome.....

absolutely agree. Their Black Widow series was the best characterization of Natasha of all the series I've read (and I've read them all). Marvel losing Samnee is a huge loss for them

[farmernudie]

Excited about Ottley. Love Invincible.
Meh about Spencer.
Even more meh about Marvel in general, their decision making and their ability to reconnect with their fans. We will wait and see.

[regg215]

If the announcement had been ottley on art with Waid as writer that would have been awesome. I knew it had no chance of happening but my dream choice would have been Marvel pulling a somewhat crazy move and putting Jeff loveness on ASM. His 3 part Spidey/Captain America/Inhumans story showed he could write Spidey in my opinion, and his run on Nova was really impressive to me. I think he would have been perfect for Spidey.

[JGC]

I gotta admit, I was thinking of dropping comics and Spidey are the only titles I collect. ASM #801 seemd like a good jumping off point - Slott wrapping up his historic 10-year run (which I’ve more or less enjoyed). But, I was buying out of habit and none of the other satellite titles are doing it for me (PPSSM is okay, but the rest seem so filler to me). Needless to say, I was on my out.

Enter Nick Spencer.

I enjoyed his Superior Foes and I respect what he was trying to do on his Cap run. I’m super excited again for a new incoming Spidey writer, the same way I was with Slott back on ASM #648.

Looking forward to July.

[dishpan]

Not keen on Ottley. First impression of the art is it's too cartoony, and I hate all those big, blocky thighs.

First impression? Hasn't he been a name artist for a decade by now

[Mister Mets]

First impression? Hasn't he been a name artist for a decade by now

He's a bit like Greg Capullo pre-Batman. The people who followed his Image book loved him, but it'll be a surprise for many of the rest.