What did Dan Slott do right?

[Kevinroc]

While it's true MJ and Felicia are hard to compete with, it's pretty clear that Slott is also bad at writing romance if Lian and Bobbi are any hint, Lian read just like what I've read of Gwen though, but maybe more boring, Bobbi, well, in some interview he said that the artist made the relationship look better than what he imagined, and the relationship was overall pretty boring since Peter and Bobbi had zero chemistry...

This is the part that is so odd. Because Slott's Silver Surfer is built around the relationship between the Surfer and a new character named Dawn. And it works.

[Miles To Go]

This is the part that is so odd. Because Slott's Silver Surfer is built around the relationship between the Surfer and a new character named Dawn. And it works.

Exactly, and he also writes Peter and MJ very well when he has them actively get along, hence the reasons Spider-Island and RYV were such big hits in his era.

[Lukmendes]

This is the part that is so odd. Because Slott's Silver Surfer is built around the relationship between the Surfer and a new character named Dawn. And it works.

Ah right, he also made Anna Maria, while I can't speak about how good she is as a love interest, she is a good character. So I guess the problem is that Slott is bad at writing romance for Peter...

[comicscollector]

Agreed. I'm a huge fan of Doc Ock and loved what he did with him.

I think Doctor Octopus got to be in a odd characterisation before Dan Slott started to write him,that might be explained due Green Goblin being writen as Spider-Man main villain.
Something that made Doctor Octopus a villain that was way off compared the role and characterisation of the stories that he featured in the 60s to the mid 80s.
There might have been some bright spots between the early 90s to when Dan Slott started to write stories with him (But they were few as stories with the return of the Sinister Six) but there were some very odd stories with what is supposed to be Spider-Man main villain (Doctor Octopus saving Spider-Man in the Clone Saga or Doctor Octopus being afraid of Spider-Man in stories from the late 80s)
So yeah,i apreciate the work that have been made by Dan Slott to make Doctor Octopus a main villain to Spider-Man as is the Green Goblin.

[ZeroBG82]

Well, I haven't read his whole run. I checked out after the first arc of Peter's return following Superior, because the book just didn't work for me anymore, and all I've read since then is Clone Conspiracy (which I loathe).

But, keeping that in mind:

- Big Time. Seriously, this was an amazing beginning to a run. The new Hobgoblin had a great design, and worked so well as an anti-Peter. I may have issues with the characterization for Phil, but I can let that slide on the whole. And just the freshness of the status quo, with Peter finally having some personal success instead of being a loser all the time.

- Spider-Island. An entertaining crossover. Not without weaknesses, but it delivered what it promised, hung together as a plot relatively well, and played with the Spider Family characters in a fun way. Also, Spider-Cap, which I thought was a great reveal.

- The ancillary Spider characters. Slott either opened the door to returning old concepts, revitalized other old ones, or introduced new ones that expanded the world and the viability of characters. Agent Venom. Kaine as Scarlet Spider. Spider-Gwen. And, even though I hated Clone Conspiracy, Ben Reilly. (Thank you PAD, for pulling that one out of the fire. But props do have to go to Slott just for bringing the character back and not killing him off again right away.) And honestly, having Ben back is going to buy the man rather a lot of slack from me, even if I didn't enjoy the story it happened in. Ben is my Spider-man, and always will be.

And, obviously, Superior. The concept sounded awful, but it was executed with nuance and care. And while not without a few pitfalls it delivered a fantastic Otto Octavius story that took the character in a different and compelling direction, while also exploring the boundaries and limits of what it means to truly be Spider-man.

[blackspidey2099]

Quite a few things, but going in order:

- Remembering that Peter is a supergenius and using it in his stories instead of conveniently ignoring it.
- Creating Agent Venom, who is easily my favorite take on the character.
- All of Spider-Island, but especially revitalizing Kaine in preparation for Yost's amazing run.
- In general, most of Slott's Spider-Events were significantly better than the other events going on in the Marvel Universe.
- Making Doc Ock an interesting villain.
- Bringing back Miguel to get a couple more volumes of his solo series (and in general spotlighting a few of the alternate Spider-Men we rarely see, including the RYV version).
- Super creative ideas, even if the execution was kinda hit or miss towards the end of his run.


Really, the only thing that ruins his run for me, is that, now that it's nearing its close, pretty much everything I loved about Slott's run has been dismantled - whether by Slott himself or by other writers. It really makes me feel so disillusioned with the fools running the Marvel Comics division.

[Von]

..Slott's Silver Surfer is built around the relationship between the Surfer and a new character named Dawn. And it works.

I remember having doubts when I started reading his Surfer run but it grew on me really quickly. Dawns a great character. The art was incredible. The dialogue was pure 60's and the story was always super random and creative.

I often liked his Surfer more consistantly than his Spidey in restrospect. His ASM peaked for me with Superior...SS was just a really cool comic all the way through though imo

[DV1Band]

Flash: Book axed/relaunched with original Venom
Silk: Book axed
Spider-Gwen: Selling at cancellation level.

So that's false.

I look at staying power of characters differently. While their individual books might now sell out, they may have staying power as a supporting hero.

As far as what Slott did right: I think everything but writing MJ. Everything else seemed to work really well.

[Mister Mets]

Many people mention what Slott did right and i'm a big Doc Ock fan,so it's not necessary to repeat my love for the use of Ock in his run. But i would mention how greatly he used Roderick Kingsley,the original Hobgoblin. Being a sponsor of c or d list supervillains and getting a cut was a stroke of genius and i loved that they used that in AXIS(AXIS:Hobgoblin was one of the most fun minis of that event).I really hope that Marvel won't drop the ball and abandon what Slott did with the Hobgoblin.

Yeah, he figured out a way to make a Kingsley relevant in the aftermath of Osborn's return that fit what we knew about the character.

[Cmbmool]

I felt that Slott for all of the complaints that came his way HE RESPECTED The history and legacy of Spider-man throughout the various stories he wrote.


THIS is something that should be asked for any comic book writer coming in. It's okay to make original tales of heroes, but as long as it makes sense to the character's overall history and background.

[Lukmendes]

I felt that Slott for all of the complaints that came his way HE RESPECTED The history and legacy of Spider-man throughout the various stories he wrote.


THIS is something that should be asked for any comic book writer coming in. It's okay to make original tales of heroes, but as long as it makes sense to the character's overall history and background.

There are times he didn't though, I think it's only on characters' personalities, the way he treats MJ and Felicia being the most obvious ones, also Superior having everyone not realizing that something was wrong with Peter, that's ignoring how they were so good at sniffing out impostors. It's not surprising though, once you realize that his writing style is plot over character, it means the characters will do shit to make the plot work, even if that contradicts their previous characterization. At least it doesn't happen as constantly as that sounds.

[Mister Mets]

I felt that Slott for all of the complaints that came his way HE RESPECTED The history and legacy of Spider-man throughout the various stories he wrote.


THIS is something that should be asked for any comic book writer coming in. It's okay to make original tales of heroes, but as long as it makes sense to the character's overall history and background.

Except there isn't complete agreement about what makes sense for a character's history and background. I'm sure Slott and his editors feel that his plans make sense in that context.

[Cmbmool]

There are times he didn't though, I think it's only on characters' personalities, the way he treats MJ and Felicia being the most obvious ones, also Superior having everyone not realizing that something was wrong with Peter, that's ignoring how they were so good at sniffing out impostors. It's not surprising though, once you realize that his writing style is plot over character, it means the characters will do shit to make the plot work, even if that contradicts their previous characterization. At least it doesn't happen as constantly as that sounds.

Ok WITH A FEW MAJOR STORIES IN WRITING...Slott did tried his best to stay true to the overall Spider-Man Mythos despite how he treated certain major supporting characters in the franchise.

[boots]

got me back into spider-man after more than a decade's absence. depending on how you feel about my posts; that may be a "done right" or a "done wrong"

[Dan Slott]

Flash: Book axed/relaunched with original Venom
Silk: Book axed
Spider-Gwen: Selling at cancellation level.

So that's false.

I don't think this is a realistic view of the comic industry.

One of the things I took very seriously was being a steward of the "Spider-Verse"-- of coming up with storylines that could set up other titles for other creative teams.

There are things that the office generated - Avenging Spider-Man, Spider-Girl (Anya), Carnage minis, an Anti-Venom mini, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Alpha, Spidey, Spider-Man/Deadpool, and Spectacular Spider-Man come to mind.

But there were many titles that I helped tee up - the Agent Venom run of Venom, Scarlet Spider (Kaine), Morbius, a new Spider-Man 2099 book, Spider-Woman (post Spider-Verse), Web-Warriors, Silk, Spider-Gwen, Renew Your Vows, Scarlet Spider (with Ben & Kaine), and Prowler to name of few. No one at Marvel came to me and said "Do this." I've worked hard to expand the size and scope of the Spider-Man unit and to try to get books going for OTHER creative teams. Sometimes they don't work (we never even got to the premise of what the Prowler book was going to be). And when they are a massive hit-- like Spider-Gwen has been (and if you don't think it has been a massive win for Marvel, your metrics need re-calibrating), I can't take the credit because that is ALL Jason and Robbi! But what I will happily take credit for is being a team player and getting those opportunities out there for creative teams to run with them. Sometimes I'll have a premise for a book, but the creators assigned to the project want to go a radically different way-- and that's cool. Everyone needs to put their stamp on a project.

It's just weird to me that someone would try to paint something like (for example) the Flash-as-Venom run as being somehow inconsequential. The original run went for over 40 issues. He was a member of the Secret Avengers. He joined the Guardians of the Galaxy. He had another run for over a year as Venom: Space Knight. He's been in multiple cartoons. Had tons of toys made out of him. There's no one on the business end of Marvel who would be disappointed with that kind of performance for that version of the IP. That version of the character has his place in the history of the Spider-Man franchise-- and that's an achievement for all the talented creators who crafted and drew stories about him. You don't call the "Black Suit" era of Spider-Man a failure because he went back to the red & blues eventually. Nothing lasts forever. It's the strangest metric for fans to go, "Well? How's it doing NOW?" You don't call BLACK PANTHER a failure because last weekend it got beaten by READY PLAYER ONE. That would be silly. Same kind of thing here.