Has Dan Slott Been Writing Spider-Man Too Long?

[Darthfury78]

Personally, I think that Marvel should have placed Dan Slott on a solo series like Hawkeye or Captain Marvel and re-assigned Matt Fraction, or Ed Brubaker to write Amazing Spider-Man. Sometimes, after a while, it's time to place the best writers unto other comic titles that could use their talents instead of having a sole writer on one title for over 5 years. If Marvel wants all of their comic book titles to sell over 100K copies each month, they must allow their top writers to spend no more than 2 years on a single comic title so that the next writer can have a chance at Spider-Man....

I sometimes feel that Marvel has given way too much power to the writers and not enough to the Editors whose job is to make sense out of the chaos.

[cyberhubbs]

Personally, I think that Marvel should have placed Dan Slott on a solo series like Hawkeye or Captain Marvel and re-assigned Matt Fraction, or Ed Brubaker to write Amazing Spider-Man. Sometimes, after a while, it's time to place the best writers unto other comic titles that could use their talents instead of having a sole writer on one title for over 5 years. If Marvel wants all of their comic book titles to sell over 100K copies each month, they must allow their top writers to spend no more than 2 years on a single comic title so that the next writer can have a chance at Spider-Man....

I sometimes feel that Marvel has given way too much power to the writers and not enough to the Editors whose job is to make sense out of the chaos.

Fraction defined the Hawkeye series. Much as I like Slott, it would be a completely different tone.

[Darthfury78]

Fraction defined the Hawkeye series. Much as I like Slott, it would be a completely different tone.

But imagine if Fraction had the opportunity to write Spider-Man after his run on Hawkeye was finished after two years as writer, only to pass it on to Dan Slott? I feel that a writer should have a maximum of 2 years on a comic book series and move on to the next series to allow other up and coming writers at a shot, like Fraction or Chris Yost. It should not a forever deal in a course of 5-10 years. I say that Slott could bring over some of the skills that he used on Spider-Man/She-Hulk series unto Hawkeye to give it a different perspective from Fraction. Maybe if the writer's contract on successful comic titles are for no more than 2 years, we might see other top writers get a shot at Spider-Man before moving on to their next project.

[Mister Mets]

Personally, I think that Marvel should have placed Dan Slott on a solo series like Hawkeye or Captain Marvel and re-assigned Matt Fraction, or Ed Brubaker to write Amazing Spider-Man. Sometimes, after a while, it's time to place the best writers unto other comic titles that could use their talents instead of having a sole writer on one title for over 5 years. If Marvel wants all of their comic book titles to sell over 100K copies each month, they must allow their top writers to spend no more than 2 years on a single comic title so that the next writer can have a chance at Spider-Man....

I sometimes feel that Marvel has given way too much power to the writers and not enough to the Editors whose job is to make sense out of the chaos.

This post had little to do with Mayday Parker's appearance in Spider-Verse, but it seems like it could kick off an interesting conversation, so I moved it here.

That said, I don't think Dan Slott should be replaced on Spider-Man. He hasn't run out of ideas, and the book's doing rather well.

[Cameron Samurai]

He hasn't run out of ideas

Disagree. I think the Spidey books have never been more creatively bankrupt than they are now. Piss-poor characters, and poorly crafted and corny stories that cater to the lowest common denomenator I'm embarrased by this book

[ and the book's doing rather well.

Bayformers makes money too. Does'nt mean it's any good.

I would'nt say Slott is a hack surpremo, because I like his Silver Surfer work is quite good and he has a good track record with some Spidey stories, but he ran out of ideas a long time ago and coasts on his laurels far too much.

Things are so bad now, I reckon Howard Mackie would be critically acclaimed in today's age of the easily-pleased

[Chrysalis_Changling]

Let's Not forget that he's now writing Silver Surfer plus spider-man

[DebkoX]

I wouldn't say so, but I would say he has had a very long time. I wouldn't say 'too' long, because that suggests I've tired but I haven't.

[LooneyKoala]

Too long? Not for me, I'd actually be quite disappointed if he was announced as leaving soon!!

[cyberhubbs]

But imagine if Fraction had the opportunity to write Spider-Man after his run on Hawkeye was finished after two years as writer, only to pass it on to Dan Slott? I feel that a writer should have a maximum of 2 years on a comic book series and move on to the next series to allow other up and coming writers at a shot, like Fraction or Chris Yost. It should not a forever deal in a course of 5-10 years. I say that Slott could bring over some of the skills that he used on Spider-Man/She-Hulk series unto Hawkeye to give it a different perspective from Fraction. Maybe if the writer's contract on successful comic titles are for no more than 2 years, we might see other top writers get a shot at Spider-Man before moving on to their next project.

I'm not sure two years is that long of a time, especially for a successful, well-received run like Slott's. It's a bit of a tease. Five years or so seems to be the sweetspot, give or take.

[DebkoX]

5-10 for moi.

[Phantom Roxas]

Personally, I think that Marvel should have placed Dan Slott on a solo series like Hawkeye or Captain Marvel and re-assigned Matt Fraction, or Ed Brubaker to write Amazing Spider-Man. Sometimes, after a while, it's time to place the best writers unto other comic titles that could use their talents instead of having a sole writer on one title for over 5 years. If Marvel wants all of their comic book titles to sell over 100K copies each month, they must allow their top writers to spend no more than 2 years on a single comic title so that the next writer can have a chance at Spider-Man....

I sometimes feel that Marvel has given way too much power to the writers and not enough to the Editors whose job is to make sense out of the chaos.

Writers should be allowed to have as much power as possible, and while you have a point about the editors needing to make sense of the chaos, they should only be given more power if it means reining in a writer who is going too far. Limiting a writer to writing a book for no more than two years and preventing them for writing for five years is ridiculous. Yes, other writers should be allowed to have their voice, and setting aside my own disdain for Slott, I can understand him writing for two more years is because I can see that he is not done telling the story he wants to tell. Ends of the Earth could have been his finale, but he had to make Spider-Island so he could have the story when he wanted to, and because of that, he was able to think of the idea of Superior Spider-Man. Now that he's explored the story of the Superior Spider-Man, it's perfectly reasonable for him to explore the repercussions of that story and how it affects Peter, and given how the overall story of Slott's run has been intimately tied in with the role that Doctor Octopus plays, there is also the matter of when, not if, Doctor Octopus returns.

Your idea makes no sense. So, if Marvel has their top writers on a book that is selling extraordinarily well for them, it makes no difference how long they've managed to maintain those sales, because to you, the only way they can keep the numbers that you're demanding, which are very difficult to reach, is by shuffling the writers out every two years? Does it not matter how well the writer is doing? Must they be forced to constrain their plans so that they can only be done within two years? Different mediums have their own limits, but by your logic, in a book like Spider-Man, which is biweekly, a writer should not be allowed to write more than 48 issues. That isn't even beginning to look at books that aren't biweekly, in which case, 24 issues is the maximum. A comic book writer should not be limited by having two years on a book. The only limit they should have is how well they are able to tell the story they want to before it grows stale.

Yes, I have long since been at a point where I want Slott off of the book, but even I can accept that he has a story that he hasn't finished. I understand I could easily say "Well then, obviously Stephen Wacker shouldn't have forced Slott to write Spider-Island, because then Superior Spider-Man wouldn't have happened," but that just raises the question of what Slott would have done instead. Would Ends of the Earth really have been the end of Doctor Octopus' story, or would Slott have written something else? Those are the kinds of possibilities you have to consider, not that writers should be constrained to some arbitrary time limit, their intentions of their run be damned. Really, if you want to discuss if Slott's been on the book too long, you need to discuss how many plot threads he needs to wrap up. Bringing back Morlun and Ezekiel for this Silk story? Well, that plays into Spider-Verse. I'll read your thread about that after this, but Spider-Verse isn't some story that Slott made up like Spider-Island. Julia Carpenter's prophecy that "All the spiders will die!" was meant to set this story up. He had every intention of the story happening eventually, so while Spider-Verse realizes the prophecy, I wouldn't put it past Slott if he were to use the story as an opportunity for him to put more pieces on the table for him to work with.

I'm not sure if Slott intends to have anything result from AXIS, but he's been surprisingly more willing to deal with at least the results of events if they can feed into his story, like how Age of Ultron finally presented the chance for him to write the Spider-Man 2099 story he wanted, or how Original Sin feeds into Silk's story. I do know that AXIS was changed because Slott has plans for the Green Goblin. We don't know what those plans are, but it's clear that Slott at least has an interest in deciding the next direction for the Green Goblin's story. I'm not sure if that means that Hobgoblin being in AXIS is more of a compromise, but I could accept that the Goblin Nation prelude was where Slott intended to finish the Hobgoblin's story in his run, although there is also the possibility that the AXIS: Hobgoblin mini could give Slott an idea to continue the character's story in his book. Regardless, once the fallout of AXIS has hit and Spider-Verse is done, Slott's probably going to start building up to his next big story. What that entails, I'm not sure, but I'm still under the belief that Slott still has a story that will last him through June of 2016.

[Mister Mets]

Disagree. I think the Spidey books have never been more creatively bankrupt than they are now. Piss-poor characters, and poorly crafted and corny stories that cater to the lowest common denomenator I'm embarrased by this book



Bayformers makes money too. Does'nt mean it's any good.

I would'nt say Slott is a hack surpremo, because I like his Silver Surfer work is quite good and he has a good track record with some Spidey stories, but he ran out of ideas a long time ago and coasts on his laurels far too much.

Things are so bad now, I reckon Howard Mackie would be critically acclaimed in today's age of the easily-pleased

Obviously this is subjective. I like Slott's stuff. And really disagree with the idea that Mackie's work would be acclaimed in the current market.

Even if I didn't like Slott's work, it would be weird for Marvel to boot him at this point due to the combination of sales and critical acclaim.

I'm not sure two years is that long of a time, especially for a successful, well-received run like Slott's. It's a bit of a tease. Five years or so seems to be the sweetspot, give or take.

It depends on the writer and the project.

If Brubaker left Cap after 24 issues, we wouldn't have had the Death of Captain America. Several runs have been satisfying as writers were able to set-up and pay off 50+ issues of plot points (Hickman's Fantastic Four/ FF, Bendis's Daredevil, Peter David's X-Factor, Morrison's Batman.)

I don't mind if writers have shorter runs, and if something clearly isn't working out, it does make sense to cut a run short. And there may be times when a company decides that a book with a long-time writer is in a slump. This isn't one of those.

[Project Initiative Cascada]

Yes he has been, and is clearly running out of good plotlines now that Peter is back. I want Mark Millar to return.

[normanosborn]

I think he would be able to write the book for the next 10 years if he really wanted to.

He's pretty much my fave Spidey writer but I'd like to see new blood on the book before that.

[SpOck]

He's one of my favorite Spider-Man writers, behind Stan Lee and Roger Stern, so I want him to write Spider-Man as long as he still has ideas, and it looks like he has plenty of those.