Nick Spencer ASM speculation

[Spidey_62]

Maybe MJ gets with the powerless Peter because she doesn't have to worry about him putting himself in danger lmao.

[Miles To Go]

Maybe MJ gets with the powerless Peter because she doesn't have to worry about him putting himself in danger lmao.

That...would make so much sense, they'd probably go for it...especially after ASM 797 made it perfectly clear MJ still wants Peter, just not Spider-Man

[Celgress]

That...would make so much sense, they'd probably go for it...especially after ASM 797 made it perfectly clear MJ still wants Peter, just not Spider-Man

Which raises an interesting question. Do you truly love someone if you can't accept certain aspects of who that person is and force them to change so that person can be with you?

616 MJ constantly rejecting Peter because he is Spider-Man then basically holding the future of their relationship hostage by forcing Peter to choose between her or being Spider-Man disgusts me. Her present behavior is an aspect of her character I detest. I'd rather 616 Peter find somebody who can accept him for who he is in totality rather than playing romantic ping pong with somebody so passive aggressive and judgemental. Worse yet she is applying an unfair double standard to Peter when she constantly hangs around people like Riri and Tony who are always putting her and others around them in danger because of their superheroic antics.

[Miles To Go]

Which raises an interesting question. Do you truly love someone if you can't accept certain aspects of who that person is and force them to change so that person can be with you?

Just another reason to dismay at the fact mainstream versions of the character are seen as authoritative takes, when other more niche universes attempt to evolve the characters past the mandates and agendas of the mainline writers and editors.

616 MJ constantly rejecting Peter because he is Spider-Man then basically holding the future of their relationship hostage by forcing Peter to choose between her or being Spider-Man disgusts me. Her present behavior is an aspect of her character I detest. I'd rather 616 Peter find somebody who can accept him for who he is in totality rather than playing romantic ping pong with somebody so passive aggressive and judgemental. Worse yet she is applying an unfair double standard to Peter when she constantly hangs around people like Riri and Tony who are always putting her and others around them in danger because of their superheroic antics.

Not to mention MJ has thrown herself head-first into war zones on several occasions since working for Stark (Iron Man#600 had her involved in a skirmish with Hydra agents), it makes me think Marvel want us to cry foul at the double-standard or perhaps start to consider the notion that MJ wants Peter to retire and be with her so SHE can protect HIM and possibly May too.

[Hypestyle]

I just hope Spencer is not on the book till the landmark #1000 issue.

After such a long run coming to an end now, I hope more writers get the opportunity to write for ASM before then.

i hope Priest gets to write a couple of arcs (at least)---

[Jekyll]

Looking at the August solicitations we get two issues of ASM. Is this book going to be twice monthly? Or is it just double shipping that month?

[The Mary Janes]

No more clones!

[Inversed]

Looking at the August solicitations we get two issues of ASM. Is this book going to be twice monthly? Or is it just double shipping that month?

I feel like the book will most likely be going back to twice monthly, Spencer is known for being able to write alot and supposedly he has like the first 20 or so issues already written, so he'd be able to handle it, especially while not writing any other books.

[Jekyll]

I feel like the book will most likely be going back to twice monthly, Spencer is known for being able to write alot and supposedly he has like the first 20 or so issues already written, so he'd be able to handle it, especially while not writing any other books.

Great thanks!! Hmmm now I have some decisions to make with my pull list to stay in budget. Darn you Marvel for having soooo much out I want to read now!!

[Celgress]

Looking at the August solicitations we get two issues of ASM. Is this book going to be twice monthly? Or is it just double shipping that month?

Who knows an earlier poster could be right and we are (temporarily in all likelihood) getting a version of Spider-Man Red & Blue lol.

[Inversed]

During JMS' run the book ran monthly, although that was also when there were 3 or 4 other Spider-Man satellite books out. Brand New Day of course ran 3 issues a month, and then Big Time & Superior went by two issues a month. Vol. 3 to the present is when it went for a much looser pattern, although for the most part it double shipped every other month. The looser schedule was probably to accommodate all the extra side issues that would be released (and also cause Slott was writing another book at the same time too)

So with Spencer not doing any other books, and having a history of doing 2-3 books at a time, I could very well see them going back to consistently releasing 2 issues a month. Also, ASM's one of Marvel's best sellers, putting out two would easily help boost the sales even more.

[bob.schoonover]

During JMS' run the book ran monthly, although that was also when there were 3 or 4 other Spider-Man satellite books out. Brand New Day of course ran 3 issues a month, and then Big Time & Superior went by two issues a month. Vol. 3 to the present is when it went for a much looser pattern, although for the most part it double shipped every other month. The looser schedule was probably to accommodate all the extra side issues that would be released (and also cause Slott was writing another book at the same time too)

So with Spencer not doing any other books, and having a history of doing 2-3 books at a time, I could very well see them going back to consistently releasing 2 issues a month. Also, ASM's one of Marvel's best sellers, putting out two would easily help boost the sales even more.

I think a sustained twice-monthly schedule could be very smart. If you look at Batman, the primary twice-monthly title holds up at 100K and the secondary title ('Tec) holds around 50K (and the trades appear to sell well, both through Diamond and looking at Amazon sales rankings). There's no reason in principle ASM/SSM can't hit those numbers if the creative teams are clicking with the fans and given a bit of time to build momentum. Plus, you know, there's nothing wrong with more Spider-man comics

[Prof. Warren]

I feel like the book will most likely be going back to twice monthly, Spencer is known for being able to write alot and supposedly he has like the first 20 or so issues already written, so he'd be able to handle it, especially while not writing any other books.

I feel like Spencer will be writing another Marvel title alongside ASM, just because he has proven that he can handle a decent sized workload.

As for ASM being bi-monthly, I don't know. I think it's probably going to be a 16 issues a year deal so it'll just double ship a few months a year.

[Inversed]

I feel like Spencer will be writing another Marvel title alongside ASM, just because he has proven that he can handle a decent sized workload.

As for ASM being bi-monthly, I don't know. I think it's probably going to be a 16 issues a year deal so it'll just double ship a few months a year.

Possibly, I could be remembering wrong, but I do recall Slott mentioning that when he accepted the full time Spider-Man writer job he couldn't write any other books because of how time-consuming and top-priority the job was. I'd say if he will do another book, it'll be after at least a year of his run. Also like I mentioned, he's supposedly spent the past 9 months in-between Secret Empire and now working on the issues, so he's got a head start too.

I'm also really curious how much of the book Ryan Ottley will do. Will he do every issue, will there be fill-in artists, or will he only do the first couple arcs?

[Frontier]

CBR has a new interview with Nick Spencer.

Major points:

- On Boomerang's role:

In some ways, it feels like I never left Fred. I found opportunities to use him here and there. He was in my Captain America run with a fun cameo in Secret Empire, but to bring him into Peter’s orbit was the real thrill for me. Because when we did Superior Foes obviously Otto was Spider-Man and we had that ambiguous ending where it may or may not have been Peter Parker in the bar with Fred. Spider-Man was kind of the one element I didn’t really have in Superior Foes of Spider-Man.

Now, he’s an integral part of Peter’s life. I get to bounce those two off of each other and have them get in each other’s way. He’s a perfect foil and a perfect roommate for Peter.

This is a little lighter, though. It’s more about the relatable roommate dynamics we’ve all had at some point. That’s something I think we can all kind of connect to. Fred is the world’s worst person and I think at some point in our lives we’ve all felt that way about a person we’ve lived with. That’s always the trick with Spidey comics, finding that thing that we can all see ourselves in and blowing it up to 11.

- On Jonah:

I’m going to stay a little mum on Jonah for now. I will say I am an enormous fan of what Chip Zdarsky has done with the character over in Spectacular and when I came on board the book, I made it clear I wanted to stay out of his way. I really think he’s telling a seminal Jonah story there.

So, his role in our early books will be pretty limited. He is one of the best, if not the best, supporting characters in all of comics though. So when he arrives on the stage it will be in a pretty big way. The long term story we have for Jonah is something I’m very excited about.

- The Bugle:

When we open our run, Pete is kind of riding high. He’s defeated Norman Osborn. Obviously there was an enormous cost to it, but he’s come out the other side of that and he’s working his dream job. It’s a job that he’s perfectly suited for and that in many ways is the fulfillment of his potential.

So that gives you a really interesting foundation to build on. And any time you get to spend within the confines of The Daily Bugle, you’re in a very good place. You get to draw from a great cast that includes Robbie Robertson, Betty Brant, Ben Urich and a lot of other cool characters. Writing all of them has just been a thrill for me.

- The supporting cast:

There are a lot of supporting cast members that I’m really excited about, both new and old. I think I’ve said in previous interviews that it won’t take long for Felicia Hardy to become a key player in the book. So you can expect the Black Cat to show up sooner rather than later. And that will have a major impact on Peter’s life.

I’m very excited to get to spend some more time with Randy Robertson. I think he has a really special place now among Peter’s friends. That’s because he really hasn’t been touched too much by the superhuman and supernatural aspects of the Marvel Universe. I think it’s very important for Peter to be able to get away from that stuff and have a friend that he can hang around with who’s just a regular human being.

In terms of new faces, I have to play coy for now, but yes, there are some major ones coming. Also, there are some characters who haven’t been on the board for quite awhile that we’re going to bring back on the stage.

One thing that I noticed as I was going back through and doing my rereading of all the Spidey stuff is that when a lot of writers come in they introduce new supporting casts. Then, when they leave the book somebody else comes on and they introduce their cast. So there are a lot of characters out there with a lot of potential who we haven’t checked in with for a long time, who have sort of fallen by the wayside. So, finding the ones that I thought had potential was a treat for me.

- The relationship between Spidey and New York:

For sure! When you’re doing a Spider-Man book New York is obviously not just a character, but one of the key characters. His interactions with the city both on the street level and up above it are equally important. We’re going to have fun with those interactions and see how the city impacts him; how it complicates his life both as Peter and Spider-Man.

- What type of stories he wants to tell in the book:

That’s a great question because I think about it all the time. One of the best things about this character is exactly what you said– he’s been a part of so many different kinds of stories. He’s one of those characters that’s so big and so iconic you can really put him into any Marvel Universe story and any genre and he’s probably going to make it better.

When you look at the totality of Spidey comics, you see a wide variety of tones, genres and styles. So when I was approaching this I wanted to build my run so it could be elastic in that sense. For instance, there will be some stories in the first half of the year where people will say, “I get it. This book leans a little heavier towards the comedy. This book has a lighter touch than some previous Spider-Man runs.” Then at the half year mark, we’re going to turn it around and it will become something very different.

I really want you to pick up each arc of the book and not know what direction we’re going to go. Some of these stories are going to make you laugh a lot. Some are going to scare you. Some are going to make you cry. That’s the goal. You really won’t know what you’re going to get month to month. This is a book that will have a different type of feel and different voice depending on what the story needs. I didn’t want to lock myself in too much there. For me, the thrill is getting to play with all these different kinds of stories, but with Spidey at the center of all of them.

- Villains:

He really does have the best rogues gallery in all of comics, and I really had a lot of fun writing them in Superior Foes and other books that I’ve done. In a lot of ways, I had more familiarity with those guys than writing Peter. So we’re going to see a lot of the book from their eyes. Their relationship to Spidey is something that I’m going to explore.

Picking favorites is really hard. What I can say is, I want to try hard to limit the inconsequential appearances of great Spidey rogues. I want to pull deeper when we need that scene at the start of an issue where Spidey is fighting someone less important. I want to make sure readers understand that characters like Scorpion, Electro, and Vulture are really serious and scary threats with real motivations and stories of their own. So when they show up it’s a big deal. They’re not just there to get punched by Spider-Man and knocked out in the first couple pages.

I want to instill a sense of weight and dread when those characters show up on the page. The way that we do that over the course of the first year is something I can’t wait for people to see.

I will also say you won’t have to wait long to see us introduce a terrifying new villain who will upend Peter’s life and challenge him in ways we’ve never seen before. I can’t get too specific– but trust me, he’s going to leave a lasting scar. There’s a long term plan in place on this book, maybe the most detailed one I’ve ever put forward– and we’re building to what I truly believe will be one of the biggest Spidey stories of all time. Amazing Spider-Man #1 is the ground floor for that.