Dan Slott's Decade on ASM Broken Down

[oldschool]

With Dan Slott's historic run on ASM officially ended, I thought it might be good to look back over his decade on the title and briefly rank each year as an overview:

2008: This is where it all began with Dan a member of a writing team; he only had 3 story arcs that year but, boy, were they good! "Brand New Day", "Peter Parker:Paparazzi" and "New Ways To Die" are all early highlights of the BND era as a whole. And, as a sidebar, with art by Steve McNiven, Marcos Martin and John Romita Jr, you could hardly ask for more!

2009: Not a great year for Dan IMO; both "Mind on Fire" explaining Harry's resurrection and "Face Front" explaining Spidey's secret ID being back in the box were both weak. He ended the year strong with ASM #600 ("Last Legs"), his first anniversary issue and the beginning of his mega-arc plans for Doc Ock.

2010: Only 2 Dan Slott stories this year, his last before taking over solo and they were both pretty good ones: "Mysterioso" with art by the amazing Marcos Martin (they work together so well!) and "Out For Blood", a lesser but decent issue featuring Morbius and Black Cat.

2011: Possibly Dan's best year on the title as he took over as full-time writer and really came out swinging (no pun intended). "Big Time", the Spider-Slayer arc, "No One Dies", "Torch Song" and "Spider-Island" are among my favorite Spidey stories of the past few decades. Only the "Face Front" story didn't work as well for me in 2011, not a bad record for a full year of Spidey tales. And, boy, the artwork was stellar throughout all these issues!

2012: Dan kept the pedal to the metal in 2012 with slightly mixed results but some real highlights too. I thought the Vulture and Daredevil/Black Cat stories that started the year were really strong. The time travel into the future and Spidey in Space stories didn't work as well for me; then, "Ends of the Earth" was of course entertaining but was the first time that I felt Dan went for the big, widescreen action movie feel over actual plot (something he would do a few more times during his run). "No Turning Back" was solid but then "Alpha" was a dud, something Dan himself has admitted. But then "Danger Zone" was fantastic and lead into the story Dan will forever be remembered for: "Dying Wish"!

2013: Of course this year is dominated by arguably the boldest move by any Spidey creator: Superior Spider-Man----whether you loved it or hated it, it's safe to say that it got everyone talking and the art, especially in the early issues, was absolutely fantastic! The first 9-10 issues are just wonderful IMO and hold up very well even today.

2014: Superior's second year wasn't as notable; like most good ideas, it probably went on a bit long. I feel "Darkest Hours" should've been better and "Goblin Nation" started promisingly but then felt rushed at the end, as did Peter's return.....I can't shake the feeling that the ending was accelerated to clear the way for yet another #1 to coincide with that year's Spidey movie. And then I just didn't care for Volume 3's early stories much at all; the Electro and Black Cat stories were pretty weak and Peter's return and wrap-up from the Superior arc felt oddly anti-climactic.

2015: This is the period where I felt the wheels starting to come off Slott's run for me; "Spider-Verse" fit the pattern for the majority of his longer arcs in that it had a really promising and gripping setup but then floundered at the end. It was also a pretty dark story for the title which I wouldn't mind if the execution/payoff was better (like in KLH) but it didn't feel uplifting at the end. And the whole Parker Industries setup never worked for me and that Ghost story was kinda lame. Not my favorite year of Spidey tales.

2016: Not much better here either; yet another relaunch and the whole "Worldwide" thing never sat right with me. I applaud Dan for having the guts to move Spidey out of his comfort zone and wheelhouse but the whole Tony Stark-light thing just didn't work for me. And Zodiac/Scorpio was probably the most boring "villain" and overarching plot of his run. "Power Play" was a bit better but not a good year overall IMO.

2017: "Clone Conspiracy" was sadly another mega-arc that failed to deliver at the end but signs of life returned to my beloved ASM title later in the year with the "Osborn Identity" and "Secret Empire" arcs----both of these worked well for me and it helped that the latter brought about the end of Parker Industries and pointed the way to Slott's grand finale for the following year....

2018: Finally, a grand return to form for Dan and the ASM title! The ramp-up to #800 was slow and steady with the later "Fall of Parker" stories and preludes to "Go Down Swinging" but #797 through #800 were absolutely wonderful and #801 served as a fitting coda to a long and mostly very satisfying run on my favorite comic title by Mr. Slott. Bravo!!

Your thoughts?

[David Walton]

I agree with most of what you're saying here.

I did like the time travel story and the space one, though.

"Big Time" was my favorite Slott era and status quo. I felt like it changed things up nicely, but still kept Peter on the everyman hook. He had a job he genuinely cared about and struggled to keep. The further things got away from that, the less interested I was. So I was very sad to see him leave Horizon.

I initially hated the Superior Spider-Man concept, but it was really well done and I was sold on it by the end. Agreed that it went on a bit too long.

Spider-Verse seems like too much of a departure from a 'grounded' Spidey for my taste. I'm not a fan of Spider-Man being aware of his importance to the universe. I feel like it's a bit too 'meta' of a take. We as readers know what Spidey means but once he's aware of a 'web of life' and some kind of cosmic significance it's harder to identity with Peter's smaller struggles. It feels more like an X-Men or FF concept. And I'm not a fan of Spider-Girl's arc. I felt like it changed the character's DNA. She's not the product of suffering like Peter was. To this day I hold that it's a different version of Mayday and the DeFalco/Frenz version is still intact.

I found the Parker Industries stuff very enjoyable. Makes sense that even when Peter wins he loses and he's constantly aware that running a company doesn't play to his personal strengths.

Not a fan of the way Ben Reilly is portrayed in "Clone Conspiracy" but that's just my strong personal feelings about who the character is. Story is well done but not to my personal liking.

I think the latter part of 2017-2018 has been some of Slott's strongest work on ASM. He really stuck the landing!

[Miles To Go]

A fair assessment I feel. Plenty of very strong concepts and stories in places, but over time, the plot drove the characters rather than vice versa and that's what hurt many of them. Of course, as Slott has said on here, "if the continuity is an issue, bulldoze it" and I feel by doing so, that's the only reasons seminal stories like Superior could have worked as well as they did...and why I can't personally stomach that particular story.

My favorite years of Dan on the title often came before he became the regular writer, he just concentrated on telling fun, big Spider-Man yarns with peak level artists.

I agree that a lot of the stories post-Superior were weaksauce, Silk's origin is best left in the past as an "old shame" of Cindy, and Spider-Verse is pretty grim but has it's moments, Parker Industries fell apart twice over the course of the run which really tells you something about how Marvel value Peter's fortunes. I actually like a lot of Clone Conspiracy in terms of premise, just not execution, and I disagree with Ben Reily's heel turn (it's a credit to Peter David that the Scarlet Spider title has lasted as long as it has). There was still some things to enjoy from that period like Learning to Crawl and Renew Your Vows

And yes, I'll conceed Go Down Swinging was a great yarn, and 801 a nice gentle coda to a very busy and bumpy string of events.

The run had a most ambitious scope, and one wonders if Spider-Man will ever be quite as daring again...if it is, I hope it comes with less roadbumps.

[Dan Slott]

Hi.

I'd like to point out that 2014 was also the year of LEARNING TO CRAWL - with all of that gorgeous art by Ramon Pérez.

And 2015 was also the year of RENEW YOUR VOWS - beautifully drawn by Adam Kubert.

(And, yeah, I will always accept full blame for MIND ON FIRE (the BND Molten Man two-parter) and the ALPHA arc. Ooph. You give it your best shot, and sometimes that ain't enough. None of those are on the artists, all of the blame for those two duds are on me. There are some stories that some readers aren't fond of-- and part of me would love to pull back the curtain and show the weird conditions they were written under-- or changes that *had* to made for one reason or another-- or plans/stories that *had* to be scuttled and/or massively re-written on-the-fly. It's kind of like how you might give a gymnast or a figure skater a different score if you knew the difficulty of the move they were pulling off. :-D But sadly, there are some curtains I can't pull back. Just believe me when I say that outside of the Molten Man two-parter and the Alpha arc, I am immensely proud of all the work everyone did on every single story and arc for all 10 and a half years I was lucky enough to work on Amazing Spider-Man.)

[David Walton]

Hi.

I'd like to point out that 2014 was also the year of LEARNING TO CRAWL - with all of that gorgeous art by Ramon Pérez.

And 2015 was also the year of RENEW YOUR VOWS - beautifully drawn by Adam Kubert.

(And, yeah, I will always accept full blame for MIND ON FIRE (the BND Molten Man two-parter) and the ALPHA arc. Ooph. You give it your best shot, and sometimes that ain't enough. None of those are on the artists, all of the blame for those two duds are on me. There are some stories that some readers aren't fond of-- and part of me would love to pull back the curtain and show the weird conditions they were written under-- or changes that *had* to made for one reason or another-- or plans/stories that *had* to be scuttled and/or massively re-written on-the-fly. It's kind of like how you might give a gymnast or a figure skater a different score if you knew the difficulty of the move they were pulling off. :-D But sadly, there are some curtains I can't pull back. Just believe me when I say that outside of the Molten Man two-parter and the Alpha arc, I am immensely proud of all the work everyone did on every single story and arc for all 10 and a half years I was lucky enough to work on Amazing Spider-Man.)

Oh, man, LEARNING TO CRAWL and RENEW YOUR VOWS. Incredible stuff!

Is it weird that I actually like the Alpha arc? It's not the kind of thing that could have gone on indefinitely, but it was an enjoyable story.

[Dan Slott]

Oh, man, LEARNING TO CRAWL and RENEW YOUR VOWS. Incredible stuff!

Is it weird that I actually like the Alpha arc? It's not the kind of thing that could have gone on indefinitely, but it was an enjoyable story.

As a (not perfect) rule of thumb: I've found that people who've read the Alpha story in collections like it way more than people who read it in singles.

The character was meant to be unlikable and unworthy of the great power that was thrust upon them. When people get to see it all in one sitting-- and not dragged out over 6-8 weeks-- they get to immediately see Alpha's comeuppance. That can change someone's entire opinion about the arc. And the truth is, it was never intended to be an arc. It was going to be one, big done-in-one story in the 50th Anniversary special. But we ran out of budget, had to chop it up into different issues, run only the first part in the 50th, and use two stories that had already been bought and paid for to round out the issue. Still... I'd found out about that with more than enough time to scrap the Alpha story and come up with something different for the lead in the 50th. So it's still on me.

[David Walton]

On some levels, the Alpha story reminded me of WOS 35-36, where Peter was substitute teaching at Midtown High and tried to mentor a kid who reminded him of his younger self. Of course, it turned out that the kid was more troubled than Peter had been, and acquired superpowers and chose to bully his Flash Thompson-esque tormentor with them. Then kidnapped Mary Jane!

I don't know, I guess I just like the idea of Peter occasionally trying to help troubled youth who remind him of his younger self, who then turn out to actually be nothing like he was. It seems like a very Peter Parker thing to do.

I even read the ALPHA miniseries!

[David Walton]

As a (not perfect) rule of thumb: I've found that people who've read the Alpha story in collections like it way more than people who read it in singles.

The character was meant to be unlikable and unworthy of the great power that was thrust upon them. When people get to see it all in one sitting-- and not dragged out over 6-8 weeks-- they get to immediately see Alpha's comeuppance. That can change someone's entire opinion about the arc. And the truth is, it was never intended to be an arc. It was going to be one, big done-in-one story in the 50th Anniversary special. But we ran out of budget, had to chop it up into different issues, run only the first part in the 50th, and use two stories that had already been bought and paid for to round out the issue. Still... I'd found out about that with more than enough time to scrap the Alpha story and come up with something different for the lead in the 50th. So it's still on me.

That makes sense. I think there was also a lot of weight attached to the story at the time, even speculation that Alpha was being set up to permanently replace Peter.

Anyway, just my two cents, but I felt like it was a nice anniversary tribute. The callbacks and variations on Peter's origin were great.

[Scott Taylor]

Oh, man, LEARNING TO CRAWL and RENEW YOUR VOWS. Incredible stuff!

Is it weird that I actually like the Alpha arc? It's not the kind of thing that could have gone on indefinitely, but it was an enjoyable story.

You're not the only one who liked the Alpha arc. Seems pretty solid to me, from a story-telling standpoint. What I think is that the story was a little too "on the nose" for most people.

[bob.schoonover]

Count me in as someone who read Alpha in trade and didn't mind it. Even beyond the Alpha arc, I imagine large portions of Slott's run read better in bulk after the fact than in the weekly/monthly format (this is not a comment on his craft at creating a single issue). A lot of things that people found aggravating in the moment in this run disappear when you can read the beginning, middle, and end of a long arc in a sitting or two. That's not to say I don't have my own quibbles with some arcs or anything, but a lot of the calamity about, say, Peter dying in 700, fades away when you read Big Time or Superior Complete Collections (or eventual omnibii) and get a lot more story at once.

[oldschool]

Hi.

I'd like to point out that 2014 was also the year of LEARNING TO CRAWL - with all of that gorgeous art by Ramon Pérez.

And 2015 was also the year of RENEW YOUR VOWS - beautifully drawn by Adam Kubert.

(And, yeah, I will always accept full blame for MIND ON FIRE (the BND Molten Man two-parter) and the ALPHA arc. Ooph. You give it your best shot, and sometimes that ain't enough. None of those are on the artists, all of the blame for those two duds are on me. There are some stories that some readers aren't fond of-- and part of me would love to pull back the curtain and show the weird conditions they were written under-- or changes that *had* to made for one reason or another-- or plans/stories that *had* to be scuttled and/or massively re-written on-the-fly. It's kind of like how you might give a gymnast or a figure skater a different score if you knew the difficulty of the move they were pulling off. :-D But sadly, there are some curtains I can't pull back. Just believe me when I say that outside of the Molten Man two-parter and the Alpha arc, I am immensely proud of all the work everyone did on every single story and arc for all 10 and a half years I was lucky enough to work on Amazing Spider-Man.)

Oh man, I apologize for omitting both of those stories. They are two of my favorites from your run and I suppose I was just looking at the stories from the main title. As you say, outstanding art on both of them and 2 wonderful stories!

[David Walton]

So it turns out we all liked the Alpha story. Now I just wonder if I should refer to it as an 'arc' or a one-shot?

And while I'm pushing my luck today, The Phantom Menace is a really good film.

[Miles To Go]

So it turns out we all liked the Alpha story. Now I just wonder if I should refer to it as an 'arc' or a one-shot?

And while I'm pushing my luck today, The Phantom Menace is a really good film.

Someone I know joked that, given everyone's love of comedy and quips in superhero movies, if Batman and Robin came out today, it'd be universally praised.

[David Walton]

Someone I know joked that, given everyone's love of comedy and quips in superhero movies, if Batman and Robin came out today, it'd be universally praised.

You never know! Things move in phases. There was a time when people were embarrassed to admit they liked Adam West's Batman. Now people seem to have a deeper appreciation for the way the show works on multiple levels--as something deadly serious for kids, and as comedy for adults.

[MP95]

Hi.

I'd like to point out that 2014 was also the year of LEARNING TO CRAWL - with all of that gorgeous art by Ramon Pérez.

And 2015 was also the year of RENEW YOUR VOWS - beautifully drawn by Adam Kubert.

(And, yeah, I will always accept full blame for MIND ON FIRE (the BND Molten Man two-parter) and the ALPHA arc. Ooph. You give it your best shot, and sometimes that ain't enough. None of those are on the artists, all of the blame for those two duds are on me. There are some stories that some readers aren't fond of-- and part of me would love to pull back the curtain and show the weird conditions they were written under-- or changes that *had* to made for one reason or another-- or plans/stories that *had* to be scuttled and/or massively re-written on-the-fly. It's kind of like how you might give a gymnast or a figure skater a different score if you knew the difficulty of the move they were pulling off. :-D But sadly, there are some curtains I can't pull back. Just believe me when I say that outside of the Molten Man two-parter and the Alpha arc, I am immensely proud of all the work everyone did on every single story and arc for all 10 and a half years I was lucky enough to work on Amazing Spider-Man.)

I enjoyed the Mind on Fire story. Not my favorite of your stories, but I enjoyed it more than Alpha. Not to mention Mind of Fire set up your Mysterio storyline! I love the Mysterio story you told with Marcos Martin during the Gauntlet! It was the first Amazing Spider-Man story of yours that I read. Previously, I only read Spider-Man/Human Torch and your DC stuff. Rest assured, I caught up and now have your entire run! Love what you've done with Otto and Peter and the parallels there. Love what you did with Jonah and Horizon Labs (Wish we saw more Grady and Bella). Mr. Negative is one of the best modern Spider-Man villains and I'm so excited for him to become more prominent in the PS4 game and hopefully future comics.I'm curious as to what your plans for the original Black Cat redemption story were? Hopefully one day we'll know. Thanks for the great run, Dan!