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  1. #1
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    Default Are Spider-Man satellites a good idea?

    Marvel solicitations for January suggest a new Spider-Man monthly title will be launched with Tom Taylor and Juann Cabal's Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. There's no sign of Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man, suggesting that title might have been cancelled.

    Satellite titles have a history of lackluster sales. The big question is whether doing these is a good idea? Is it worth the low sales for whatever reason? Are there ways to do it better/ more successfully than we've seen in the last 15 years? Or should Marvel cut their losses, and just publish Amazing Spider-Man?
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  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member Jman27's Avatar
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    I dont mind the titles however I would like to see the stories reference each other more and have like a better timeline. Like Spectacular was behind Amazing in the timeline for a good while and I liked how issue#6 with Jameson spill over to the Main title. But that still took a while for it to get reference. Basically all i want is that when I read a satellite title it follows the main title in some degree but I beleive that wouldnt encourage enough originality for the writers on those titles though

  3. #3
    Astonishing Member CrimsonEchidna's Avatar
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    I do think they need themselves a hook to make them distinct from the flagship book. What worked initially for Spectacular (the most recent relaunch) was that it worked as a alternative for those who weren't fully onboard with Slott's Global exploits. But three "Back-to-Basics" Peter Parker titles is just redundant.
    The artist formerly known as OrpheusTelos.

  4. #4
    Wily Veteran cc008's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrimsonEchidna View Post
    I do think they need themselves a hook to make them distinct from the flagship book. What worked initially for Spectacular (the most recent relaunch) was that it worked as a alternative for those who weren't fully onboard with Slott's Global exploits. But three "Back-to-Basics" Peter Parker titles is just redundant.
    Especially when the main title is doing it.

  5. #5
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    I think Spider-man, the character, can easily support weekly shipping across however many titles. I think as along as each satellite has a distinct "mission statement" it's a good option. Based solely on the solicitations, I'm not entirely sure FNSM will be a significantly different book than ASM. Be it a team-up book, Spidey on the road, Spidey vs organized crime, or whatever, I think the satellite's need to be defined in terms of (and to an extent, in opposition to) ASM. I tend to analogize to Batman a lot, but 90s Batman had 'Tec and Batman being primary books, then LOTDK was past tales, and SotB was a more psychological take on Batman. For Rebirth, Batman was the main book and 'Tec was the "Bat-team" book (since Tynion left, it's basically been an aimless mess).

  6. #6
    Astonishing Member Inversed's Avatar
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    I think ultimately, like other people have mentioned, it has to have a distinct identity towards it with the types of stories its gonna tell, but also have a strong creative voice behind it. Even through Spectacular's ups and downs, Zdarsky had a distinct voice that complimented the book, and Taylor has shown himself to have one as well, so will be good to see how he handles Friendly Neighbourhood. Probably the best way to make it most interesting for people is to make it obvious how exactly it differs from Amazing other than "More Spider-Man". I'd say best bet would be going for more slice of life or smaller scale stories, the best Spectacular issues (Dinner With Jonah, Sandman, the Finale) were exactly this.

    Also as a side note, I just wanted to remember the list of artists that Spectacular got. Adam Kubert, Michael Walsh, Joe Quinones, Michael Allred, Chris Bachalo, & Zdarsky himself. This is a murders row of some of the best working today.

  7. #7
    Astonishing Member boots's Avatar
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    i wonder if marvel's model has moved towards short sales cycles anyway? rather than a long running title (which is the hope, i suppose) they settle for a series of short lived series that get sales going at the launch point.
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  8. #8
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    Satellite titles are definitely a good idea. Many classic stories would never have been told without a satellite to provide that additional space.

    If they don't sell as well as the main title, oh well. That's why they're satellite books. And sales are Marvel's concern, not mine. If it makes financial sense to Marvel for them to publish satellite books, they'll keep doing it. If it doesn't, they won't.

    But strictly as a fan and a reader, I like having at least one satellite title out there.

  9. #9
    World's Greatest Hero blackspidey2099's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrimsonEchidna View Post
    I do think they need themselves a hook to make them distinct from the flagship book. What worked initially for Spectacular (the most recent relaunch) was that it worked as a alternative for those who weren't fully onboard with Slott's Global exploits. But three "Back-to-Basics" Peter Parker titles is just redundant.
    Agreed. I kinda want a large-scale huge Spider-Man adventures book now, instead of 3 Spider-Man titles with varying levels of smaller and smaller focuses. I don't even get the point of it any more.
    "Anyone can win a fight when the odds are easy! It's when the going's tough - when there seems to be no chance - that's when it counts!" - Spider-Man

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackspidey2099 View Post
    Agreed. I kinda want a large-scale huge Spider-Man adventures book now, instead of 3 Spider-Man titles with varying levels of smaller and smaller focuses. I don't even get the point of it any more.
    The point would be to have more opportunities to tell more stories.

    Think of some of the excellent issues of Spectacular Spider-Man that Chip Z'Darsky did. If Spec didn't exist, those stories wouldn't have been told.

    There can only be so many issues of ASM a year and as creative teams tend to stay on that book long term, there should be other places for other voices to tell their own Spidey stories.

  11. #11
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    As had been said, there can be a lot of value and mileage in having satellite titles that offer different and distinct stories featuring your title character, and having different writers offering different voices and perspectives on them.

    We would probably have never gotten to read some of the great stories from PAD, JM DeMatteis, Conway on Spec, or Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa without satellite titles.

    And Spider-Man is Marvel's most successful solo property. If Batman or Superman can have 2-3 books centered around them, I feel the same can be true for Spider-Man.
    Quote Originally Posted by bob/.schoonover View Post
    For Rebirth, Batman was the main book and 'Tec was the "Bat-team" book (since Tynion left, it's basically been an aimless mess).
    And All-Star as the Snyder Batman vehicle.

  12. #12
    Ultimate Member WebLurker's Avatar
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    I think, like anything, sub-series being good or bad depends on the actual craftsmanship in question. Success depends on good work as well as good marketing and chance getting the right audience on track with it.
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  13. #13
    Mighty Member oldschool's Avatar
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    Satellite titles for a character with as rich a supporting cast/rogues gallery as Spidey is a very good idea. The trick has always been to get the right creative teams in place and, equally important, the right tone for each book. Too often these books seem inconsequential or removed from the main Spidey narrative. Marvel seemed to get it right back in days when the original volume of PP:SSM and Marvel Team-Up (later Web) ran concurrently with whatever was having in ASM yet each title had it's own tone/flavor for readers who didn't want to read all 3 titles.

  14. #14
    Astonishing Member Thievery's Avatar
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    Yes. Like others have said, you get more than one writer's take on a Spider-Man comic, as well as a different style of stories. And if you aren't enjoying what is currently happening in the main tittle, well than you have another Spider comic to fall back on.

  15. #15
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    we need more satellites for spidey

    lets get sensational, web of, adjectiveless and spectacular all back up and running again along side amazing and friendly neighbourhood lol.
    DC: Action Comics, Batman, Batman/Superman, Batman and Robin, Batman Off World, Detective Comics, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, JG: Flash, JL vs. Godzilla, JSA, Nightwing, Shazam, Superman, Titans, Beast World

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