I would just like to see Tom Taylor's FNSM continue. I have enjoyed it much more than ASM for the past several months. I think ASM as a main title and one secondary book like FNSM that tells smaller, more self-contained Spidey stories is ideal. ASM and Spectacular coexisted that way for many years, and Spectacular was often better than Amazing.
I mean, I definitely think that's part of it. Having Marvel's Spider-Man feature a "Year One" Spider-Man but also feature several other Spider-Heroes just kind of strained credulity in my mind.
Especially when they did Spider-Island where everyone got spider powers and it felt like Peter was becoming more and more redundant the longer that storyline went on.
But even if you have an adult Peter there's still the issue of how these characters fit into his narrative. Like, what role does Ghost Spider serve in Peter's story? They're only now starting to build a relationship and rapport between Gwen and adult Peter, but otherwise what does she do in Peter stories? Should she be treated as a Batgirl equivalent?
And then there's the issue with Miles. Into the Spider-Verse basically showcased that Miles' narrative is about succeeding Peter Parker after his death and becoming his own thing...but where does that leave you if Peter is the main character? That's probably why Insomniac re-worked his character as much as they did in the PS4 game even if now I think people would probably be more disappointed with that take vs. ItSV.
Yeah. Millar's run was close to the Long Halloween/ Hush model of pitting the hero against his greatest enemies for 12-13 issues, although it was also meant to be part of an ongoing title with the next creative team doing their own thing for twelve issues (It didn't last; Reginald Hudlin was the next writer and he had a six issue arc before switching artists and getting involved in "The Other" crossover.)
It's a model with a lot of benefits (Marvel gets an accessible TPB at the end; Writers know how long their run will be in the beginning) although I wonder if it's better to just have mini-series than an ongoing with new creative teams.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mets
I wonder if they couldn't have their cake and eat it to by using the legacy numbering concept. Basically, sub-number every 12-issue mini (number 1-12) as part of whatever comic (e.g. SSM 314-325, then 326-337, etc.) while keeping their TPB titles untethered (e.g. The Spectacular Spider-man: Marvel Knight, then Spectacular Spider-man: Kraven's Third to Last Hunt, etc.). It'd provide a method for one to easily understand the "order" of the minis if you're a continuity/collecting nut, but makes every one seem accessible to casual readers.
Blue text denotes sarcasm