Who do you think will write The Amazing Spider-Man after Nick Spencer?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The important thing to consider is that Spencer is current writing ASM #832 (TASM #31 V.5). By the end of 2019 that will be #837. At the rate of 24 issues per year, if he stays for three more years that will be #899, and of course Spencer will stay for the milestone issue of #900 at least having come that far. But after that, it depends.

That means the writer who comes after Spencer has a shot at doing ASM #1000 which will be the first Marvel title to make it that far as opposed to the pretend Marvel Comics #1000.

So it's got mad prestige tied to this.

[AlexCampy89]

Chip Zdarsky.

At the moment, there is noone who understands Spider-Man and his world better than him.

[Hybrid]

You know Spencer has only been here for a year and a few months and he isn't half done with his run. I feel it's kinda weird to start speculating who will be the next in line.



The tendency in ASM since Michelinie is to give writers long runs...Michelinie was on for 7 years (1987-1994), JMS was on for 7 years as well (2001-2008). Slott's run from Big Time to GDS is (2010-2018), which is longest with 9 years but again falls in the same pattern. So I think it's likely for Spencer to be there for four-five years at a minimum at least. Before Michelinie, ASM had shorter runs after Stan Lee stepped down.

As for who will take over (as opposed to who should/who you would wish, on which more later)...here's some stats to give you some idea of long-term patterns which might exclude pre-emptively some writers.
-- In publication history terms, there have only ever been two writers who started on satellite titles and then went to do the main title -- Roger Stern (who started on Spectacular Spider-Man), and then Michelinie (Web of Spider-Man). Those two are aberrations and since then no satellite writer has made that leap. So Chip Zdarsky writing Spectacular has excluded himself from this already. IF you consider Venom a Spider-Man offshoot, that also includes Donny Cates. Tom Taylor likewise with FNSM.
-- No main writer of Daredevil has gone on to do ASM. Bendis maybe comes closest since he did do stuff with 616 Spider-Man in peripheral titles like the Pulse and then in New Avengers, and of course the Spider-Men stuff...but again never on ASM. So again Zdarsky has excluded himself.
-- No main writer of Thor has gone on to do ASM. There have been writers on ASM who have done Thor...like Defalco/Frenz and JMS, but never the other way around. So I'd say Donny Cates who's taking over Aaron has excluded himself as well.
-- Captain America writers have tended to start ASM, so Ta-Nehisi Coates has a shot. But he's also a budding fiction writer and much-in demand essayist. ASM always has to ship on time and is published fortnightly so that means a longer commitment. Coates would be the second African-American writer to write ASM after Owsley worked on the Gang-War story (that ended with him getting fired).

As for who I think is likelier assuming of course all things are equal a few years from now (i.e. not gone over to DC and so on)
-- Al Ewing. Writer of Immortal Hulk which sold like hell. He's still a new voice and new quantity, not as storied as others. He has a humorous sensibility mixed with seriousness as well. Sure he wrote Loki (and now Valkyrie) but those were Thor satellites as opposed to Thor main. On the other hand he's British so he could stand to be the first non-American to write ASM, or that might discount him. But hey the last two Spider-Man live-action actors were limeys so maybe this could work.

Who I would want/suggest/recommend
-- Kieron Gillen. He's done a lot of top-notch mercenary work for Marvel which sold well on small titles and so on. And he's a proven success with his great indie work -- WicDiv, DIE, Once & Future, Uber. His Darth Vader series for their Star Wars titles were also brilliant successes. He's basically the heir to Alan Moore (as Moore himself has said) and getting Gillen on ASM would be their biggest coup (i.e. major industry talent on major title) since Morrison did New X-Men. The question is would Gillen want to do it? I doubt that, but it would be interesting. I say that despite being unsure what exactly Gillen's idea of Spider-Man is, but I think it would be interesting at least.
-- Kelly Sue DeConnick. She's currently over at DC and again she's focused on her indie work but "first female lead writer on ASM" should be tempting at least.

Yeah I know I just thought I'd speculate, because I hope no one has a run has ridiculously long as Dan Slott.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Yeah I know I just thought I'd speculate, because I hope no one has a run has ridiculously long as Dan Slott.

As per Sturgeon's law, most of everything is bad...shorter runs tend to be more consistent than longer runs. Not a single bad issue in Lee-Ditko but there are quite a few bad ones in Lee-Romita.

In the case of JMS. Until Sins' Past he never wrote a single bad issue. After that, things were less consistent, albeit Back in Black is a masterpiece.

Michelinie's run was consistent for a long while. But after ASM #350 less so.

[Rob London]

- In publication history terms, there have only ever been two writers who started on satellite titles and then went to do the main title -- Roger Stern (who started on Spectacular Spider-Man), and then Michelinie (Web of Spider-Man). Those two are aberrations and since then no satellite writer has made that leap. So Chip Zdarsky writing Spectacular has excluded himself from this already. IF you consider Venom a Spider-Man offshoot, that also includes Donny Cates. Tom Taylor likewise with FNSM.

This isn't really true. You missed at least three writers.

Len Wein (Marvel Team-Up)
J.M. DeMatteis (Marvel Team-Up, Spectacular Spider-Man)
Howard Mackie (Web of Spider-Man, Spider-Man/Peter Parker: Spider-Man)

Plus, if we're counting Venom as a satellite book, isn't that also true of Nick Spencer's Superior Foes of Spider-Man?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

This isn't really true. You missed at least three writers.

Len Wein (Marvel Team-Up)
J.M. DeMatteis (Marvel Team-Up, Spectacular Spider-Man)
Howard Mackie (Web of Spider-Man, Spider-Man/Peter Parker: Spider-Man)

I suppose. Marvel Team-Up is a weird title in that it doesn't really tie into or fit neatly into the ASM monthly the way long-time satellites like Spectacular, WoS, FNSM, Sensational and others have done. I never really considered it a Spider-Man satellite title. In the case of JMD he only ever did fill-ins or special issues rather than a full run by himself. I guess we can add Mackie but then he arrived as one of the Clone Saga writers and his own run was complicated by his collaboration with Byrne who tended to be boss writers around as an artist. So I don't know if it's fair to say he had a real full run.

Anyway, those are my reasons why I excluded them. And it's generally true that satellite writers usually don't get the gig to write the main title.

Thank you for qualifying me though.

Plus, if we're counting Venom as a satellite book, isn't that also true of Nick Spencer's Superior Foes of Spider-Man?

I said if we consider Venom an offshoot, I don't think it's clear-cut so.

Superior Foes is more of a miniseries and since it doesn't feature Peter Parker, it's really it's own thing.

[WebSlingWonder]

I suppose. Marvel Team-Up is a weird title in that it doesn't really tie into or fit neatly into the ASM monthly the way long-time satellites like Spectacular, WoS, FNSM, Sensational and others have done. I never really considered it a Spider-Man satellite title. In the case of JMD he only ever did fill-ins or special issues rather than a full run by himself. I guess we can add Mackie but then he arrived as one of the Clone Saga writers and his own run was complicated by his collaboration with Byrne who tended to be boss writers around as an artist. So I don't know if it's fair to say he had a real full run.

Anyway, those are my reasons why I excluded them. And it's generally true that satellite writers usually don't get the gig to write the main title.

Thank you for qualifying me though.



I said if we consider Venom an offshoot, I don't think it's clear-cut so.

Superior Foes is more of a miniseries and since it doesn't feature Peter Parker, it's really it's own thing.

The heck? DeMatteis did have an ASM run with the Clone Saga. #389-406. Where are you getting your information from??

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The heck? DeMatteis did have an ASM run with the Clone Saga. #389-406. Where are you getting your information from??

I thought JMD wrote only a few issues on ASM during that part not continuously. Like Kraven's Last Hunt, two of them happened in ASM, and then he wrote some of Maximum Carnage and so on.

I will admit that I am not too familiar with Clone Saga and Post-Clone Saga.

[Batman Begins 2005]

Too soon, I don’t want to think about a next writer. I want another 5 years with Spencer at least.

Same here. Hoping Spencer knows when to go unlike those who overstayed their welcome.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Same here. Hoping Spencer knows when to go unlike those who overstayed their welcome.

You know Slott is maybe the first writer to leave ASM on his own terms since Stan Lee.

Most writers leave ASM on bad terms or prematurely

[WebSlingWonder]

You know Slott is maybe the first writer to leave ASM on his own terms since Stan Lee.

Most writers leave ASM on bad terms or prematurely

Again, this isn't true. Stern left on his own accord, JMD did the same, and so did DeFalco (both times).

[RD155]

You know Slott is maybe the first writer to leave ASM on his own terms since Stan Lee.

Most writers leave ASM on bad terms or prematurely

I don’t know man......I feel like Slott was one of those that really overstayed his welcome.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Again, this isn't true. Stern left on his own accord, JMD did the same, and so did DeFalco (both times).

Stern said he left because he didn’t like working with Danny Fingeroth and he wasn’t having fun anymore. Defalco was chased out of ASM by Jim Owsley. JMD left because he didn’t like the clone saga expanding and prolonged more than initially agreed. And Defalco in his second run was mostly trying and failing to make Mayday 616 canon.

Then JMS didn’t like OMD and tried to have his name removed from the final issues disowning the work. Michelinie also came to disagreement with Fingeroth and the whole robot parents he forced on him. Conway for his part said he’d have stayed longer if he didn’t get death threats for killing Gwen and he left earlier than intended by wrapping up with The First clone saga. Don’t know about Wein and O’Neill but wolfman also left in a hurry. So yea most runs on ASM end ignominiously. Let us not forget Steve Ditko who left ASM out of pay and credit disputes.

[Huntsman Spider]

I could definitely read Chip Zdarsky's take on Spider-Man all day. The man has more than earned my respect as a fantastic spider-writer.

Tom Taylor (of FNSM fame) would be another pick for me. But DC just drafted him for a new tour of "Suicide Squad", so he may be busy for a while.

Peter David would be cool, as he's never had an extensive ASM run, if they're looking for older but proven talent.

I like the suggestion of Kelly Thompson. Has a woman ever written ASM before long-term? If not, then she would be my go-to pick.

I like everybody's suggestions here so far, but as for your question, the first that comes to mind contemporarily speaking is Jody Houser in the second year of the ASM: Renew Your Vows ongoing, which even got a follow-up in the three-part miniseries Spider-Girls crossing into Spider-Geddon and a one-page follow-up in Marvel Comics 1001. Historically speaking, I know that Ann Nocenti did some Spider-Man work back in the day, particularly a three-part crossover between ASM, Spectacular Spider-Man, and Web of Spider-Man called Life in the Mad Dog Ward and a story in Spectacular 213-214 that pitted Typhoid Mary from Nocenti's Daredevil run against Spider-Man. Louise Simonson also launched Web of Spider-Man for its first three issues and wrote the final two issues of Marvel Team-Up (starring Spider-Man) before that, as well as ASM Annual 19 which focused on Mary Jane Watson and debuted Spencer Smythe's son Alistair (better known since the 90s and onward as the Ultimate Spider-Slayer). That said, I do agree with you and some others here that have recommended Kelly Thompson, as I'd do the same after how she wrote Spidey and MJ in their brief appearance in Jessica Jones: Blind Spot.

[Mister Mets]

I'm in no rush for Spencer's run to end. It's decent stuff, and doing fine for Marvel.

But he could be at the midway point of a respectable 70 issue run right now (if we include the bonus issues of "Hunted.")

My guess is that the next writer will be pretty big and exciting. This wouldn't really include writers who were on a well-received satellite book that didn't move sales charts (Peter David, Chip Zdarsky, Tom Taylor, Chris Yost.)

In Marvel's current stable of writers, the big writers would be Jason Aaron, Donny Cates, Ta-Nehisi Coates or Johnathan Hickman. It probably wouldn't be Hickman for several more years given that he just kicked off a big X-Men relaunch, and that seems to be his dream project.

Another possibility is that it's someone who hasn't exploded in popularity yet. Maybe a Dawn of X will do for one of those writers what Venom did for Donny Cates, or what being on the Brand New Day team did for Dan Slott, which will put them in a position where they can be seen as a plausible Amazing Spider-Man writer.

The final category would be someone who isn't currently working for Marvel, either one of DC's top writers (Tom King, Scott Snyder, Grant Morrison) or someone outside the big two. Top prospects would be the writers of the various all-ages graphic novels that are stomping Marvel and DC in terms of sales.

A final plausible choice is Henry Abrams if the mini-series sells well, and reviews are decent for the whole thing.