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  1. #16
    Incredible Member RD155's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prof. Warren View Post
    Or more likely, people feel Spencer's run has been really good for the most part - regardless of whether they loved, hated, or had mixed feelings towards Slott's run - and it's easy enough to cut him some slack for a so-so arc.

    The 2099 story line has been, most would agree, flat and before that was the just-ok AC crossover issues so, yeah, it's felt like ASM has been treading water for a few months but it's hardly like Spencer has been stinking up the joint for ages. If anything the last few months have only been disappointing because ASM was going along so well prior to that.

    Solicitations for Jan and Feb promise a return to the ASM that fans were enjoying before things got sidetracked by back to back events.

    As a longtime Spidey fan, I think it only shows how spoiled fans have become where a dud arc is an excuse to cry about how bad things are when there's generally an over-abundance of cool Spidey material in comics, movies, games and cartoons.
    I don’t recall saying Spencer’s run was awful or that he was stinking up the joint. ASM has just been stale lately and it’s been inconsistent. You had some lame female sinister six story arc, that led into an Absolute carnage tie in which was decent and now this 2099 arc which isn’t hitting the mark at all and just continues to drag. The title is just in a rut right now. I’m not saying it won’t get better but right now Amazing Spider-Man isn’t a good comic book.

    I do believe Spencer gets the benefit of the doubt at times because Us Spider-Man fans look at him as this knight in shining armor because of where we are coming from. I’m guilty of this as well. I like Spencer and want this to work. But much like you just said the last few months have been disappointing and that’s all I was saying...

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by RD155 View Post
    ASM has just been stale lately and it’s been inconsistent. You had some lame female sinister six story arc,
    I liked it.

    that led into an Absolute carnage tie in which was decent and now this 2099 arc which isn’t hitting the mark at all and just continues to drag. The title is just in a rut right now. I’m not saying it won’t get better but right now Amazing Spider-Man isn’t a good comic book.
    If we were in the 1968-1969, the period after Lee/Romita Sr's first year (from ASM#39-52), we would be saying similar things about how Romita Sr's is in a rut and ASM is not a good comic right now, when today of course the entire Lee/Romita Sr. run is considered a classic because overall it looked good.

    If we were in Roger Stern's run and read the Foolkiller issue or for that matter the Wizard 2-parter, to name the weakest issues of his entire run (which is still good as stories mind you) we'd say that Stern's run isn't a great run either.

    And some of Defalco-Frenz's run aren't good either. It's overall very good and strong but it's not super-consistent.

    Likewise, if you look at Gerry Conway's rightly celebrated run, you'll find the first 10 issues leading to Gwen's death to be pretty forgettable, and even after that you have stuff like the Mindworm and the disaster that is the Aunt May/Ock engagement and his gang-war with Hammerhead.

    I do believe Spencer gets the benefit of the doubt at times because Us Spider-Man fans look at him as this knight in shining armor because of where we are coming from. I’m guilty of this as well. I like Spencer and want this to work. But much like you just said the last few months have been disappointing and that’s all I was saying...
    I personally think Spencer's run is overall consistent and very good, there's always a bit of fun in each issue, a lot of humor and laughs.If you look at his stories, then you'll find that Year 1 leading up to HUNTED and then HUNTED itself is overall much stronger and unified. Then after that you have 2-parters, one-and-done stuff, some event tie-ins. Know what that is. It's standard issue detox and going cold turkey after doing a major event. You need to ease in readers and slow the pace back to some kind of normal before you go somewhere else again.

    I personally think that the 2099 Event isn't well organized but I think blame for that should go to editorial for not co-ordinating or giving a real sense of occasion for this. Sure Spencer is the lead-writer and he deserves some of the blame, but read Zdarsky's Doom 2099 and the same problem recurs where it seems writers didn't really approach this as an "event" but more as a fanfiction thing.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by RD155 View Post
    I don’t recall saying Spencer’s run was awful or that he was stinking up the joint. ASM has just been stale lately and it’s been inconsistent. You had some lame female sinister six story arc, that led into an Absolute carnage tie in which was decent and now this 2099 arc which isn’t hitting the mark at all and just continues to drag. The title is just in a rut right now. I’m not saying it won’t get better but right now Amazing Spider-Man isn’t a good comic book.
    It's an ok comic right now. I think it's an exaggeration to say it's bad - not that you, in particular, are saying it's bad but the vibe from some fans is that it is or at least is edging dangerously close to it. I think the main dissatisfaction is that it feels like we were pulled away from the elements that were engaging - Kindred, MJ, Jonah, Fred, Curt Connors, etc. - to a storyline that's very "meh." But even with that, every issue of the 2099 storyline has still delivered its share of neat, cool moments.

    If things don't get back on track quickly next year, I'll start to get worried but right now it's just a matter of a weak arc. It happens.

    And by the way, I really liked the Sinister Syndicate arc. I know it wasn't to everyone's taste but it was actually one of my favorites, just a funny, charming set of issues.

    Quote Originally Posted by RD155 View Post
    I do believe Spencer gets the benefit of the doubt at times because Us Spider-Man fans look at him as this knight in shining armor because of where we are coming from. I’m guilty of this as well. I like Spencer and want this to work. But much like you just said the last few months have been disappointing and that’s all I was saying...
    I get that some fans felt they needed to be rescued from the Slott era but let's remember that his run was highly successful and that many fans also loved it.

    I think the current reaction to Spencer's run has nothing to do with Slott one way or the other. Spencer just happens to be putting out a clunker at the moment and readers are waiting for the book to get its groove back.
    Last edited by Prof. Warren; 12-13-2019 at 04:38 AM.

  4. #19
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    One thing that's interesting is that I recently read Matt Singer's art-book, Marvel Spider-Man From Amazing to Spectacular.

    In that JMS talks about how before his run, Spider-Man's cast got really cluttered with many hangers on and so on. He decided to narrow focus on the "Trinity" (his words) -- Peter, Mary Jane, Aunt May. He pointed out that going small brought more focus and attention to Peter Parker as an individual whereas the more supporting characters there are the more it takes focus away.

    That does shed some light on the problem. Slott's era was definitely one cluttered with supporting cast members and towards the end it was definitely less focused on Peter then on his supporting cast. When Spencer came in, he was essentially moving to narrow focus again on Peter and MJ but he had Peter as Randy Robertson's room-mate on his table, Peter at the Bugle where Robbie was in charge, and he had Jameson knowing Peter's identity. He also had Aunt May as widowed and poor thanks to Peter. And of course Teresa, who may or may not be Peter's sister. So those were stuff he had to address.

    So I think Spencer's run is somewhat divided between a need to narrow focus on Peter and a few close relationships, while also grappling with a lot of seismic changes in Peter's supporting cast. If you look at the stuff that Spencer introduced as opposed to maintain and scaffold from previous runs, then it's basically Peter being in a relationship with MJ again, being friends with Felicia again, and Boomerang as Peter's room-mate. You can add Peter going to the University and being TA to Connors but that's comparatively minor.

    So on the whole, Spencer hasn't added too much, and you can see he's trying to balance and bring focus on Peter but at the same time he's also dealing with clutter left over from previous runs. My feeling is that Spencer is trying to find a way to play with those elements before putting it back in place at the end of his run in a satisfying way...whereas another writer might have undone that at the get-go.

  5. #20
    Incredible Member RD155's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prof. Warren View Post
    It's an ok comic right now. I think it's an exaggeration to say it's bad - not that you, in particular, are saying it's bad but the vibe from some fans is that it is or at least is edging dangerously close to it. I think the main dissatisfaction is that it feels like we were pulled away from the elements that were engaging - Kindred, MJ, Jonah, Fred, Curt Connors, etc. - to a storyline that's very "meh." But even with that, every issue of the 2099 storyline has still delivered its share of neat, cool moments.

    If things don't get back on track quickly next year, I'll start to get worried but right now it's just a matter of a weak arc. It happens.

    And by the way, I really liked the Sinister Syndicate arc. I know it wasn't to everyone's taste but it was actually one of my favorites, just a funny, charming set of issues.



    I get that some fans felt they needed to be rescued from the Slott era but let's remember that his run was highly successful and that many fans also loved it.

    I think the current reaction to Spencer's run has nothing to do with Slott one way or the other. Spencer just happens to be putting out a clunker at the moment and readers are waiting for the book to get its groove back.
    I agree a lot with what you’re saying. Personally I disliked Slotts run. Other then his all time great work on She-Hulk, I haven’t really cared for anything he’s done period. So I was never on board for him writing ASM. Spencer was on fire with the Peter/MJ relationship and the Kindred mystery. Putting all that in the back burner really hurt my interest in the title. I understand that right now we just have to wait it out until Spencer can be free of these tie ins and so on. Doesn’t make the waiting process any easier though lol..

  6. #21
    Kinky Lil' Canine Snoop Dogg's Avatar
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    spencer's run is not spencer-tier
    I don't blind date I make the direct market vibrate

  7. #22
    Incredible Member RD155's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Revolutionary_Jack View Post
    One thing that's interesting is that I recently read Matt Singer's art-book, Marvel Spider-Man From Amazing to Spectacular.

    In that JMS talks about how before his run, Spider-Man's cast got really cluttered with many hangers on and so on. He decided to narrow focus on the "Trinity" (his words) -- Peter, Mary Jane, Aunt May. He pointed out that going small brought more focus and attention to Peter Parker as an individual whereas the more supporting characters there are the more it takes focus away.

    That does shed some light on the problem. Slott's era was definitely one cluttered with supporting cast members and towards the end it was definitely less focused on Peter then on his supporting cast. When Spencer came in, he was essentially moving to narrow focus again on Peter and MJ but he had Peter as Randy Robertson's room-mate on his table, Peter at the Bugle where Robbie was in charge, and he had Jameson knowing Peter's identity. He also had Aunt May as widowed and poor thanks to Peter. And of course Teresa, who may or may not be Peter's sister. So those were stuff he had to address.

    So I think Spencer's run is somewhat divided between a need to narrow focus on Peter and a few close relationships, while also grappling with a lot of seismic changes in Peter's supporting cast. If you look at the stuff that Spencer introduced as opposed to maintain and scaffold from previous runs, then it's basically Peter being in a relationship with MJ again, being friends with Felicia again, and Boomerang as Peter's room-mate. You can add Peter going to the University and being TA to Connors but that's comparatively minor.

    So on the whole, Spencer hasn't added too much, and you can see he's trying to balance and bring focus on Peter but at the same time he's also dealing with clutter left over from previous runs. My feeling is that Spencer is trying to find a way to play with those elements before putting it back in place at the end of his run in a satisfying way...whereas another writer might have undone that at the get-go.
    A smaller supporting cast is always a good thing especially in regards to a character like Peter Parker/Spider-Man. It just leads to more personal character moments. I do feel that Spencer has made a conscious effort to focus more on the “main” circle of Peters friends and family. Love having Black Cat around and I would even argue to have more of her as well because Spencer handles her so well. MJ has been spot on and Aunt May is great. Spencer’s character and cast to me aren’t his problems. Its just the tie ins right now. Once he gets away from that in an issue or two and we ramp Peter MJ and Kindred back up I’ll be in heaven again. Right now though....It’s just bland.

  8. #23
    Incredible Member RD155's Avatar
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    Damn we derailed the hell out of this topic lol.

    Back to topic in sense, I really hope Tom gets another job doing a Spiderman on-going on a small scale like FNSM and again deliver those smaller character driven issues. Any word as to why the book was cancelled? Was it always intended to go 14 issues?

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by RD155 View Post
    Any word as to why the book was cancelled? Was it always intended to go 14 issues?
    Actually no. Originally the run was supposed end with FNSM#11 (the one with MJ). It was even listed as "Finale" at one point.

    But sales were strong enough that Taylor got an additional 3 issues taking it to 14. What he did in the remaining issues is more or less wrap up all subplots. So Under York is done, and the final issue is basically a TV-style Season Finale that wraps everything. May is in remission, every character who made a guest appearance in the book showed up to help Peter get a day off and so on.

    I think the idea, inspired by Zdarsky's success on Spectacular was give talented writers a brief run on Spider-Man. In the case of Taylor, he's pretty busy and he's being tempted by DC owing to the success of DCeased and his Injustice comics.

  10. #25
    Sentinel of Liberty WinterSoldier76's Avatar
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    I am sad to see this volume come to an end, just as I was sad to see CZ’s PPSSM end. Hopefully there’s an equally themed secondary Spidey title on the horizon to compliment the main ASM title, which has been inconsistent IMO.

  11. #26
    Formerly Assassin Spider Huntsman Spider's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WinterSoldier76 View Post
    I am sad to see this volume come to an end, just as I was sad to see CZ’s PPSSM end. Hopefully there’s an equally themed secondary Spidey title on the horizon to compliment the main ASM title, which has been inconsistent IMO.
    Anyone remember the round robin one-shot Full Circle that came out last month or so for Amazing Spider-Man? Maybe that was for the writers involved to test how they would do writing Spider-Man before having the proverbial torch passed on to them.
    The spider is always on the hunt.

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