Should Dan Slott return the ASM once again?

[CaptainUniverse]

Cates or the Gleason or the most likely next choices so we shouldn't worry

I hope it is Gleason.

[Vegan]

Would personally be quite happy with either of those choices

[NC_Yankee]

Would personally be quite happy with either of those choices

Certainly better then Dan Slott. It will be interesting to see who the next writer is and when do they take over?

[Batman Begins 2005]

It's not happening but I'd love Grant Morrison or Christopher Yost. Yost deserves more flowers.

[Dan Slott]

I've been super, crystal clear about this.

I love Spider-Man, but the two-to-three issues a month schedule is brutal.
Because you're not *really* doing two-to-three issues a month.
It's more like four.

Because you're feeding two-to-three creative teams at the same time, with each one on a different arc or one-shot. And there will usually be a side project snuck in too: An Alpha or Omega issue, a Free Comic Book Day story, an annual, a Shadowland Tie-In, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

During their runs I've received a couple of calls from Nick Spencer and Zeb Wells-- and at some point in the conversation-- they'd mention this phenomena. And I'd be a very sympathetic ear saying, "I know, man. I know." (Edit: You can hear Zeb and I talk about one of those calls in a recent podcast we did with Cody over at AIPT. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000588672634 . One of the times Nick S. called was to talk over Silver Sable. Zeb recently reached out so we could coordinate how a certain character would used between ASM and SM. This isn't me doing a "flex". This kind of stuff happens regularly in *every* book, where the *new* guys on the book will call the *previous* guys on the book-- a lot of times to make sure they're getting the continuity right. And I've done it on books I've worked on, where I've reached out to previous creators about their takes on characters.)

And let me tell ya, if on those months when it creeps up to 4 times a month if you *dare* take an issue off, have an issue miss shipping, or bring in a friend to co-write (for which they are credited-- not talking about a Ghost Writer. I have NEVER used a Ghost Writer. If you co-write with me, you get the credit)... you never hear the end of it. There will forever be a hater online calling you lazy... and usually while comparing you to another hard working Spider-Man writer (one who ALSO used co-writers, took issues off, or had an issue miss shipping). It's no crime. It's the nature of the biz.

That said...

I LOVE writing Spider-Man ONCE a month. It's bliss. I'll do this for as long as possible. But you couldn't get me to go back to ASM on that schedule. Not even with a gun to my head. I'm 15 years older now. It was a crazy/wonderful time in my life. I had a blast being both "a" writer on ASM and "the" writer on ASM. I would happily come back for a one-issue inventory story. I'm crossing my fingers that when they hit ASM #1000 they'll let me do a short or return for some wacky bit so I can keep my ASM centennial streak alive. But that's about it.

The enjoyment I get from Amazing Spider-Man nowadays is reading the wondrous and titanic tales that OTHER writers are spinning in it!

EDIT: I have some very dedicated haters online who are making some very specious arguments...
That Zeb can't be writing scripts as detailed as they should be because he's also working on TV scripts at the same time.
That my scripts are looser and done "Marvel Method" where the artists do more of the work.
And that Nick Spencer wouldn't have had as much trouble working on the twice-a-month ASM schedule because he wrote two Captain America books every month in his previous assignment.

On the first two points, anyone who wants to can pick up the book SPIDER-MAN: SCRIPT TO PAGE: THE ART OF WRITING COMICS. It's a book that shows multiple sample scripts by Saladin Ahmed, Nnedi Okorafor, myself, Zeb Wells, and Chip Zdarsky. If you look at the multiple scripts per author inside, you'll notice they're all relatively similar in style. Zeb's scripts are just as detailed and polished as Ahmed's or Chip's. There's no cutting corners. They're not some slapdash thing he's put together so he could somehow magically spend more time on his TV work. The real answer to how he does this: He works really damn hard!

When you look at my scripts in that collection you'll notice that what we've dubbed as a modern "Marvel Method" bares ZERO resemblance to the notes that Stan Lee would hand over to Ditko or Kirby. Instead, you'll see very detailed plots that are broken down page by page and panel by panel, just like Saladin, Nnedi, Zeb, and Chip's scripts are-- but with ONE key difference: There's no dialogue only the indication of what the dialogue might be. This is NOT a scenario where more work is placed on the artist's back-- they are not being tasked with figuring out the story too-- instead they are given MORE freedom. They are NOT tied down to specific dialogue-- dialogue that would normally have to be blocked out for space in their art. They're more free to layout the panels however they want, space for dialogue be damned. It also gives them the freedom to decide if something I've designated to fit in one panel might work better if split into two. I prefer to work this way because I find that the freedom that gives the artist results in pages that are more fun and expressive. I think if any fair minded individual took a plot from that book-- or any of the numerous plots and scripts I've put up online on Twitlonger-- and put them next to Marvel Method pages from the 60's, they'd see that they were nothing alike at all.

With Nick writing two Captain America books vs two issues of ASM: These are completely different scenarios. Nick was writing one book a month with stories about Hydra Cap, and one book a month with completely different stories about Sam as Cap. The scheduling on that would have Nick telling a linear story with Character A, and working with that specific creative team every month. And a different linear story with Character B with a different, specific creative team every month. When you compare that to the ASM schedule, it's night and day. A typical month for the ASM writer is working with three to four different creative teams, working on the 2nd chapter of a story arc with one team, the 3rd chapter of the story arc that's going to follow that one with a different creative team, the 1st chapter of the story arc that will follow THAT one with (you guessed it) a completely different creative team. And there's every chance in the world that you'll also have to map out (or plot) the first chapter of an Alpha issue-- or a Free Comic Book Day tie-in for the next Spider-Man Event that won't come out for 1/2 a year (but for some publishing reason, they need it NOW) with (here it comes) an entirely different creative team from any of the other ones. In no way is that the same as writing two completely different books every month.

To put it another way: It's the difference of taking two weeks to drive a car from Point A to Point B. Then, for the next two weeks, getting in a 2nd car and driving that car from Point C to Point D.
Versus...
Being responsible for getting two-to-three cars from Point A to Point B in one month. But you have to drive one car the length of a block, get out, run back down the block, get in Car #2, drive it up a block, get out, run back down the block, get in Car #3, drive it up a block, and repeat... for the rest of the month. And at any point in time, they could bring you a 4th car and tell you to drive it across town and leave it in a parking garage for six months.
It's kinda nutty.

[SplinteringHeart]

Hey Dan,...thanks for popping up and joining in on these Spidey threads...

Leaving aside opinion in connection with your writing etc on Spidey I do like that you make time (as you're not on the ASM schedule) to jump in and "chew the fat" with Spidey fans, and like/as a Spidey fan...

[NC_Yankee]

Hey Dan,...thanks for popping up and joining in on these Spidey threads...

Leaving aside opinion in connection with your writing etc on Spidey I do like that you make time (as you're not on the ASM schedule) to jump in and "chew the fat" with Spidey fans, and like/as a Spidey fan...

Co-signed 100%. thank you Dan.

[Spidey5640]

I've been super, crystal clear about this.

I love Spider-Man, but the two-to-three issues a month schedule is brutal.
Because you're not *really* doing two-to-three issues a month.
It's more like four.

Because you're feeding two-to-three creative teams at the same time, with each one on a different arc or one-shot. And there will usually be a side project snuck in too: An Alpha or Omega issue, a Free Comic Book Day story, an annual, a Shadowland Tie-In, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

During their runs I've received a couple of calls from Nick Spencer and Zeb Wells-- and at some point in the conversation-- they'd mention this phenomena. And I'd be a very sympathetic ear saying, "I know, man. I know." (Edit: You can hear Zeb and I talk about one of those calls in a recent podcast we did with Cody over at AIPT. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000588672634 . One of the times Nick S. called was to talk over Silver Sable. Zeb recently reached out so we could coordinate how a certain character would used between ASM and SM. This isn't me doing a "flex". This kind of stuff happens regularly in *every* book, where the *new* guys on the book will call the *previous* guys on the book-- a lot of times to make sure they're getting the continuity right. And I've done it on books I've worked on, where I've reached out to previous creators about their takes on characters.)

And let me tell ya, if on those months when it creeps up to 4 times a month if you *dare* take an issue off, have an issue miss shipping, or bring in a friend to co-write (for which they are credited-- not talking about a Ghost Writer. I have NEVER used a Ghost Writer. If you co-write with me, you get the credit)... you never hear the end of it. There will forever be a hater online calling you lazy... and usually while comparing you to another hard working Spider-Man writer (one who ALSO used co-writers, took issues off, or had an issue miss shipping). It's no crime. It's the nature of the biz.

That said...

I LOVE writing Spider-Man ONCE a month. It's bliss. I'll do this for as long as possible. But you couldn't get me to go back to ASM on that schedule. Not even with a gun to my head. I'm 15 years older now. It was a crazy/wonderful time in my life. I had a blast being both "a" writer on ASM and "the" writer on ASM. I would happily come back for a one-issue inventory story. I'm crossing my fingers that when they hit ASM #1000 they'll let me do a short or return for some wacky bit so I can keep my ASM centennial streak alive. But that's about it.

The enjoyment I get from Amazing Spider-Man nowadays is reading the wondrous and titanic tales that OTHER writers are spinning in it!

Not saying I don't enjoy ASM as it is but I'd be all for it going back to once a month and give more time to the writers and artists to really drill down on some things. At time is does feel very rushed and more like a second draft rather than a finished product.

[Jwyatt]

No.
10chars

[Darthfury78]

It's not happening but I'd love Grant Morrison or Christopher Yost. Yost deserves more flowers.

Yost had his chance to set himself up for Spider-Man while he was doing the Scarlet Spider series. Yost Spider-Stories could had been better if he was willing to take a few risks by using supporting characters and rogues from other Editorial departments. Yost played it safe with The Scarlet Spider and Superior Spider-Man team-up series. He could have used characters from his run on X-Men into the Scarlet Spider series like Omega Red and Mystique...

[bishop66]

great insight from slott and we know the 2x schedule is a beast but having the 2x amazing is great for store owners and there be riots if they discountined this. I know every month i can bank 2 issues with very very good steady sales and that keeps the light ons at the store. Curious if they could try a few different formats though,

Either bank a bunch of Slotts AND BAGLEY spidey issues and run them between amazing arcs in amazing spidey. Or go three times a month with 10 pages wells 10 pages slott could not do that log term but could work for a while .......could be some other ideas they could try

[exile001]

Or go three times a month with 10 pages wells 10 pages slott could not do that log term but could work for a while .......could be some other ideas they could try

DC have tried this once or twice and I find it makes for a really unsatisfying comic. They have also been trying more anthology books recently without much success (although a Batman one did last around two years).

[CrimsonEchidna]

I've been super, crystal clear about this.

I love Spider-Man, but the two-to-three issues a month schedule is brutal.
Because you're not *really* doing two-to-three issues a month.
It's more like four.

Because you're feeding two-to-three creative teams at the same time, with each one on a different arc or one-shot. And there will usually be a side project snuck in too: An Alpha or Omega issue, a Free Comic Book Day story, an annual, a Shadowland Tie-In, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

During their runs I've received a couple of calls from Nick Spencer and Zeb Wells-- and at some point in the conversation-- they'd mention this phenomena. And I'd be a very sympathetic ear saying, "I know, man. I know." (Edit: You can hear Zeb and I talk about one of those calls in a recent podcast we did with Cody over at AIPT. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000588672634 . One of the times Nick S. called was to talk over Silver Sable. Zeb recently reached out so we could coordinate how a certain character would used between ASM and SM. This isn't me doing a "flex". This kind of stuff happens regularly in *every* book, where the *new* guys on the book will call the *previous* guys on the book-- a lot of times to make sure they're getting the continuity right. And I've done it on books I've worked on, where I've reached out to previous creators about their takes on characters.)

And let me tell ya, if on those months when it creeps up to 4 times a month if you *dare* take an issue off, have an issue miss shipping, or bring in a friend to co-write (for which they are credited-- not talking about a Ghost Writer. I have NEVER used a Ghost Writer. If you co-write with me, you get the credit)... you never hear the end of it. There will forever be a hater online calling you lazy... and usually while comparing you to another hard working Spider-Man writer (one who ALSO used co-writers, took issues off, or had an issue miss shipping). It's no crime. It's the nature of the biz.

That said...

I LOVE writing Spider-Man ONCE a month. It's bliss. I'll do this for as long as possible. But you couldn't get me to go back to ASM on that schedule. Not even with a gun to my head. I'm 15 years older now. It was a crazy/wonderful time in my life. I had a blast being both "a" writer on ASM and "the" writer on ASM. I would happily come back for a one-issue inventory story. I'm crossing my fingers that when they hit ASM #1000 they'll let me do a short or return for some wacky bit so I can keep my ASM centennial streak alive. But that's about it.

The enjoyment I get from Amazing Spider-Man nowadays is reading the wondrous and titanic tales that OTHER writers are spinning in it!

EDIT: I have some very dedicated haters online who are making some very specious arguments...
That Zeb can't be writing scripts as detailed as they should be because he's also working on TV scripts at the same time.
That my scripts are looser and done "Marvel Method" where the artists do more of the work.
And that Nick Spencer wouldn't have had as much trouble working on the twice-a-month ASM schedule because he wrote two Captain America books every month in his previous assignment.

On the first two points, anyone who wants to can pick up the book SPIDER-MAN: SCRIPT TO PAGE: THE ART OF WRITING COMICS. It's a book that shows multiple sample scripts by Saladin Ahmed, Nnedi Okorafor, myself, Zeb Wells, and Chip Zdarsky. If you look at the multiple scripts per author inside, you'll notice they're all relatively similar in style. Zeb's scripts are just as detailed and polished as Ahmed's or Chip's. There's no cutting corners. They're not some slapdash thing he's put together so he could somehow magically spend more time on his TV work. The real answer to how he does this: He works really damn hard!

When you look at my scripts in that collection you'll notice that what we've dubbed as a modern "Marvel Method" bares ZERO resemblance to the notes that Stan Lee would hand over to Ditko or Kirby. Instead, you'll see very detailed plots that are broken down page by page and panel by panel, just like Saladin, Nnedi, Zeb, and Chip's scripts are-- but with ONE key difference: There's no dialogue only the indication of what the dialogue might be. This is NOT a scenario where more work is placed on the artist's back-- they are not being tasked with figuring out the story too-- instead they are given MORE freedom. They are NOT tied down to specific dialogue-- dialogue that would normally have to be blocked out for space in their art. They're more free to layout the panels however they want, space for dialogue be damned. It also gives them the freedom to decide if something I've designated to fit in one panel might work better if split into two. I prefer to work this way because I find that the freedom that gives the artist results in pages that are more fun and expressive. I think if any fair minded individual took a plot from that book-- or any of the numerous plots and scripts I've put up online on Twitlonger-- and put them next to Marvel Method pages from the 60's, they'd see that they were nothing alike at all.

With Nick writing two Captain America books vs two issues of ASM: These are completely different scenarios. Nick was writing one book a month with stories about Hydra Cap, and one book a month with completely different stories about Sam as Cap. The scheduling on that would have Nick telling a linear story with Character A, and working with that specific creative team every month. And a different linear story with Character B with a different, specific creative team every month. When you compare that to the ASM schedule, it's night and day. A typical month for the ASM writer is working with three to four different creative teams, working on the 2nd chapter of a story arc with one team, the 3rd chapter of the story arc that's going to follow that one with a different creative team, the 1st chapter of the story arc that will follow THAT one with (you guessed it) a completely different creative team. And there's every chance in the world that you'll also have to map out (or plot) the first chapter of an Alpha issue-- or a Free Comic Book Day tie-in for the next Spider-Man Event that won't come out for 1/2 a year (but for some publishing reason, they need it NOW) with (here it comes) an entirely different creative team from any of the other ones. In no way is that the same as writing two completely different books every month.

To put it another way: It's the difference of taking two weeks to drive a car from Point A to Point B. Then, for the next two weeks, getting in a 2nd car and driving that car from Point C to Point D.
Versus...
Being responsible for getting two-to-three cars from Point A to Point B in one month. But you have to drive one car the length of a block, get out, run back down the block, get in Car #2, drive it up a block, get out, run back down the block, get in Car #3, drive it up a block, and repeat... for the rest of the month. And at any point in time, they could bring you a 4th car and tell you to drive it across town and leave it in a parking garage for six months.
It's kinda nutty.

Is there a specific reason the Marvel never fully went back to once a month with Amazing?

[Darthfury78]

Is there a specific reason the Marvel never fully went back to once a month with Amazing?

Marvel wants the $$$$.. Jokes aside, I would like it better if ASM becomes monthly once again.

[Mister Mets]

Is there a specific reason the Marvel never fully went back to once a month with Amazing?

A second issue of Amazing Spider-Man outsells the first issue of Web of Spider-Man. It's also easier to focus on Peter's adventures in one title rather than to give multiple books equal weight when it comes to his private life.