Should Dan Slott return the ASM once again?

[Orbus]

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.

I know the market is very different now but for a quite a long time in the character's publishing Spider-Man had four monthly titles and Amazing wasn't always the best selling.

Batman has more titles than I can keep track of and does very well for DC. Superman is significantly less popular than Spider-Man but still has Action and his self titled book. I think Spider-Man having two monthly books could work.

[Lee]

Peter Parker Spider-Man does have two ongoing titles right now.

[Darthfury78]

Peter Parker Spider-Man does have two ongoing titles right now.

But no Avenging Spider-Man Team-up series that would lead to the said ally to become a reoccurring guest in ASM or SSM respectively, like Black Widow and Tigra for example...

[Darthfury78]

Guess my prediction that Dan Slott will be the head writer for Spider-Man again came true. Lifetime contract.

[Quill-Han-Vos]

Where's the official announcement ?

[Dan Slott]

No. Dear God, no. I'm wayyy too old to work on a double shipping book like ASM.

I can do two different monthly books-- that run on their own, individual tracks-- but not a book that needs to be constantly fed, out of order, with multiple art teams, and all kinds of extra scheduling concerns like ASM. That would break me.

[Sr. Bungle]

No. Dear God, no. I'm wayyy too old to work on a double shipping book like ASM.

I can do two different monthly books-- that run on their own, individual tracks-- but not a book that needs to be constantly fed, out of order, with multiple art teams, and all kinds of extra scheduling concerns like ASM. That would break me.

But is it a lifetime contract?

[Dan Slott]

It's an appropriate contract for a creator who, two years in a row, worked on their highest-selling launches. ;-)

[Sr. Bungle]

It's an appropriate contract for a creator who, two years in a row, worked on their highest-selling launches. ;-)

Cheers then!! Looking forward to your new projects

[ARkadelphia]

It's an appropriate contract for a creator who, two years in a row, worked on their highest-selling launches. ;-)

Good for you Dan. Congratulations!

[Dan Slott]

Thank you!

I know my last response seemed like a gag, but there's actually a bit of truth to it.

I've seen people make the kind of comment of "Why would they re-up the guy who couldn't keep his last Spider-Man book going to issue #12?"

And that's very silly and not at all how Marvel looks at it. Marvel's a business. They want to make money. And they go where the money is. It's their #1 priority.

Mark and my SPIDER-MAN title was the best Marvel launch in 2022. SPIDER-MAN #1 moved more units than any other issue for the company in '22, and it was their 2nd most profitable issue of '22 (an issue of ASM took the top spot in dollars).

Every single issue was a Top 25 book. That means that a Spider-Man satellite book was regularly jockeying for spots with the AVENGERS, the main X-titles, a critically acclaimed run of DAREDEVIL, and-- a couple of times-- doing better than DC's top selling title. A Spider-Man satellite book!

The first arc of the book was used to promote/spin-out two EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE mini-series, whose issues also dominated the Top 25... and did this while the main title, ASM, had an event and tie-ins that were in the Top 25 as well. That's insane! And awesome! And a bigfeather in the cap for the Spidey editorial office for pulling that off!

And, on top of that, Mark and my satellite book also sold out close to half of the run and went back to press for 2nd (and 3rd) printings.

All 11 issues of that book performed phenomenally well for Marvel.

And when one of the all-new characters in the title spiked, with every single issue they appeared in going for ludicrous amounts on eBay, and with a crazy number of retailers reaching out to Marvel because they wanted to commission retailer variants for their shops... Marvel Sales approached the Spider-Man office and asked if that character could have their own spin-off title. Take a second and think about that. A spin-off from the satellite book!

That was when Marvel, the company that wants to make the maximum amount of money possible, came up with the idea of splitting the satellite book into two books, with two new #1's (...technically three new #1's, because of THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN RETURNS one-shot).

And it worked.

They took a Top 25 book, split it, and spiked all 3 of those #1's into the Top 10. And one of those #1's was Marvel's best selling single issues (so far) of 2023.
Even if another book pops in later and does better, none of that magically goes away. That's still three damn good cracks of the bat and three very solid wins in the win column.

I think you'd have to be a very unreasonable person, someone whose opinions are weighed down and colored by all manner of grievances, to not grasp how a profit-minded company like Marvel would in any-way-shape-or-form look at the performance of Mark & my SPIDER-MAN, and the two books that replaced it, and not see the value of the creators and editors working on it.

Or how other companies would view that title's performance and value the creators and editors working on it.

And why Marvel would want to offer a very nice exclusive contract to one of those creators whose current contract was almost up. These are very easy dots to connect.

[Sr. Bungle]

Thank you!

I know my last response seemed like a gag, but there's actually a bit of truth to it.

I've seen people make the kind of comment of "Why would they re-up the guy who couldn't keep his last Spider-Man book going to issue #12?"

And that's very silly and not at all how Marvel looks at it. Marvel's a business. They want to make money. And they go where the money is. It's their #1 priority.

Mark and my SPIDER-MAN title was the best Marvel launch in 2022. SPIDER-MAN #1 moved more units than any other issue in '22, and it was the 2nd most profitable issue of '22 (an issue of ASM took the top spot in dollars).

Every single issue was a Top 25 book. That means that a Spider-Man satellite book was regularly jockeying for spots with the AVENGERS, the main X-titles, a critically acclaimed run of DAREDEVIL, and-- a couple of times-- doing better than DC's top selling title. A Spider-Man satellite book!

The first arc of the book was used to promote/spin-out two EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE mini-series, whose issues also dominated the Top 25... and did this while the main title, ASM, had an event and tie-ins that were in the Top 25 as well. That's insane! And awesome! And a bigfeather in the cap for the Spidey editorial office for pulling that off!

And, on top of that, Mark and my satellite book also sold out close to half of the run and went back to press for 2nd (and 3rd) printings.

All 11 issues of that book performed phenomenally well for Marvel.

And when one of the all-new characters in the title spiked, with every single issue they appeared in going for ludicrous amounts on eBay, and with a crazy number of retailers reaching out to Marvel because they wanted to commission retailer variants for their shops... Marvel Sales approached the Spider-Man office and asked if that character could have their own spin-off title. Take a second and think about that. A spin-off from the satellite book!

That was when Marvel, the company that wants to make the maximum amount of money possible, came up with the idea of splitting the satellite book into two books, with two new #1's (...technically three new #1's, because of THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN RETURNS one-shot).

And it worked.

They took a Top 25 book, split it, and spiked all 3 of those #1's into the Top 10. And one of those #1's was Marvel's best selling single issues (so far) of 2023.
Even if another book pops in later and does better, none of that magically goes away. That's still three damn good cracks of the bat and three very solid wins in the win column.

I think you'd have to be a very unreasonable person, someone whose opinions are weighed down and colored by all manner of grievances, to not grasp how a profit-minded company like Marvel would in any-way-shape-or-form look at the performance of Mark & my SPIDER-MAN, and the two books that replaced it, and not see the value of the creators and editors working on it.

Or how other companies would view that title's performance and value the creators and editors working on it.

And why Marvel would want to offer a very nice exclusive contract to one of those creators whose current contract was almost up. These are very easy dots to connect.

Now work your magic on Ben Reilly

[JustLuke]

Now work your magic on Ben Reilly

We're gonna have to wait till Wells is done with him for that to ever happen. I want it too though don't get me wrong

[Crazyspideyfan]

Now work your magic on Ben Reilly

Ooh a Dan Slott Ben Reilly book would be a really cool idea, maybe redeeming himself from the Chasm he fell into (get it)

[Username taken]

It's an appropriate contract for a creator who, two years in a row, worked on their highest-selling launches. ;-)

Congratulations.

10 char.