Should Dan Slott return the ASM once again?

[captainzombie]

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.

Congratulations! Glad we have you working on Superior and Spider-Boy, and once we get Hickman's Ultimate Spider-Man next month, ASM at least in many of our eyes will be dead last from an enjoyment perspective.

[Dan Slott]

It's okay to be nice about someone's work WITHOUT putting someone else's down.

This isn't a seesaw.

I wish you guys could get a look behind the curtain and see how supportive we all are of each other's work. There is no one on the ASM team that is rooting for SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN'S failure, no one on the SPIDER-BOY team who isn't rooting for the ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN book to do well. I'm a big booster of the team on MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN. I couldn't wait to have their spin on Miles come over to our title for a guest spot. Rising tides lift all boats. No one falls into comics by accident. All the creators who've landed spots on creative teams-- every editor behind a desk-- everyone at Marvel from the trades department to standards & practices, everyone came to work in comics because we're fans and we love this medium, these characters, and all of their stories. We all want each other to do well.

[Kurus]

Meanwhile the 80s spider office had everybody ready to knife each other over the hobgoblin’s real identity.

[Sr. Bungle]

Meanwhile the 80s spider office had everybody ready to knife each other over the hobgoblin’s real identity.

Good times.

And confusing.

[marvelprince]

It's okay to be nice about someone's work WITHOUT putting someone else's down.

This isn't a seesaw.

I wish you guys could get a look behind the curtain and see how supportive we all are of each other's work. There is no one on the ASM team that is rooting for SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN'S failure, no one on the SPIDER-BOY team who isn't rooting for the ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN book to do well. I'm a big booster of the team on MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN. I couldn't wait to have their spin on Miles come over to our title for a guest spot. Rising tides lift all boats. No one falls into comics by accident. All the creators who've landed spots on creative teams-- every editor behind a desk-- everyone at Marvel from the trades department to standards & practices, everyone came to work in comics because we're fans and we love this medium, these characters, and all of their stories. We all want each other to do well.

Love to hear it. I’m enjoying all the diverse voices when it comes to the spidey office. There’s so many options and they’re all awesome.

[Hulkout42]

HELL NO!!! A 1000 times no!