Poll: Would you rather re-read this ASM run:

[Jwyatt]

Lol at least cite me

Sorry about that; I wanted to vote immediately, and rushed my little post.

[Pav]

The Byrne/Mackie relaunch was so distasteful to me that I quit reading comics for like five years. It was bad enough that a solid era of stories was abruptly stopped, leaving all kinds of dangling plotlines, but it was even worse when we instead got the awful(ly long) Senator Ward story, the insulting Green Goblin "answer," the Sandman regression, and Captain Power.

(To be fair, my favorite portrayal of Mysterio is from that era.)

On the other hand, I enjoy Dan Slott's work. I think his comics are fun and the few big misses seem to have been affected by editorial. I enjoy serious soap opera comics, but cartoony comics like much of Slott's work are cool too.

I haven't read all of the current Wells run, but the plot holes in Dark Web were a mile wide and blatantly ignored, so while I didn't hate some of the story ideas in theory, in practice this run just feels like either 1) a mess that future writers might need to clean up, or 2) a run that, if Wells "puts all the toys back in their spots," will largely be forgotten quickly.

Slott wins for me and it's not even close.

-Pav, who DOES think Slott's run peaked with Superior...

[Alan2099]

The Chapter One stuff was probabaly the least interesting Spider-man has ever been.

[HypnoHustler]

The Byrne/Mackie relaunch was so distasteful to me that I quit reading comics for like five years. It was bad enough that a solid era of stories was abruptly stopped, leaving all kinds of dangling plotlines, but it was even worse when we instead got the awful(ly long) Senator Ward story, the insulting Green Goblin "answer," the Sandman regression, and Captain Power.

(To be fair, my favorite portrayal of Mysterio is from that era.)

On the other hand, I enjoy Dan Slott's work. I think his comics are fun and the few big misses seem to have been affected by editorial. I enjoy serious soap opera comics, but cartoony comics like much of Slott's work are cool too.

Slott wins for me and it's not even close.

-Pav, who DOES think Slott's run peaked with Superior...

As a hardcore Ben Reilly fan, I’m surprised to hear you have such a positive assessment of Slott considering how he brought back Ben in CC.

[BESTXMAN]

I remember Mackie in the late 90s was probably the most hated SM writer ever. It's no comparison to the people that have written this book since 2008. Were going on 15 years of death by 1000 cuts.

[HypnoHustler]

I remember Mackie in the late 90s was probably the most hated SM writer ever. It's no comparison to the people that have written this book since 2008. Were going on 15 years of death by 1000 cuts.

I always blamed Byrne more than Mackie. The post-clone saga storylines with a possibly kidnapped Baby May were going somewhere and then Byrne came in with his gigantic ego and demanded everything change to fit his particular vision. I feel like Mackie was just burnt out and coasting along for the ride on autopilot. His stuff even got a bit better once Byrne was gone and Paul Jenkins took over the other book.

[CaptainUniverse]

I always blamed Byrne more than Mackie. The post-clone saga storylines with a possibly kidnapped Baby May were going somewhere and then Byrne came in with his gigantic ego and demanded everything change to fit his particular vision. I feel like Mackie was just burnt out and coasting along for the ride on autopilot. His stuff even got a bit better once Byrne was gone and Paul Jenkins took over the other book.

This is exactly why I skip Gathering of Five/The Final Chapter and go straight to Spider-Girl, makes for a better reading experience, IMHO.

[WebLurker]

Haven't read any, but I'd try Byrne/Mackie. I don't like Slott's writing style and I hate the premise of Well's current stuff.

[Aura Blaize]

Slott by a mile.

I remember Byrne/Mackie just being absolutely horrible. And Wells is the run that's seriously making me want to drop ASM altogether.

Slott had some slow moments and a few bad issues. And I absolutely hated how they handled PI closing. But all in all, his run was fine.

[Conn Seanery]

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[Jwyatt]

I don't see myself going back to the 2023 run any time soon. The arcs haven't been fun. It doesn't seem like there's been much foreshadowing that would make me go "A ha! I get it now!" on a re-read. Even the big beats don't seem compelling.

On a similar note, there's nothing fun or nostalgic about re-reading Mary Jane's fake death under B/M. I never consider thinking about picking up those.
There were a lot of forgettable or incomprehensible writing choices in ASM vol 3-4, and I generally don't look for those back issues, but those are probably the least buried in the memory hole, so I guess it wins.

[Pav]

As a hardcore Ben Reilly fan, I’m surprised to hear you have such a positive assessment of Slott considering how he brought back Ben in CC.

His Big Time + Superior run is a modern classic in my opinion. I've also really enjoyed other books by him, including his GLA stuff, his She-Hulk run, and his Avengers: the Initiative series. I think he writes really fun comics. Even Ben coming back as the Jackal was interesting in theory and could've been fun if the execution was better.

I think Slott gets a bad rap, especially because of how he handled the Black Cat, but I MAINTAIN that he wanted Superior to last longer, and that Black Cat as Queenpin makes SO MUCH sense if it's Otto she's antagonizing rather than Peter -- so I'm willing to let that go.

-Pav, who thinks PAD's Ben Reilly was probably worse...

[JustLuke]

His Big Time + Superior run is a modern classic in my opinion. I've also really enjoyed other books by him, including his GLA stuff, his She-Hulk run, and his Avengers: the Initiative series. I think he writes really fun comics. Even Ben coming back as the Jackal was interesting in theory and could've been fun if the execution was better.

I think Slott gets a bad rap, especially because of how he handled the Black Cat, but I MAINTAIN that he wanted Superior to last longer, and that Black Cat as Queenpin makes SO MUCH sense if it's Otto she's antagonizing rather than Peter -- so I'm willing to let that go.

-Pav, who thinks PAD's Ben Reilly was probably worse...

I still maintain that while I heavily dislike Jackal!Ben, at least he still thought he was genuinely helping people, as misguided as he may have been...at least until the end of CC where he decided "Fuck it, time for Maximum Clonage 2.22: Spider-Boogaloo"

-Luke, who thinks Chasm!Ben might be worse than Jackal!Ben...

[Sr. Bungle]

I still maintain that while I heavily dislike Jackal!Ben, at least he still thought he was genuinely helping people, as misguided as he may have been...at least until the end of CC where he decided "Fuck it, time for Maximum Clonage 2.22: Spider-Boogaloo"

-Luke, who thinks Chasm!Ben might be worse than Jackal!Ben...

The premise was good at least, unlike Chasm

[The_Sneezing_Stormtrooper]

The premise was good at least, unlike Chasm

His Big Time + Superior run is a modern classic in my opinion. I've also really enjoyed other books by him, including his GLA stuff, his She-Hulk run, and his Avengers: the Initiative series. I think he writes really fun comics. Even Ben coming back as the Jackal was interesting in theory and could've been fun if the execution was better.

I think Slott gets a bad rap, especially because of how he handled the Black Cat, but I MAINTAIN that he wanted Superior to last longer, and that Black Cat as Queenpin makes SO MUCH sense if it's Otto she's antagonizing rather than Peter -- so I'm willing to let that go.

-Pav, who thinks PAD's Ben Reilly was probably worse...

Best Jackal outfit by a mile as well. Ben always has drip, even as a villain.