Bailey Briggs: Spider-Boy Appreciation 2023

[Dan Slott]

I have to admit, one of the coolest things ever is when you co-create a character for the Marvel Universe and they start showing up in other places, get handled by other creative teams, and become more and more "real".

I love that Preeti is writing Bailey's adventures/part of the GANG WAR event in Marvel's digital comics!
And I know all the ins-and-outs that Steve has planned for him over in the pages of SPIDER-WOMAN, and that's going to be awesome!
And it's cool to catch a glimpse of him in TIMELESS... when I know what that is leading towards.
Screen Shot 2023-12-22 at 5.21.52 PM.jpgGB6ZrIaa8AAoZtq.jpg

[Ursalink]

I saw he's going to be leading the other "sidekicks" from the covers, but how are all those other "sidekicks" going to be in the first place?

[Dan Slott]

Reminder:
The only real plugging for this wasn't an article. Or a video. Or something promoted on a Marvel panel or a Marvel house ad.

It was a quick thread that was three tweets long. That's it.

A heads up to retailers from my personal account that they hadn't ordered enough of copies of the SPIDER-MAN #7 spoiler variant.

No fuss. No muss. No thumb on the scale from Marvel.

3 tweets.

https://covrprice.com/cp-content/202...p-up-for-2023/

[Dan Slott]

You'd have to be pretty obtuse & dishonest to *not* get that Marvel -- THE PUBLISHER -- does promotion for certain titles & issues.

That Marvel has an actual promotions department & a promotional arm of their company.
One that runs house ads.
And trailers.
And lines up publications to print articles.
And one that puts their thumb on the scale to score the covers of previews/the catalog.
And one that does tons of work to promote events and flagship titles.

And that creators plug whatever they're working on over on their personal social media.
And that is a completely different thing on a completely smaller scale.

And that, yeah, a creator drumming up this much support over the 7th issue of a satellite book...
...the 7th issue of a story arc that got pretty much ALL of its company assisted push at the *start* of the story...
...and someone actually getting that much of a turnout from *just* doing a 3 tweet long thread...
...is pretty freaking unbelievable.

To be clear: SPIDER-MAN #7 got *no* extra push from Marvel, the publisher.
And when SPIDER-MAN #7 took off the way it did, the Marvel Sales department reached out to me to say that I'd done a great job.
That doesn't happen often.
The last time I can even remember something like that happening was when Marvel Sales congratulated Donny & Ryan for their "Venom is better than Watchmen" tweets. (Which were hysterical!)
Marvel Sales asked me if I could do more tweets like those original three.
And I said I shouldn't because it doesn't work that way.
Those three tweets were earnest. I *didn't* believe retailers had ordered enough, because I knew we were going to fold Spider-Boy into the cast for the next storyline, and I thought fans and collectors would want to own the issue that was the first time he was on a cover.

Anyone who could find a bizarre way to spin all this as a given, inevitable, or somehow easy would have to be a pretty dedicated hater and have some serious hate-blinders on.

This isn't a "meltdown".
This isn't a tirade.
This is honestly, 100% swear-to-God-Allmighty, me on a break from an all-hours work schedule, laughing my @$$ off at the lengths some people on the internet will bend all logic, reason, and common sense to justify so much fan-hate.

[betaraybob]

The tweet you posted, giving the clue about #7 felt, and feels, honest. Like I got the vibe you were excited and wanted to make sure fans didn't miss out on something potentially big.

I don't get an astroturfing feel at all, it really seemed like Spider-Boy was an organic hit that even caught Marvel off guard.

Big fan, can't see where he ends up!

[Dan Slott]

Thank you.
And no one was more surprised than me.
Spider-Boy was a late-in-the-game addition to the plot.
We were folding him into the next storyline.
And that was all we really had planned in the short term.

It was when EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #3 sold out and went back to press (after SM #7, #8, and #9), that Marvel Sales gave us marching orders to give the character their own monthly title.

It's all been a whirlwind. And I am having a blast working with Paco, Ty, and the whole team. I'm trying to tap into the lessons I learned from Mike & Laura Allred when we all worked on our SILVER SURFER run, and am trying to make this a book you could give to ANYONE-- a partner, a parent, a niece, or nephew. ANYBODY.

The term "all ages" can scare readers away... but when you think about it, how many of your all-time favorite movies are all ages? STAR WARS? WILLIE WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY? SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE? That's the vibe we're going for (NO, we're not vain enough to think we're on THAT scale-- what I mean is it's POSSIBLE. You CAN make a unit of entertainment that's for everyone at every age. And that's not usually a sandbox that I've been playing in for a while. And now that I'm goofing around on this book with my co-creators, and we're following our compass in that direction, it really is a fun target to aim for.)

[t-spider]

Thank you.
And no one was more surprised than me.
Spider-Boy was a late-in-the-game addition to the plot.
We were folding him into the next storyline.
And that was all we really had planned in the short term.

It was when EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #3 sold out and went back to press (after SM #7, #8, and #9), that Marvel Sales gave us marching orders to give the character their own monthly title.

It's all been a whirlwind. And I am having a blast working with Paco, Ty, and the whole team. I'm trying to tap into the lessons I learned from Mike & Laura Allred when we all worked on our SILVER SURFER run, and am trying to make this a book you could give to ANYONE-- a partner, a parent, a niece, or nephew. ANYBODY.

The term "all ages" can scare readers away... but when you think about it, how many of your all-time favorite movies are all ages? STAR WARS? WILLIE WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY? SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE? That's the vibe we're going for (NO, we're not vain enough to think we're on THAT scale-- what I mean is it's POSSIBLE. You CAN make a unit of entertainment that's for everyone at every age. And that's not usually a sandbox that I've been playing in for a while. And now that I'm goofing around on this book with my co-creators, and we're following our compass in that direction, it really is a fun target to aim for.)

Yeah, that's how I've seen it... it's got its share of darkness, but also a bit lighter tone than Peters adventures. A book you can give to anyone, young or old.

[Digifiend]

I saw he's going to be leading the other "sidekicks" from the covers, but how are all those other "sidekicks" going to be in the first place?

He's off to the side. It looks like the Captain America girl is the leader.

[Jman27]

He's off to the side. It looks like the Captain America girl is the leader.

That would be pointless considering that Bailey is the one who is now currently existing right now. One of these days a Spider Man character will lead a major team one of these days

[Digifiend]

It'd only be like the origin of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Saturn Girl is their leader, but Superboy was the one pre-existing character on the team when they first appeared. Bailey's probably the audience surrogate character, the point of view character, but not the leader. Heck, the Young Avengers was the same. Everyone was new except Cassie Lang, but the team leader was Patriot.

[betaraybob]

I saw he's going to be leading the other "sidekicks" from the covers, but how are all those other "sidekicks" going to be in the first place?

Where did you see these covers? Thanks!

[Digifiend]

He's talking about the New Champions variants announced a few months ago.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Categ...pions_Variants

[betaraybob]

He's talking about the New Champions variants announced a few months ago.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Categ...pions_Variants

Ah thanks! I read it the other way, as SB leading the other heroes on a cover, not the heroes from the covers. Appreciate it