Best Editorial Decisions

[exile001]

Okay, look, so I KNOW this is somewhat nostalgia and bias based.

I understand this is an unpopular opinion.

I concede it is largely the worst way to run editorial/an ongoing franchise.

I get this was marketing and the comics were selling like gangbusters, and it was nothing more than a numbers exercise that stifled the writers into running something they'd rather not have

I'll even acknowledge this was Spider-Man's delve into 90's Marvel's excesses of insane nonsense and ridiculous art over logic and storytelling.

Yes, it has a lot of problems and was a gross attempt to remove something fans loved in their Spider-Man comics.

...

BUT

Keeping the Clone Saga running indefinitely and then giving Ben his time as Spider-Man was the right decision and I love it.

Fuck, there are some absolutely awesome comics in there that we wouldn't have got if they'd stuck to the original, somewhat throwaway plan.

[Jekyll]

Spider-Man Renew Your Vows the mini-series and the on-going. I loved them both.

[godisawesome]

Okay, look, so I KNOW this is somewhat nostalgia and bias based.

I understand this is an unpopular opinion.

I concede it is largely the worst way to run editorial/an ongoing franchise.

I get this was marketing and the comics were selling like gangbusters, and it was nothing more than a numbers exercise that stifled the writers into running something they'd rather not have

I'll even acknowledge this was Spider-Man's delve into 90's Marvel's excesses of insane nonsense and ridiculous art over logic and storytelling.

Yes, it has a lot of problems and was a gross attempt to remove something fans loved in their Spider-Man comics.

...

BUT

Keeping the Clone Saga running indefinitely and then giving Ben his time as Spider-Man was the right decision and I love it.

Fuck, there are some absolutely awesome comics in there that we wouldn't have got if they'd stuck to the original, somewhat throwaway plan.

You could almost argue that the Clone Saga was defined by horrible, self-destructive motivations on one hand, and extremely gifted technical skills on the other. *If* the Clone Saga’s purpose had not been obsessive paranoia against the marriage shifting into chasing marketing tends as hard as possible shifting into a frustrated rage-quit… we might have just gotten the first truly successful “spin-off baby” in Scarlet Spider, the Jackal remaining one of Spider-Man’s legendary villains, a decent collection of villains, and maybe some type of solid Baby Mayday story.

[Alex_Of_X]

Ultimate Spider-Man. A triumph from conception to the printed page. I love that Miles, the living legacy of that book, is huge and popular and successful. Makes my heart swell

For a more off-kilter pick, Steve Wacker gree-lighting a spin-off book with a D-list squad who have starred in one (1) issue of Superior Spidey, and taping Spencer and Lieber to do it? A masterstroke, and a career trampoline for everyone involved

[Kaitou D. Kid]

I don't think the first Civil War was an unqualified artistic success. The Back in Black stories are pretty good, and I feel there may have been more they could have done with that status quo; but the actual Civil War stuff was bad for all major characters concerned except Luke Cage and maybe Steve Rogers.

If we're strictly talking ASM, the JMS Civil War tie-in was pretty well received. One can even call it iconic, since Cap's "You Move" speech is from there.

[Spider-Tiger]

To be honest, I'm not familiar with too many editorially driven creative decisions prior to the 90s. I've gotten the sense that editorial was mostly a silent force prior to the advent of the internet, online forums, social media, magazines like Wizard, etc. Jim Shooter seemed to be one that writers complained about quite a bit after the fact. In terms of the Spider-man line, the first big editorial push that people talk about is The Wedding in '87 (and much of that seems to be tied to the OMD discussion.) Obviously, I think the Wedding was a good push for the books in that it prevented the characters from growing repetitive and stale. (Though I agree they probably could have had a longer engagement period and played with that status quo for a bit.)

I believe Conway has mentioned that Stan Lee pushed for Gwen Stacy's return in some fashion after the backlash of her death. This his how we got the original Clone Saga, which I think was a good closing chapter to the Death of Gwen Stacy.

Quesada was good at finding new and unique talent to work at Marvel and I think JMS was a phenomenal addition to Amazing. His work with John Romita Jr still holds up for me as some of the best (if not the best) Amazing Spider-man in the 21st century. I read in an interview with Quesada that he really wanted to do right by the marriage and showcase it well in the JMS run, and he more than managed to accomplish that goal. The Spider-man material across the different titles of the early 2000s certainly makes the best argument for the marriage to return. Ironically, Quesada is responsible for much of that.

I would also agree that the Ultimate comics was a good push from editorial. (Although, the success of Ultimate is likely the reason that editorial pulled the trigger for One More Day.)