Renew Your Vows Sales Predictions

[jimishim12]

Answer: because it flies in the face of the current agenda for the title and character.

Namely, further diluting the Spider-Man character by shilling spinoffs.

Plus Spidey books just sell well no matter the premise.

[Kevinroc]

Plus Spidey books just sell well no matter the premise.

Dan Slott, I hope you don't mind me quoting you from elsewhere on these boards because what you said was just perfect as a response to this line of thinking.

You're pushing the idea that Spider-Man can't sell poorly. That it's a guaranteed hit. It's not. And that kind of does a disservice to all the people who work very hard on the title-- over all the years of its run.
Are there a base-line number of readers who will always pick up the title? Yep. Same for any Marvel flagship title. But I'll give you that for Spidey and X-Men and, in this generation, Avengers-- that's probably a way healthier number than most. But there WAS a time you could say that for Hulk. And for Wolverine. And Thor.
And there have been times that those titles have been put on hiatus. There could come a day when that happens to Spider-Man too. Hasn't happened yet though. But there have been periods when Spider-Man has sold poorly.

[billee0918]

Why cant people just admit that RYV #1 sold really well, that it involves a married Pete and MJ..and people are excited to read about that status quo.

So when, not "if", October's ASM blows the RYV sales out of the water, we all agree that's the status quo "fans" prefer?

[Dan Slott]

I think the fans spoke 7 years ago.

And they want to see a monthly Spider-Man/Barack Obama team-up book.
obama-and-spider-man-fist-bump.jpg

[Vortex85]

I think the fans spoke 7 years ago.

And they want to see a monthly Spider-Man/Barack Obama team-up book.
obama-and-spider-man-fist-bump.jpg

LOL, I can imagine a BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! series come out for that.

Also, obviouisly people want every issue to be labeled #1!

[Confuzzled]

I don't get what marriage haters have against the possibility of an RYV ongoing. You can have your single Spider-Man in ASM and if you don't like the marriage and kid, don't buy the RYV ongoing? Is that too simple a solution?

[mtalisker18]

I don't get what marriage haters have against the possibility of an RYV ongoing. You can have your single Spider-Man in ASM and if you don't like the marriage and kid, don't buy the RYV ongoing? Is that too simple a solution?

Because it would fly in the face of the reasoning used to justify OMD.

[jimishim12]

I don't get what marriage haters have against the possibility of an RYV ongoing. You can have your single Spider-Man in ASM and if you don't like the marriage and kid, don't buy the RYV ongoing? Is that too simple a solution?

Because it would treat OMD as a cop out fully establishing both Peter and MJ as people who get a free ticket out of everything that they have experienced and failed at. OMD is important to me because it establishes Peter as a unique hero and MJ as a unique love interest unlike the others, they can lose(every once in a while) and fail to permanently rise from a mistake for good. When Spider-Man loses, he can lose big and I respect that. Any other hero could never stick to failure that long.

[Confuzzled]

Because it would treat OMD as a cop out fully establishing both Peter and MJ as people who get a free ticket out of everything that they have experienced and failed at. OMD is important to me because it establishes Peter as a unique hero and MJ as a unique love interest unlike the others, they can lose(every once in a while) and fail to permanently rise from a mistake for good. When Spider-Man loses, he can lose big and I respect that. Any other hero could never stick to failure that long.

I don't get it. It's ANOTHER Peter and MJ in ANOTHER universe. How does it pertain to their 616 counterparts or OMD in any way? I assume RYV is just a reality where Mephisto did not exploit them when they were down.

Because it would fly in the face of the reasoning used to justify OMD.

As straightforward as one can get.

[Tuck]

I think the fans spoke 7 years ago.

You joke, but I'd actually read a 6-issue mini about that.

[Zeitgeist]

I don't get what marriage haters have against the possibility of an RYV ongoing. You can have your single Spider-Man in ASM and if you don't like the marriage and kid, don't buy the RYV ongoing? Is that too simple a solution?

Then they can make a new comic for the people who prefer Ben Reilly as the main Spider-Man. Then a comic where Spider-Man is still in his Man-Spider form, a comic where Spider-Man is always in the black costume, and THEN a comic where Spider-Man was replaced by Spidercide - foolproof!

[Tuck]

Then they can make a new comic for the people who prefer Ben Reilly as the main Spider-Man. Then a comic where Spider-Man is still in his Man-Spider form, a comic where Spider-Man is always in the black costume, and THEN a comic where Spider-Man was replaced by Spidercide - foolproof!

Are any of those constituencies even remotely close to the one that wants the marriage back though?

The Ben Reilly one is probably the only one with a significant number. And if it were a viable idea, why wouldn't Marvel do it?

Personally, I don't know that an ongoing with the RYV Spidey would work for very long, but the idea of an alternate reality Spider-Man where Peter and MJ are still married is probably the least risky idea there.

People flipped out when the marriage was erased. People flipped out when it was suggested Ben was the original. So, it even has that on it's next closest rival on your list there.

[Zeitgeist]

Personally, I don't know that an ongoing with the RYV Spidey would work for very long, but the idea of an alternate reality Spider-Man where Peter and MJ are still married is probably the least risky idea there.

Least risky = safe. Safe is rarely best in dramatic storytelling.

The Ben Reilly one is probably the only one with a significant number. And if it were a viable idea, why wouldn't Marvel do it?

Because at the end of the day, they'll tell the story they want to tell.

[Tuck]

Least risky = safe. Safe is rarely best in dramatic storytelling.

That's a question of quality. And you've made it known you dislike the marriage. Personally, I think JMS is the high-water mark for the series . . . and that involved a married Pete and MJ.

Because at the end of the day, they'll tell the story they want to tell.

They're a business. They'll write what they believe will sell. And finding creative teams who want to write Ben Reilly as Spider-Man or married Spider-Man wouldn't be a problem.

So the question is whether or not Marvel believes there would be money to be made.

[Zeitgeist]

That's a question of quality. And you've made it known you dislike the marriage. Personally, I think JMS is the high-water mark for the series . . . and that involved a married Pete and MJ.

I'm just going by what you said and applying it storytelling generally, nothing to do with what I like or don't. A lack of risk just doesn't breed great storytelling. Even a great writer playing it safe will rarely hit above "decent".

They're a business. They'll write what the believe will sell. And finding creative teams who want to write Ben Reilly as Spider-Man or married Spider-Man wouldn't be a problem.

So the question is whether or not Marvel believes there would be money to be made.

Making money isn't as simple as giving a vocal group of people exactly what they want. That's not even a guarantee. That circles back to being "safe".
Marvel made money with Doc-in-Spidey's body, they're making money with Spider-Gwen. Thematically, there's bigger fish to fry than returning to the well again IMO. For the marriage to be as much of a crucial element to the character as pro-marriage posters dearly want to believe, it has to be something of which without the book wouldn't sell.