Is ASM leaving anyone else cold lately?

[Spidey5640]

Have to say it isn't grabbing me but I'm still going to hang with it. been through a lot worse in the past. Not saying this is bad, it isn't but I don't feel invested in Pete like I once did. I think a lot of that as pointed out in some posts is the lack of Pete's personal life and what there is of it, I don't feel much towards his current supporting cast. Pete is no longer the one superhero you could imagine yourself being and his friends are no longer the people you yourself grew up with.

[Beorg]

So I guess that says something about my take of the Spidey of 616 these days. Anyone else feel this way??

I gave in and checked them out. It's...ok. Certainly not as awful as Superior. Just a poor man's Batman Inc.

[Daniel22]

...all roads lead to the marriage. Kidding, I see what you mean. I think you have to give some things up in order to get other things, story-wise. With the marriage, you got growth, progression, among other things, while giving up the potential for new love interests, a young feeling Peter, etc. The new direction gains a competent Peter meeting his potential, no more "lovable loser", new story opportunities, etc, while giving up the smaller everyday things, the "everyman" feel, and so on. To me the gains far outweigh the losses in this case. Others clearly feel differently.

If I had to guess, this volume will run 25-30 issues. With that in mind, this arc felt very much like the first half of the first part of a three part production. Keep in mind, not only was a new Spidey status quo established, but a whole new Marvel universe was introduced. A lot of the arc was by necessity all about setting up the pins and introducing the players.

So, I think it's a little unfair to compare KLH to "Worldwide". It's just two entirely different situations with different sets of expectations. I think your point is that KLH took a new status quo and told a fantastic story with it, while you feel as though "Worldwide" did not? If that's the case, I can't comment; I haven't read KLH in a very long time. I don't remember how well, if at all, DeMattias used the marriage to enhance the story.

[John Ossie]

I really like it. I like progression and growth, so seeing those things on a large scale is really working for me. I like the new set of powers and responsibilities that come along with his new job. The supporting cast also is more interesting to me than it has been in a while. I would like to see some time for them to develop, in smaller character moments. Mr. Slott puts them in where he can, it seems, but the frenetic tone and huge scale (of the first arc at least) haven't allowed for many of those moments.

It seems like a pretty clear divide: those who have an image of Spidey in their mind, and dislike when the stories differ from that image, and those who aren't as against change or different types of stories. Basically, the people who would say "My Peter would never..." aren't going to be as into it. People who value dynamic depictions of their characters are liking it. Those who read for nostalgia may not loving it, but there aren't that many people out there who want to read the same story of the same person in the same setting forever. I admire Marvel for understanding that they couldn't continue to cater to the same couple tens of thousands of long-time, entrenched readers who are resistant to change.

I'm not one of those readers who ''resist change'' or any of those old stereotypes people like to use when someone doesn't like a direction that Spider-Man is going in nowadays. I don't even ''hate'' the new direction, it just kinda bores me at the moment and I kinda feel like I'm ready for a fresh writer to come on to the book. But that's just me.

[kurenai24]

No.

Spider-Man dropped his quality only when they replace him with pathetic characters like Ben Reilly, Miles Morales or Otto Octavius.

Peter is still here, he has not been replaced. People seem to be under the impression that the storyline Peter has now is the result of Miles in 616, when it's really, the storyline Miles has is a result of Peter's new direction. Don't blame the characters for the writers ideas.

[boots]

...all roads lead to the marriage. Kidding, I see what you mean. I think you have to give some things up in order to get other things, story-wise. With the marriage, you got growth, progression, among other things, while giving up the potential for new love interests, a young feeling Peter, etc. The new direction gains a competent Peter meeting his potential, no more "lovable loser", new story opportunities, etc, while giving up the smaller everyday things, the "everyman" feel, and so on. To me the gains far outweigh the losses in this case. Others clearly feel differently.

yeah, to be fair…it’s a huge shift and making the transition smooth on the page as well as in the minds of readers is extremely difficult.

[Scott Taylor]

I like the direction all right. Its like most of the Slott-penned issues I have enjoyed during his run. They are good.

But I do wonder if the end to Secret Wars might end up offering an explanation for everything we are seeing here. Peter has had a pretty big role in that story so far, being the first of the refugee heroes to discover Molecule Man. Maybe when the world gets remade he gets a shot to be successful as part of the bargain.

[Highland Chicken]

Peter is still here, he has not been replaced. People seem to be under the impression that the storyline Peter has now is the result of Miles in 616, when it's really, the storyline Miles has is a result of Peter's new direction. Don't blame the characters for the writers ideas.

It's chicken or the egg really, the latter or former being Slott and Bendis.

[stillanerd]

So, while I admire Slott for shaking things up yet again and steering Pete/Spidey into another new direction, it feels oddly unsatisfying to me. It's not that I find it bad in planning or execution; it just feels…..off. I thought the initial setup was interesting and I am not one of those griping that it feels like "Iron Man Light"; I want to like it and I think it's good that Slott is writing a more grown-up and ambitious Peter but it just isn't working for me. Maybe it's the lack of NYC which i would argue is the most important supporting cast member in the Spidey cast; maybe it's the way the pacing is breathless and slow all at the same time (jetting from country to country but without a whole lot really happening); maybe it's Zodiac which doesn't seem quite right to be a Big Bad; maybe it's Mockingbird and Nick Fury as ill-fitting co-stars. Maybe all of the above. I don't know; all i DO know is that I am finding the Santerians story just started in the "point" issues much more to my liking and I thought RYV was the best Spidey story of 2015. So I guess that says something about my take of the Spidey of 616 these days. Anyone else feel this way??

You know, you bring up a very excellent point, oldschool. I think all of us agree that the one the best things about Spider-Man is his supporting cast of characters. And in the current direction of Amazing Spider-Man, Peter has a plethora of them. He's got Harry Osborn in New York, Anna Maria (and Doc Ock) in London, the former Horizon Labsters in San Francisco, the new characters in Shanghai, Aunt Man and Jay Jameson in Africa, the folks at S.H.I.E.L.D.--just constantly jumping back-and-forth between them with no sense of stability whatsoever. And in all the supporting cast shuffle, the one supporting character getting lost, as you said, is New York City. It just goes to show just how important that city is in defining Spider-Man

I think a big problem I have with Vol. 4 is Vol. 3. Peter seemed not to care about Parker Industries in Vol. 3. It seemed like he started to care just before the end of Vol. 3 when it seemed like he was about to lose it. But by that point, I was just hoping it would go away. Not serve as the building block of the new run.

And part of reason, I think, why it's hard for readers to care about Parker Industries (other than what you've pointed out) is two-fold: 1. It's something Peter never earned or had a hand in creating; he "inherited" from Doc Ock, and Peter thus taking all the "credit" for what Ock did. 2. We still have no idea how Parker Industries became this huge international success worth billions after its headquarters was destroyed in Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #18, and 3. It's pretty clear that it's only a matter of time until Peter loses it all, anyway, since Amazing Spider-Man Vol.4 #5 suggests Peter has spread himself so thin, taken on too many responsibilities at once, and is so busy trying to "save the world" that he can't see that the real threats are happening within Parker Industries itself.

[Kurolegacy]

While I do find Peter's success interesting and love the new Spider-Armor (minus the web pits), the whole thing just feels off kilter from lacking a solid location. I mean, one second we're in Shanghai, then we're in London, then we're in Africa, it's all a little disorienting. Maybe in a side book, him tackling global threats could be interesting but in the main book, I feel it suffers from Spider-Man not keeping his feet on the ground more than 5 seconds since, when he's solo, urban is when he's at his best and this just feels...off.

[cyberhubbs]

You know, you bring up a very excellent point, oldschool. I think all of us agree that the one the best things about Spider-Man is his supporting cast of characters. And in the current direction of Amazing Spider-Man, Peter has a plethora of them. He's got Harry Osborn in New York, Anna Maria (and Doc Ock) in London, the former Horizon Labsters in San Francisco, the new characters in Shanghai, Aunt Man and Jay Jameson in Africa, the folks at S.H.I.E.L.D.--just constantly jumping back-and-forth between them with no sense of stability whatsoever. And in all the supporting cast shuffle, the one supporting character getting lost, as you said, is New York City. It just goes to show just how important that city is in defining Spider-Man



And part of reason, I think, why it's hard for readers to care about Parker Industries (other than what you've pointed out) is two-fold: 1. It's something Peter never earned or had a hand in creating; he "inherited" from Doc Ock, and Peter thus taking all the "credit" for what Ock did. 2. We still have no idea how Parker Industries became this huge international success worth billions after its headquarters was destroyed in Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #18, and 3. It's pretty clear that it's only a matter of time until Peter loses it all, anyway, since Amazing Spider-Man Vol.4 #5 suggests Peter has spread himself so thin, taken on too many responsibilities at once, and is so busy trying to "save the world" that he can't see that the real threats are happening within Parker Industries itself.

Otto built Parker Industries on Peter's accomplishments while working at Horizon Labs, so I certainly wouldn't say it's something Peter didn't earn. He got the initial money from people who trusted Peter, and who wanted to see him succeed.

For someone who makes a living nitpicking the comic I expected you to know those details.

[stillanerd]

Otto built Parker Industries on Peter's accomplishments while working at Horizon Labs, so I certainly wouldn't say it's something Peter didn't earn. He got the initial money from people who trusted Peter, and who wanted to see him succeed.

For someone who makes a living nitpicking the comic I expected you to know those details.

Oh, I'm not discounting the idea that none of that would've happened had Doc Ock not taken over Peter's body, or that he took advantage of Peter being an employee of Horizon Labs (Otto did steal a lot of equipment from Horizon even when it became Alchemax property at that point during Superior Spider-Man #17). And yes, even though is was able to get a business loan for Parker Industries because Otto took advantage of himself looking like Peter in order to do it, the implication was that only someone like Otto could have had the ambition to form his own company in the first place. And lets also not forget that the doctorate Peter has--the very one which gives him the credibility of being the CEO of Parker Industries to begin with--is also fraudulent since it was Doc Ock who really earned that degree (albeit again, by pretending to be Peter and using his previous academic record). You'd think something like that would weigh on Peter's conscience, given how prone to guilt he can be. Technically, if Doc Ock really wants to ruin Peter, all he has to do is say "Yeah, Peter Parker didn't create Parker Industries--I did. And I can prove it."

[Sardorim]

I like Peter growing and no longer being Aunt May's manchild.

[The Rhino]

I am very much in agreement with this post.

I liked the premise of this. I thought it would be fun and I don't mind a change up but this has not worked. Fury and Mockingbird are bad co-stars. The zodiac are terribly boring villains. The characterization of Peter/Spider-Man is terrible (him telling the museum staff to bill PI for the damage to the exhibits, for example.) The globe trotting is a bit much. I am fine with Peter being outside of NYC but being in a new place with each issue is a bit much.

I think Slott is at his best when he writes smaller stories. He tends to fall flat on big events (Ends of the Earth, Spider-Verse, etc).

[Huntsman Spider]

Oh, I'm not discounting the idea that none of that would've happened had Doc Ock not taken over Peter's body, or that he took advantage of Peter being an employee of Horizon Labs (Otto did steal a lot of equipment from Horizon even when it became Alchemax property at that point during Superior Spider-Man #17). And yes, even though is was able to get a business loan for Parker Industries because Otto took advantage of himself looking like Peter in order to do it, the implication was that only someone like Otto could have had the ambition to form his own company in the first place. And lets also not forget that the doctorate Peter has--the very one which gives him the credibility of being the CEO of Parker Industries to begin with--is also fraudulent since it was Doc Ock who really earned that degree (albeit again, by pretending to be Peter and using his previous academic record). You'd think something like that would weigh on Peter's conscience, given how prone to guilt he can be. Technically, if Doc Ock really wants to ruin Peter, all he has to do is say "Yeah, Peter Parker didn't create Parker Industries--I did. And I can prove it."

Considering that Otto is currently in Parker Industries' computer network via the Living Brain and has shown that he can extend himself through that network into wider networks to a certain extent, that would be very simple and easy to accomplish. More on topic, I'd say this direction has promise and potential and there are a lot of aspects I like about it, mainly that Peter's using the company as a means to help others throughout the world in line with Uncle Ben's and Aunt May's teachings and examples, but it needs some stability and grounding for people to really get invested in it. I mean, Phillip Chang is the only one in the new supporting cast I recognize, and that was from the 1970s/1980s Spider-Man comics when Peter was in grad school or something like that, so it'd be nice to see him and Peter interact more and shed some light on how much things have changed for them both since the last time they saw each other.

Oh, and the new love interest, Lian (or Lien, as it's being spelled now, I'm told) Tang? Beyond that she's the co-designer of the All-New, All-Different Spider-Mobile, may have been the one who taught Peter how to drive, and doesn't like Spider-Man referring to her so familiarly (not knowing for the moment that Spider-Man is Peter), I've seen, heard, and learned nothing majorly important or relevant (plot- or character-wise) about her since issue 1, though if we're lucky, the new arc starting with issue 6 might change that. Summarily speaking, as cool as everything is, we need some reason to care about everyone that Peter's surrounding himself with now in the first place, especially if they're new characters we're not already familiar with unlike longtime supporting cast members and allies like the Prowler and Phillip Chang, and even they could use some more fleshing out and exploration.