Dan Slott To Remain Writer of Amazing Spider-Man Post-Empire And Through Legacy

[Miles To Go]

Dan, if you could clarify something...would it be right in assuming that Peter and MJ patched things up between them at Jay Jameson's funeral? Just trying to find context for what goes on in FCBD's Spectacular Spider-Man story.

[ishikabe]

I remember when I dropped Spider-Man it was "selling so good. the numbers, man shut up." Now Marvel is in a funk because everyone jumped ship. That event fatigue really did a number. And I guess the "appealing to a younger, all new, all different audience" didn't pan out the gold Disney was banking on.

Marvel has brought me back to buying Venom and now Ben Reilly. Usually I would only buy Amazing Spider-Man, so you got me there Marvel. Drop enough Spider-people lures in the water and we will bite eventually.

[GMiller]

I love Slott's work on Spidey.....He does a great job with the supporting cast, and he's made the book fun for me...

Also, i'm a sucker for his Silver Surfer...That book kills me every issue...Great job!!

[Mia]

Their current state of being the #1 publisher in the industry? That state?

And specifically to this thread - Dan's ASM has been a consistently strong seller. There's nothing lackluster about that.

I'd like to sincerely apologize for a consistent five year stretch on writing the highest selling super hero title for one of the biggest comic book companies in the world. I can't begin to tell you how ashamed I'm feeling right now.

Sales don’t mean quality. If it were then John Grisham wouldn’t make the NYT and Vin Diesel wouldn’t have a film career. And the Bachelor wouldn’t be on it’s 21st season on tv.

If the producers didn't want to keep him, this wouldn't be an issue. Craig is willing to move on, it's them that keep bringing him back.

I think that Craig has fulfilled his contractual obligations for Bond. He admitted (and quickly retracted the statement) that he never wanted to be Bond. Which I get since his preference is to do more cerebral and edgy art house type films. But the industry is what it is, and edgy and cererbral is not what a general US audience wants.

I think he should move on mostly because he's pushing 50 and I would rather him see go out on a high. But I suspect that he will do one more film because it will put enough money in his pocket so he won't have to worry about bills etc. He can do smaller projects (ie. made for cable series) or work on projects. One of the things that Craig has in his benefit is that he's not a good looking man, so it's not as noticeable when he's gotten older. He's not like some former pretty boy actors who just look haggard. Further another great thing about Craig and his version of Bond was that he was playing Bond as Mr. ex-special forces. Not an Oxbridge educated civil servant who was recruited by MI6.

[boots]

Sales don’t mean quality. If it were then John Grisham wouldn’t make the NYT and Vin Diesel wouldn’t have a film career. And the Bachelor wouldn’t be on it’s 21st season on tv.

*sigh* well, at least it wasn't bay's transformers movies this time...

[WebLurker]

*sigh* well, at least it wasn't bay's transformers movies this time...

There's something to be said about the classics, though.

[boots]

There's something to be said about the classics, though.

ha, true. we'll be nostalgic about the days when the bayformer analogy was the go to for the cbr kids soon enough. good times good times

[Darthfury78]

I remember when I dropped Spider-Man it was "selling so good. the numbers, man shut up." Now Marvel is in a funk because everyone jumped ship. That event fatigue really did a number. And I guess the "appealing to a younger, all new, all different audience" didn't pan out the gold Disney was banking on.

Marvel has brought me back to buying Venom and now Ben Reilly. Usually I would only buy Amazing Spider-Man, so you got me there Marvel. Drop enough Spider-people lures in the water and we will bite eventually.

Marvel should have kept Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter as Peter's allies instead of creating Silk and Spider-Gwen....

[Magneto]

Let's be honest, Spider-Man sales will always be in the top. It doesn't matter who the writer is.

[MetalWoman]

Let's be honest, Spider-Man sales will always be in the top. It doesn't matter who the writer is.

The sales numbers for Amazing Spider-man were pretty middle of the pack before JMS started writing in early 2000, then the numbers shot up.

[Magneto]

The sales numbers for Amazing Spider-man were pretty middle of the pack before JMS started writing in early 2000, then the numbers shot up.

The 90's effect. He was in the top for every other period.

[Prof. Warren]

Let's be honest, Spider-Man sales will always be in the top. It doesn't matter who the writer is.

Absolutely not true. Other Marvel books have vaulted past Spidey at various times and led the company.

But imagining if that were true and the writer didn't matter, that only gives Marvel ZERO incentive to switch out Dan for anybody else.

According to the "it doesn't matter who the writer is" logic, another writer wouldn't make any difference on the numbers anyhow. So why boot out a popular writer who's happy right where he is?

[Pav]

Scarlet Spider is an odd one. The creative team is great, but I'm not really sure who it's for. It's like they're playing the nostalgia angle by having Mark Bagley on board and suddenly bringing back the original costume for all the promotional material, but do old Ben Reilly fans really want to see him as a villain/anti-hero? It's strange.

It doesn't strike me as that strange. It seems like PAD and/or whoever else is in charge of the decision making wanted the new Scarlet status quo to resemble "Lost Years," so Ben once again has to examine who he is as a person) after being tortured and becoming the Jackal) and Kaine is once again hunting him down and hating his guts. There are obvious differences though - like, both have degeneration issues; and Ben now knows for certain he isn't the actual Spider-Man - and it's those differences which I find interesting. It doesn't bother me that Ben doesn't have the same exact code of ethics or personality that he once did because it makes sense within the context of the story. The truth is that I still clearly see the same guy I read about twenty years ago, who believes that life is in the living.

Now Ben actually returns and gets his own book but the character is so damaged and fundamentally different that it may as well be a whole new character. I can't quite figure out Marvel's mindset most of the time.....

Again, I just don't see it this way. He's damaged, yes. He's changed because of what's happened to him, and of course he would be! Who wouldn't be different after the ordeal that he's had to go through? So I don't think he may as well be a whole new character, because the pain that Ben experienced at the hands of the Jackal - not to mention the fact that he truly knows he isn't the real Peter Parker - only matters because of his past; only matters because he is Ben Reilly, and he was a good man who is now damaged and is trying to find himself again.

And the thing is, Spider-Verse made it very, very easy to bring back a version of Ben that we were always used to, and they opted to kill him off.

That version of Ben is boring. Yes, it made me - and probably all Ben fans - happy: we got to see what might've happened if things had continued to go right for Ben. The "Perfect Ben" version hits my nostalgia button like no other, but ultimately: no conflict = no story. I'm glad we have a damaged Ben Reilly who needs to rediscover who he is, and who, for the first time, has no deep desire to become Peter Parker again. Instead, we're seeing who exactly Ben Reilly can become. And while I definitely miss the bond of brotherhood that existed before between Peter and Ben, I'm satisfied with the status quo as it is. That relationship can always be built again, and I'll be happy if and when the story leads that way. But who knows where Ben's future lies? Unlike his alternate and perfect counterpart, our real Ben Reilly has a future full of uncertainty ahead of him!

I'm excited about where PAD will lead the one, true Scarlet Spider!

-Pav, who half-seriously declares himself the #1 Ben Reilly fan in the world...

[Miles To Go]

Instead, we're seeing who exactly Ben Reilly can become.

If all this Ben is capable of becoming is a schizo diet coke post-Lost Days Kaine with a fraction of the ol' Parker responsibility, that's not a Ben I want to get behind.

Too much cynicism and mean-spiritedness in Spider-Man these days is pretty boring to read as it is. Hence why I enjoy the more boundless hope and fun in the likes of the daily comic strip and Renew Your Vows [the former has virtually no big inner character conflict and I've never found it boring]

[Magneto]

Absolutely not true. Other Marvel books have vaulted past Spidey at various times and led the company.

But imagining if that were true and the writer didn't matter, that only gives Marvel ZERO incentive to switch out Dan for anybody else.

According to the "it doesn't matter who the writer is" logic, another writer wouldn't make any difference on the numbers anyhow. So why boot out a popular writer who's happy right where he is?

Beside the X-Men, I don't remember any title ahead of Spider-Man in selling numbers, since 2000.