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

[blackspidey2099]

my 2 cents on this tired argument thats been going on since BND.

-People like to point to ASM's lower sales numbers and say, "See! See! They're failing! What they've done on this book is failing! Now bring back the marriage!" This is the one sticking point of the last 10 years of Spider-Man comics, and any boost in sales is handwaved away by "gimmick/anniversary/variant covers/events/some other excuse". Meanwhile, it looks at ASM in a vacuum and ignores the larger context of all the damn Marvel books performing even worse. If ASM is failing, then just about every comic Marvel publishes is also failing. And Im not even against that argument, as its very clear Marvel is in a commercial rut right now, to the point they need to orchestrate retailer meetings and tell them they're gonna fix things. But this is more a "People are disenchanted with Marvel's current product at $4 a pop" then "People are disenchanted with Amazing Spider-Man because Dan Slott/No marriage"

-The sad truth is that I dont think there's anybody better at Marvel to write Spider-Man right now. Waid goes faaaaaar too much into the "Peter Parker is a giant fuckin' LOSER" and he writes corny old man jokes. Kelly is too "edgy", breaking Spider-Man morals and worldviews on a whim and the tone is all wrong for the character. Zdarksky's already writing the book. Fraction/Samnee would be The Dream, but one doesnt work for the company any more and the other has another project on the way. So basically we're stuck with Dan, who is currently in his past his prime modern Simpsons era, but is still the most knowledgeable, comfortable writer for ASM Marvel currently employs.

I completely agree about Waid - people think Slott makes Oeter look too incompetent, but Waid is a hundred time worse. I would have preferred Kelly or Jason Aaron writing Spectacular over Zdarsky, since I have a big hunch that Spectacular is going to be more of the incompetent Peter Parker, and Zdarsky's interviews and solicitations don't seem to alleviate that concern. I'd be surprised if it's even an iota better than Slott. I think Kelly and Aaron are two writers who have shown that they do write Spider-Man well, and do a fine balancing act between making him a competent badass while also being a humorous and light hearted character. I think the darker Peter from SM/DP was well developed (I mean, the dude got killed, resurrected from hell, nearly killed again by Itsy Bitsy, and now Itsy Bitsy is killing in his name) and justified, so I don't share your concerns in that regard.

[Kevinroc]

It's also new and an AU, both of which tend to mean lower sales than something that's mainstream, like ASM. (For what it's worth, RYV seems to be getting more consistently positive reviews than ASM, so make of that what you will.)

I'm enjoying RYV. And I know AUs are a hard sell. The fact that it has done as well as it has is quite impressive.

[WebLurker]

I'm enjoying RYV. And I know AUs are a hard sell. The fact that it has done as well as it has is quite impressive.

Yeah, it seems to be stable for the time being. Some AU, like Ultimate, develop enough of a fanbase to stay around long-term. It would be nice if this's one of those and not like the Spidey series that got canceled a year after it came out (I do like that series, mind you, it just didn't last that long).

[Timmyb52]

See when you say stuff like this its hard not to read your response as you saying it as a fact: "So many try to say that the sales of Amazing are fine without realizing that the title could be making even more every month if Marvel/Slott would just address this crap called OMD and how it keeps Peter a perpetual loser to a demon as long as that deal remains in continuity.This would go a long ways in reunifying the fanbase and increasing sales and readership back to Amazing.Being happy and content with just 60 percent when they could be generating 100 percent if they just made a couple of tweeks and fixed some things seems like real bad business sense to me."

That does not sound like you giving your opinion but stating it as a fact. Stating stuff like that as if sales are only 60 percent of what they could be without making it clear thats just your view and without backing it up with any kinds of evidence reads as if you are stating a fact when that it certaintly not the case here.

I can see where their can be confusion in some of my statements by my writing style...I apologize for that and will make a concerted effort to state more clearly what I regard as fact and what is just my opinion.

[Johnatellodi]

Hey Dan,

Someone just joined thetechnodrome.com forums under the name "Dan slott", once some discussion over your work on tmnt popped up over there.
Just wondering if it's you. We'd love to have you there.

Also, any interest in ever working on tmnt again? I would love that.

[Dan Slott]

Hey Dan,

Someone just joined thetechnodrome.com forums under the name "Dan slott", once some discussion over your work on tmnt popped up over there.
Just wondering if it's you. We'd love to have you there.

Also, any interest in ever working on tmnt again? I would love that.

That's me. Just wanted to answer some questions that people over there were having. (But you're forum won't let me post.)

[Lee]

I'm enjoying RYV. And I know AUs are a hard sell. The fact that it has done as well as it has is quite impressive.

Renew Your Vows is performing well. I think we can all agree on that.

But in the fantasy world where Amazing Spider-Man is in trouble due to low sales, I would be very worried about Renew Your Vows.

[oldschool]

Renew Your Vows is performing well. I think we can all agree on that.

But in the fantasy world where Amazing Spider-Man is in trouble due to low sales, I would be very worried about Renew Your Vows.

haha; yes, RYV is, I think, doing just fine for an AU title. And ASM is of course not underperforming by any reasonable and impartial metric. It will be interesting to see how the new Spectacular and Ben Reilly books are doing by year-end.

[Miles To Go]

I'm not worried about Renew Your Vows for now, it had a big dip at one point but recovered the next month. The structure of that Mole Man arc really hurt early momentum in retrospect, but if it can find a nifty balance of shorter stories and done-in-ones it should still serve it's niche well.

[oldschool]

I'm not worried about Renew Your Vows for now, it had a big dip at one point but recovered the next month. The structure of that Mole Man arc really hurt early momentum in retrospect, but if it can find a nifty balance of shorter stories and done-in-ones it should still serve it's niche well.

Yeah, I agree; I also think Marvel will give a longer leash to RYV sales-wise than other titles as it scratches a pretty particular itch for the fanbase as opposed to, say, yet another YA spider-title.

[Lee]

haha; yes, RYV is, I think, doing just fine for an AU title. And ASM is of course not underperforming by any reasonable and impartial metric. It will be interesting to see how the new Spectacular and Ben Reilly books are doing by year-end.

Yeah, it's been a long time since there's been a proper "second Spider-Man" comic. There have been team-up books and anthologies, but they carry a stigma of being "unimportant". Still, I hope that Amazing Spider-Man can continue to be read on its own. I'd hate for it to be like the '80s and '90s where if you only read Amazing Spider-Man you'd suddenly get a footnote saying "Harry Osborn died and it was a big deal and you missed it".

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.

[Miles To Go]

I'd hate for it to be like the '80s and '90s where if you only read Amazing Spider-Man you'd suddenly get a footnote saying "Harry Osborn died and it was a big deal and you missed it".

ROFL, and to make matters worse, they stuck his funeral in a completely different book as well

[oldschool]

Yeah, it's been a long time since there's been a proper "second Spider-Man" comic. There have been team-up books and anthologies, but they carry a stigma of being "unimportant". Still, I hope that Amazing Spider-Man can continue to be read on its own. I'd hate for it to be like the '80s and '90s where if you only read Amazing Spider-Man you'd suddenly get a footnote saying "Harry Osborn died and it was a big deal and you missed it".

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.

Great point on the new SS book; yeah, Ben fans have been clamoring for his return for years and, just a few years ago, they teased his "return" only to have Kaine star as a new Scarlet Spider and, while I enjoyed that book, it of course wasn't Ben. 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.....

[Miles To Go]

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.

[Johnatellodi]

That's me. Just wanted to answer some questions that people over there were having. (But you're forum won't let me post.)

Wow, awesome. We don't get too much excitement over there these days.

I've mentioned your predicament to the forum. Hopefully we can get it fixed before you lose interest, lol.
Either way, love your work on Archie tmnt. You should totally write for idw someday if interested.

Take care.