I dont know how you came to the conclusion that ASM has a problem continuing to attract the younger audience these days, if this is the case however, I dont think Marvel particularly cares.
ASM sales figures are consistently high plus the arcs these days tend to be more focused on the life/death repercussions of PP/SM recent decisions, so Marvel probably dont care if there is not a significant percentage of the sales coming from the teen market.
Point is- ASM is selling well and possibly the current storylines are not aimed specifically at teens.
USM is designed for the teens and is filling that role.
Well, when a comic book title that is considered a best-seller , on average, selling in the tens of thousands of copies when, years ago, a best-selling comic would sell for hundreds of thousands or even millions of copies, I'd say there were some readers lost along the way. And of course, Sensational Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man have actually declined in sales, although I'm sure some of that has to do with Amazing Spider-Man being far more heavily promoted and recognizable than those two titles. And I do think Marvel does try to get more younger readers since having lots of folks read their comics is what their goal is. You mentioned Ultimate Spider-Man, and that was a line originally conviced of as a title for "kids" and folks just getting into Spidey because it wouldn't have all the continuity hang-ups. Later on, the same strategy was applied to the "Marvel Age" line and then the "Marvel Adventures" line, which are geared towards pre-adolescent kids. Then of course you've got the merchandising, movies, and video games--all of which, ideally, are supposed to help generate interest in the comic.
Well apart from his clearly definable attributes in terms of his characteristics, Spidey appeals to many readers for a variety of reasons. I my perspective is that he probably lingered in college too long.
The character needed to progress, needed a writer who was not scared to evolve PP/SM beyond what Lee&Ditko created. Marv Wolfman was the guy who did that. He took Spider-man to the next level and the series was all the better for it, it gave ASM a realistic importance back that it had been lacking for a few years. Seriously it would be dumb if he stayed in college forever, none of us would be able to relate to him now or ten years from now.
Why I would certainly agree that if one doesn't shake up the status quo once in awhile, things do tend to get stale, eventually, there needs to be ways of maintaining it (i.e. the illusion of change). Also, having the character age along with the reader, while certainly making him relatable to the aging reader, risks distancing any younger reader coming in. Heck, reading the letters pages of the older Spider-Man comics from when Stan Lee was still writing the title, it was a complaint back then that Peter was aging too fast.
My last point stands. In contrast to your ideal scenario of having PP remain a youth forever, one of my favourite things about ol webhead is that he did age. Exactly how much more this will happen is questionable, but thats another story. It gives the series a greater resonance and realism if it is a journey through someones life instead of a dumb cartoon scenario were no one ages (Simpsons?).
Also PP/SM is still unappreciated/ misunderstood- hes on the run from the authorities right now!
I'm saying that its far better for a character to mature in experience rather than physically mature, which of course Peter Parker has done. Plus its not like cartoons and comic strips loose their popularity if the characters don't age. "Peanuts," of course had Charlie Brown and the gang stay roughly in the same grade for decades, and is one of the most successful and culturally definable strips ever made. Simpsons has been a continual success for 20 years and STILL going strong. Characters aging is not all that important; characters learning from past experiences is, although that does involve aging.
But the point is we saw that evolution in the comics, and now Peter IS an adult.
Staying in the same status quo, age wise forever would have been dumb. I would not say his problems now are the same as when he was a youth, they are more an evolution of his decisions as Spider-man.
This takes us up to current ASM, which I think is pretty stupid because he would not be where he is now, its JMS fault and his crap writing.
Other problems he still encounters which I think are correctly written is the money problems he has from time to time. Since this is something we can all relate to. Well, I say that but how much exactly has MJ made during her various high profile careers?
You would think they would have enough money now to have a pretty nice nest. Well anyway, that is probably something we can all relate to no matter where we are in life.
Certainly the money troubles have been a constant theme, and its something anyone of any age can relate to (good point). But the idea of Peter having to take on adult responsibilities--mainly maintaining a job to earn enough money to take care of his aunt--while he's still a teenager who still wants to date girls AND on top of that has to be a crime-fighter, takes on a little more resonance when he's a teen, especially when it comes to themes of personal responsibility vs. pursuing ones desires. I'm not saying it can't and doesn't work for Spidey today as an adult (heck, he still has to be the breadwinner of the family even to this day) but rather his being a teenager/college student gets the point across a little easier.
BTW, I agree that crap writing has done far more damage than whether or not Peter is 16 or 26.
Well, that angle of the old David and Goliath scenario does probably work better in the context of kid in a costume being mistaken as an adult,- but theres so much MORE to Spider-Man than that.
What about how in those days Spidey was basically mocking his enemies in battle because he was nervous of screwing up, and how these days he has evolved into a highly trained and confident super powered professional, able to deal w/ way more dangerous and delicate situations than when he was 16.
What about the story of Peters personal life, and the storys of the supporting casts lives?
what happened to Harry, Betty and Flash and co. Thats the stuff that I think makes Spider-man comics absorbing and unique. The MU is like a real world were times passes. By contrast Batman is 29 forever- how boring.
All good points. One of the problems I have with the Unmasking was that, although it brings back the supporting cast to get their reactions, it actually limits Peter interaction with them (although Peter David seems to be the only one of the Spider-Man writers who seems to realize their lives and little subplots actually matter). As for Batman, you can get away with him being 29, 35, or even 40 forever because, since he was an adult superhero to begin with, it wasn't all that important that he aged but rather he was someone older than you. Robin, however, since he WAS a kid and supposed to represent the "kids" who read about Batman HAD to be a kid for the dynamic duo to work. Hence why DC has, at last count, had four different versions of Robin. Or five if you count Carrie Kelley from Dark Knight Returns. Spider-Man, on the other hand, was created as a teenager but was also someone you couldn't exactly pass the mantle on to (as the Clone Saga pretty much proved), so aging him has been more problematic, meaning he has to stay as close to the average reader as possible.
Fair enough.
I think he is great to read when he was a teen and also now, but I am glad he has aged.
I dont think its the case that he is better as a youth or adult, although we both have a different perspective on his aging, what is most important is the person who the writer is.
Look at DeMatties and Stern- those guys have written arcs that are easily as good as Stan Lees stuff, yet they focused on Spidey in a different stage of his life. In fact a big part of what made them so good was that they knew how to write PP/SM as good as an adult as Stan wrote Spidey as a kid.
Well, I agree who he is as a character how that character is portrayed is the most important thing. I'm just saying that, as a character, Spider-Man is a little better when he is a kid moreso than he does as an adult; after all, nearly every other intro to Spider-Man from the movies, to cartoons, and even comics like Ultimate Spider-Man all start him off in high school or college (although the live action series from the 70s didn't, but that sucked on numerous other levels that had nothing to do with Peter being in grad school instead of high school). Still, you're correct in saying that some of those stories where he is an adult are not bad and it certainly would be a huge mistake to somehow "reverse his aging," especially in such artificial ways as Marvel has tried to do in the past.
What about adult power fantasy? It still does it for me. I can still imagine what it would be like to be PP, its just now since he is an adult we can also have others layers to the central characters life that did not exist when he was a teen. That is of course when he is in the hands of a good writer.
Which he is not right now.
True, but of course the misunderstood and underappreciated teenager who secretly has superpowers I would argue has broader appeal than the misunderstood and underappreciated adult because you have the kid factor involved, although certainly both have enormous appeal. And yes, JMS leaving the title is long overdue since he's been steadily loosing gas on ASM for the past three years.
