You fail to understand that the faithful do not give a sh1t about ASM sales figures. The only thing that is important to us is the validity of the comicbook in our hands verses the past 40+ years of Spidey storytelling.
Marvel's financial resources are vast following the immense success of the Spider-Man films. This is not 1998- Marvel are no longer on the verge of bankruptcy. In other words- ASM is in no danger of ever being canceled.
The current EIC seems to think the only way to keep sales figures up these days is to keep churning out the crappy shock arcs, but who is to say the figures would not be just as high if not better if they instead actually knew how to write Spider-Man?
Fact is the fans care about other readers opinions, as do many creators, so you are wrong again. I don't 'b1tch' or 'moan' as you say. I do however concisely articulate my thoughts on the direction of the status quo and my feelings on each title from issue to issue.
I think this is a little naive. Marvel Entertainment is a publicly traded company. It is not an independent coffee shop where they can put up interesting paintings and play fringe music. They are Starbucks. They are answering to shareholders and a board of directors. And not a single one of them cares,
at all, about the integrity of any of their characters. Hell, if they thought they could pimp out Humbug to the makers of Raid, they would. They care about money, money, and more money. Considering EICs have to contend with that pressure, I'm surprised that they're able to churn out any good stories at all. Rumor has it that the kiddies in Sins Past were actually supposed to be Gwen's and Pete's, but they changed it at the last minute. To maintain Pete's "innocence." If that's true, I guarantee that the Board of Directors dropped the hammer on JQ and told him (not asked him) to change it. Because they've got Spider-Man slippers to sell.
As for how interesting MJ has been in the past: the one example you gave me was of MJ fighting demons. How exactly is that different than being Jackpot? That she wasn't wearing a costume? Supporting characters can be interesting without ever throwing a punch. Spidey-titles have been chock full of them throughout it's history: Aunt May, MJ, Gwen, Harry, JJJ, Betty, Ned, Deb, Glory, Robbie, Randy, Mrs. Muggins, and the list goes on and on. All of them contribute to the story, but they don't even have to be part of the action. Personally, I think the biggest mistake they make with MJ is giving in to the temptation of putting her in the middle of the action. I don't want to read The Amazing Spider-Man and MJ (I know some of you do.) I want to see her have a life, and have it complicate Pete's life. That's it.
The truth is, like a lot of couples in "real life", I don't feel any chemistry between them. And that is a funny thing to say about fictional characters. Because a writer should be able to write chemistry. But there are very few issues that I can point to where I've felt that (and most of them, as I've stated before, are recently or pre-marriage. The one annual where he swings in and saves her from the coffee shop is one) David Michelinie did write a decent couple, but even that was a looong time ago (and to be fair, still in the honeymoon phase)
In the end, I don't think this marriage is any more dead than Captain America is (or Superman was). I think they just want to put a big obstacle in Pete's path, and make the fans clamor for MJs return. And I'm alright with that. Obstacles are gooood.
