Comics The Build to ASM #700

[runawayboulder]

There's a lot of double shipping going many books, not just ASM. The constant relaunch/revert to original numbers irks the hell out of me too.

 

[ParkerPeters]

It's simple. Kill the Spider-Man.


Let me elaborate. I just finished reading the sixth Ends of the Earth ASM Issue, and even though I loved it, it didn't feel like Spider-Man. The Spider-Man in comics today is not the Spidey he used to be. He is so high tech and "Starked Out" it is ridiculous. Kill Spidey, rip it off like a bandage, and reboot the series.

 

[CConn]

Yes, but as of yet none have crossed a major milestone like #700.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

It's simple. Kill the Spider-Man.

If you want a milestone issue that's lazy, short-sighted and cheap, sure, kill Spider-Man.

Spider-Man doesn't need to be rebooted. He just needs better writers and a more mature direction.

 

[CConn]

Spider-Man does kinda need the whole BND thing retconned though.

I'm not usually a stickler for those kinda things, but Spider-Man really hasn't felt like Spider-Man to me ever since.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

What? No love for Nick Hammond?

was there EVER any?...

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

this so-called "internet-shaking" event won't even cause a ripple or a dent in Spider-Man mythology and history...

what a f**king joke... sidekick, my ass...

if THIS is all that's left of whatever creative juices that's been already drying up in the minds of the "creative" forces behind Spidey THESE days, then Spidey truly is in dire straits and has utterly hit rock bottom...

creativity?... bull S**T!...

what an ASSWIPE of an event...

Spidey deserves FAR better than THIS... and an even BETTER creative team...

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

and you know, the more I think about it, I wouldn't put it past these dimbulbs in charge to come out with a new companion title, "The Amazing Spider-Man and Alpha" or some such nonsense...

or instead, an even WORSE idea... to rename Amazing starting at #701 with the above title and to make matters even worse than it ALREADY is by renumbering it with a #1...

f**king idiots...

yeah, "ground-breaking" event...

the only way this all would be ground-breaking is if someone passed some shovels out to some of the more wiser fans out there to just bury this whole idea of a sidekick along with the people responsible for it where it all truly belongs... with the rest of the crap that you find in a landfill...

 

[Themanofbat]

Are you even reading the book?

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

Are you even reading the book?

to my utter disappointment and disgust...

 

[Themanofbat]

Well, if you feel THAT strongly against it, I would simply suggest that you stop... nobody should be THIS angry at their comics...

 

[Themanofbat]

And for the record, I'm in the same boat... a reboot of the Marvel U, or even of just Spider-Man... will probably be enough to make me stop collecting after nearly 35 years of doing so... at least, the big 2...

I still have interest with some Indy comics...

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

I've got you beat in the Spidey collecting... been on the bandwagon since 1964 and I haven't been really pleased with the book for at least the last 20 years, but I still kept on reading...

it had it's ups and downs and I would keep on DESPITE...

but as of the last 3-5 years or so, it's been having it's downs and even FURTHER downs in storylines and especially in the horrendous art department...

it's just been such a downhill slide that I'm almost to the point where with all the stories and plots I've been reading, it wouldn't break my heart in the least to see the title end and put it out of it's misery, which of course will never happen... but that's a pretty drastic statement and wish coming from someone like me who's been there since almost the very beginning, to see the book just end...

I just hate it to see the character of Spidey subjected to writers who have absolutely no idea what Spidey and his character is really about... I'm just tired of it all being so disappointing...

and YES, seeing how it's been and what's been done, I AM that angry at the way a character that I grew up with has fallen so dramatically in quality...

and it's all such a damn shame that a once-great character has really lost his greatness with no chance to recover it in the near foreseeable future...

ASM #700 sure won't be where it'll start...

 

[CConn]

It's not so much the anger that confuses me, it's the fact that you're making so many assumptions that might not even happen just to piss yourself off even more.

Could they give Spider-Man a new #1? Sure, they've done it before. But to start getting angry over it before its even happened is kinda foolish.

There's plenty of things that have already happened that you can steam over.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

It's not so much the anger that confuses me, it's the fact that you're making so many assumptions that might not even happen just to piss yourself off even more.

Could they give Spider-Man a new #1? Sure, they've done it before. But to start getting angry over it before its even happened is kinda foolish.

There's plenty of things that have already happened that you can steam over.

it's the lack of creativity and originality on the part of one "creative" team after another that leads me to make assumptions like the ones I've made above in my earlier post...

it's not what MAY happen that pisses me off, it's what BEEN happening over the last few years that pisses me off...

I've just gotten to the point where after such a bad track record that this book has had, iMho, I've just come to EXPECT the worst ideas, along with all the inane storylines that they keep coming up with...

and it's a shame, because where the title and the character of Spidey is concerned, and after all the years that I've been reading the title, I've come to expect the very BEST from Marvel...

and I really don't think we're getting it... and we HAVEN'T in a LONG time...

iMho...

 

[Themanofbat]

I get what you're trying to say, but by that rationale, the last good writet ASM had was Roger Stern... and I agree that the stories have been pretty rough since then... barring a few gems here and there... The JMS era was sub par in my opinion... BND was a breath of fresh air in spite of bad arcs here and there... And Dan Slott has been doing an excellent job... in my opinion

Spider-Man's stories certainly aren't what they used to be... but they never will... will they?

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

I guess the title has never really been the same for ME, since the clone mess years ago, the much-hoped for Byrne years that turned into Byrne's first real disaster on a character, all the way to Civil War, OMD, BND and everything since then till now...

I've found a great majority of the stories pretty lacking and the art just absolutely hideous to take and look at...

for ME, if the art isn't to my liking and doesn't attract me, it just won't help the story, no matter how good it is... the look of bad art will just detract and take away from the story...

no matter how much you dress up a story with the art, if the art don't make it, the story won't work either... for ME, anyways...

and no, the stories never WILL be the same again... thank god, for Omnis and Masterworks...

they say you can't go home again, but with those types of books, you CAN...

I'll take the older stuffs ANY day over the newer same old same old that they just keep cranking out ad nauseum...

 

[CConn]

I will say, I think the lack of multiple titles is hurting Spider-Man as well.

When I look at Batman's line of books, and see literally 4-5 titles (most of which are awesome), all dealing with various interpretations and themes surrounding Batman, it's pretty incredible.

With Spider-Man, if you don't like Slott, or Ramos, or the whole BND thing...that's it. There's really no alternative or option.

 

[Themanofbat]

I've never liked the multiple books... hate it... almost impossible to fit them in a timeline... which is partially why I've been digging the book much better since BND...

And I think an artist's ability to tell a story is severely lacking these days... when I think of Ross Andru, and Keith Pollard... those guys drew excellent runs in ASM, and along with the writing... it just captured my heart and soul... though I was about 8 to 12 years old during those days, so I'm probably looking at those stories with VERY rose coloured glasses...

... hence my "they will never be as good" comment a few posts back...

 

[CConn]

That's a dumb reason to not like multiple books.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

now you take X-Men multiple titles...

now THAT'S just ridiculousness in every sense of the word...

talk about overkill on Marvel's part and utter despisal on mine...

 

[Themanofbat]

That's a dumb reason to not like multiple books.

Well, throughout the years, I bought all the books... some of them I enjoyed... others, not so much... but when they decided to 3xASM monthly, it just made things more "flowing"... in spite of some bad arcs/stories (yeah... I'm looking at you Bob Gale )

And I know it's a turn off yo many Bat-Fans out there...

In the end, regardless of what Marvel puts out 616-Spider-Man-wise, I'm probably going to buy it...

 

[CConn]

I will say this... I guess Spider-Man does have less facades than Batman does. I mean, you have solo Batman, Batman and Robin Batman, grimdark Batman, realistic Batman, etc.

Spider-Man's a bit more singular in his interpretations.

For me, the last Spider-Man runs I really thoroughly enjoyed were PAD's FNSM and Robert SA's Sensational.

 

[Spider-Gnome]

I've got you beat in the Spidey collecting... been on the bandwagon since 1964 and I haven't been really pleased with the book for at least the last 20 years, but I still kept on reading...

it had it's ups and downs and I would keep on DESPITE...

but as of the last 3-5 years or so, it's been having it's downs and even FURTHER downs in storylines and especially in the horrendous art department...

it's just been such a downhill slide that I'm almost to the point where with all the stories and plots I've been reading, it wouldn't break my heart in the least to see the title end and put it out of it's misery, which of course will never happen... but that's a pretty drastic statement and wish coming from someone like me who's been there since almost the very beginning, to see the book just end...

I just hate it to see the character of Spidey subjected to writers who have absolutely no idea what Spidey and his character is really about... I'm just tired of it all being so disappointing...

and YES, seeing how it's been and what's been done, I AM that angry at the way a character that I grew up with has fallen so dramatically in quality...

and it's all such a damn shame that a once-great character has really lost his greatness with no chance to recover it in the near foreseeable future...

ASM #700 sure won't be where it'll start...

Boy! And you thought I was old and cranky!

Yes, you have a 9 year jump ahead of me in the Spidey collecting department. And I understand what you say in other posts about it not being the same since the clone mess. For me, it started just before, with the return of Pete's "robo-parents" that led to the "I Am The Spider/Peter No More stuff.

And yes, there has been many "downs" since then. For me personally, the whole OMD/BND was the absolute bottom.

And I agree there have been a lot of bad writers and bad artists. But, I have to disagree about recent issues. I think Dan Slott has done a great job with both the character and stories. Pete is back to being intelligent and clever. He's lost that loser slacker quality slapped on him since BND. Things are even look promising with MJ. And the stories and plots have been well set up and show a great knowledge of continuity.

And I have loved the art lately. And yes, that includes the highly stylized art of Humberto Ramos. And I don't mean any disrespect for previous artists (I love Ross Andru, just check out my avatar!).

And if this new "sidekick" is the internet splitting thing, well, I might not like the idea, but it's hardly a OMD Part II. I'm just thankful it's not.

 

[runawayboulder]

I get what you're trying to say, but by that rationale, the last good writet ASM had was Roger Stern... and I agree that the stories have been pretty rough since then... barring a few gems here and there... The JMS era was sub par in my opinion... BND was a breath of fresh air in spite of bad arcs here and there... And Dan Slott has been doing an excellent job... in my opinion

Spider-Man's stories certainly aren't what they used to be... but they never will... will they?

I thought David Michelinie did a pretty exceptional job with ASM for 3-4 year span.