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Years ago this blog mentioned that some comic book superheroes are meant for war zones, and some are meant for city streets. Dan Slott’s writing proved that observation yet again in the fourth issue of The Amazing Spider-Man.
Imagine you’re in a crowd of people when bombs start falling all around you. Terrorists with high-powered rifles and explosives fly through the air on military-grade gliders. A friendly aircraft swoops in and you think you’re saved, but it turns out the “hero” only armed it with web shooters that must be fired perfectly at multiple targets to stop the carnage.
Predictably, the “hero” is shot down, but by the grace of God the aircraft does not careen into the crowd of people he was supposed to be saving.
That, my friends, is Dan Slott’s Spider-Man.
Now imagine that said “hero” pulls himself from the twisted wreckage of his multi-million-dollar airborne web-shooter to return to the fight. Outnumbered and armed only with his wits, his response is to ask if his bloated bank account might convince them to “switch sides” (Spider-Justice does not require them to be held liable for dropping bombs on innocent civilians moments earlier.)
When that doesn’t work, the hero is stumped. Luckily, a small child from a third-world country happens to be on hand to indirectly suggest he use surrounding technology (his own, no less) to create an electromagnetic device.
That, my friends, is Dan Slott’s Spider-Man.
The Amazing Spider-Man #4 is a great read …if you enjoy seeing a hero escape a daunting situation created solely because of his own ignorance.
The Amazing Spider-Man #4 is a great read … if you enjoy the hero written as less quick-witted than usual so that a more socially conscious message can take center stage: There are really smart children in third-world countries who could thrive if only we could find a way to give them “free” access to western technology.
To recap:
- A quixotic superhero needlessly risks the lives of the people he is supposed to save.
- The superhero attempts to pay off terrorists because he believes he can out-bid their current employer.
- A child tells the superhero the best course of action for saving the day.
Readers who have been following the story know that this comes as S.H.I.E.L.D. was planning to mount a world-wide assault on a terrorist network known as Zodiac. Peter, who was supposed to take part in the mission, bails when he realizes Aunt May and her fellow volunteers in the nation of Nadua are under attack at a charity event.
Who was behind the terror attack in Nadua? What consequences will there be for Peter Parker due to neglecting his commitments to S.H.I.E.L.D? Find out in two weeks if Dan Slott’s Spider-Man doesn’t get himself and those under his watch all killed.
Douglas Ernst Blog 
Still in top form with your comic book analyses, I see. It’s a joy to read your stuff again.
Welcome back. I was wondering how you were doing. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words. Who knew that a man could try to drop a bomb on Aunt May’s head one minute, and then get an offer to join the Parker Industries’ payroll the next — by none other than Peter Parker.
Ain’t that the truth. But that’s modern comics for you.
Yeah, I have been real busy, so I thought I’d drop by again. I have to say, though, that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has turned me into something of a Marvel fan, though I have zero interest in the actual comics due to both overcomplicated storylines and too much political preaching.
I’m looking forward to Captain America: Civil War, even though the comic storyline was a mess. The Russo brothers have a lot of good will stored up with me. I’m very happy with their efforts thus far.
If you don’t want political preaching from comic book writers, then you’ll definitely want to stay away from their Twitter feeds these days. Their finger-wagging and moral-pedestal pontificating is on steroids.
I’m looking forward to that movie as well; the MCU has pleased me so far.
And I hear you on those Twitter feeds. 🙂
Doug, I just started reading your blog due to Dan’s hack writing of Spider-Man. It seems Marvel is assassinating Peter’s character. You analysis of his writing is spot on.
Welcome aboard, Derek! I think you’ll find there are some friendly voices around here. I’ll be reviewing The Amazing Spider-Man for the foreseeable future. I review Invincible Iron Man as well.
Feel free to share you thoughts any time, whether we agree or not. I’m always interested in hearing what others have to say. Unlike Dan Slott, I don’t have a quick trigger finger when it comes to blocks and bans.
Thanks again for taking the time to read and comment.
Thanks Doug. It’s nice to be among some Spider-Man fans who feel the same way I do about the character of Peter. I tried to give this hack (as well as Marvel) a chance to redeem the comic but unfortunately they are more concerned about politicizing and making movies versus letting the character grow. I’ve been a fan since I joined the Air Force in 1986 (just retired in 2011) but I can no longer support this hack (Dan) who continues to write Spider-Man. By the way he (Dan) seems to be obsessed with you. Whenever I google his name yours appears as well.
Haha. I’ve been blogging on ASM for a few years now and there was a time where he was following me around the internet quite regularly. Every once-in-awhile he’ll take a shot at me on another comic book site, but for the most part I think he’s realized that it’s a losing proposition. He does read the blog though, usually around 1:00 a.m. 😉
Dan also likes to get really political in his Twitter feed, so I’ll sometimes cover that as well if someone gives me a heads up. There are a couple regular readers who are very good about letting me know when something has been said that’s worth a blog post.
Anyway, it’s nice to know another military vet may be stopping in to read the reviews! Thanks for your career in service. Like I said, I’m always happy to hear what you have to say, whether it’s on comics or anything else covered here each week.
I was particularly annoyed when Peter said he’d “stop the world” for Aunt May..in a perfect word, this would be your first clue to the notion Marvel are leading up to yet another OMD-type scenario where he’ll be faced with that choice and might have to do the right thing this time, seeing as all of reality paid the price for him accepting an easy way out the last time. Further fuelling this speculation is the “man in red” at the end of these issues who can ressurect loved ones for Spidey’s villians, any theories on him? My early suspects all begin with “M”. Mysterio, Miles Warren, and Mephisto
I had to fight the urge to reference that in the review and start talking about OMD, so thank you for bringing it up in the comments section, zariusii. 🙂
The man in the red suit kind of gives off a vibe like Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate, and his creations are drawn like soulless beings. (In the second panel where Connors’ wife and kid show up, they don’t even have pupils.) They also walk in with a “snap” of the fingers, and even though they technically arrived with the visitor it sort of alludes to a magical quality.
My guess is that it’s Mephisto.
With that said, I think if it were Miles Warren it would make more sense as it pertains to Doc Ock getting his body back. I think you could go either way. I don’t see this as a Mysterio tale, unless Mr. Slott is pulling some Mysterio-like misdirection. You never know.
Side note: I get a kick out of the guys on comicvine who sometimes criticize my reviews without ever actually taking on the points I’m bringing up. They either just make vague statements that essentially mean nothing, or they try to make it sound like a personal thing. It boils down to, “I don’t like what Ernst says because…well, ERNST!”
And they do it from far away in a “safe space” … just like Dan. Telling.
There’s no mention of the fact that Dan Slott mocks Christians in his twitter feed during a terror attack on their part…but yet my reviews are somehow out of line. Interesting.
Hmm… just from the panels posted, I thought Peter’s payment comment was just an attempt as his usual smart-alack humor. Is there more to it confirming that he is really being serious at it being a solution?
Now what I AM offended by is
1) So Spider-man is Batman now? Why then would I want to read spidey? Like I’ve said when talking about DCTV shows recently in their use of Iron Man copycats: If I want to see __ then I will go see the original __, I don’t want knock offs. So if I wanted to read Batman, I’LL GO READ BATMAN. I came here for SPIDER-MAN. So where the hell is Spider-man?
2) Seriously, I thought Spidey was supposed to still have all his experience with all those times fighting the Green Goblin, now a bunch of knock offs of Goby is giving him trouble? REALLY? If Spidey flew into battle with a magnet on the plane that took down everyone, ok THAT I could see, otherwise how is he not wiping the floor with the wannabes? Are they just supposed to be that numerous? How in the world can Dan call himself a spider-man fan when he keeps writing the comic like he’s never read or seen anything from Spider-man?
In the panel before this he says he’s going to use his “new superpower” (i.e., his vast sums of wealth)…and then busts out with that line. And he explicitly says, “Not joking.”
Individuals on other websites say criticizing this is evidence of me looking for something to gripe about. If a reader cannot see these very important glimpses into the character’s psyche as the betrayal of who he has always been at his core, then that is their problem.
Update: Stillanerd felt the same way.
“When Spider-Man attempts to buy off the War Goblins–the same mercenaries who mere pages ago threatened the life of his Aunt and dozens of innocent people, including children–well, you pretty much lost me, enough to make me seriously question whether Dan Slott, after almost a decade of writing dozens and dozens of Spider-Man stories, even remembers who he’s writing about any more.”
Well, reading stillanerd’s review, I’m not only backing you 100% now (in addition to my own nitpicks) but now find even MORE to hate about the issue. For example, stillanerd says:
“The village leader still blames Spider-Man and Parker Industries for making them a target, suggesting that if Spider-Man really wanted to help, his company should have supplied the village with weapons to protect themselves instead of clean, cheap energy.”
What apparently goes unsaid, which we’re sure Dan Slott means, is that the elder is wrong. The problem is… they’re right! Only what if it wasn’t some goblin mercs but (more likely) merely a neighboring village wanting that energy? It’s like the writers use “war-torn African nation” without ever grasping what exactly the words “war-torn” MEAN.
But then that might have meant having nuance, complexity and somebody other than a rich white guy as the villain. And we can’t have that in comics now can we? 😉
You lose massive cool points for not backing me 100% prior to reading Stillanerd’s review. 😉
“It’s like the writers use ‘war-torn African nation’ without ever grasping what exactly the words ‘war-torn’ MEAN.”
I laughed when I read that because it’s true, but there was a part deep inside that was crying. Heh.
Now Doug, I gotta have you back your points up or you’ll get sloppy. 😉 Just think of it as “anti-Slott training.” XD
I think of it more as “ability to expose sloppy writing” training, since his fans look for any opportunity to say I’m nothing more than “anti-Slott.” I was happy with much of Renew Your Vows, so it’s obvious that he has the ability to really zero in and tell a good tale. I think he’s better when he’s on a short leash. Some of the best video games of all time were inspired by technological constraints on the creators. It can work the same way with writers.
Exactly, so I’ll be leash to keep you doing the best you can. XD
Actually that’s just a general rule of creation I’ve learned over the years – art comes from adversity, if you have no adversity in creating your art, then you should make some for yourself to ensure its greatest potential. No restraint? No art.
Stillanerd’s latest review is up. Read the whole thing. It’s a very strong piece.
“I cannot shake the impression that the series, or at least the Web Head’s portrayal, is undergoing a kind of identity crisis. It doesn’t want to retread the same old ground of Peter Parker struggling when it comes to making money or earning a living, yet still wants readers to see him as “one of us” instead of the 1-percent. It wants to show that Spider-Man has grown into a competent professional, even while he still acts like a jackass who still needs others bailing him out. It wants to show us a Spider-Man who doesn’t tolerate threats made to innocent people, but who’s willing to toss principles aside if he thinks he can bribe the bad guys with his checkbook. It wants a Spider-Man who doesn’t kill and who uses “non-lethal” web-bullets, but who doesn’t have a problem hiring those who fire real guns with real bullets.”
Sometimes, when I hear the next announcement about what’s next for the Spider-Man comic books, I think of a quote from an old “Star Trek” novel called “The Romulan Way,” by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood. The novel, in part, describes a (now-highly outdated) version of Roman history. At one point, when a dictator successfully overthrows the government in a bloody coup, the last elder statesman warns the usurper: “The beginning is contaminated, and force will not avail you, or it.”
That’s honestly how I feel the comics have gone. The current iteration is built on the “One More Day” story, which absolutely betrayed everything the character stood before. That’s really tainted the following stories, whether simply by genuinely good stories being overshadowed by the knowledge of the rotting core that was needed to make them work, or the fact that the compromises rubbed off on the character to the extent where the decisions he makes don’t jibe with the “rules” set down by years of constant writing and characterization.
The fact that Slott’s writing seems mostly driven by creating “mini-events” and “wouldn’t it be cool?” ideas rather than coming up with something organic to the setting doesn’t help. Now, how much of the mess the character is now is Slott’s responsibility, and what is Marvel’s is unclear (I’ve gotten the impression that the official policy is that Spider-Man can’t be married regardless of what the writer’s think is best), but, despite his clear knowledge of the franchise’s history and trivia, Slott clearly doesn’t “get” Spider-Man; I’ll cite the current Batman/Iron Man-like Spider-Man as evidence. The main set-up of the character (excusing the responsibility theme), whether a teen or an adult, married or not, has always been that he’s a blue-collar superhero. Look at any iteration, that’s how it begins, that’s how it ends. If Marvel wanted to change that, they needed to do it a long time ago.
I did a little research. Black Widow started out as an Iron Man villain, Wolverine was created to an Incredible Hulk enemy, and Rogue was an Avenger’s villain. They shifted to hero status and their traditional franchises within a few years of their creation, when they were still plastic enough to be modified. Today, resetting them to their original versions wouldn’t work, since the changes have become too ingrained. Conversely, Spider-Man has spent decades in his everyman role. Changing him into an Iron Man ripoff might work short-term, but sooner or later, he will revert to his traditional self, because those traits all also become too ingrained in the character. Creating a Miles Morales comic that mimics the classic “Spider-Man” setup might delay it for awhile, but not forever.
While Miles does have his fanbase, he’s merely a well-received character in a (relatively) minor comic series. Peter Parker is arguably the third-most popular character in the American comics industry. I think Miles fans forget that he replaced a “what if?” version of Spider-Man (never mind that A. all fictional stories are what ifs, and that for a lot of people — myself included — Ultimate Peter is the “real” version). If they had pulled this stunt in 616, he wouldn’t have lasted more a few years. The point is, regardless of what people think of the current state of the Spider-Man franchise, the majority of fans, even some people who like the Iron Man copycat, prefer and want an outlet to read about Peter Parker being Spider-Man in the traditional setting of a blue collar superhero operating out of NYC. That’s what he was created to be, and that’s the only place where the character will work long-term.
On a more practical level, when stuff like this come up, Nick Fury’s line from “The Avengers” comes to mind: “I recognize that the council has made a decision, but given that it’s a stupid-[bleep] decision, I’ve elected to ignore it.” As a Spider-Man fan, that, to me, seems to be the only logical response to Marvel these days, in regards to the Spider-Man franchise.
I could not agree with you more. Since OMD the following stories have been tainted with Marvel, Slott, and Quesada refusing to accept OMD was a colossal mistake. It did betray everything the Peter stood for as a character. Slott and Quesada state a unmarried Peter makes for a better story. But I believe it makes for an easier story to write, hence it does not take that much effort (or talent for that matter). That being said is it just me or is Spider-Man having an identity crisis? Here’s Peter now a billionaire running a Fortune 500 company who just happens to be a superhero with all kinds of gadgets. If I did not know any better I’d swear he was Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. One billionaire superhero per comic universe is enough. DC has Batman and Marvel has Ironman, Dan Slott’s Spider-Man is not original. The reason why Spider-Man was so popular was because he was a Blue-collar hero. Here’s a teenager who had this mantle of superhero thrust upon him. He did not go looking for it and at first he embraced the wrong way trying to capitalize on it by for his own personal gain. It was through personal loss did he realize what he needed to do. That resonates with a lot of people. Unfortunately Slott and Marvel will never understand that. As long as Slott and Quesada are still at Marvel Spider-Man will continue to be tainted.
Your status as a “hater” has been permanently cemented with that comment. Mr. Slott has done an exhaustive search for comments made by “Dereks” on multiple comic book websites to try and identify you, and has probably blocked a slew of “Dereks” on Twitter — just in case. 😉
First it was, “What if Doctor Octopus was Spider-Man?” Then it was “What if Peter Parker was only one of an infinite number of Spider-Men?” And now it’s “What if Peter Parker was Iron Man?”
Here’s an idea: What if Spider-Man convincingly behaved like Spider-Man?
A man can dream, can’t he?
“What if Spider-Man convincingly behaved like Spider-Man?”
Great scott! That would mean my time machine works, and that I got back to a time before OMD.
The fact that Slott’s writing seems mostly driven by creating “mini-events” and “wouldn’t it be cool?” ideas rather than coming up with something organic to the setting doesn’t help.
This is a very astute observation. I feel as though there are two camps: the “writers” and then the “event-guys.” When you come across one of Dan Slott’s fans, they seem to care less about well-crafted stories and more about whatever “wacky” things are going on. They elevate the idea over the execution of the idea. So when a guy like me or Stillanerd or yourself points out things that writers care about, the event-guys say we’re just being a “hater.”
That’s okay Doug, I’m not as thin skinned as Dan and I can take it just as much as I can dish it out. He’s insecure and its surprising how he lets one reader and criticism get to him. He’s a writer for one of the most popular superheros. He should expect it, and if he can’t handle it professionally then he should quit.
I don’t know. I just watched Bendis end the most god-awful run of X-men I had ever seen with a half-year delayed worst Chuck Austen level of stupid-awful x-men I have ever read. I tried to like his Iron-Man stuff, since you seemed to dig it…but I just couldn’t. But at least Iceman is gay. And Cyclops is a double douche. And Emma/Storm/Magik are now the same exact person with exchangeable word balloons…and now Iceman, I actually think he made Iceman gay so that he wouldn’t have to think about Iceman’s personality when making snappy repetitive dialogue. They literally end the thing with the X-men playing self-help group to Beast…each page made me cringe in embarrassment. At least he’s gone. I think I can read Ta-nehisi Coates lecture me on the greatness of Obama before I’ll read Bendis ever again.. I’m glad he’s able to entertain you, Doug… I just can’t stand him anymore. I think reading Slott would be entertaining in a train-wreck kind of way.
Honestly these writers can’t really hurt good characters, just cause a lot of complaining. Being a long time X-men fan, All the Austens and Bendis of the world can’t really ruin X-men for me. It’s a good memory, and for me the stories I loved and read are always the best ones, and the bad ones: bad paid-for fan-fic. Theres only one (three) Lord of the Rings, and a sequel isn’t needed. We can all pretend Martin is better because we are ‘hooked’ and follow a long meandering flailing inconclusive plot-line with random events that cause us to buy more books…while the author tries to plant flags on Tolkein’s dead body…but LOTR still reigns supreme to me…even without Martins’ sexual fantasies.
Anime…amazingly, actually does superheroes better. Tiger and Bunny was great…and One Punch Man is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. One Punch Man even starts with a enviro-psycho villain that claims he’s there to wipe out humanity because of his pollution of earth. Another episode even had commie villains, calling for a utopia where only people who want to work, work, while everyone else is supported. See that in a Marvel comic. Without our BS politics and need to cater to a loud SJW crowd, they can have fun with all kinds of concepts. These shows actually tangle with the meaning of being a hero…while Marvel/DC try to show you how vile heroes can be.
I think I can read Ta-nehisi Coates lecture me on the greatness of Obama before I’ll read Bendis ever again… I’m glad he’s able to entertain you, Doug…I just can’t stand him anymore. I think reading Slott would be entertaining in a train-wreck kind of way.
There’s so much awesomeness in this reply I don’t even know how to quantify it. 🙂
As it pertains to Dan’s writing, I have no doubt that at times he’s having fun…and sometimes it translates well onto the page. Unfortunately, I never really get the feeling that he is very focused. He just sort of churns content out, which in some ways is a good thing — but churning things out is not a recipe for the most memorable material.
Dan Slott has become the Michael Bay of comics writers.
I’m not 100% sure, but I think I may have mentioned something like that in one of my ASM posts from a couple years ago. Regardless, the point is I think you’re onto something there. 🙂
Bendis’ X-Men run had some interesting ideas, but Marvel tend to take a good thing and just trample on it in favour of stretching it out beyond all reasonable doubt, just as they did other stunts like the Clone Saga and the era of the registration act. The natural end of the story should have been the 05 facing their destiny and consequences by returning to their time and place, not holding their ground and daring to defy something they’re fated to initiate anyway. It wastes time because the reader knows Marvel will go to all this trouble of reality bending NOT to retcon/reboot their own timeline (unless in some cases, it suits their “creative” requirements), so what’s the point in keeping the original X-Men around? It’s a story we know the ending to and spinning our wheels with it, with virtually no pay off, leads to a state of frustration and exhaustion. Either have The Beast’s initial idea pay off and cut to the chase, I don’t want a decade or so passing with this still being a status quoe.
Already Teen Jean is probably the worst version of the character I have ever read…although on the flip side, Young Scott Summers could be the best Cyclops has ever been written in a decade if the debut issue of the All-New X-Men relaunch is any indication. Time will tell.
Hi, i’ve been following your blog for quite while now. You make some pretty solid input on the way ASM’s been going on for a while.
I know this is probably a huge long shot, but do you think OMD might be brought up soon? for the last few issues there’s been a guy in a red suit offering deals for Spidey’s rogues gallery. Think that might be Mephisto up to something?
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment, IndyPrimera. I really appreciate it. If I were writing ASM, then it would be Mephisto. I think of it like the bank robber who wants to see if he could pull off the same heist twice — but years apart — or the drug addict who needs another hit at his particular vice.
Who but the devil wears a red suit? It’s such an add color for a suit that he would need to be associated with that color in the broader scope of things. If not, then that’s just kind of lame to me. Unless the character already has an affinity for red, then to stick him in such weird attire seems like a cheap form of misdirection.
Given what we know so far, which is that biological signatures appear to be consistent with the people who died, it makes sense for the guy behind it all to be a master of either a.) magic, or b.) cloning.
Mysterio is a master of special effects and illusion, but what’s going on now seems like it would take a metaphysical level of knowledge to pull off. Maybe I’m wrong…but like I said, I’d be writing a Mephisto story if I was on Marvel’s payroll.
What do you think? I’m always happy to hear what you have to say.
Hello, I’m new here but I have a long rant due to everything you’ve been saying about Dan Slott in some of your blogs so please bare with me here:
in 2013 I gave up reading Spider-man due to Dan Slott’s #700 story. I didn’t give no future stories a chance and decided to move on to Punisher stories and get into the character. I always thought I gave up on Spider-Man because I outgrew him, but deep down I was a Spider-Man fan. I just ignored it because I didn’t think I can be one anymore due to new changes to the character.
In 2015 I returned to the world of Spider-man but still couldn’t read the comics right. I couldn’t read Spider-Verse, I couldn’t read Superior Spider-man without getting angry (though I still liked Doc Ock as Spidey) It wasn’t until I read Spider-Gwen and enjoyed it that I feel I still liked something Spider-man like, and then when I watched the series 9 finale of Doctor Who this year I realize something, an epiphany maybe. Steven Moffat, the show runner made me stop wanting to watch Doctor Who, just like Dan Slott made me stop reading Spider-man. Both were similar when it came to stories. They overhype the hell out of it, only to be a bullshit excuse to get their point into those worlds and even started changing these worlds we love into something it isn’t. I don’t know if you watch Doctor Who but believe me that the similarities is there.
Dan Slott is trying to turn Peter into Tony Stark which is truly unnecessary because we already have a Tony Stark, we don’t need another damn Iron Man. It wasn’t until I realize this is Marvel’s ploy to make Spider-man more popular than Tony. It wasn’t until I realize that every story Dan Slott has ever told I’ve always had a problem with in some degree:
Giving him a job at horizon labs? didn’t sit well but I let it slide because I did get tired of “Low class Peter Parker” making him create suits he only used once and never be seen again? didn’t like.
Mary jane just sitting around doing nothing? Didn’t like at all.
Over hyping the stories like Spider-Island, Ends of the Earth, and Spider-Verse, only for it to be lackluster in the end? I got annoyed at.
And then there’s Peter being a “poor man’s Tony Stark”
I can name other complaints but I’m sure you can do better than I can. It was right then I realized that Spider-man wasn’t the problem, it was this fat douchebag. When I read your blogs about him it only fueled my anger more. He was the reason I stop caring for probably the only Superhero I ever had some connection to. He made me stop caring about superheroes in general, I know it all sounds like I’m having a angry fit like a kid, but I mean well.
This guy doesn’t get Spider-man, I can name several better comics that were better than anything he wrote. Brian Michael Bendis had some good stories I love, J. Michael Straczynski (the guy who got me to read Spider-man in the first place) is ten times better than him. That is why I made a vow, I refuse to read anything written by this hack even if it is Spider-man. I’ll read current Spider-man titles like Spider-Gwen, Miles Morales and 2099, and even Peter Parker but only if Dan Slott is not involved.
You are right to insult him, I have no sympathy for what he feels or thinks. I can’t wait until he leaves and let actual Spider-Man stories happen.
Everyone is just cheering this guy and I’m just the minority that doesn’t like him, I don’t hate the guy, I can’t hate a person I never met, but I know I don’t care for his stories. I just want to say Thank you for standing up to this guy. I hope to read more as the days pass.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, K55boy. I really appreciate it.
“He was the reason I stop caring for probably the only Superhero I ever had some connection to. He made me stop caring about superheroes in general, I know it all sounds like I’m having a angry fit like a kid, but I mean well.”
There’s a lot to respond to in your post, but I’ll start here. Spider-Man is bigger than any one writer, and while it may be incredibly frustrating at the moment…at some point in time there will be a new writer. There are some classic older tales out there worth checking out, so in the meantime you may want to buy a couple of those if you haven’t already.
“I just want to say Thank you for standing up to this guy. I hope to read more as the days pass.”
One of the reasons I started reviewing ASM was because I didn’t feel like most comic websites were giving honest reviews. They don’t want to lose their access to the creators when it comes to interviews, so their reviews and “reporting” usually puts the writers in the best light possible.
I have found that when guys like you speak up on other forums, they are often banned. Intelligent criticism is often deleted by moderators. That sort of thing doesn’t happen here. It take quite a bit for me to ban someone, and even when that does happen I almost always just put the person in a “penalty box” for a certain amount of time before lifting the ban. Usually the person needs to have a habit of using foul language or going off on tangents that have nothing to do with the blog post in question.
The only thing I would suggest is to try to stick to critiques of Dan’s writing and not his physical appearance — even if you’re angry. He will use any opportunity to discredit his critics. Fat jokes make it easy for him to avoid talking about the merits of his work. We want people discussing the content he provides and not his waist size. 🙂
Anyway, my point is that you aren’t alone. Many readers feel the same way you do. Feel free to come here and comment any time. I’m genuinely interested in hearing your point of view.
Again, I know everyone who reads this blog is lending me their valuable time. It means a lot to me, so thanks.
Thank you, I guess I cross a line with the fat jokes. Sorry about that. But I’m glad I met you. Of course there are Spider-man titles I’ve yet to read. Death of Spider-man, some of Miles’s stories, the whole Black Costume saga and even some older spider-man comics. So yeah, I do have more comics to read. But I have to say, it was difficult trying to get into other superheroes these last few years, spider-man was like the only superhero I had more fun reading.
“One of the reasons I started reviewing ASM was because I didn’t feel like most comic websites were giving honest reviews. They don’t want to lose their access to the creators when it comes to interviews, so their reviews and “reporting” usually puts the writers in the best light possible.”
I never thought of it that way. Makes me want to read other blogs just to read the honest opinion out of everyone. Mainly because I hear so much about these stories that people overhype, only to feel disappointed in the end. If you don’t mind, if I read any past blogs of ASM stories if it’s okay I comment on them, even if they’re old. I feel like I have much to say about Slott but feel limited since the blogs are 2 years old and such.
You’re welcome to comment on any story, no matter how old it is, K55boy. That would be great if you added your two cents into the mix. It may even reignite some old discussions, which would be great.
Typically, my rule of thumb is that if someone takes the time to comment on my blog, then I’ll try and reply whenever appropriate.
As you point out, many of these “event”-type stories don’t live up to the hype. They’re often filled with plot holes a mile wide, but for whatever reason the main comic websites tend to respond with, “Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.”
If you have anything ASM-related you want to get off your chest, then comment as much as you’d like. The process can be incredibly cathartic. 🙂
Side note: Henchmen’s Lounge recently had me on to talk about Dan Slott, industry websites, etc. It may be of interest to you. You can listen in here.
“Dan Slott is trying to turn Peter into Tony Stark which is truly unnecessary because we already have a Tony Stark, we don’t need another damn Iron Man. It wasn’t until I realize this is Marvel’s ploy to make Spider-man more popular than Tony.”
Agreed, K55boy, that having a second Iron Man is not very good, much less useful. However, isn’t Spider-Man already more popular than Iron Man? (I’m not aware of a scientific way to measure this, but I thought that Iron Man, while probably in the top five for Marvel, wasn’t even above Wolverine, much less Spider-Man. I mean, the classic saying is that in the superhero genre the only two characters that are more popular than Spider-Man are Superman and Batman.)
It would be interesting to know if Marvel or Slott were the ones who invented the idea of an Iron Man ripoff Spider-Man. I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason for the change was for the MCU; so when Robert Downey, Jr. retires for good, they can then plug Spider-Man in as the Avengers’ wisecracking, Fortune 500 gadgeteer and point to the comics when the fans argue that it’s not an accurate representation of the character. I have no proof, but Marvel did try to retcon comic book Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch’s origins to match the movies, so there is a precedent of sorts. (The fact that the MCU Spider-Man movie makers are citing the “Ultimate Spider-Man” comics, which are very faithful to the Spider-Man mythology, as a major source of inspiration is hopefully evidence I’m wrong.)
It’s weird to read a “Baghdad Bob” type guy on a different site trying to prove that Mary Jane being a super-model for something like six months (in Marvel time), 25 years ago, was ample justification for blowing up the marriage, because she made life “too easy” for Peter. But today, right now, Peter Parker owning magical transforming cars, planes, and submarines equipped with holographic illusion-casters, him being able to fire everything from normal web-fluid to electrical cables straight out of his web-shooters, him being a zillionaire rolling in the dough, being able to jet from the U.S. to Africa in 40 minutes, and having super-powered employees, is no problem whatsoever. This absurd contrast (made by others) is how I know that guy is following some sort of list of bullet points, so I don’t read anything he writes anymore. We should keep in mind that Marvel Publishing has a long, solid history of making bad decisions, so don’t be shocked by ASM being cheap junk food for the brain. Also keep in mind that Slott’s Silver Surfer barely cracks through 20K, according to a list of statistics I read recently, so, unlike J. Michael Strycinski or Joss Whedon, the man’s writing rep does not move product. Marvel will always ship a lot more ASM to stores than it does any other title.