How would a hiatus for the Spider-Man comics work?

[Scott Taylor]

No I don't think its a good idea to take characters away for any reason. Look at the way Marvel did Captain America being shot. He was 'away' sure, but he still managed to appear in a ton of comics in addition to the stuff Brubaker was doing with Bucky. Thats the way to go if they do it. Take Spider-Man out in some way, but use it to focus people on what the character is all about.

That said, it seems like doing such a move in the immediate future is a bad idea. Slott's on a roll, the FF stuff is just getting going, and there are several events planned. To me, this would have made more sense at the end of the JMS run.

[Mister Mets]

A hiatus is an effective way to kick off a new schedule. So if you think Amazing Spider-Man functions better as one of three monthly titles or as a monthly with 60 pages of content or as a weekly with occasional intermissions (my ideal schedule), that's one way to kick it off.

I don't think this would actually be a problem. I mean, currently, they have Spider-Man planned through basically the entire rest of the year, and it's been planned that way since the beginning of the year. The only issue would be the OTHER books Spider-Man is in coordinating with it, but 1) this just illustrates why I hate crossovers and 2) again, if they know it's going to happen, you can write Spider-Man out of the book for one reason or another before a mega-arc starts. I mean, looking at something like Fear itself, while Spidey may be on the cover to #1, the man doesn't do ANYTHING.

A future hiatus is a significant restriction on long-term storylines as the writers have to figure out ways to use and work around the hiatus.

If you know that Marvel's not going to be publishing new stories with Peter Parker from March 2013 to October 2013, there's a tremendous incentive to tie up all the loose ends by February, even for more complex narratives.

You might see a disproportionate amount of finite self-contained work green-lit prior to the hiatus. And it could be a period in which the book is just treading water. This is somewhat similar with what's happened to the Superman books now and during "The World of Krypton."

[TheboyinShadows]

A Spiderman hiatus would be cool if per say they made 1 issue without any replacement
Show what's it like without him then have someone return in the same costume
Peter would be gone and for example Ben could be under the mask,
but we wouldn't know till the end who the new Spidey is, all we know that it can't be Pete
Since he's away in some important mission.
Then have Peter return with both in Spidey threads it would be funny,

lots of possibilities

Only no more overused stuff like him quiting beacause someone close to him dies

[Mister Mets]

So, is Superior Spider-Man the answer to my question?

[rZi]

isn't this what superior spider-man is going to be? a new lease on the book with a new character for a while? i haven't read about the title as im not interested in the premise or the creative team behind it but this is the general idea no?

[ShaggyB]

So, is Superior Spider-Man the answer to my question?

it very well could be. Depends on who it is. Heard an interesting theory last night based on advanced spoilers for 697 I was PM'd. If so then yes it is the answer.

[Pat Thomas]

So, is Superior Spider-Man the answer to my question?

Unfortunately, I think that's exactly what this is. I hope it can satisfy us "Peter Parker IS Spider-Man" fans.
If it doesn't, the backlash will probably be pretty damaging to Marvel.

[Darthfury78]

My first reaction to Met's query was Slott's relaunch of She-Hulk, after Jen got beat up so badly by Titania she found herself unable to Hulk-out unaided for a long time and the title took an eight-month break both in real-time and Marvel time. So Spidey getting beat up has a precedent.

Heh, what if Spidey gets transported to the Ultimate universe and becomes that reality's Ultimate Spidey for a while before returning to 616? Shades of Heroes Reborn.

It would be interesting to see Spider-Man get sent to the AoA universe to team-up with Gwen Stacy. Another idea is for Spidey to go to Earth-2149.

[Darthfury78]

No I don't think its a good idea to take characters away for any reason. Look at the way Marvel did Captain America being shot. He was 'away' sure, but he still managed to appear in a ton of comics in addition to the stuff Brubaker was doing with Bucky. Thats the way to go if they do it. Take Spider-Man out in some way, but use it to focus people on what the character is all about.

That said, it seems like doing such a move in the immediate future is a bad idea. Slott's on a roll, the FF stuff is just getting going, and there are several events planned. To me, this would have made more sense at the end of the JMS run.

True. Were it not for the OMD that was forced down JMS throat.

[sandwich eater]

Isn't Ultimate Peter Parker already on a "hiatus?"

[Darthfury78]

Isn't Ultimate Peter Parker already on a "hiatus?"

He's dead. And Bendis said that he's not coming back.