Improve Amazing Spider-Man et al.

[Xistel]

So what would you do to make Spider-Man comics better (story, characters, status-quo, whatever)?

What do you like/dislike about where the series is?

[Home made ectoplasm]

I'd leave it to the professionals

[Maltus]

Dislike many things.

Goofy humor, Ramos, "team up after team up".

In general the tone. For example, i see in my head Mary Jane with powers and with the dialogues in spider island but with John Romita sr pencils and... well, sounds absolutelly ridiculous.

I think this isn´t my spiderman, maybe simply i´m too old for it.


PD. sorry for my english.

[Cheesedique]

Less multi-part crossovers. And perhaps one artist, or just two revolving ones. Less fill-ins.

Otherwise I think ASM is a fine comic.

[Venomous Mask]

A few less guest appearances by other heroes, but beyond that, it's good as is.

[davidjack]

I'm happy of how things have been until now. BUT :D

But from now on, I'd like less Marvel U guess stars. It will be good more collaboration with Avenging Spider-Man title, and allocate the team ups there.

I will also prefer Javier Pulido instead of Camuncoli. Maybe just a different take in the color for Camuncoli, and some advice about the eyes and eyebrows of the characters. It's ok to have a style, but some issues are a bit ridiculous when everyone has the same glaze and expression. He's a very good story teller.

I can't complain at all about Dan Slott. I think he's the best Spider-Man writer in 20 years. At least the one that I enjoyed the most. The only thing missing from him is a) a real sense of danger on his stories or of emotional depth (minus AMS #655 that was PERFECT). b) more emotional depth and progression of the characters. But again, it seems that Slott is building in for that, so I'll wait and see.

[Mister Mets]

The character and franchise is quite versatile, so there are numerous directions you could go. I don't want the Horizon Labs status quo to be permanent, but I doubt that it will be.

If I was in charge, I might change the schedule of Amazing Spider-Man from twice a month to weekly (or weekly except for when there's an issue of Avenging Spider-Man on the stands) with occasional intermissions. But that's just because I think that schedule would be effective.

[stephen wacker]

The character and franchise is quite versatile, so there are numerous directions you could go. I don't want the Horizon Labs status quo to be permanent, but I doubt that it will be.

If I was in charge, I might change the schedule of Amazing Spider-Man from twice a month to weekly (or weekly except for when there's an issue of Avenging Spider-Man on the stands) with occasional intermissions. But that's just because I think that schedule would be effective.

Oh, how I hate you.


SW

[Prof. Warren]

No more team ups, guest stars, crossovers or anything similar to this! Please!
As much as I like the Horizon stuff at the moment, it HAS to end. Spider-Bat was cool, but the novelty is waring off fast and having all these resources at his disposal takes away some of the most crucial aspects of what Spider-Man is about. With JJJ shutting them down, I am hoping that it is on the way out, not to be resurrected. I am sure Slott and subsequent writers can find a way to keep Grady, Max, Utau(?) and the suspicious guy in the story still, if necessary.

Otherwise, its pretty good. Amazing and Avenging compliment each other. Maybe add a Peter Parker: Spider-Man title too, but that's just because any of the titles with 'Peter Parker' in the name have always been my favourites.

I trust the current team with whatever direction they want to take ASM because it's been great for awhile now with no sign of slowing down. That said, if I had the chance to make any changes, I'd definitely take Spidey off Avengers and FF and cut down on team-ups altogether. I really feel that Spidey works best as a solo hero and a bit of an outsider and that having him on not one but two - or is it three? - teams makes him a little less special.

But like I say - whereever Slott and co. want to take Spidey, I'm in.

Oh, and outside of Amazing, I sure wouldn't mind seeing a relaunched Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man by the team of Brubaker and Epting.

[remoteman]

I am generally happy with the ways things are. If pushed though I would have to say that I miss having a single artist on the book, however unlikely that might currently be given the title's bi-weekly schedule.

[Spidey_Legend]

No more team ups, guest stars, crossovers or anything similar to this! Please!
As much as I like the Horizon stuff at the moment, it HAS to end. Spider-Bat was cool, but the novelty is waring off fast and having all these resources at his disposal takes away some of the most crucial aspects of what Spider-Man is about. With JJJ shutting them down, I am hoping that it is on the way out, not to be resurrected. I am sure Slott and subsequent writers can find a way to keep Grady, Max, Utau(?) and the suspicious guy in the story still, if necessary.

Otherwise, its pretty good. Amazing and Avenging compliment each other. Maybe add a Peter Parker: Spider-Man title too, but that's just because any of the titles with 'Peter Parker' in the name have always been my favourites.

So you want a boring Spider-Man who never do nothing good except being a failure in life? Sorry but actual Spider-Man is a refresh storyline in years.

BTW, in the Lee-Ditko run (38 issues) there were lots of Guest Star like Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Hulk and Johnny Storm solo.

[Meehaul]

I think AF 15 and ASM 1-38 ought to serve as the template for the series (and for the cartoon as well--part of the reason Ultimate S-M is so horrible is because they've changed the early stories and motivations). Breevort's "Spider-Manifesto" was a good take on the character, now they just need to execute it. I would cut the guest stars completely--leave them for the Avengers or Avenging SM. Spidey should be a lone hero, an outcast, both in terms of his identity as Pete as well as his identity as Spider-Man. I hope he loses his job at Horizon and has a major falling out with the Avengers. He's more interesting as an outsider than the connsumate insider. In place of all the guest heroes, they need to build his supporting cast--and not the uninteresting Horizon characters. Give him some normal friends. Bring back some drama into his personal life. And I don't mean MJ. Send her to LA to reach her dreams. Let her stare wistfully at Pete now and then, but don't bring them together or even tease it. She was not a good character for developing Pete--just never really worked--and what she did bring to the table wasn't good. Give Pete a girlfriend, but make her normal. Not a model/actress, super-genius, or super hero. Just make her a normal person. Let Pete have a normal-ish life for a guy his age. Horizon labs sucks. He needs real-life problems and needs to be more grounded in the real world. When he's Peter Parker, he needs to struggle. He needs to deal with the sort of relationship and other crap we all have to deal with. Working at a high tech lab and dating models is inimical to that sort of a life. When he's Spidey, that's when the wish fullfullment comes in. But even that needs to be screwed up. He needs to be misunderstood. He needs to do the "right" thing even when the world is stacked against him. Not because of any other person, but only because it's the "right" thing to do. He's at his best when his life is destabilized, not just by super villains, but by being short on funds, having his washing machine break, oversleeping after a night battling Doc Ock, whatever. I'd probably send him back to grad school. You can spend years and years getting a PhD. The high school and college environment is one in which Pete's character thrived. He needs to go back to complete his work and to give him, naturally, a social circle. When in school, friendships become easy. It get more complicated after school, which is part of the reason I think he's sort of eschewed friends in favor of super hero guest spots. Oh well, I have plenty more to say, but it's all really encapsulated in AF 15 and ASM 1-38...and to a lesser extent, the Brevoort manifesto.

The other thing I might add is that the stories ought to "be about something." In other words, they could be improved if they had different levels of meaning. Part of what made the best Grant Morrison or Alan Moore stories so teriffic is that they operated on more than one level. Even Scott Snyder's recent work on Batman with the Court of the Owls is an attempt to explore a part of Batman's psyche. The best, most interesting stories explore the character and reveal something insightful about him. Dan's penned some fun stories, but he's yet to write a truly signature story. I think he's got it in him. I think he can take his work to the next level, but to do so, he needs to dig down deeper into Peter Parker. And he needs to write with a purpose. I think he's got it in him to be one of the all-time ASM greats. But to achieve that level, the stories just need a bit more reason for being and need to truly explore Peter Parker.

[oldschool]

BTW, in the Lee-Ditko run (38 issues) there were lots of Guest Star like Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Hulk and Johnny Storm solo.

You are, of course, correct but I agree with the OP about wanting to see a lot less Avengers/Guest Stars in ASM only because today (unlike the Lee/Ditko era or even the Lee/JR SR era) we have Spidey starring in an Avengers title plus FF plus a new Marvel Team-Up (Avenging, whatever....). So you can get that "team-up itch" scratched in any of those titles and leave ASM as a showcase for Peter, his supporting cast and villains. I am fine with the occassional pop-in guest star when warranted but, by and large, I would leave this a solo Spidey book. Truthfully, that is about my only gripe right now with the book and it's a pretty minor one.

[Mister Mets]

Oh, how I hate you.


SW

I will treasure this comment always.

The intermissions would be long, so the annual output of Amazing Spider-Man could be the same.

Although all sorts of complications are possible, especially when it comes to tie-ins to books with monthly schedules.

No more team ups, guest stars, crossovers or anything similar to this! Please!
As much as I like the Horizon stuff at the moment, it HAS to end. Spider-Bat was cool, but the novelty is waring off fast and having all these resources at his disposal takes away some of the most crucial aspects of what Spider-Man is about. With JJJ shutting them down, I am hoping that it is on the way out, not to be resurrected. I am sure Slott and subsequent writers can find a way to keep Grady, Max, Utau(?) and the suspicious guy in the story still, if necessary.

Otherwise, its pretty good. Amazing and Avenging compliment each other. Maybe add a Peter Parker: Spider-Man title too, but that's just because any of the titles with 'Peter Parker' in the name have always been my favourites.

I trust the current team with whatever direction they want to take ASM because it's been great for awhile now with no sign of slowing down. That said, if I had the chance to make any changes, I'd definitely take Spidey off Avengers and FF and cut down on team-ups altogether. I really feel that Spidey works best as a solo hero and a bit of an outsider and that having him on not one but two - or is it three? - teams makes him a little less special.

But like I say - whereever Slott and co. want to take Spidey, I'm in.

Oh, and outside of Amazing, I sure wouldn't mind seeing a relaunched Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man by the team of Brubaker and Epting.

I think the single smartest move in the last five years of Spider-Man comics has been replacing most of the satellite books with an increased output for Amazing Spider-Man. Trying to follow the character through multiple monthlies gets rather complicated, especially when it comes to figuring out how a Peter Parker Spider-Man story relates to a concurrently published Amazing Spider-Man story. Avenging Spider-Man is okay, as the impact on Peter Parker's private life is minimal. But a Peter Parker Spider-Man title would be expected to have an immediate impact on Amazing Spider-Man.

[Prof. Warren]

I think the single smartest move in the last five years of Spider-Man comics has been replacing most of the satellite books with an increased output for Amazing Spider-Man. Trying to follow the character through multiple monthlies gets rather complicated, especially when it comes to figuring out how a Peter Parker Spider-Man story relates to a concurrently published Amazing Spider-Man story. Avenging Spider-Man is okay, as the impact on Peter Parker's private life is minimal. But a Peter Parker Spider-Man title would be expected to have an immediate impact on Amazing Spider-Man.

I totally agree that getting rid of the satellite titles was a smart move - I only suggested reviving PP:TSSM because I'm dying to see what a Brubaker and Epting Spidey book would be like but I couldn't stand for Slott to leave!