Spider-Man is Less Amazing

50 Comments

1. Heh…even I’ll admit I often have limited powers of literacy!

   Given your penchant for unfounded– often hate filled–ranting (as well as hiding behind others), I don’t blame you for not wanting to post in places I visit and might actually respond. Says a lot…and explains the pseudonym.

   You don’t seem to have very consistent personal guidelines about derailing threads as I know the number of places your allowed to have accounts is dwindling due to your barely controlled rage at..well…most things. But that’s your issue…not mine.

   You take care though. (And have fun skewering me on your site). I hope one day you find both comics and pornography that you like somewhere out there.

   (Hey you aren’t going to stop doing those charts with the fake math are you? Those are a Glenn Beck-Ian riot.)

   SW

2. Steve,

   If you had bothered to employ your vast powers of literacy, you would have seen me say — in the last review thread in which I replied, which I know for a fact that you yourself saw, because you specifically replied to it — that I was refraining from posting in these threads from now on, precisely to try and deprive you on any excuse to bully and browbeat others by mentioning my name and playing your logical-fallacy-ridden game of guilt-by-association, in which you would try to hold the owners of this site accountable for something that one of their posters said on his personal blog, but I see now that this gesture was in vain, because you’re just going to keep bringing me up no matter whether I have any relevance to any of the topics at hand or not.

   Of course, since there is no possible way that you didn’t read me already offering this explanation the last time around, and since you knew exactly where my blog was if you actually cared about why I wasn’t posting here, I’m going to accuse you of being disingenuous in making this inquiry, especially since I did indeed make a public post on my blog — which you yourself have linked to several times in the past — detailing my take on this exact subject.

   I will not reply to you again here. If you actually care to have a conversation with me, do it on my blog, and stop using this as an excuse to derail Crawl Space threads. If you want to know my opinion, you know how to contact me. In this case, a simple glance at my blog would have told you what my opinion was. Do not punish the people here with this intellectually dishonest (and transparently so) routine of yours, just because you have a petty grudge against me. Those are your only options.

   Since I will not be replying here again, the next however-many dozens (or hundreds) of posts you devote to trying to get me to engage with you will not be my fault.

3. 47-

   Regarding yuor last point, the truth is those of us on the creative side sweat this more than you seem to think we do or apparently should. Most of us grew up as comic readers.We arent’ quite as heartless and calculating as many seem to believe.

   Of course there were other options…but none that really solved the cost dilemma.

   In the end though, I agree that this is a business though. So yeah, That’s nothing new.

   SW

4. SW,

   This is perhaps one of the few opportunities I may have to directly engage on a substantive basis with one of the Spidey ‘brains trust’, here goes :

   (1) I believe in basic economic principles. The idea that we, as the consumers, have any ‘right’ to demand a particular price or rate of output is just silly. It is Marvel’s product – they can charge 4.99 an issue if they want.
   (2) It is also stupid to pretend that I, as a consumer, have more information about the economics of producing Amazing Spider-Man (or any other comic) than the people who work on it.
   (3) I don’t try to ‘send a message’ with my comic book purchases – I have a budget (Agreed with my wife) and I try to spend it in a way which will give me maximum enjoyment.
   (4) At the moment, due to factors of pricing and quality, my comic-book-buying is primarily DC.
   (5) The one thing that sticks in my craw (and again, I have no special rights here, I’m just one buyer out of 50,000) is the tone of regret and sorrow that Marvel and DC spokespeople use when they speak of price increases. Its a commercial decision – saying things like ‘we had to’ rings incredibly false for me. There was a commercial choice regarding content / page count / price, and a choice was made that income / profit would be maximised by a particular selection. Man up and say so! Don’t ever pretend that the company had ‘no option’ – this is simply false.

   Cheers,

   Aussiesmurf

5. And I respect that you respect that, sir. Thanks! For the record, my feelings on the $3.99 price point have nothing to do with the current content of Amazing, even tho’ I don’t care for it. I know you don’t control the pricing, but $3.99 is kind of the breaking point for me. I was pretty on the fence about Scott Snyder’s Detective Comics and tried it since at least it had extra content. Very happy that it is $2.99 tho without the backup. Had they lost the backup and kept the pricepoint, I think I woulda dropped it and I feel that book right now is amazing (no pun intended).

6. Totally understood, Javi. i was just answering the question that was asked. I know some people don’t like OMD and respect that some of you may want to move on.

   SW

7. Mr. Wacker, in regards to #43, I would fall into the group that is not “most everyone” . Also, it’s not about her appearing in the book, it’s the principle of her exit and the demise of their marriage.

8. #40-If the trades work better for you, that’s great. That’s probably what i’d be buying too. I like big chunks of comics

   Most everyone is over the MJ stuff. She still appears regularly in the book and there are big plans for her in the very near future.

   Nice talking to you,
   Steve W.

9. $3.99 is far too much for a “normal sized” comic. It’s the reason I don’t have early issues of Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors and the reason why I didn’t pick up any of the Ultimate Spider-Man Prelude Death of Spider-Man. I also think DC’s risk has paid off because it has made it easy for me to try various titles that I wouldn’t pick up at all if they were $3.99!

10. I need clarification… Kevin, what was that line Alonzo kept repeating at the panel?

11. Mr.Wacker, i was a loyal Spider-Man reader till one more day, one of the many who were upset w/ the Mary Jane story.I was wondering is there still fall out over that or is everyone over that?And i belive its probley not u r fault the books are so darn much w/ a familey of 4 i cant afford them.i buy the trades

12. Well at least “Jef” wasn’t combative. That would be the worst!

    (Can you just imagine the outrage if I suggested someone here was a “douche bag”. Double standard, I guess. Just the price a hero like me pays.)

13. Wacker: I think #31 had it right. You do come across as an argumentative, I’m always right douche bag. Marvel editors, and creatives should step back from the keyboard and stop posting on the internet. Makes you all look like jackasses.

14. I think that was Dan Buckley.

    SW

15. I think for once Axel Alonzo was right… “Just don’t buy it.”

16. #34: Not really. I’d just like it if he were more pleasant, less hateful and open to actual information. With his charts and such, I would have thought he’d have something to say on the topic.

    SW

17. @33 – You’d like that, wouldn’t you?

18. Hey on another note…what happened to the KevBox guy? Does he no longer post on the front page because of me?

    SW

19. Adam, Referencing the comment number is standard here. Not sure why it’s suddenly a problem if I do it. Perhaps you’re new here.

    Anyway, if you aren’t enjoying the book, I agree that you should drop it. Best to spend your time and money on stuff you like. We’ll still be here if you change your mind.

    #SW

20. Well Stephen, nice that I can refer to you by name, and all you can do is refer to me by a number… which I’m assuming is what most of the higher ups at Marvel think of their customers as. A number. In this case that number is $3.99.

    I think Slott’s writing is getting better. I think it would serve him better to be writing just one issue a month, and to work with a consistent artist. It would serve the book and readers well, too.

    The ‘milking’ of customers I refer to is the fact that instead of delivering GREAT content and art once a month we get average to below average content and art twice a month. And this is all at $3.99 an issue ($8 a month), instead of what should rightly be $2.99 once a month. Heck I’d be OK with $3.99 once a month at 24 pages of content… I think many others in the comic book community agree.

    Thanks for your time and combative nature, comment #30.

    Sincerely,
    Adam

21. I like that 27 is telling ME not to be combative.

    Anyway, sorry you don’t like the book. I think Dan and all the men and women involved are doing fantastic work…and for better or for worse I’m the guy right now who gets to make the hiring decisions.

    Not sure what “milking the customers” means, but the book is in high demand right now, so I think they’re doing something right regardless of whether or not you can admit it.

    SW

22. @Adam
    Amen brother. Exactly the point here.

23. Hey there Mr Wacker, as I stated above, I stopped buying new comics back in 2005 when the wife and I retired from the US Air Force. Mostly had to do with money, but also with the Stories of that time (Sins Past… that was just wrong) I’m 45, been collecting Spidey comics and merchandise since the very early 70s, and I do own one of the largest Spider-Man collections of collectables around. I still keep up with whats going on with Spidey thru the online world, and buy the back issues cheaply off ebay.

    What would bring me back? The main thing would be No more Variant covers. I’ve heard all the arguments for them… and I just can’t grasp any reason to keep doing them…except for greed. When I look back thru all my old issues of Spidey, I can grab an issue, look at the cover and recall pretty much what happened in that story by the cover alone. Not something one can do with variant covers, or with the covers that have nothing to do with the story.
    I’ve walked into many comic stores around the states, and its sad to try to find new comics, when there’s 5 different covers of the same issue… Just hard to grasp.

    Just me being old and cranky probably, but I do miss the many years of stopping by the comics store after work on weds afternoon, and picking up the weekly goods.

    Well, thanks for listening to an old Spidey-aholic rant. Hope to talk again with you one day

    Keep On Thwipin’!!!
    Sam

24. @Stephen Wacker – Ah, there’s the combative editor that I referred to above. No one likes that sort of attitude. We’re not complaining to hear the sound of our own voice(s). We don’t want to be raked over the coals is all. Especially for average or below-average writing, as well as a constantly rotating staff of artists.

    I believe I speak for many readers when I say that a flagship book like Amazing Spider-man deserves a solid writer (which I think Slott could be if given the chance) and a consistent, solid artist. Note the singularity of artist there. The rotating parade of artists through ASM gets old, especially when many are below average. I think we feel that a $2.99 price point is solid for a book like this, considering it comes out TWICE a month. Want to sell it for $3.99? Make it a monthly book, with SOLID writing and GOOD art and stop trying to milk your customers. And while you’re at it, stop being so damned combative. It is not flattering to yourself, your colleagues or your company.

25. Well DC does. Their book are 2.99 on the stand. Its a fact. And marvel does have book at 2.99, and good ones at that. But we are talking about AMAZING here, not other books. Beside, you guys also have many other 3,99 books.

26. I doubt DC can. They took a huge risk that hasn’t paid off yet.

    I guess we’ll see. (And Marvel’s still had many books at 2.99 as well)

    SW

27. @SW
    What we don’t get is why DC can “afford” to sell their book 2.99 while still giving use good stories and marvel can’t.

28. What’s to say? We did the backups as long as we could. It stinks, but we’re working hard to make sure the book is worth it.

    I’m not surprised that people who already didn’t like Spidey and complained about the backups are filled with conspiracy theories and bogus charts and pretending this is the last straw for them. That’s par for the course around here.

    SW

29. Surprised Wacker hasn’t already commented on this here.

30. Random fact, Spidey will be the only non-marvel architect book priced at $3.99 for 22 pages when it happens (For anyone that doesn’t know an Architect book means its by one of the people that would have the most control over the direction of the MU) presumably because of the brand name. Because of that I think this will be a point of interest for Marvel to see how long it does to see if they can replicate it in other books. As such the best thing we all can do is not pay $3.99 for ASM.

31. As much as this does disappoint me, is anybody actually surprised? As much as I appreciated the effort of including supplemental content, I also saw this coming back when the price increase was made official with Big Time.

32. I used to get every Spidey title – Amazing, Sensational, Spectacular, Marvel Knights, Ultimate, all the minis.
    Then I stopped getting the minis.
    Then I stopped buying Ultimate when it went to 3.99 (from 2.25 a couple of years earlier).
    I now get Amazing twice a month. I’ll continue for the time being, but its giving me more and more thought.

    The only Marvel titles I still get are Spidey, Black Panther, Captain America, Ruse and Criminal / Incognito. The second Brubaker leaves Cap, I’ll be gone as well.
    DC, by comparison, are getting me to try new series all the time. I’m reading and enjoying all three Green Lantern titles, Batman, Batman & Robin, Detective Comics (LOVING that run at the moment), Gotham City Sirens, Gates of Gotham, DMZ and Booster Gold. There is no way I would pick up any ‘re-launched’ Marvel title for 3.99 US. The really fun part (not) of that interview is when Brevoort says they ‘had’ to cut the page count and maintain the 3.99 price. Really??? ‘HAD” to? What are you talking about???

33. @thrawn all dc books are 2.99 and those are both very good books

34. Spidey has been less Amazing since OMD/BND. This isn’t a surprise to me. Comics are one of my vices. If I were reading the book, I’d keep buying due to my love of the character. Luckily, as far as Spider-Man is concerned, that love affair ended along with his deal with the devil. Other than the main Deadpool book, I don’t buy any Marvel, at all. I ‘m buying something like three DC titles. I just went and checked the cover prices on them, and they’re all 2.99. I think I’ll start picking up another DC title now. Birds of Prey and Bat Girl both seem like good titles. They’re both $ 2.99, yes? I can actually justify the cost, and for the time being reward DC.

35. Whoops, sorry guys, double post.

36. Is anyone REALLY that surprised? Since the early 90’s onward, Marvel’s policy has consistently been “Milk the little bastards for all they’re worth. Oh yeah, best throw in some more of them adverts.”

37. Is anyone REALLY that surprised? Since the early 90’s onward, Marvel’s policy has consistently been “Milk the little bastards for all they’re worth. Oh yeah, and throw in some more of them adverts.”

38. Well, the last new comic I bought was way back in 2005, right before the wife and I retired from the Air Force. I decided the new comic prices wasn’t worth it anymore. I have kept my Amazing Spidey collection going by buying from folks on ebay every 8 to 12 months. The last batch I bought was 602 – 640 off an ebay seller for about 35 bucks. Before that lot I found a seller on ebay that was selling lots of 25 consecutive issues starting at 15 bucks, got most all my issues from back when I stopped in 2005 to issue 601, for around 90 bucks (if i recall). Just a thing I decided to do…been working out great so far.
    I would never pay $3.99 for a comic, and don’t get me started on the stupid Variant cover crap thats been going on for too long now.

    Keep On Thwipin’!!!
    Sam

39. This proves it!!! The “Higher ups” at Marvel are members of the Orange Lantern Corps. The only way they can make up for this unwise, greedy decision is to kill off Carlie Cooper, and get Peter and MJ back together

40. BULLSHIT

    unless they bring ben reilly that it

    it’s my pet issue

41. Sign of the times, everything’s going up these days. I didn’t care for the backups so this news doesn’t really affect me.

42. At the larger page count it was just barely tolerable to pay the $3.99 price point. Especially since most story arcs have been more about dragging other heroes and teams into ASM than they have been about Spider-man himself. The writing is average. The art style changes too often. And the editors and writer are combative toward their customers. And for all of this we’re expected to pay $3.99, twice a month. Ridiculous.

    There are three Green Lantern books right now, coming out monthly, and I’d not want to miss even one of them. Why? Because the writing is great. The art is beautiful, and most importantly CONSISTENT. And the editors and creatives are not combative. And on top of that DC has realized that $3.99 is a ridiculous price point.

    I’ve been a big Marvel fan since I was a kid. But they’re doing their best to push me away from my favorite character (Spider-man / Peter Parker) as well as the Marvel Universe….

43. Man this is really crazy charge 3.99 for less.Does not make sense at all I will just stick to downloading them from off the internet.It saves money on book that is not worth 3.99 price tag.

44. I haven’t bought Spidey since OMD, so it doesn’t really affect me. What irks me is they’re charging people more money for mediocre stories. They literally aren’t worth that much

45. In all honesty it really does bug me. I’ve enjoyed longer stories, and that was the 3.99 selling point. Now they are just being greedy.

46. Would it be too much to hope that most of those dropped pages would be ads?

47. at 3.99, with the barely average writting, and less pages its just not worth it anymore. Guess after avengers and new avengers, amazing will go off my pull list as well

48. I’m fine with $3.99 at 22 pages if it was a once a month book. But at 2x a month, it does not seem like it’s worth it any more. I might trade wait ASM and pick up the upcoming Daredevil because of this news. If only they used some of the upcoming one-shot spidey-island tie-ins as a back-up instead to keep the extra pages, or continue amazing spider-girl as a the back-up. Oh well ….

49. My thoughts are it sucks.

    But I don’t know the specific reasoning. Why can’t they go to 2.99 like DC?

50. The silver lining is no more back-ups, I presume?