Amazing Spider-Man will publish its 700th issue, a milestone for any publication, with a massive celebration.
Then Marvel’s canceling it.
Uh… what?
Marvel has apparently fallen victim to New 52 Disease, wherein a publication’s legacy matters a lot less than selling as many issues as possible to collector zombies. Marvel is rebooting all of its books, as we’ve noted before, and apparently that includes canceling a whole bunch of books to make room for new ones.
Not that everyone’s happy about it:
The Marvel NOW relaunches were precipitated by many of the publisher’s most popular writers winding down their long-running arcs at around the same time, allowing for new creators to work on various characters for the first time in many years. Does that apply to Spider-Man and writer Dan Slott, who’s been the primary creative force behind the Amazing title for the last several years, and who to the best of my knowledge was not bringing the book to a climax? Slott has yet to be announced as working on anything in the Marvel NOW line, and he’s keeping mum on Twitter.
Yeah, we’d be a little upset too.
Also getting canceled are Cap’s book and Wolverine’s, which have been ongoing since the ’60s and the ’80s respectively.
It’s not like Spider-Man won’t have an ongoing book, and we know Cap, at least, will be getting one with Rick Remender and John Romita as a creative team. Still, it seems weird that a book that has lasted 700 issues is getting the ax for a publicity stunt.
Really, that’s DC’s shtick.
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/569/thumb)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/STK612991-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/cccc240512-101-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/arresteddevelopment-i-dont-know-what-i-expected-150x150.gif)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/superman-manofsteel-142-150x150.gif)
I stopped collecting comic books as a kid because of dumb bullshit like this, and it’s comforting to know that it never got any better. Comic stories have zero consequence, because in two years they’re going to be rebooted anyway.
I stopped collecting, although I didn’t quite stop reading. I haven’t bought an issue in years, so I don’t get why I feel kind of sad about this. Yet I do.
:/ childhood death.
I feel a bit like finding out Detective was going to get renumbered. It’s not a big deal but I still feel kind of upset about it.
Actually, they relaunched Amazing Spider-Man in 1999. Captain America and Wolverine have also received new #1s throughout the years.
This is true, but they’ve also returned to their original numbering once the stunt wore off.
Yeah I was just about to mention that, and I think both have been in the last five years. Once they get close to a #50 or #100 they’re just going to revert back to the normal numbering again. This whole thing bugs, especially when you think about it, the best issues of any series never fall on a numerical milestone, no matter how hard the publisher tries.
Marvel’s better than DC in regards to not rebooting everything every couple of years, but this isn’t the first time they’ve done it. Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, pretty much any significant ongoing really, has gotten a reboot numerous times over the years. They sometimes go back to the original numbering or titles will change, eg if they reach a milestone (Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America did this at their respective #600, and Iron Man did at #500). Marvel NOW is definitely a marketing ploy, but I’m sure at some point they’ll go back to the original numbering.
The problem being that the book isn’t being renumbered. Apparently the book is being CANCELED.
Honestly once the Clone Saga happened, I signed off on trying to keep up with what the hell was going on in Spider Man comics. After I heard they wiped his memory of being married to MJ, I don’t feel I was wrong.
Canceled or not, in some form or another, I’m pretty sure its going to go through the renumbering thing in a few years( like everyone else already said) For it being Marvels flagship series though, its surprising how they’re treating Slott.
Marvel’s turning out to be just as rotten to their creative teams as DC has been since New 52 started. The only thing I can hope is that this means a much needed editorial spanking and a return to stories mattering more than gimmicks and shocking twists that ultimately don’t matter.
I don’t even let this dumb shit bother me anymore. In 3 years after 36 issues or so of whatever new title Spider-Man will have, they’ll renumber the 37th issue to 737 and just pick back up with the old numbering. It’s just what these morons do.
Marvel feels it is to much work to keep track of all the plots so they decided to start a new series and recreate them instead….
I stayed away from comics for years. Civil Wars, Crisises and Dark Avengers were just getting too silly and too numerous for me to have the patience to care. I would catch up on wikipedia or comic vine every few months and then move on with my life. Then a friend of mine put Amazing Spider-Man Big Time in my hands. I have spent hundreds of dollars reading what Marvel and DC have been putting out over the last few years. Spider-Man, Batman and Earth 2 I wait patiently for every month now. Wednesday went from 5th to 1st favorite day of the week. That being said, Dan Slott is the reason I got back into comics. He has had an impressive run, with the exception of Ends of The Earth which was simply okay, and I can’t wait to read the next few issues of ASM. But he needs to leave the book. He needs to finish his magnum opus of which is, in my opinion, the best run of Spider-Man ever written, and let someone else take the reigns. Leave on a high note and leave us with the best 50 or so issues of Spider-Man ever written. Then, start working on someone else, and do for Dick Greyson or the X-Men what he did for Peter Parker.
Slott is an excellent writer, absolutely. And you’re right, he does need to move on. That said, canceling the book seems drastic.
Isn’t this kind of the “Is it better to burn out or fade away” question?
There’s really no need to be upset over this. This isn’t the first time AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was canceled. Back in 1999, Marvel canceled the book and relaunched it with a new #1. When the new version of Amazing Spider-Man + the classic version of Amazing Spider-Man reached what would have been Amazing Spider-Man #500, they switched back to the original numbering. There’s no reason why they couldn’t do the same thing again when the number got close to #800.
see this is why I don’t pay attention, nor give a shit, about the ‘capes’ comics. all of this long-standing, long-running arcs in which books get renumbered, titles get switched around, there’s 5 different Batman and Spider-Man books in different universes… it’s all bullshit and it’s all done to boost sales.
why, 1 book about Batman isn’t enough… you need Batman this, Batman that, Batman Arkham City, Detective Comics Batman, Batman & Robin, Batman Inc, Batman & Friends, Black Batman…. when does it end?!
Question: How many teams are still left from “the Initiative”? Are presumably all these teams still running around out there (just not in books) or has Marvel collapsed all that over-reaching yet?
I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal. The only little problem I have with it is that DC desperately needed a reboot, while Marvel really doesn’t. (I understand that NOW isn’t really a reboot.) Marvel only stands to hurt themselves with a massive renumbering. It feels like a knee-jerk panic decision caused by the success of the new 52.
Cancelling a long running series has about as much meaning as a comic book death.
I don’t care. I care more that the effects of One More Day are still around. Worst Spiderman story ever. Even morebso than the Clone Saga.
their logic is more convoluted than a mid nineties spidey arc
This and the inevitable reboot wouldn’t bother me if I thought for a single second they’d do something new with it. They won’t. That’s why I dislike reboots. They can literally rebuild the origin of many characters any way they want to, bringing in fresh ideas that could spawn tons of previously impossible stories and take the characters in interesting new directions.
But no. Spoilers for the new ASM #1: Nobody likes Peter, spider-bite, bye uncle Ben, great power/responsibility.