REP. I can't get behind any post-OMD Spider-man books, even if they are set in Houston, which is an hour away from where I live.

Dan Slott is a decent writer, and I find his style on the same level as JM DeMatteis. He's not the best in the business, but he understands the medium better than most. Like JM DeMatteis, I find his best work comes when he co-writes with a good friend. The good friend in Slott's case is Christos Gage. Dan Slott set up Avengers Initiative well, then eventually handed the reigns over to Christos Gage after they co-wrote the second arc in the series. With JM DeMatteis, it's Keith Giffen (Justice League International). In both cases, a pair of writers came together to write a book involving new or underdeveloped characters along with a few known names, and succeeded writing a good series filled with humor, action, and character development.

I definitely give Slott the benefit of the doubt, but he's not a "gotta read" writer wherever he goes IMHO. If he writes a character or team I'm interested in, I'll give it a shot, much like a JM DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, or Abnett/Lanning book (which I'm only willing to read cosmic-level stories from).

There are better writers than Dan Slott, and while he may not be A-list, I would certainly mark him down for B-list until further notice.

And Matt Fraction's a half-and-half. He's good for a single character comic and atrocious on team/event books.

Daaaaayyum. I'm glad I didn't read any spoilers. That was one of the ballsiest plot twists I've seen. It wasn't even highly publicized like most big hero deaths. I assumed that the superior Spider-man was going to be something dull like the return of Ben Reilly.

I really don't understand how people can bash Slott after his work on Spidey though. I understand you're pissed about OMD, but he basically revitalized Spidey. Think about where Spider-man was in the late-80's through early 2000's. He was stagnant. The highlights are symbiotes, clones, and fake parents. The character did very little, if any, developing.

Suddenly Big Time starts and the entire scene changes. New Job, new characters, new scenarios, lots of action, and comics that take more than 5 minutes to read. Every issue under Slott felt worth the money to me, since things actually happened. Even the filler issues had more story development than most comics do in important issues. I know people were pissed about OMD, but Spidey really came out of that stronger than he was when he went in.

I'm very uneasy about Doc as Spidey, but as long as Slott is still in charge, I'm willing to try it. He seems to be very good about coming back from insane events.

Double the posts, double the fun. That's the statement of the great mint in Doublemint gum.

Yeah, we definitely lean in two different directions. And it sounds like we're each not reading all the same books. Names I'd add to your list are Hickman and Rucka. And there are a couple I'd have to take off... but it might just be that I don't read enough of their particular work to see what's good.

Random afterthought, I'd also consider Peter Tomasi a strong comic writer.

Remind me what Tomasi wrote? The name is familiar, but I can't quite place it...

Green Lantern: New Guardians. I only read it because my favorite character is in it. It's not terrible, but I don't recommend it.

thats a good list, but your missing Kieron Gillen, Duane Swierczynski and Ed Brubaker.

He was writing Nightwing right before the reboot along with GLC. He's a former editor and just tends to know how to write a comic. I have not kept up with him in the nu52, but liked what I was reading prior.

He also wrote a good Black Adam mini.

I stopped by my LCBS yesterday and ASM 700 was completely sold out. Not that I was looking to buy a copy, but it looks like even at $8 a pop the Marvel hoopla machine has generated the required sales. Which no doubt is the excuse that Marvel will use to continue with this risible course of action. Sigh...

I took a serious look at the Marvel titles on the shelf and nothing seemed appealing. I even picked up a Previews magazine and so far I don't see anything that would compel me to start buying Marvel again. I wish that I felt differently.

Hawkeye. Give it a shot.


Back on Spidey 700, Slott did an interview for Newsarama and said something that really is incredible: He's turned the fans into J. Jonah Jameson. They are now the ones screaming "NO! He's a menace!" while the Marvel U finally has accepted Spidey as a hero. I find that entertaining indeed.

I love how in the last Doc Ock vs Spidey fight, J.J. is like "I gotta help Spider-man!"

I'm getting kind of pumped for Superior Spidey the more I think about the possibilities. It'll be cool seeing Ock go up against guys like Kingpin and Morbius.

He's an editor-turned-writer that made his debut with pre-52 Green Lantern Corps series that was going on at the same time as Sinestro Corps War. I don't consider him a great writer, but he's no Tony Daniel either.

Hawkeye and Daredevil are the two best books Marvel is putting put currently, and Hawkeye is straight up the best "cape" book on the market right now.

I agree with this assessment completely. For whatever this is worth, a browsing of internet best-of-2012 lists suggested most critics agree with us.

See? We can agree on something. I was starting to think I was the "odd man out," here.