Favorite Comic Runs: Dan Slott's THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN vs. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN

Spider-Man has been picked as our very first character of the month and we're doing everything we can to celebrate his victory! This week, we want you all to reflect on the work by Spidey's most recent writer, Dan Slott. Sure, these two options connect and compliment one another, but at the end of the day, they each bring their own strengths to the table and we want to see which ride you enjoyed more. Do you love the various stories Slott presented THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (beginning with Big Timeand ending with #700) or did Slott's tale of how Doctor Octopus handled his time as the webhead have you completely immersed?

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Are you on the fence and want to reread some issues before picking a side? Well, no worries because the poll will remain open until Friday morning (ET). That's more than enough time to swing back into these runs and then give it some proper thought before making a decision. Is SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN truly superior or do the arcs in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN have your full support? You can help determine that verdict, so when you're ready, click that link above and cast your vote. Last but not least, we'll highlight a standout post made for each run. So, be sure to get your elaboration on when you explain why one title earned your love. Make it awesome enough and there's a chance it'll appear in the updated feature.

Check the homepage this Friday to see which run takes the prize and why. In the meantime, feel free to make future match-up suggestions in the comments below or tell us via Twitter.

Superior was great! I wasn't one of those fanboys complaining about Peter's death. I told them, "he's got a movie coming out". "He'll be back." I see it as an excellent part of the Spider-man mythos.

The REAL problem isn't Peter's death

@_linea_11: What was it?

@oscars94: It wasn't the fact that Peter died, it was the fact that the death itself was half-a**ed and was only done so Slott could get his fan-fiction rolling.

Peter has more experience with his abilities so I'm going with him.

Something like that. The real problem is Slott and his entire, horrible run

@_linea_11: Fair enough.

The main thing i really loved about Superior was how Ock interacted with the villains lol seeing spidey be so brutal was awesome. I also loved the costume, and i kinda wish amazing spider-man kept it or atleast got a whole new suit he's like the only hero left that doesn't have a new suit.

Superior is... well... superior. I started reading his run somewhere near Spider-Island, and I was getting only a minimal enjoyment out of it mostly, and while I was looking forward to Superior, I was terribly disappointed that I didn't feel any kind of emotional resonance from Peter's 'death' the way that I did with Ultimate. Superior however, I have absolutely loved.

EDIT: The responses above that criticize it for no reason other than 'how dare you try something different' are one of the reasons I've loved it. Slott knew he was going to piss people off and decided he didn't care because an interesting story is more important than a comfortable story.

I think the execution of Superior, in terms of Peter dying and Ock taking over his body, were kinda poor. But the concept of a sort of ant-hero spider-man was great. No offense to Spider-Man fans, but I don't really have any interest in the character now that Superior is done.

I love Dan Slott's She-Hulk run for it includes some of the funniest stories I remember reading in long time. I liked Superior a lot, but did nor read much of Amazing Spider-Man when Slott was writing it, so I'm not gonna vote.

Superior wins it for me, issues 10-31 had me hooked

Superior is one of (if not) the most favorite run I've ever read, it blows Slott's Amazing run out of the water, I'd rate it higher than spidey's 90's heydays

superior is superior

@daltonmunnal: If you want a legit reason as to why Slott's story didn't work, other than the usual complaint, as you say 'how dare you try something different' then I redirect you to my blog entry, retrospective on Superior Spider-Man:

My Thoughts On Superior Spider-Man

@_linea_11: Agreed, his entire run feels populated by single-based gimmicks that are used as selling points to sell his stories and sadly his stories fail to live up his bombastic gimmicks. Spider-Island's selling point was the idea of everyone in the city having Spider-Powers, Superior's selling point was "When is Peter coming back?" and sadly the gimmick train continues this year with "Spider-Verse" (ugh, that was a mouthful) which will once again be based on a one-note premise, which will be the idea of every multi-verse Spidey meeting for one big over-bloated gimmick than true story-telling.

I think I enjoyed amazing more over all. the run started and ended with a bang. No turning back, ends of the earth and I killed tomorrow were sooo good. As gutsy and cool as superior was some issues just lacked sometimes. The only times slott's amazing lagged a bit was maybe spider island (because a lot of key plot points occer in tie-ins) and that terrible Alpha arc. the other two issues that arent as good arent even written by Slott so they dont count.

@thedudemcdude: "his fan-fiction". I have to know... as a writer, doesn't Slott have the creative liberties to do whatever Marvel says is acceptable? If that's the case, then are you against him simply because of his want to write what he thinks would be enjoyable for the masses (Sales say so). I'm not trying to be a douche, i sincerely want to know =D.

@baberaham_lincoln: Personally i'm against Slott simply for his horrible writing and his horrible stories, all other things and motivations are just the aftermath

I actually preferred the stories by Zeb Wells, Joe Kelly, Mark Waid and Fred Van Lente more during Slott's run on ASM.

In my opinion, SSM came across as a caricature, a parody with dumbed-down dialogue, sloppy characterizations and terrible (Ramos) artwork.

Quantity of sales does not equal quality of product. :-)

Totally agree

Zeb Wells' Shed was aweome.

Definitely Amazing IMO, though I liked some parts of Superior I felt it went on too long and then suddenly ended abruptly.

The "No One Dies" arc was probably the key story during his Amazing run. In the aftermath of Marla Jameson's death it ran through everyone who had died on Pete's watch, and then strengthened his resolve to fight on with renewed vigor and determination.

Then on the other side you've got stuff like Ends of the Earth, a big, sprawling Hollywood blockbuster of epic proportions.

I quite like some of his Earlier Spider-Man work too, Mysterioso for instance was a lot of fun. In my opinion Slott writes the best Mysterio, his Mysterio certainly isn't the most intelligent, but I do think he's the most entertaining.

@baberaham_lincoln: Just because Slott has the power to do something doesn't mean he should. To quote Amazing Fantasy #15 "With great power comes great responsibility" and that is a responsibility that Slott has neglected. Also, just because sales are high, doesn't mean there is any merit to the content. Twilight movies are one of the highest grossing film series of all-time and there is absolutely no merit in anything from that franchise. The only reason Superior sold well was because of its selling point "When will Peter be back?" that was Slott's selling point for the series. He knew people would buy it just based on that and sadly, he was right. There are a lot of people I know who just bought Superior just wanting to know when Peter would come back.

@thedudemcdude said:

"Professor was wrong!" (с) In Russia we call that attitude "дивнизм", he-he.

Both were totally awesome

Yes "Shed" was indeed awesome and that is precisely the kind of mature intelligent story that has been sorely missing from this title for far too long.

@thedudemcdude: Me being one of the dudes who followed Superior just to see when Peter will be back lol. I get what you mean... his take on Spidey's verse isn't spectacular by any stretch, but personally, i dig his stuff. It's fun to read and always has me smiling =D

They're both garbage.

@baberaham_lincoln: Well O'k, to each his own.