Now Iron Man is the flagship character...

What are Marvel doing?!

http://www.comicvine.com/articles/invincible-iron-man-1-comes-to-comic-shops-for-lau/1100-153087/

I still have All New All Different Amazing Spiderman #1 in October beats The Invincible Iron Man #1

I mean calling Iron Man 'the most recognizable super hero on the planet.' is ridiculous!

They will hype up every character they try to promote. Lets take notes here Iron Man has one series, plus one avengers team. Spiderman has a solo, a team-up with Deadpool, an avengers team, plus ultimate spiderman with a solo and an avengers team, plus spider gwen, plus silk, plus web warrior, plus carnage, plus venom - spaceknight, plus spidey isn't even in the mcu yet. I think its quite obvious where marvel expects the money to come from.

@stahlflamme: I just don't like how they are trying to make Iron Man seem better than Spiderman.

Spiderman is the hero of heroes, he's an amazing character, I hope Dan Slott can actually wow the readers.

Actually, Marvel confirmed this weekend Iron Man is getting two books.

Robert Downey Jr. is the flagship character.

Spider man movies haven't generated the hype iron man movies have so it makes sense.

Civil War should generate some hype...

They should have been doing this round the time Iron Man 2 was going out, I feel like they missed the boat.

Once Robert is gone, Spiderman will return.

@jayc1324: Agreed. Don't get me wrong I like Iron Man but it's really RDJ that is giving the character it's juice.

Ironman is undeniably the flagship character as of now. But let's see if Spider-Man coming to the MCU can switch that. In terms of most recognisable Superman, Batman, Spider-Man & Hulk have him beat.

@stahlflamme: two series. They haven't given details but it's confirmed he'll have two. I get your point though.

@stahlflamme: They are trying to sell some Iron Man parts so people can build their own Iron Man :/

Looks like the money will be coming from Iron Man merchandise.

Honestly, Marvel's publicity stunt is not working. We can all see where the real money is still coming from (and always will be) and that is Spidey. No matter how much Marvel pushes Miles, or Tony, or ALL the Avengers together, they just can't beat good ol' Peter Parker.

Screw you Marvel execs.

@blackspidey2099 said:

Honestly, Marvel's publicity stunt is not working. We can all see where the real money is still coming from (and always will be) and that is Spidey. No matter how much Marvel pushes Miles, or Tony, or ALL the Avengers together, they just can't beat good ol' Peter Parker.

Screw you Marvel execs.

^^^^THIS^^^^

Yes! Screw Marvel for pushing another character!

Nobody wants Iron! More Spiders!

The movies have always dictated the comics for Marvel. Remember when Spidey had organic web shooters? Direct quote from Tom Breevoort "at this point in time, a larger audience is more familiar with a Spider-Man with organic webshooters than without." Or how about when they shoehorned in Marcus Johnson as Nick Fury when they could have just waited till the 616 and Ultimate universe merged. The only thing that surprises me about Tony now being the center of the universe is that Marvel didn't act on it sooner.

@longbowhunter: Does Rogue losing her Ms. Marvel powers count?

@xwraith: I don't know so much about that, but maybe.

@longbowhunter said:

Indeed!

Anyway, Peter still is number one, no matter how hard Marvel tries to push Tony. Not that I mind, I'd say Tony is my favorite hero that isn't from the spideyverse.

After Spidey's movie, everything will be cool again.
... Except if the movie sucks.

@amazingfantasy: Yeah, I really have no dog in this fight. I read a lot of Spider-Man growing up and Tony and Civil War helped bring me back to comics in my 20's. I don't read much of either character now. But I think it's pretty silly even though numbers show movies do not increase comic sales, Marvel insists on their books being steered by them.

Well the most profitable Spidey movie is arguably considered the worst now, so I don't think quality matters to some people. The movie will make a mint based off the "Marvel can use him" momentum

IM is nothing compared to Spider-Man. No matter how much Marvel spins it.

I like Rogue with her old Ms. Marvel powers. Too bad they got rid of it.

Marvel doesn't actually believe that

that's why there will be at least 7 Spider based titles (by my count) and 1 Iron title

Well at one time DC' s flagship character was Superman, and now it's Batman.

It happens.

Iron Man May ne the flagship character at the moment, but even in this short time, with Robert Downey Jr. As Tony, Cap is getting more popular than him and now with Spidey in the MCU, he is getting back to his old popularity, in a few years.

@blackspidey2099 said:

True, true. Nicely said.
Thank god Peter sells well. That's the only language they understand. :p

He sells well, and ASM will probably still rank higher than Invincible Iron Man will because public perception of Peter being the top hero will never truly die, but I think Bendis ultimately will have the better written book. I know I really enjoyed that first issue of Iron Man over ASM.

Peter Parker/Spider-Man is and well always be the flagship character of Marvel.

^^^^^TRUE^^^^^

I agree, but at the end of the day, the MCU is generating mega-tons more cash than the print division can ever hope for and the main key factor is RDJ's Iron Man. Not sure that Tom Holland is going to be able to compete against that.

@magnetic_eye: Your not wrong at all, but I think well have to wait and see. Spider-Man is what made all this possible for Marvel, yeah sure RDJ's Iron Man might be the hotshot now. But Spider-Man is the true king of Marvel, his the People's Champ.

@magnetic_eye: That's true, especially when we consider Iron Man 3 made more money than ANY other superhero solo movie. But you have to remember that it's not just about movies and comics. We have games, toys, (And even if it wasn't as much as IM, Spidey's movies still made money) etc. IIRC, there were news saying that Spider-man is the world's most profitable hero. So, there's all of that to take into consideration.

^^^^^Yeah, I guess that's true too^^^^^

I hope you're wrong... I really enjoy Spidey and frankly cannot stomach Iron Man since the movies started. There's something about RDJ that always rubbed me the wrong way.

@jayc1324: That and a good 1st Iron Man film. If the new Spidey film hits a 6 they will go back to Spider-man.

RDJ has popularized Tony Stark by playing him with a snarky edge, making witty sarcastic remarks, which was a little different from his comic book characterization until the MCU. I thought it worked well in IM1, but I too have grown a little weary with some of the forced sarcastic humor in ensuing films.

I hope I'm wrong too as I prefer Spider-Man, but as my opinion stated, it seems as though Marvel are making this decision based on the MCU generating mega-tons more cash than the comics print division.

Marvel is trying to make Peter Parker, as the new ASM #1 states, the "poor man's Tony Stark," so....Peter Parker....Tony Stark....they're both gonna be the same very soon. While I like the new direction Dan Slott is trying in ASM, I don't think it'll matter who is Marvel's flagship character when they're going to practically be the same anyway (y'know, outside of names, suits and powers).

Spider-man fans have nothing to worry about. Spider-man isn't just Marvel's flagship character, he IS Marvel. That's why on the 75th anniversary covers, Spidey was at the forefront.

With Iron Man, Marvel is clearly trying to capitilize on the movie version's popularity. And that's not wrong, it's good business sense. Iron Man is the most popular of the Avengers, and RDJ has embodied and elevated Tony Stark to a better position than in the comics. Stark, especially as of recent, hasn't been written that well (an out of character douchebag), so obviously Marvel is trying to fix his character and the way the fans percieve him.

@martianmanhunterisbetterthancy:

Regards Tony Stark , isn't that the whole point of the character. That unlike say Bruce Wayne, the whole Jet setting playboy arsehole routine is not just a cover persona but who he is, who is also a hero saving the world.

Its a brief fad...once RDJ stops playing Iron Man, the character will fade a little into the background...

Spiderman will ALWAYS be Marvel's number one and I put Hulk in second place with Captain America...

@martianmanhunterisbetterthancy: Excellently and extremely well said.

No problem.They have made Peter Parker the new Tony Stark already.

@zarius: spider-man has like 15... 2 books is nothing

@stahlflamme: Ok so, Spider-Man takes the cake in that department, he is popular and even though I personally always found him to be an over-rated super hero, I bought his comics because they were always top-notch. But why is he so popular? That i cant understand. Captain America is the most ideal hero of Marvel Universe (and without a doubt my favorite). Yet even here in the US (where his roots go deepest amongst the tradition & pop-culture), his comics dont sell like SM's (partially thanks to that nitwit Joe Quesada killing him off, then replacing him with someone whose not even the same skin color.

...Stay classy fella.

People looking for ideal superheroes first choice is usually superman, before DC decided he had to be not only relateable, but also super dark. Than you have the normal human who fights abnormal threats, who is Batman. Spider-Man is the relateable human, who tries to be the most ideal hero he can be. He was created as a growing character that would make mistakes learn and evolve from the outcast to a hero, but that was before Marvel decided that he should just be the insecure teenager, who never grows up, but by that time he already was popular enought to get several adaptation in other media for years to feed his fanbase.