Marvel Comics Writer Dan Slott Begs Retailers To Order Issue #2 In Apparent Frustration Over Comic Sales

While several influencers and comic pros have been saying that the comic industry is going well, Dan Slott has all but admitted that Marvel Comics is canceling books after 5 issues for the most part because of sales, showing that readers are checking out of mainstream comics more than ever before.

Slott gave an interview on the Word Balloon podcast, giving an impassioned plea, which his tone both voiced frustration and seemed to imply that things are not going so well. In this, he’s referring to Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a limited series where he’s coming back and referencing his run from the mid-2000s, obviously with a title that capitalizes on the movie coming out by the same name.

His implication, however, is that sales aren’t going so well.

Slott says,

“If you are a, like a reader and you love reading, you know, you had fun reading my run as Spider-Man, and you want more of it. Please put this on your pull list now. The final order for our first issue is March 30th Please put this on your pull list now.

If you are a retailer, we know you’re gonna order issue number one well. No doubt everyone always does that with number one. This is me talking to you.

I need you on issue two. You know, when it’s time to put in your orders for issue two, I need you to order this like you’re ordering your Dan Slott Spider-Man comic for issue two. Instead of like, hey, there’s like 12 other books with blind bags, and I’m going to put all my money into that. We’re at a point now where Marvel is when books come out, no matter what they are, they’re lined up for five issues at a time.

And what that means is, if you don’t support the issue twos and threes, these books will go away by issue 5.”

There’s a lot to unpack in his tone and statement. The first is clearly that most people who are buying comics at this point aren’t actually reading for the stories. They’re more interested in “blind bag” collectible speculation, which is like opening packs to see if they can get a rare variant cover to get graded, than the stories. As a writer, it must be frustrating to have that be the bulk of the customer base.

There are large drop-offs for issues two and beyond because there aren’t a lot of readers anymore. People don’t care about the stories, largely because of what people like Dan Slott have done to Spider-Man and more. His Brand New Day storyline was a complete erasure of continuity, making it pointless to follow the adventures of Peter Parker as Spider-Man because everything kept getting reset. Years later, this is the consequence of his style of writing taking over the industry.

But it’s telling that Marvel is only greenlighting things for five issues at a time. There was a time when characters like Spider-Man would be able to be told in perpetuity without gimmicks, reboots, or all-new #1 issues to try to woo the collector’s market. Unfortunately, as the Dan Slotts of the world torpedoed Marvel style and continuity, those days are long gone.

This is a big warning sign for the market. If Dan Slott is begging for a Spider-Man issue #2 to garner sales amid a movie coming out that has a similar title, that bodes very ill for the rest of the line. It means the comic industry is collapsing under its own weight.

What do you think of Dan Slott’s plea? Leave a comment and let us know.

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