Superior Spider-Man: If You Don’t Like it, Why Engage?

Following the release yesterday of Amazing Spider-Man #700 and the attendant internet-breaking fury by a segment of the fandom, I’ve been thinking a lot about why it is that, while I didn’t particularly like the issue and am not crazy about the direction, I can’t get myself worked up over it. I think I’ve figured it out–and it’s something I thought might be of some value to share with our readers.I stopped buying Spider-Man comics after One More Day, and the events of Amazing Spider-Man #700/Superior Spider-Man won’t bring me back. I stopped for the same reason, and in the same way, that I stopped reading Superman in 1999 or 2000 when Jeph Loeb and company took over from the Jurgens/Simonson regime: it just wasn’t the character I knew, or cared about, or wanted to read anymore. I didn’t want to see college-aged Pete whoring around any more than I wanted to see an endless parade of stories about Krypton.I threw no great temper tantrum, had no compulsion to scream at DC Comics that they’ve somehow “ruined” the title for me. Just…I stopped buying. It’s worth noting that if you’re really in the majority, this behavior alone should right the ship. If, as Slott has suggested on Twitter, there are far more readers supportive of where he’s taking the story than those fighting it, perhaps you’re overreacting.I’d heard all the maniacal ranting from the people who insisted John Byrne and Marv Wolfman had ruined the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman, and I’d rolled my eyes and thought they had their turn with the biggest, best toy in the box and to stop being such a lunatic about somebody else having a shot with it. It would be hypocritical of me not to recognize that in this business, fifteen or so years between Man of Steel and the end of Louise Simonson’s run is a damned good stretch of time to have your way.