Since a young age, Ace has been obsessed with writing and telling stories. Since 2004, he has split his time between writing and publishing Masterpiece Comics, and publishing the online magazine The Written Word, a place where he has tried to give other writers a voice.
Beyond Masterpiece Comics and The Written Word, he has written for other small press comic companies and wrote numerous short stories, the most recently of which, He Waited, was published by Long Story Short. In 2008, he branched out further by writing the play Fallen by the Numbers, produced by Cloverleaf Productions.
Recently, in addition to his writing, Ace has turned his hand toward acting and was cast in the lead of the short film Five Minutes for the Phoenix 24 Hour Film Challenge.
2009 is shaping up to be a great year, with new and better opportunities that Ace is fully embracing.
Spinning a Positive Web
By Ace Masters
Goodbye Sam. See you later Tobey. Hasta la vista Kristen.
Well, in place of what was supposed to be the column I planned on writing, I instead have decided to throw my two cents into the three-ring circus that has popped up in the last week since the announcement that Spider-Man 4 will no longer be made – in terms of the previous films continuity.
I am jumping on the bandwagon because a number of people have asked me my opinion on this subject, and since this is the hot topic, and this is an opinion based column on a comic book site, I figured I should write it here.
So, here it goes, when I heard this announcement I didn't believe it. I had to do a little searching to see if it was true. When I found out it was I was upset – for about ten seconds. Then I moved on.
I really wasn't all that bothered by it. Why? I had lived without a Spider-Man movie for thirty years, and for all that time the comic books where enough. A Spidey story on a monthly, or weekly, basis beats a two-hour movie every three years.
Besides, there will be another Spider-Man movie; we will just have to wait longer for it and it won't involve Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire or Kristen Dunst. They gave us two good films – and a third one – so I would be thankful for that.
But all this brings me to two points I would like to make.
The first point: all the so-called Spider-Man fans that are up in arms over this. 
What portion of the outraged fans are the true die hard Spidey fans? How many are just fans of the movies and have never read the comics? Furthermore, how many are just Sam Raimi fans?
Let's face it; more people have seen the movies than the one-hundred thousand to two-hundred thousand who read the comic books on a regular basis.
I define "true" fans as the ones who have grown up reading the comics and will continue to read them even though there will be no fourth Raimi/Maguire Spider-Man. It's not like this is the end of Spider-Man, far from it. While they may not like it, I don't think they are the large portion of fans that are vocal in their displeasure.
Personally, I think those who are the most vocal in their displeasure are largely fans of just the movies and of Raimi himself. At least that is how it breaks down with the majority of people I know.
Now, before someone want to call me out there as a "fake" fan because I'm not up-in-arms over this, I want to mention a name: Nicolas Hammond. If you know who this is, I salute you as a true Spider-Man fan.
If you don't, you should. He has a special place in Spider-Man history. Look him up.
Now, onto my second point and what this column is about: Comic Books.
While everyone seems to see a negative in this development, I see a positive, if handled correctly by Marvel and Disney. This can, and should, affect the Spider-Man comics in a positive and healthy manner. Marvel's PR department should take the old adage "there is no such thing as bad news" and jump on this situation with one statement to the entire world:
Never fear! Spider-Man comics are still here.
Yes, this whole situation can be turned into a good thing. At the very minimum an attempt can be made to turn it into a positive and capitalize on all the buzz this has developed.
This is a perfect opportunity to bring in an entirely new readership base. The same fan base I mentioned above: those who are just fans of the movies and/or Raimi who have never read the comics.
How do you do this? Press releases and official announcements from Marvel on their stance, anything it takes to get this simple message across:
Upset by the announcement of the cancellation of Spider-Man 4? Don't want to wait three years for the next Spider-Man movie? Solution! Don't wait a second longer! Get your Spider-Man fix now at your local comic book shop on a weekly basis!
And with Disney's considerable resources, reach and almost cult like followers, I'm sure together they can spin this and use it to help bring in new readers.
This is a perfect chance to mine all the Spider-Man news, remind the public consciousness of the comics and bring in a new readership.
Next time will be the column I planned on this time around. Unless some other breaking news comes forth.
For now I leave you with this thought:
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