Usually Dan Slott just gets into debates with the Bleeding Cool message boards. You know the folk who think that he should really stop writing Spider-Man because everyone hates it, despite it constantly putting on sales.

But yesterday, he decided to take that to Twitter… and Twitlonger. Warning, there are spoilers for Batman #28.

Dear @richjohnston & @bleedingcool, please stop posting spoilers– ESPECIALLY the last pages– of books on the day they come out. It is a terrible practice and it makes it harder and harder for storytellers to deliver ANY kind of surprises to the readers. If you think ANYONE who worked on BATMAN #28 appreciated what you did last Wednesday, you're 100% wrong. Period. End stop. There was absolutely NO need to post that full page scan of the end of their book– before everyone in the U.S. market even had a CHANCE to go to a store and pick up a physical copy. It doesn't matter how many spoiler warnings you put up on your site. You're disseminating that image to your readers– who will then go out and spread it around the web. You know that. It's just bad form. Please stop. If you care about this industry, these characters, and the people who make these comics– let storytellers do their job and TRY to deliver surprises once in a while DURING the stories they're telling. I don't care if other sites get these images out. Or if there are other places on the web where people can find them first. WHO CARES? Your site gets traffic anyway. You don't need the extra clicks that badly. Please show some restraint. Please exhibit courtesy towards both the people who make the comics and the readers who don't wish to see things spoiled ahead of time. At least please wait till the people who have 9-to-5 jobs have a chance to go to their comic shops after work, and read the issues themselves before you go spoiling any of the endings. Please.

Now, Dan Slott was wrong about the circumstances in which that post came about and made some erroneous assumptions, but to be fair, he wasn't in a position to know any different.

But here's the thing. The post in question reflected a comic book that had been published and picked up from a comic store, in the UK. It reflected a genuine news story, a character appearing who had been repeatedly denied existence by the publisher, removed from appearance after appearance and declared toxic. The reappearance of the character was a genuine news story and deserved reporting. But should Bleeding Cool have waited? The story had been published for several hours on ComXology at the point. Newsarama waited until 11am ET (8am PT) to run the story, after New York stores were open (but before California stores were).

So, the Twitter conversation was set. Here are some highlights.

@DanSlott Dan, you are making some incorrect assumptions. I have emailed you. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@MhmdFzSalmon @DanSlott We had no spoiler in the headline that was recognisable as one, and a large spoiler warning — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott Such spoilers are run, very very occasionally, where we believe they are newsworthy or serve a greater purpose. But always flagged — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott Anyone who reads them has to go through layers of spoiler warnings, and they are aimed at people who would not buy the comic. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott And we also do consult with creators when we can. Sometimes we get it wrong. But we avoid gratuitous spoiling for the sake of it. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

.@richjohnston So your argument is– you could REALLY ruin everything if you wanted. So we should thank you for only ruining SOME stuff? :-/ — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

@Scott_MDavis It's a highly trafficked site. When it opens the gate, you can't stop their followers from spreading the info to other sites. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott CBR has higher traffic than BC. What was your Twitlonger telling them to stop this kind of headline? http://t.co/OBk8IIxuzl — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@GrooCheeseDip @DanSlott Not at Bleeding Cool. Compare how we behaved to other sites over the recent Peter Parker news, for example. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott I know. I often see BC spoilers getting reposted on other forums. It sucks. — Scott M Davis (@Scott_MDavis) February 16, 2014

@richjohnston Why NOT wait until people have the chance to BUY the comics? Why do it the morning of? — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott We ran the last page of the last issue of Green Team. Three times as many people read that than bought the previous issue. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott And we also say to people that if they have any interest in buying the comic first, then do so. There are layers of warnings. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott And the thread had posts by a number of people who wouldn't have bought the comic, but now are. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott And even in those very very occasional spoilers, we only give away a small amount, and leave the rest as undiscovered country. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott I'm told that really helped shift copies to an audience who would have been unaware. But it ran because it was very newsworthy. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@richjohnston wouldn't it have been just as newsworthy 9 hours later? — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott No it does not. But you were talking about BCs prominence before. If this is the issue, I suggest you direct your ire against them — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@richjohnston "Layers of warnings" doesn't stop people from taking information and images from your site and disseminating it w/o warnings. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

@MarcFBR Marvel/DC etc. CHOOSE when to spoil w/ their characters/properties. That is NOT the case w/ RIch. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

@JohnBetz It would've been different in that Marvel owns the characters & material & it's their choice as a company. Not the case for RIch. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott @JK_McCoy I've never believed that you can only report on news with permission of the subject. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@richjohnston @Brennanator I'm sorry. Was that before or after Bleeding Cool had spoiled it HOURS EARLIER. Please stop. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 17, 2014

.@richjohnston @xJatmanx Fortunately none of the people who purchase the book are psychics who can post spoilers BEFORE they go on sale. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

I don't think it's a "disingenuous" position that a site that's NOT associated w/ the companies should spoil books B4 readers can buy them. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott @kingofallgeeks @redhero Thank you Dan, for making me responsible for the entire internet. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

@DanSlott Dan, are you responsible for me posting what I do? After all I read it in a comic without ANY spoiler warnings — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 16, 2014

Done arguing, Rich. All other arguments aside, this still holds true: When YOU spoil stories, the spoilers spread faster. Please stop. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 16, 2014

.@richjohnston If you know you're PART of the real problem, then it was worth it. Please don't be PART of the problem. You don't have to be. — Dan Slott (@DanSlott) February 17, 2014

@DanSlott Only if the studio had previously erased sleds from movies and declared that the used of sleds in movies was toxic. — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 17, 2014

@RobTerj @DanSlott If they wanted to be surprised they wouldn't click on something with big spoiler warnings — Rich Johnston (@richjohnston) February 17, 2014

@DanSlott @richjohnston @bleedingcool Its funny. The only reason I even bought Batman 28 was because I saw the last page on Bleeding Cool. — David Goodman (@PhillyGuyDave) February 17, 2014

So how does it end? As ever the readers decide.

That was a great twitter fest with @DanSlott schooling @richjohnston on spoilers. A real denial of responsibility with this one. Good stuff — Matthew Szewczyk (@matesamo) February 17, 2014

I'm pretty sure I just watched @richjohnston own half the internet and industry. — ❖ jeremy shane ❖ (@jeremyshane) February 17, 2014

So no conclusion there then. The big question of course is this… which between me and Dan Slott, is starting to sound more and more like John Byrne?

And you're the actual readers of Bleeding Cool. What do you think?

Fanboy Rampage was a blog by Graeme McMillan dedicated to the funniest, most ludicrous and most inappropriate comic book back-and-forths online. McMillan has moved on now, becoming a proper journalist for the likes of Newsarama and Spinoff but he gave permission to Bleeding Cool to revive his great creation. Feel free to contribute your own spots of online excess.