Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Fictional history of Spider-Man

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Cleaning the article up is an editorial issue, not a deletion issue. Shereth 17:07, 3 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fictional history of Spider-Man[edit]

Per WP:NOT. Same reasons as Fictional history of Wolverine. Another in-universe "Fictional biography" with no real world context. Jonny2x4 (talk) 04:28, 28 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Merge as this is actually what people looking up Spider-Man would probably be in part looking up. 70.55.86.157 (talk) 04:33, 28 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Keep/merge The various Spiderman storylines are notable as can been seen from a quick search. This article has been spun off from the main Spiderman article for reasons of length and style so the only sensible alternative is to merge it back there. This would be pointless and disruptive churning so we should just focus on improving the article per WP:IMPERFECT. Colonel Warden (talk) 09:04, 28 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Main article is a massively broad subject that justifies the numerous articles spun off for length and style. Ford MF (talk) 12:50, 28 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This debate has been included in the list of Comics and animation-related deletion discussions. —Ford MF (talk) 12:58, 28 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Keep Plainly a breakout article, and as there are whole non-fiction books written about the character, I have to imagine that sourcing this is easy. Hobit (talk) 17:09, 28 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Delete This is a pure plot summary. That can't be edited away. --Phirazo 02:17, 29 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. If this is merged, it will clutter the main article, and if it's deleted, much valuable information will be lost. S. Dean Jameson 02:22, 29 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- These are both arguments to avoid, specifically better here than there and Wikipedia should be about everything. You should demonstrate how this article meets the policies and guidelines of Wikipedia, not simply argue that "the information will be lost". --Phirazo 17:09, 29 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  - You've brought it up several times, but "arguments to avoid" is neither policy nor guideline; it's merely an essay. It is very often helpful in AfD, but is by no means definitive. Ford MF (talk) 22:57, 29 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    I agree. I've only been visiting AfDs for a short time, but this is the most commonly overused reasoning for a "delete" comment. We can't confuse essays (no matter how much sense they make) with actual policy. S. Dean Jameson 00:52, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    - Many people agree with WP:ATA. It isn't a policy or a guideline, but it is good advice. Besides, "better here than there" is always a bad reason to keep an article; we shouldn't be creating articles to act as rubbish piles for other articles. --Phirazo 02:43, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      And the fact that you think this article is acting as a "rubbish heap" shows why we don't treat essays the same way we do policy. S. Dean Jameson 02:46, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Large articles will have natural outgrowths as they attain an elephantine size undesirable in an encyclopedia summary. That doesn't make those new articles "rubbish". Ford MF (talk) 02:53, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Like Wonder Woman and Wolverine, Spider-man is an icon in his own right, and his history is notable on its own merits. There's precedence for such articles at Jason Voorhees and Pauline Fowler, etc. and Spider-man is far more important and iconic than those two characters. Clearly the page as-is needs retooling to include a "real world" tone, but even if it were just a collection of chronological links to the individual storylines, it would be serving an incredibly valid purpose... ntnon (talk) 03:42, 29 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment - Since the current consensus favors keeping this article, keep in mind this doesn't mean that it needs to stay unchanged. It has to be rewritten to comfort with a non-in-universe perspective as perWP:WAF. Jonny2x4 (talk) 15:33, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- I don't think there's anything about a consensus of "keep" that implies the article be frozen in time. All Wikipedia articles are open to improvement. Ford MF (talk) 18:13, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- & someone else said it, but WP:SOFIXIT. Instead of slapping deletion noms on the article, make the change you want to see. --mordicai. (talk) 18:21, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Per the consensus-- breakout articles with notable info on notable characters add to Wikipedia. They don't subtract from it. --mordicai. (talk) 18:21, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Keep, or merge back into Spider-Man. BOZ (talk) 23:42, 1 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.