Comics Interview with Tom DeFalco

[Galactus]

BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO
Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man shows how Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker deal with being new parents and dad's extra-curricular nocturnal activities. The series appears monthly in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Family. Each issue contains a new story from Amazing Spider-Girl's creative team of Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema. DeFalco said these stories are for the readers who "only know [Spider-Man] as being married and they want him to continue to be married ...."


THE PULSE: You've worked on the Spider-Man and related family of characters for many years; what kind of void do you think the new Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man feature is filling in today's market?

TOM DeFALCO: I think a lot of readers were disappointed when Marvel decided to dissolve the marriage between the Peter and Mary Jane Parker. Older readers like me remember when Peter was single. A lot of other readers only know him as being married and they want him to continue to be married. This feature is for them.

THE PULSE: Why can't you just tell some untold tales of May before she was Spider-Girl in the pages of Spider-Girl? What does including them here mean for you?

DeFALCO: Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man isn’t about Spider-Girl. It’s about Peter and Mary Jane, a young couple with a baby. Yes, the baby will eventually grow up to be Spider-Girl, but she isn’t the focus of the series. The fact that Pete happens to be Spider-Man and his wife knows, supports and aides his web-swinging is the focus of Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man, According to current Marvel history, Peter and Mary Jane were never married. We set Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man in Spider-Girl’s timeline because they’re still married there.



THE PULSE: Are you hoping that having stories of Spider-Girl in a format like this is going to get even more attention to the series and possibly new readers?

DeFALCO: I think a lot of Spider-Man fans will only support a series if Peter Parker is the star. Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man fills that bill. While Pete and Mary Jane appear in Spider-Girl, their daughter is the star of that series. Who knows? Maybe some Amazing Spider-Girl fans will read the Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man, because they already like the kind of stories that Ron Frenz and I produce. Maybe some Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man readers will enjoy the feature enough to give Amazing Spider-Girl a try. Anything is possible.



THE PULSE: It would seem this story is very open to new readers, a story of life with the Parkers, before May discovered her abilities, but what were the biggest challenges of figuring out what you wanted to spotlight here?

DeFALCO: The biggest challenge is to produce a complete story in eleven pages that is totally accessible to any reader and requires little or no knowledge of any past continuity on their part. Ron Frenz and I are enjoying the challenge and we hope the readers will like the stories.

THE PULSE: A lot of people like slice of life tales, but just as many -- if not more -- prefer their superhero comics with, well, a lot of superhero action in them. How is this going to satisfy both types of readers?

DeFALCO: We are going to have plenty of both in pretty equal measure. Ron and I believe that character is revealed through action so we generally produce character-driven stories with plenty of action.


THE PULSE: A lot of people are heroes whether they have powers or not. Do you think with May's parentage; she would have been a hero whether she got her powers or not? Do you think it was kind of her destiny?



DeFALCO: That’s a question we try to answer every month in Amazing Spider-Girl.

THE PULSE: What do you enjoy the most about still working on May Parker's adventures?

DeFALCO: She’s a fun character with a great supporting cast. I also get to visit with Pete and Mary Jane on a regular basis and I’m so happy to see that they’re still living happily ever after. (Well, sometimes.)

THE PULSE: Are you working on other issues of Amazing Spider-Man Family? If so, what's coming up next for you in these pages?



DeFALCO: Ron Frenz and I are scheduled to be the regular creative team on Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man, and we plan to visit a lot of our favorite Spider-Man villains along the way. If you liked our previous run on Amazing Spider-Man, you may enjoy this one.

THE PULSE: Speaking of Peter Parker's baby girl, what's coming up in Amazing Spider-Girl this summer?

DeFALCO: A lot of angst.

THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?

DeFALCO: I’ve decided to build an ark.

 

[kainedamo]

This is definately something I have to pick up.

 

[UK_Stu]

yep, sounds good. I wasn't sure initially about this title, as I'm not a regular Spider-girl reader, but hearing what the focus of the book is on means I probably will pick this up.

 

[wolvie2020]

Looks wicked. This is EXACTLY what Marvel needed to do... Especially as I'm now a fan of both married Peter as well as single, this works out really well for me

 

[shinlyle]

Well, I will be adding a Spidey book to my pull list!

Really, I would love it if this were it's own series. A monthly that allows Peter and MJ to continue their lives. What a concept.


O fcourse, for those of you who don't read Amazing Spider-Girl, for shame!!!

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

This is why I feel DeFalco is one of the BEST SPIDEY WRITERS EVER. It's why his book was saved from cancellation THREE TIMES. Not only does he do old-school with a fresh feel, he knows what fans want and gives it to 'em. I'm just surprised Marvel let him go against the grain like that.

I enjoyed that surprising story in ASMF #1, an' now that I know it's an ongoing saga I'm thrilled. Shame I hafta shell out $5 fer 11 pages off goodness in the Spidey-verse.

 

[kguillou]

I'm down for a Mr. and Mrs. Spiderman series, i hope Defalco is allowed to use previous continuity in his stories to make it really feel like a continuation of Peter's 616 marriage.

 

[spiderfan970]

They should just make spider-man family about peter and mj married, that way we get a longer story. I'd gladly fork over 4 or 5 bucks to read about them in that format every month.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

Huh. Sounds cool--been wanting to get more into Spider-Girl too. Not to mention Question, and Gotham Central, and Daredevil, and Transmetropolitan, and...

...

My wallet sobs at night.

 

[shinlyle]

Well, I finally got to read this, and DAMN, it was good. I honestly think there should be an ongoing entitled "Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man". Watching how Peter reacts to having a wife and daughter at home and the new pressures it adds to his life is like seeing where the Spider-books SHOULD be. I added this book to my pull list without hesitation.

Also, the issue sold out. My LCS owner said alot of people were just buying it for that story!

Also, did anyone else think it funny that only one of the stories in the book even referenced BND? One had Peter before he would have been married, one had Peter as a chimp, one was about BND, and the remaining two had Peter and MJ together. There may have been one more with BND stuff in it, but I haven't gotten around to reading all the stories yet.

 

[Spider-Gnome]

I think this series deserves more attention!

It was the route I was hoping for in 1996.

Basically, I think the idea is it follows 616, but when it comes to Aunt May returning, it is actually Baby May Spidey finds. Then during the whole Final Chapter/Gathering of the Five, the Green Goblin dies and Spidey loses a leg and is forced to hang up the webs, as described in Spider-Girl. This series takes place between those two events.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

The MC2-verse is how I always wanted Marvel to go stemming from the 90s. But, instead, they did reboots and retcons gallore and missed out on lotsa good storytelling...which we're gettin' now.