Kirk Langstrom
FRANCINE!!!!
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If you trip through the history of Spider-Man, there are a few areas that are
slightly less trod than others. Once such area is going to get some attention starting in January with Spider-Man: With Great Power, a five issue miniseries by David Lapham and Tony Harris.
As editor Warren Simons explained, the story fills in a gap that was there, but yet, not well explored, that is, Spider-Man as the media sensation.
David came up with this idea and pitched it to me a few years back, and I thought it was absolutely tremendous, Simons said. If you flip through Amazing Fantasy #15, you see all these great newspaper headlines: SPIDERMAN WINS SHOWBIZ AWARD, SPIDERMAN PLAYS TO PACKED HOUSE, and WHO IS SPIDERMAN? As Stan wrote in the same issue, Now anybody with the intelligence of a seven year old knows that if a man appeared on TV who seemed to be more spider than human, hed be an overnight sensation! I mean, this is great stuff, and theres a lot of fertile ground to explore there. How crazy was Peters life at this point in time? Living with Ben and May, going to high school, adjusting to these remarkable powers and becoming a national celebrity at the same time? The kids got a full plate. So its a great idea on that front. And I also loved the idea because I was interested in seeing what David had to say about Peters life before Uncle Bens death. We all know the story; we all know that the crushing blow that was the Great Responsibility part of the equation. So I thought it would be a lot of fun to take a look at Peters life when it was just With Great Power After the bite, but before Bens death. And David and Tony have really been doing some tremendous work here.
The miniseries will fall under Marvels Marvel Knights imprint, which a perfect home for the project, given its tone, Simons said. I think its a perfect fit for the Knights imprint, as it fits, tonally with JMS and Esads Silver Surfer: Requiem, and Carmine and Zebs Daredevil: Battlin Jack Murdock.
For Lapham, the roots of the project go back to simply wanting to work with Simons again.
After doing Daredevil vs. Punisher, Warren and I were looking for something else to do - I wanted to work on a big character, but I in a way where I wasnt tied to what was going on in twenty other books - Im not so much a continuity guy, the writer said. That stuff just hurts my head. So my thought was, whos bigger and cooler than Spider Man? As Warren said, theres this panel in Amazing Fantasy #15, on page 9 right between Spidey letting the thief run by him and right before Uncle Ben gets killed. One panel where theres a bunch of headlines telling us about how famous Spider Mans become doing the wrestling and Tonight Show circuit. The caption reads, In the days that follow, Spider Man becomes the sensation of the Nation. Its a very unspecified period of time. Weeks? Months? We dont know. Theres a lot of room for play in that panel. I read it as: this is where Peter Parker lives life in the fast lane. This is where he gets a big head. Gets a taste of money and girls for the first time. This is the salad days. These are the Lapham days with Spider Manthe Stray Bullets days.
Course then the needles and hookers started coming out and they had to reign me back in, but still thats where the really fun stuff comes in. This is Peter before With great power comes great responsibility ruled his life. It wasnt just Uncle Ben getting capped. That was the event that brought it all together, that stopped his destructive path, but Spidey was a rock star. He had that taste of the sweet life, baby. And you know what? If Pete hadnt let that damn bugler run by him, maybe Uncle Bend still be alive and maybe, just maybe, Peted still be out there livin it up with Mic and Kieth and Snoop Dog or whomever. And then maybe Idve gotten my hookers and needles.
Gee thanks a lot Uncle Ben .
As editor Warren Simons explained, the story fills in a gap that was there, but yet, not well explored, that is, Spider-Man as the media sensation.
David came up with this idea and pitched it to me a few years back, and I thought it was absolutely tremendous, Simons said. If you flip through Amazing Fantasy #15, you see all these great newspaper headlines: SPIDERMAN WINS SHOWBIZ AWARD, SPIDERMAN PLAYS TO PACKED HOUSE, and WHO IS SPIDERMAN? As Stan wrote in the same issue, Now anybody with the intelligence of a seven year old knows that if a man appeared on TV who seemed to be more spider than human, hed be an overnight sensation! I mean, this is great stuff, and theres a lot of fertile ground to explore there. How crazy was Peters life at this point in time? Living with Ben and May, going to high school, adjusting to these remarkable powers and becoming a national celebrity at the same time? The kids got a full plate. So its a great idea on that front. And I also loved the idea because I was interested in seeing what David had to say about Peters life before Uncle Bens death. We all know the story; we all know that the crushing blow that was the Great Responsibility part of the equation. So I thought it would be a lot of fun to take a look at Peters life when it was just With Great Power After the bite, but before Bens death. And David and Tony have really been doing some tremendous work here.
The miniseries will fall under Marvels Marvel Knights imprint, which a perfect home for the project, given its tone, Simons said. I think its a perfect fit for the Knights imprint, as it fits, tonally with JMS and Esads Silver Surfer: Requiem, and Carmine and Zebs Daredevil: Battlin Jack Murdock.
For Lapham, the roots of the project go back to simply wanting to work with Simons again.
After doing Daredevil vs. Punisher, Warren and I were looking for something else to do - I wanted to work on a big character, but I in a way where I wasnt tied to what was going on in twenty other books - Im not so much a continuity guy, the writer said. That stuff just hurts my head. So my thought was, whos bigger and cooler than Spider Man? As Warren said, theres this panel in Amazing Fantasy #15, on page 9 right between Spidey letting the thief run by him and right before Uncle Ben gets killed. One panel where theres a bunch of headlines telling us about how famous Spider Mans become doing the wrestling and Tonight Show circuit. The caption reads, In the days that follow, Spider Man becomes the sensation of the Nation. Its a very unspecified period of time. Weeks? Months? We dont know. Theres a lot of room for play in that panel. I read it as: this is where Peter Parker lives life in the fast lane. This is where he gets a big head. Gets a taste of money and girls for the first time. This is the salad days. These are the Lapham days with Spider Manthe Stray Bullets days.
Course then the needles and hookers started coming out and they had to reign me back in, but still thats where the really fun stuff comes in. This is Peter before With great power comes great responsibility ruled his life. It wasnt just Uncle Ben getting capped. That was the event that brought it all together, that stopped his destructive path, but Spidey was a rock star. He had that taste of the sweet life, baby. And you know what? If Pete hadnt let that damn bugler run by him, maybe Uncle Bend still be alive and maybe, just maybe, Peted still be out there livin it up with Mic and Kieth and Snoop Dog or whomever. And then maybe Idve gotten my hookers and needles.
Gee thanks a lot Uncle Ben .
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