Comics Summer 2011: "Infested" and "Spider-Island"

[Themanofbat]

Methinks it's 6 issues...

 

[imdaly]

How many issues of ASM is Spider-Island taking up?

ASM #666 is a Prelude
ASM #667-672 is Spider-Islands Pts 1-6
ASM #673 is the Epilogue

But there are other tie-ins with this story.

Spider-Island will find its way into the following issues:
Amazing Spider-Man #666-673
Spider-Island: Daily Bugle Free Preview
Spider-Island: The Amazing Spider-Girl #1-3
Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #1-3
Spider-Island: Deadly Foes (One-Shot)
Spider-Island: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1-3
Spider-Island: Avengers (One-Shot)
Spider-Island: Spider-Woman (One-Shot)
Spider-Island: I Love New York City (One-Shot)
Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire (One-Shot)
Venom #6-8
Herc #7-8
Black Panther #524

 

[WolfCypher]

Yeah, only tie-ins I'm touching is Venom, Deadly Foes, maaaaaaybe Spider-Girl and definitely Herc (Herc as Spider-Man? )

 

[Donald Thomas]

ASM #666 is a Prelude
ASM #667-672 is Spider-Islands Pts 1-6
ASM #673 is the Epilogue

But there are other tie-ins with this story.

Spider-Island will find its way into the following issues:
Amazing Spider-Man #666-673
Spider-Island: Daily Bugle Free Preview
Spider-Island: The Amazing Spider-Girl #1-3
Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #1-3
Spider-Island: Deadly Foes (One-Shot)
Spider-Island: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1-3
Spider-Island: Avengers (One-Shot)
Spider-Island: Spider-Woman (One-Shot)
Spider-Island: I Love New York City (One-Shot)
Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire (One-Shot)
Venom #6-8
Herc #7-8
Black Panther #524

Aloha,
Something about Spider Island that attracts me. This will be the first Big Event where I'm getting most of the tie ins.Hope my hunch is right.
Spidey rules

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

My one hope for Spider-Island is that Carlie is sticking to the side of a sky-scraper when her spider-powers suddenly vanish.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

^^ I actually like the Carlie character. I'm probably in the minority.

 

[SpideyInATree]

The Carlie character is just kind of there for me. She is ok but certainly not making me wonder what will happen with her next issue. Now Norah is different I am very interested to see how the whole Norah/Randy/Phil thing turns out

 

[shinlyle]

My one hope for Spider-Island is that Carlie is sticking to the side of a sky-scraper when her spider-powers suddenly vanish.

THIS!

Ever since issue 1 of BND, I've felt this way about Gwen-Lite. They are trying SO HARD to make her interesting, and she just has no personality. She does roller-derbies, she's a cop, and she's super-smart and beautiful, but she still doesn't have that "Umph" that Gwen, MJ, or even Black Cat possess. She's just bland and lukewarm to me.


Wow....I guess that means I feel that lame people should be thrown off of skyscrapers. Kinda dark, huh?

 

[moraldeficiency]

THIS!

Ever since issue 1 of BND, I've felt this way about Gwen-Lite. They are trying SO HARD to make her interesting, and she just has no personality. She does roller-derbies, she's a cop, and she's super-smart and beautiful, but she still doesn't have that "Umph" that Gwen, MJ, or even Black Cat possess. She's just bland and lukewarm to me.


Wow....I guess that means I feel that lame people should be thrown off of skyscrapers. Kinda dark, huh?

Only if you feel that way about people in real life. In literature or any storytelling medium really, there is only one unforgivable crime and that's to be boring. The only cure for that is to kill them in an interesting way (see gwen for more on this).

 

[USMC]

Only if you feel that way about people in real life. In literature or any storytelling medium really, there is only one unforgivable crime and that's to be boring. The only cure for that is to kill them in an interesting way (see gwen for more on this).

 

[shinlyle]

Only if you feel that way about people in real life. In literature or any storytelling medium really, there is only one unforgivable crime and that's to be boring. The only cure for that is to kill them in an interesting way (see gwen for more on this).

Precisely. Gwen was a very cool character right up until ASM#90. Then she was all like, "I love you, Peter, but have I mentioned how much I HATE SPIDER-MAN, lately?!" ASM#121 was a mercy killing. They always talk like they would have gotten married, but she would have probably been the next Scorpion, Spider-Slayer, or she would have fallen in love with JJJ, at the rate she was going.

More has been done with her in SSM(cartoon), Marvels, and other stories post-mortem than was ever done in ASM#91-120. Sad.

 

[moraldeficiency]

That was a damn good cartoon. And it's an interesting character study for carlie right there. Gwen in the cartoon embraced her inner dork, which may seem boring but actually gave her character depth and likability. Whereas they've been trying desperately to inject carlie with things to make her likable (rollerderby, tattoos, ghost dads) which just make her seem boring, like that kid that tries so hard no one likes him. Carlie could have been cool if they just decided to embrace her not being cool.

 

[shinlyle]

SSM is my favorite show ever. Yeah, I went there. My daugher (Gwen) and I still watch it all the time.

I agree, if Carlie were justa nerd, she could be interesting. I'm waiting for the obligatory "drug addiction", "death", or, given recent developments, she begins wearing the Wraith outfit, and has to go against Peter as Spider-Man. Okay, the last one almost sounded interesting...in a "Batman Returns" kind of way.

 

[moraldeficiency]

It's up there. I'm also digging the hell out of Avengers currently. That show could not be done better. It's in the running with JLU for best team cartoon ever in my eyes.

 

[Infidel]

Jonah and Spider-man. Man, that was the thing that killed it for me. By 'it' I mean the whole series. After whatever The Other was supposed to be Marvel kept telling fans they had these new things for fans. Then Jonah and everyone finds out who Spider-man is. Yet Spider-man is different now and has different stuff that was introduced. Then we don't get that story about Jonah and Peter. What a great story that could of been. All we got is 'Jonah is angry'. After The Other everything was about introducing stuff and ignoring it. Later on I found out that it was called 'It doesn't matter where we are, it matters where we are gonig. Now, Jonah has the powers. Probably not, but that is what it reminds me of. I read a few Spider-man after that horrible time and not only will they never answer what 'The Other' was about or 'what would it be really like if we had a long term Jonah knows Peter is Spider-man story', it just seems like they just space it again... because it doesn't matter where we are. Oh, and Spider-man seems like a kid who doesn't know much.

I read the preview. It's like instead of them doing character driven stories, they're taking away the characters and replacing them and then saying 'this is it and that's all you get.' then filling the book up with crossovers and now 'everyone is Spider-man'.

You know, those solo Ben Reilly books where he IS spider-man are really looking good now. Very good. I have a few. They're great.

Aunt May is dead.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

The Carlie character is just kind of there for me. She is ok but certainly not making me wonder what will happen with her next issue. Now Norah is different I am very interested to see how the whole Norah/Randy/Phil thing turns out

Well, I think some people dislike her because they know her and Peter will never go further into marriage, but tbh, that doesn't really bother me. She seems kind of like a fun character.

 

[imdaly]

I read the preview. It's like instead of them doing character driven stories, they're taking away the characters and replacing them and then saying 'this is it and that's all you get.' then filling the book up with crossovers and now 'everyone is Spider-man'.

...did you even READ this week's issue??

 

[imdaly]

Slott's SPIDER-ISLAND: Everyone Does Whatever a Spider Can
15 July 2011


Since Dan Slott became solo writer of Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man at the dawn of the Big Time era that started this past November, he’s thrown a lot at Peter Parker. As is customary for the character, some good things — a new job, a new girlfriend — have come along with copious amounts of bad things, like the loss of his Spider-Sense, a re-energized Sinister Six, and the death of Marla Jameson.

Big Time is about to get even bigger when the much-hyped Spider-Island starts with August’s Amazing Spider-Man #667 (following a prelude later this month in Amazing Spider-Man #666). The concept is simple: Manhattan becomes victim to a Spider-Powered epidemic, with civilians and superheroes alike gaining abilities similar to the wallcrawler.

Beyond the core story, Spider-Island also sees several tie-in miniseries and one-shots supporting the event. At the center of it all is Slott, who told us all about the story in a recent interview — including the origins of the story, bringing back Clone Saga villain The Jackal, the art of Humberto Ramos, Spidey’s kung fu lessons from Shang-Chi, and making his hometown of New York City a major character in the story. Plus, check out tons of new art courtesy of Marvel, including October's Amazing Spider-Man #671 cover!




Newsarama: Dan, obviously a lot of subplots have been building since you took over the book in November, and Spider-Island seems like a culmination of at least some of that. Was Spider-Island part of the plan since the beginning of the Big Time direction, or did it develop later?

Dan Slott: It came later. The idea for Spider-Island came over a lunch with editor Steve Wacker, and then-assistant editor Tom Brennan, and [Marvel senior vice president of publishing] Tom Brevoort. The idea was, we worked out all the early issues of Big Time, and we knew where everything was building to, and there was this whole feeling of keeping the foot on the accelerator: "Spider-Man gets this new job! But he loses his Spider-Sense! Jonah’s wife dies! Spidey's building new tech! The Sinister Six are back! New Hobgoblin!" Everything kept building and building and building.

There's always something big coming. "Now he knows kung fu! Now he's on two superhero teams!" It just didn't stop, and the feeling was, "What's the big thing for the summer? We have to top it! We need a real blockbuster!" A whole city of Spider-Men! Because it's always about, how do we go to the nth degree one more time?


Nrama: This is also the first time you're sort of the main writer of a Marvel event, with several tie-in books surrounding it.

Slott: I am working on so much stuff right now. [Laughs.] And reading all these other scripts, and outlines, and trying to keep a handle on the big picture.

This is the biggest thing I've ever worked on. I've worked on six-part stories in the past, on Avengers, Arkham Asylum, and, on the Spidey side, New Ways to Die. But this is a six-issue story with a prologue, a fallout issue; I'm doing a Hobgoblin story with [Christos] Gage in one of the one-shots. I've never done anything like this before. It's big. It's very intimidating. But at the same time, whenever I'm feeling really scared, when I'm looking at the size of it all, I get pumped up about it, because a new page of art shows up from Humberto Ramos! And it is always awesome!

This isn't just a prelude, six issues, and an epilogue, this is the Big Time version of that. We have the prologue with Stefano Caselli in July, and the epilogue with Stefano again in November, but from August, September and October, it's concentrated — twice a month! This is how we do it "Big Time"! You're going to get your Spider-Man event, and it's going to come at you really fast! That's kind of exciting!


Nrama: And Humberto is on art for all six issues, right?

Slott: Yep. I am so impressed. The scope of this is big. It's all of Manhattan. At times we see all the New York superheroes, and different people of all shapes and sizes with spider-powers. It's crazy. There's a page we got in not too long ago where for any OTHER book it’d be a splash page — one character addressing a horde of different superheroes. You look at it and go, "That's crazy!" And that's panel FOUR! And that's Humberto! He will just go in, not take any shortcuts, and he'll get that page done, and it'll be gorgeous!


Nrama: It's pretty unheard these days of to get six issues from one artist in a span of three months.

Slott: We started way ahead of time. Lots of energy and focus have been directed just at this. I am in the Spider-Island zone. I used to wake up, sleep, eat and breathe just Spider-Man, and now it's Spider-Island!


Nrama: It seems that the core concept is a real universal one. You can tell whomever, even if they're not normal comic book readers: "There's a Spider-Man story where everyone in Manhattan gets Spider-Powers." It appeals to your inner-third grader.

Slott: The last Spider-Island plot I turned in, I'm like, "8-year-old me would be all over this!" This is just fun! These are guilty-pleasure-comics!

You hear it, you get it. There's no waffling. You get exactly what it is, and what’s the hook! As much as the city is going to be quarantined by Mayor J. Jonah Jameson, who wouldn't want to go to Manhattan if everybody is getting Spider-Powers? And we'll see that, too.


Nrama: One interesting thing about Spider-Island is the choice to have Jackal play a major role, since the character is so heavily associated with the Clone Saga, which is still seen as kind of radioactive — no pun intended — among some fans. Is the choice to use him here inspired in part to give him another major storyline to be associated with?

Slott: He's going to be very true to character. He's one of the wonderful mad scientists of Spider-Man's world, and we're going to play him for all he's worth. If you're not a fan of the Clone Saga, there have been other controversial Spider-Man stories over the years with many villains, and they've come back, and they’ve had fan favorite stories.

Personally, I like the Clone Saga era. I think it's fun — Ben Reilly, impact webbing, and all that stuff.


Nrama: Kaine has been in several stories recently, after all.

Slott: Yeah. He was! [Laughs knowingly.]


Nrama: There's some degree of confusion as to the Jackal's status — there have been a lot of clones, and the original was thought to be dead. Is that going to be addressed during Spider-Island?

Slott: You'll have to read the book.

The Deadly Foes one-shot will have, along with the feature-length story by me and Chris with the Hobgoblin — which will have a major change for the Hobgoblin in the course of that story — a cool Fred Van Lente feature-length story as well, showing you what the Jackal's been up to, and how he got to the point where we saw him in the Infested shorts. So there will be some secrets revealed there.


Nrama: Sounds good, though surely some old-school fans are disappointed that there's a book titled Deadly Foes without Boomerang, the Beetle, and Shocker.

Slott: You're going to see Shocker in Spider-Island! I’ll tell you that much.


Nrama: Since they've been such a huge part of the book recently, will Doc Ock and the Sinister Six be part of Spider-Island at all?

Slott: They are working towards their evil, giant master plan. It's building! It's coming! Just wait!


Nrama: There are three Spider-Island tie-in miniseries, and one of them stars Shang-Chi, who was established as of the Free Comic Book Day issue as part of Spider-Man's world, at least for now. What inspired you to bring him into the mix?

Slott: Spider-Man has lost his Spider-Sense, he needs an edge! He needs kung fu. Spider kung fu! Way of the spider! [Laughs.] There are certain things when you were a kid you always wanted to see. "Wow, Spider-Man's this good, imagine if he knew kung-fu!" And not just any kung fu, a special kung fu all his own, that works when you're wallcrawling and webslinging. It's awesome.

Without his Spider-Sense, he needs it. He's always been an intuitive fighter that relied on his Spider-Sense. So now he needs to develop some serious skills. Once he's learned these, the idea is, this is the way you draw the way Spider-Man fighting from now on — you’ll get these very spider-y martial arts-type moves. Over all the years of Spider-Man, he's had very iconic ways of crawling up a wall, or webslinging — certain things that we just know by sight. When we think of Spidey, we think of certain John Romita Sr. poses, and Todd McFarlane poses, and iconic things like the two-finger web thwip. Now we can add to that lexicon.


Nrama: Right. Spider-Man's fighting style was never too clearly defined.

Slott: It's always just been a punch, or a kick, or a jump over somebody. Now he can have a whole roster of moves. He can have a whole new, iconic way of fighting that adds to the Spider-Man legacy.


Nrama: Also, thematically, it seems like an interesting counter-balance to have Spider-Man work on his physical skills, because a lot of the recent storylines have involved Peter Parker's intellect, and having an article published in a science journal...

Slott: Wasn't that fun? Most of the fame and acclaim that Peter Parker has gotten over the years has been, "He's the guy that glues a camera to a wall." "Oh, you're Peter Parker, the photographer." He's not a photographer! He's a camera-gluer! He glues a camera to a wall, he has a device in the camera that tracks him, and he turns in those photos as if he took them. And people pat him on the head, and give him little awards, and let him sell a book like "Webs." How would you like it if that was your source of pride? "I'm the guy who stuck some gum on this camera and left it on a wall. I can go to sleep tonight knowing I've done good as Peter Parker."

Most of his sense of accomplishment has really come from the victories he's had as Spider-Man. And that's because he got bit by a spider. He didn't earn that. So kudos to Pete! He got published in a magazine!

He came up with a new polymer. It's that thing he used to build a very cheap, resistant form of armor for the bulletproof suit. It's like they say, you make the greatest advancements in science during wartime. That's what he does — he has adventures, he has problems, he comes up with scientific solutions, then he turns around, and they’re like the photos he used to sell to the Bugle. That's how he's using his Spider-Man life to inspire him to make scientific breakthroughs, and then he gets to sell ‘em to Max Modell and Horizon Labs. For example, in issue #666, we’ll see a new gizmo Pete’s cooked up.

For him, that's the greatest achievement: "Look what I did as Peter." Now on the flipside, when you look at everything he's done as Spider-Man, that's been swinging around, finding this thing, fighting this guy — he hasn't really had a plan. He goes out and does it, because he has this responsibility, but most of the adventures are things he stumbles into, or across, in his personal life, or whatnot. Or, "This old villain of mine is out there, I better hunt him down." But he hasn't really put a lot of skill, a lot of training, into being Spider-Man, and that's one of the things we're seeing now, with him taking martial arts lessons from Shang-Chi, and some other things that are coming up. The Fantastic Four says, "We want you to be in the Future Foundation," and he goes, "Yes." He's been asked to be on two Avengers teams, and he says, "Yes." The same way he's trying to be the best Peter Parker he can be, he's also stepping up, especially in the wake of Marla Jameson's death. He has said "No more just getting by," he’s going to be the best Spider-Man he can be, too.

Amazing Spider-Man #671 Cover:

Spoiler

Amazing Spider-Man #668 Interior Art:

Spoiler

Amazing Spider-Man #668 Interior Art:

Spoiler

Spider-Island: Deadly Foes of Spider-Man Interior Art:

Spoiler

Spider-Island: Avengers Interior Art:

Spoiler

Source: Newsarama.com

 

[storyteller]

Carlie just feels so redundant because its 3 steps backward. We have seen that nothing good ever comes from not knowing Peters secret if your close to him. At least now they worked out a plausible way for Peter to be missing but not be "spiderman" with the whole "I build his gadgets".

 

[Vile]

That Deadly Foes looks incredible!

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Should I read Spider-Island issue by issue or save it until I have the whole story from Spider-Man's side? I'm not sure which is the better option for me to do

 

[imdaly]

Easier to avoid spoilers if you read each issue asap.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I don't go near spoilers

 

[Will Nolte]

Precisely. Gwen was a very cool character right up until ASM#90. Then she was all like, "I love you, Peter, but have I mentioned how much I HATE SPIDER-MAN, lately?!" ASM#121 was a mercy killing. They always talk like they would have gotten married, but she would have probably been the next Scorpion, Spider-Slayer, or she would have fallen in love with JJJ, at the rate she was going.

More has been done with her in SSM(cartoon), Marvels, and other stories post-mortem than was ever done in ASM#91-120. Sad.

I find that bold part funny cause that is exactly what they did with her in the Ultimate universe, except it was Carnage.

 

[Kahoot]

I find that bold part funny cause that is exactly what they did with her in the Ultimate universe, except it was Carnage.

And years on I still don't quite understand the logic there.