Comic-Con 2013: Superior Spider-Man Panel

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN

Let’s talk Supey Spidey! Doc Ock lives in Peter Parker’s body now, and he’s going about superheroing in a supervillainous way, and it’s fascinating. So here’s a panel featuring Superior Foes of Spider-Man writer Nick Spencer, Avenging Spider-Man writer Christopher Yost, Superior Carnage writer Kevin Shinick, Humberto Ramos artist supreme, recurring co-writer of Superior Spider-Man Christos Gage, Daredevil artist Chris Samnee, Spider-Editor Steve Wacker, and Spider-Man Family Affair writer James Robinson to talk about one of the more controversial things going on in mainstream superhero comics right now. Thwipp it up!

I am currently sitting in front of a man talking so fast that it took me five minutes to also realize he was speaking with an accent. It’s fascinating.

We’re opening with a video package about the Agents of SHIELD TV series. It looks pretty cool.

Now, a video trailer for the Avengers Assemble animated series. Then one for Infinity, the new big crossover in Marvel comics.

Superior Spider-Month! The new costume will be in Marvel Heroes, the online MMO. Amazing Spider-Man 700 has gone back to print 6 times now.

Gage says it’s awesome to write Ock because he’s a genius and things would be better if everyone did what he told them. He’s showing that what makes Spider-Man Spider-Man isn’t just the powers and the look. Doc Ock is going to use supervillain tropes for good.

Spidey 2099 shows up in SSM #17, and it’s a three issue arc with Ryan Stegman in September. There’s an awesome J.G. Jones variant for #17 that’s a great Spidey 2099 issue. It’s a huge story that sets up what’s going on for the next 24 issues.

Black Cat shows up in #20, with Giuseppe Camuncoli on board. This is what Dan Slott calls this issue as big as Amazing Spider-Man #698, where we first learned of the mind switch.

Superior Foes is next. Spencer says writing the bad guys is maybe more fun than good guys. They do ridiculously shady things. Looks like Punisher shows up in future issues. This was all Spencer’s pitch, focusing on supervillain operations in the Marvel universe. Spencer’s focus on characterization over plot makes this book feel a bit different.

Avenging Spider-Man becomes Superior Spider-Man Team-Up. The cover image is Superior Spider-Man playing with Spidey villains in one of those claw-games at arcades. Yost isn’t doing heavy lifting – he’s building on Slott’s hard work and getting to throw Superior Spider-Man at other superheroes as a big arrogant jerk. This is where we get the payoff for his Sinister Six collection. The Avengers put him on probation, Ock doesn’t take kindly to it, and decides to build his own team.

Superior Carnage is next. Shinick likes to write from misguided villain perspectives. He really wants to say “Carnage like you’ve never seen him before” and really mean it. He’ll be picking up some storylines from Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four as well. He likes comics because you can do anything, whereas Robot Chicken and MAD TV are different animals.

Daredevil is next. He’ll be teaming up with the Legion of Monsters in #32. Samnee loves working with Mark Waid. Apparently, Samnee created this cover with the LoM before Waid had anything written, just as a Halloween issue, and now Mark has to wrack his brain to come up with a story to match it. Wacker explains that giving Foggy Nelson cancer is a way to show how people live with cancer, and explore the bond between Foggy and Matt Murdock. Big stuff they can’t announce yet, but within the next six months it’s going somewhere huge.

Scarlet Spider, a Yost book, is next. He thanks everyone for supporting it, didn’t expect it to get past #3. It’s a story of Kaine growing uneasily into a hero. He’s building a weird life. #23 is where it all goes bad – Kraven shows up, using threads from The Grim Hunt.

Venom is next. It looks like he’s getting a lady sidekick with the cover of #40. It’s either Katy Kiernan or the schoolgirl who knows his secret.

Arune Singh pitches Superior Spider-Man vs. Venom. That’s going on in November in SSM #22. Dan Slott and Gage with Ramos. Venom has not crossed paths with Spider-Man since Flash Thompson became Venom. There will be some friction now that Doc Ock is Spidey, too. It’ll be a four-issue arc that will leave Venom in a very different state.

They’re trying to get Dan Slott on the phone. I KNEW IT. SLOTT LOVES SPIDER-MAN.

Slott loves it. The first time Venom vs. Spider-Man since the start of Big Time. Slott calls Humberto Ramos the hardest working guy in comics. Ramos says Slott is wonderful to work with and it’s exciting to talk with him about all the big story ideas. Wacker says Slott writes differently from most writers – he writes the plots and the visual parts, and gives a lot of weight to his artists about contributing to the stories, and then he adds the dialogue later. Ramos thought “The Marvel Way” was a myth.

James Robinson, Mark Waid and Gabriele Dell’Otto are doing Spider-Man: Family Business, giving Peter Parker a secret sister. Robinson says it has the energetic excitement Spidey books have, but finding out he has a sister brings him into a world of international spies, and it’s a globe-trotting adventure where Peter has to wear a tuxedo and stuff. Robinson got to write his first Spider-wisecrack in a fight, and it still thrills him even at his age. It DOES fit into continuity, according to Wacker – it’s a different reflection on Spider-Man’s past. It’s a full stand-alone graphic novel. It has a sweeping scope thanks to Dell’Otto.

Avengers: Endless Wartime as an original graphic novel is coming from Warren Ellis, and Family Business follows that next year.

Q&A:

Wacker says 7 people are going to ask when Peter is coming back.

Q: Who designed the new Spider-Man costume? Humberto Ramos did, taking inspiration from a discarded movie costume.

Q: Why is Shocker the wuss? Spencer says he’s always kind of been that, but he’s had spurts of bravery in the past. This is the more classic interpretation. Boomerang calls him a coward, but Spencer wouldn’t call him that – he’s the pragmatist who wants to play it safe.

Q: Why move away from Amazing Spider-Man amidst the hype from movies and 50 years? Wacker says Slott pitched it, and “it’s been 50 years, let’s try something else.”

Q: Will Kaine come into Superior Spider-Man? Yost says they’re going to meet in August in a crossover with Spider-Man Team Up and Scarlet Spider. Kaine once killed Doc Ock, and that MIGHT COME UP. Haw haw.

Q: Fan is having a hard time connecting with Jerk Superior Spider-Man. Wacker says the people around Peter Parker think he’s a flaky irresponsible guy (since they don’t know him as Spider-Man). Slott says Doc Ock is relatable because he’s an underdog who usually loses. Gage says the No Escape arc had Spider-Slayer threatened a bunch of people, and Doc Ock killed him to save everybody at once. Gage says “that’s the guy I want on my side.” Gage is also writing an annual focusing on Peter’s personal life and how he handles things – and how Doc Ock handles Aunt May getting kidnapped. He’s like Sean Connery in The Untouchables “They put one of yours in the hospital, you put one of theirs in the morgue.” Slott says there’s a payoff in the annual that will really play into Superior Spider-Man. DO NOT MISS IT.

Q: Will Doc Ock get fat in Spider-Man’s body? Wacker sort of loves that.

Q: Jameson as the mayor is liking Superior Spider-Man and it feels like a flip-flop? Superior Spider-Man is actually blackmailing him now.

Q: Is Dan Slott not here because he got death threats once years ago? No answer, as the guy just tries to get Nick Spencer’s autograph after bagging on Spider Island.

Q: A kid says Peter Parker getting killed off was a big surprise – what made them settle on Doc Ock being the one to defeat Peter Parker? Wacker says Doc Ock is a messed up version of Peter Parker – a smart guy with youth problems, but in a different direction. Back in SSM #9, seeing Ock’s childhood shows that. Slott says the origin of Doc Ock and the original Stan Lee dialogue from Amazing Fantasy #15 make them seem very similar, talking about how Peter wanted to make everybody pay before he was bitten by the spider.

Q: A kid dressed as Deadpool – Wacker asks “WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?” and apparently it was this or the Punisher according to them. The kid asks about Doc Ock capturing a Russian dude along with Chameleon, and Yost says that will be addressed.

Q: Green Goblin is back in the sewers. When is he coming out? Wacker says it’s a huge part of the rest of the year, and it will start very very soon – maybe next issue. Slott reminds us we haven’t seen him with the mask off yet.

Q: Will a symbiote attach to Peter Parker and realize he’s not Peter Parker? Wacker says THAT WOULD BE CRAZY WOULDN’T IT. Probably a big deal in the Venom stuff.

Q: How does Otto act around Peter’s family without Peter’s memories? Gage says he remembers what he ‘actively read’ in Parker’s memories, but there may be things he can’t remember anymore and can’t play things off anymore. It will be addressed. Wacker says it’s a way to look at relationships through a fresh set of eyes.

Q: Slott trolled Miguel O’Hara fans a while back, and now he’s going to be in this – is the 2099 universe still in the continuity? Will he get his own book? Wacker says they have to wait and see when the story unfolds, saying “we might not be able to do a book after that arc,” and they have to see how the readers respond to it.

Q: This dude thinks Ock is more relatable than Peter Parker. Wacker says “I guess you’re a big jerk.” He’s also a Norman Osborn fan – will the new Green Goblin ruin Ock’s life like he did Peter Parker’s life? READ THE BOOK.

Q: Any other villains you’d want to see in a hero’s head? Stegron the Dinosaur Man in anybody’s head, like Thor’s, for Gage. Ramos likes putting the Lizard into Reed Richards’ head. Robinson wants Dormammu in Dr. Strange’s body. Samnee says ‘Sabretooth in Kitty Pryde’s body.’ Spencer likes Thor/Loki switch. Yost has nothin. “The Hulk in Katie Power’s body?” Singh says Emma Frost in Aunt May’s body.

Q: Kid dressed as Venom asks about the Venom crossover – Flash Thompson loved Spider-Man in high school, but will there be some mix-ups between him and Superior Spider-Man? That will be a big part of the story, says Slott. He’s always idolized him and gets to team up with him, but it’s OCK now.

Q: A kid asks Robinson about Peter Parker’s sister – will she learn she’s related to Aunt May or Uncle Ben or know more about her parents than Peter does? Robinson says she’s in search of her past, and wants to know much more about Peter’s family and Richard and Mary Parker.

Q: Any more parodies of old Amazing Spider-Man covers in SSM? Wacker says all the printings of ASM 700 have had covers that are take-offs of old anniversary issue covers.

Q: Will the villains all band together to fight Superior? In Deadly Foes, that may happen.

Q: With Curt Conners in the Lizard’s body, will we see more of him? Slott says ‘wait and see.’ That means yes.

Q: What happened with Phil Urich to turn him into such a bad guy? Slott says that happened in The Loners miniseries before “Big Time.”

Q: Any return of Peter Parker’s ghost? No! No more Peter Parker!