Farewell, Spider—Hello, Spiders!
JESS DESSERTS
I don’t think I’ve explicitly stated it before now, but SPIDER-WOMAN, my longest series to date,* is over at issue #10, which hits stores this Wednesday. I’m not going to kick into full-blown eulogy mode for a triptych of reasons:
—Marvel was kind enough to give me one of those outgoing essays in the back of the issue, so I already spent that energy there.
—It’s hard to mourn getting ten issues out of something that was originally only meant to run four.
—I’ve got a very narrow window of time to write and publish this post. Zing!
I loved writing Jess and I’ll miss it dearly. She’s one of those characters who just does the hard part for you. Working with Carola, Ig, Ellie, MR, and everyone else who made up team-Spider-Woman was one of my most pleasant experiences in comics. I wish it could have lasted for years longer, but them’s the breaks in the current market. I’m grateful we got longer than we initially expected, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Jess gets up to in the pages of West Coast Avengers, coming soon from my X-pal Gerry Duggan and artist Danny Kim.
RAISING KAINE
I’m lucky in that, as one Spider-door closes, two more Spider-windows have opened. Next week sees the debut of CHASM: CURSE OF KAINE, a four-issue mini-series that dives into the twisted psyche of Spider-clones Ben Reilly (the former Scarlet Spider and current Chasm) and Kaine (the former, uhh…Kaine, and current Scarlet Spider), as well as Ben’s pumpkin-themed paramour Hallows’ Eve.
Andrea Broccardo has drawn the heck out of the series, and it’s been fun leaning into his many strengths as we’ve gotten to know each other better. There’s a sequence in #4 that came out of us discovering a shared love of a certain sub-genre of monster movie, in fact… Brian Reber joins us on colors, and Nick Lowe and Kaeden McGahey steer the editorial ship.
While I can’t promise an easy time for Ben—and I know that’s a sore subject for a lot of his long-suffering fans—I will say that everyone involved in this book loves Mr. Reilly and worked to make this outing an equally fitting showcase for Chasm, Kaine, and even Hallows’ Eve, who has emerged as a major breakout star these last few years. It’s a spooky Spider creature-feature that eschews the skyscrapers of Peter Parker’s world to spend some time in the shadows and sewers. Grab a copy for you and all of your murderous clones.
BEAST OF A TIME
And before I race out the door, I’ve got one spider-free project to plug—a few weeks back, at San Diego Comic-Con, I managed to squeak in one announcement with the reveal of BEASTLY BUDDIES from Armand Bodnar, K.J. Diaz, and yours truly. This infinity comic, launching in October just ahead of Halloween, follows the exploits of Man-Thing and Werewolf by Night—or as we like to call them, Ted and Jack—as they’re ousted from their ancestral castle by pitchfork-wielding villagers and then unknowingly pursued by infamous monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone, all while trying to find a place for themselves in the world as a plant-based nexus being and a grouchy werewolf (respectively).
Editor Lauren Bisom looped me into this project, and it’s been one of the highlights of my past year. It’s a return to the irreverence of my work on Spider-Ham, filtered through my love for things like Universal Monsters, with a dash of Wacky Races thrown in, since Armand is the only artist I know who wants MORE vehicles in the mix. And there’s really not enough I can say about Armand’s work here—he’s set a pitch-perfect tone for exploring Marvel’s supernatural side with just the right level of camp and comedy. I’m very, very excited for folks to check this out come spooky season.
ANYWAY…
…I’m out of time. I think the only other things I can plug at the moment are the SPIDER-BOY ANNUAL coming out next month, which is part of the Infinity Watch crossover but also a fairly standalone Bailey story with killer Carlos Neito and Fer Sifuentes art; and SPIDER-MAN: HOMEROOM HEROES, the all-ages series that kicks off next month collecting the shorts I’ve done for the European market alongside a host of very talented Italian creators.
SPIDERS FOR EVERYONE. SPIDERS EVERYWHERE.
*If you add all of my X-MEN UNLIMITED Infinity Comics stories together, I suspect it’s a longer run, but the Infinity-to-print conversion rate is math far beyond my station.