AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 Behind the Scenes

Has it been two weeks already?! Crazy!

First off, thank you for subscribing to the newsletter! It means a lot and I hope you find some value in here between the lame jokes and shilling of books!

Feels like only yesterday that I was sweating the release of Amazing Spider-Man #1, crossing all the digits hoping that folks would enjoy it… and apparently they did. The book did crazy numbers and the buzz is good. Thanks to everyone who picked it up!

<Breathes giant sigh of relief… then remembers that this will happen again every two weeks. Has mild panic attack. Gets over it.>

You promised ASM B.T.S. Do that!

The launch of a book is always a big deal. The launch of a Spider-Man book extra-much-so. We wanted to establish a vibe - fun, bouncy, fast, with a focus on character in a modern book with a hint of nostalgia. So naturally, the first scene drops us directly into the high-stakes chaos of… a job interview? Yeah, I know. I warned Pepe in the script:

Enter Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia - what an outstanding team! They compliment one another in such a stunning way. I could go on about it, but if you got the book you already know. If you didn’t, check out a preview here.

Pepe works incredibly hard to represent the script to the best of his god-like abilities. He deeply understands the language of cinema, as many comic artists do, so I tend to put “camera directions” in my scripts. If something doesn’t work for him, we talk it through and figure out a better solution. I asked for a lot on this first page, and Pepe nailed it:

Sometimes things change from pencils to inks, either because Pepe feels like it isn’t working or just changes his mind like a diva. (Never - he’s a sweetheart!) We weren’t sure how much of an homage we wanted to do to Spidey’s classic origin, but you can see here that Pepe changed tactics in the flashback panel and leaned into it:

Once Marte gets his hands on the page, he does some absolutely gorgeous work - adding just the right amount of sculpting and mood to keep the tone where we want it:

Here’s the same process from an action page - the “frozen moment” of Spidey hitting Rhino with a bus. How do you freeze time in a comic?! I don’t know, that’s Pepe’s job!:

One of the elements of this job that never gets old is discussing power scaling with editors. I wrote that Spidey hit Rhino with a bus to get his attention and got a call about it. “Can’t chuck a bus. Too much for Spider-Man!” But since editor extraordinaire Nick Lowe knew what I was going for, we negotiated. A box truck would work, so long as we point out that it’s an effort and not easy. Hence the shoulder grab in the last panel and his comment about ibuprofen. Spectacle is critical, but so is keeping an eye on stuff like that for consistency.

So, are we liking this sort of behind-the scenes stuff? Let me know in the comments. Sometimes I’ll focus more on the story stuff, but I feel like the process of an art team is always a joy to behold.

And what about the writing tips!? Teach us your arcane ways!

This is one of the more tactical, less theoretical/educational tips I’ll drop here - but it’s new in my life and has done wonders for me:

Time is a slippery thing. You think you’re spending hours writing, but only got a splash page written that says “Spider-Man punches the Vulture real hard.” I felt like my “time in the chair” could be more productive, but I wasn’t sure how to fix it.

Enter this sleek machine:

This is a chess clock. A cheap one. It allows a person or persons to keep track to two interwoven strands of time at once. I dedicated this one to tracking work time and non-work time. When I start a work session, I start the clock. Green means go - I’m writing, doing the right kind of creative thinking, scribbling on the iPad about what happens next, etc.

Then, when my mind craves dopamine and wants to scroll the ‘gram, I hit the big button. (It makes a little THONK which is oddly satisfying.) Now, it’s keeping track of the “non-writing time”. I get my stupid dopamine hit and then THONK, it’s back to work. Simple, and at the end of a session, I know exactly how many minutes were spent actually working and how many I frittered away to make billionaires richer.

What does this do other than torture you and mock you for a lack of discipline?

Glad you asked! The clock puts everything in a new perspective and shows me how I am using the one non-renewable resource I have to get work done… time. For example, I may think that it takes me hours to write a few pages - and sometimes it does. But most days, I look at the data and it’s clear - 45 minutes for 3 real pages I would submit to my editor! On that end in shows me that things take a lot less time than I think when I focus.

Another benefit is to practice stretching my attention span. If I think I’m hitting a wall and feel that pull to my phone, I can look at the clock and realize it’s been eight minutes!? What? Am I a gnat? Push harder!

Lastly, I keep these times in a spreadsheet so that I can look back and see what times of day were the most productive. These become sacred writing times and it’s my job to protect those at all costs.

I am a person who responds well to a piece of gear like this. If you like a little gizmo to help track your productivity, this is a cheap one I can definitely recommend.

Speaking of… - THONK - time to get back to writing Spider-Man!

Thanks and I’ll be back in two weeks!

-JK

Books & Appearances:

Comics!

The Amazing Spider-Man #2 - On sale this Wednesday 4/23

Godzilla vs. Spider-Man - On sale 4/30

The Amazing Spider-Man #3 - On sale 5/7

The Amazing Spider-Man #4 - FOC today 4/21 - On sale 5/21

FCBD The Amazing Spider-Man - FREE on 5/3

Immortal Sergeant - Order from your LCS!

I Kill Giants - Order from your LCS!

Appearances!

Phillipsburg Comic-Con - 5/10