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Of course, Peter got his body back eventually and Otto Octavius lost his memories of being a hero.
The series was enormous, cliffhanger-fuelled fun that took many twists and turns over its eight issues.
Dan Slott:Honestly?
This whole project was a fun surprise, completely out of the blue.
Marvel approached with a challenge.
My initial pitch was for three over-sized What If…?
issues, all focused around Superior.
One would be the story of Doc not relinquishing Peter’s body in SSM #30.
And the third would’ve been Chris telling a What If…?
tale set during his solo run of Superior.
Marvel came back and said that they wanted an arc set during the present day.
They wanted the story to “count”.
So I had to go back to the drawing board and come up with an all-new take on Superior.
We’d seen all of that before.
Those are tricky raindrops to dance through!
That said, I had a blast working on it!
And the biggest reason for that was because I was working on it with the great Mark Bagley!
The man’s a legend!
The energy he brought to every page!
Big, fun action throughout the issue and a big cliffhanger surprise by the last page!
Which was a blessing and a curse.
How frustrating is that?
Speaking of breakout ideas,Spider-Boyhas really taken off, and he plays an important role in this story.
Was that, to quote the script, a “happy accident?”
Where did you see Bailey Briggs going as a character when you first introduced him?
Slott:Bailey was a last minute idea when I was plotting Spider-Man #7.
But just bringing them back felt obvious and anti-climactic.
I really liked adding a surprising extra note to that.
Like: Here’s Jess.
And here’s the third character we’re bringing back too.
And the reader would be like, “What?!
Who’s this guy?!
He was never there in those first issues!
What’s going on?!”
That unplanned-for-thing starts taking on a life of its own.
That makesthe Spider-Boy bookthe anything-can-happen comic.
We’re throwing everything and the kitchen sink into that book!
I’m over here with Paco Medina and we’re just taking big silly swings every darn month!
We’re nine issues in, and Spider-Boy’s already got a full-fledged Rogues' Gallery.
Mark Bagley, JohnDell, and Edgar Delgado are a modern Spider-Man dream team when it comes to art.
My plots break everything down by page and panel.
Because he’s Mark freakin' Bagley, one of the greatest damn Spider-Man artists of all-time!
The man is on the Mount Rushmore of Spider-Man artists!
And John Dell kills on inks!
And Edgar is one of my favorite colorists ever!
I love these guys!
It does for me.
I’ve said everything I’ve ever wanted to say about Dr. Otto Octavius.
And I’ve left him exactly where Zeb needs him for his Doc Ock stories.
I’m also good with Doc Ock being his regular self or going off in all-new directions.
The key thing here is this is a great toy for other creators to play with now.
I’ve more than had my say and I am completely content with that.
Because the Sinister Six feels wrong without Doc there.
But as far as stories where Doc is the main baddie?
On that note, how will this carry forward into what we see next in Spider-Boy?
There is still a really big thread that pay off over in Spider-Boy.
I don’t want to spoil anything.
You’ll just have to keep reading.
(But it will happen fairly soon.)
2… That’s been over a 12 year journey with my favorite character in all of fiction!
That’s 200+ monthly issues of Spidey comics.
Slap another 40 onto that total if you’re counting mini-series, one-shots, and specials.
With many of those coming out two-to-three times a month!
I’ve been lucky enough to work on Spidey cartoons, video games, and even a movie!
And I’ve been fortunate enough to work with the greatest Spidey artists, creators, and editors!
Everything from here on out is gravy.
I’m never gonna quit Spider-Man.
I’ve been a fan since I was 7 years old.
I could happily see myself doing Spidey minis and one-shots from time-to-time.
And I’m really looking forward to Steve Foxe and Arianna Florean’s Spider-Man: Homeroom Heroes book!
And so many minis and specials coming out from the Spider-Office!
It is a great time to be a Spidey fan!
Stay up to date on all thenew Spider-Man comicsMarvel has planned.
