Pages

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

COME THE SHADOWS


Tomorrow sees the release of the first issue of our Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin mini-series. Here's the hype, straight from Marvel:

NORMAN OSBORN WAS NOT THE FIRST GOBLIN! Norman Osborn is the GREEN GOBLIN you know. But he is NOT the ORIGINAL GOBLIN! Learn the shocking secrets of the PROTO-GOBLIN, and its dramatic connection to the Osborn family! What role does a young Peter Parker, who has not yet understood his great power and responsibility, play in this unfolding of events? J.M. DeMatteis (THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) continues to build his legacy and the mythos of classic SPIDER-LORE, this time paired with rising star MICHAEL STA. MARIA!

Written by: J. M. DeMatteis
Art by: Michael Sta. Maria, Chris Sotomayor
Cover by: Paulo Siqueira, Rachelle Rosenberg
Page Count: 40 Pages

You can see some preview art below. It's been a blast exploring Peter Parker's (very) early days as Spider-Man—and taking a deep dive into the dysfunctional soup of the Osborn family. Hope you all enjoy it!









13 comments:

  1. I won't lie, that first image makes me want you to write a Peter Parker (not Spider_man) story from that era working on a story for the Bugle. Possibly teamed it Ben Urich

    Well, a man can dream. Yeah, a Peter Parker sans Spider-Man book, I am sure Marvel would LOVE to green-light that.

    Although, believe it or not, there is a comic called "Peter Parker, the Amazing Shutterbug.

    Jack

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shadow of the green goblin was a good first issue, but it seems pretty obvious that the last issue will center around Peter having to bail out Aunt May from prison for stealing hubcaps, and reveal the true reason Norman really became the Green Goblin out of anger that Herman’s Head was cancelled.

    It is a good read, but I am confused how someone who is such a fan of the Twilight Zone and its twist endings can be so obvious about his story’s ending so early on.


    Jack

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Figured it all out again, didn't you, Jack? It's uncanny! ; )

      Delete
  3. Here is a question…

    You wrote. Comic that came out this week that takes place in the early days of Spider-man. Given the sliding timescale, those days no longer take place in the 60s, yet you read them in the actual 60s. How does your mind go to writing that?

    This is not about something as simple as cell phones, or other things that are ultimately unimportant. I mean the feel.

    I ask because when I read the issue it had a set of mid-60s vibe to me… in a good way. I almost expected to see Dylan in the background


    Jack

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've pretty much danced around technology issues and such...it opens too big a can of worms...so I just think of it as kind of timeless and concentrate more on the psyches of the characters at the time. And since "at the time" in terms of when the original stories were done was the 60s, I guess some of that creeps through. But it's nothing conscious. I'm much more focused on the characters than the timeframe.

      Delete
    2. I only brought up the cell phone thing because I though that is where your mind would go.
      I don't even thin you needed to, as you say, "danced around."
      "Out of sight put of mind" is a pretty powerful reality of thinking. Especially one it comes to works of fiction.
      I personally think, if you don't show something like... a cell phone or a a computer... I don't think people will wonder why they aren't being used.
      I think people's brains just fill in the blanks that it is not available.

      This just sort of caught the feel of the era, at least as it is perceived years later.

      I think a part of it is the fact that the book is, like most Spider-Man, set in New York.
      I know you are from a sleepy small town where nothing ever changes, but often times cities have specific and unique eras. New York especially has ones that people who do not live there have at least a vague idea about, because of pop culture osmosis.

      I think that timeless idea, is why it feels sort of like the early to mid-60s. The era is so strange. It is not Eisenhower and Kerouac, nor is it hippies and Nixon.
      It is a time that I think feels like, things are happening, but they haven't happened yet.

      Or maybe it is just my own dumb brain making connections, because that is the general era that that this era of Spidey's lives were taken place I don;t know.

      But it is interesting you mentioned timelessness, because I think a Batman the animated series version of Spider-man would swap the 40s for either the early 60s or 70s, depending on what part of Peter's life it took place.
      How Batman The animated series seems timeless because it borrows elements from the 40s, but also set in the modern era.

      Maybe you just accidentally taped into the formula for a ground breaking Spider-Man cartoon.
      Or again, maybe just my dumb brain.


      Jack

      Delete
    3. What I meant by "danced around" is exactly what you say here, Jack: "Out of sight, out of mind." And where do I sign up to write this new Spider-Man animated show you've come up with?

      Delete
    4. A spider-man the animated series, given the same gravitas as Batman: The Animated Series, with a vaguely 1970s New York aesthetic? Sounds like the J.M Dematteis dream job!
      You could even get your old nemesis Marv Wolfman to write the two or three part Dracula episode.

      I say just get an artist, and someone who knows something about animation, then find an empty office, and start working. See how far you can get before the studio puts the kibosh on it!

      Jack

      Delete
    5. Well, as you likely recall, it already happened once...
      https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Giant-Size_Spider-Man_Vol_1_1

      And, in all honesty, that is the kind of thing I think would grab the attention of a decision maker. Maybe that arc is early one.

      I think you need to start looking for office space to squat in at an animation studio or business for a while, while you bang this out.


      Jack

      Delete
    6. This conversation has reminded me that I plotted a Spidey-Dracula story back in the 90s...and Marv dialogued it:

      https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Man_Team-Up_Vol_1_6

      I'd completely forgotten about it! (No wonder I liked the idea. I'd already done it!)

      Delete
    7. Ah yes, I have that issue, though I also forgot about it.

      Sounds like you got something to point to when they ask what you are doing.
      Just be ready for them to say they need Sunshine as Peter’s neighbor. Show business IS a business, they need to fit the moneymaker in somehow. I love Pete, but I am not sure there is much evidence he could carry a project on his own.

      Jack

      Delete