SHRIEKING

I was recently asked to provide an introduction for a Hungarian collection of my Amazing Spider-Man story "Shrieking." It was an interesting exercise going back in time, assessing a story written decades ago, and remembering my collaboration with the great Mark Bagley. You can read the intro below. Enjoy!

Family.  It’s the foundation of our lives, the human experience that, perhaps more than any other, shapes us as children and guides us in navigating the world when we become adults.  Of course, in many cases, those childhood influences, our interactions with mothers, fathers, siblings, doesn’t help at all: it hinders us, wounds us—and we either spend the rest of our lives healing those early wounds or surrendering to them, sinking down into the dysfunctional dark.

Family is the theme that runs through all four issues of “Shrieking,” which was my first continuing storyline when I took over the writing duties on Amazing Spider-Man, way back in 1994 (has it really been that long?).  I’d explored the theme before in Spider-Man stories, most notably in the “Child Within” arc in Spectacular Spider-Man; but those stories focused on the singular experiences of Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, and Edward Whelan. With “Shrieking,” Mark Bagley (more about him later) and I were focusing on the family as a unit.  On the internal dynamics that can either lift us up or shatter our souls.

 

For Peter Parker that dynamic flows from past to future.  Still reeling from the revelation that his parents—apparently returned from the dead—were actually robotic imposters, Peter, in shock and emotional agony, finds it difficult, almost impossible, to sustain his relationship with Mary Jane, retreating—much as Peter does in the recent Brand New Day film—into his Spider-Man persona, rejecting his wife and literally cocooning himself in an effort to avoid the inevitable struggles of being human.  (The rupture in her marriage also forces MJ to confront the shadows of her own troubled childhood, something she’d been avoiding for years.)

But no cocoon can protect us from life’s vicissitudes—as Peter learns when his beloved Aunt May, the very bedrock of his family life, has a stroke.  It will take Mary Jane’s pregnancy, an event that comes along soon after this story, to help heal Peter and MJ, allowing them to fully embrace each other and find the love and nurturing that a functional family unit can provide.

There’s nothing functional or loving about the family unit Louise Barrison (aka Shriek) tries to build with her “son,” Malcolm Mcbride (aka Carrion).  Barrison (I provided Louise’s civilian name, but the character was created by writer Tom DeFalco during the “Maximum Carnage” crossover) has suffered unimaginable childhood abuses and that pain has driven her to madness.  For all that, she’s trying, in her demented way, to assuage that childhood pain by building a new family.  Malcolm, tortured by the abominable deeds of his alter ego, rejects Shriek’s efforts, but Carrion embraces Louise and becomes a willing part of this massively dysfunctional delusion.

 

Perhaps the true hero of “Shrieking” isn’t Spider-Man at all, but Malcolm’s mother, Beatrice McBride, whose love for her son burns fierce and bright—and whose determination to bring Malcolm back into her maternal arms will not be broken, no matter what violent and seemingly unassailable obstructions Shriek throws in her way. Beatrice is the very embodiment of family at its most heart-forward and self-sacrificing.  “Shrieking” is a dark story, but Bea McBride is the blazing light that shines in the heart of that darkness. 

 

Comics is a visual medium, and a script—no matter how good—rises and falls with the illustrative power and storytelling skill of the artist.  For “Shrieking” I was paired with one of the most celebrated Spider-Man artists of the past forty years, Mark Bagley.  Success as a comic book artist isn’t just about being able to draw well, it’s about telling a story from panel to panel, emphasizing the right moments, drawing the eye across the page in such a natural way that the reader sees the characters actually move, breathe, and come alive. Mark is able to do all that and more.  He delivers the massive action sequences necessary for superhero tales, but his work also underscores the powerful emotions at the core of our tale.  I was fortunate to have him as a collaborator during my Amazing run.  Fortunate, too, to be working with one of Marvel’s most gifted editors, Danny Fingeroth, who remains a dear friend to this day. 

 

“Shrieking,” as noted, is an unusually dark Spider-Man story, but, at its core, it’s about moving through that darkness toward something better, truer, more lasting. And that, I think, is the essence of Spider-Man.  Peter Parker, no matter what terrible obstacles he faces—outside of or, just as often, within himself—will always do the right thing, always rise up and embrace kindness, compassion, and hope. 

 

May we all follow his example.

©copyright 2026 J.M. DeMatteis