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ROBERTO AGUIRRE-SACASA ON SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN
by Newsarama
The title’s name change from Marvel Knights Spider-Man to Sensational Spider-Man is only one of the switches going on with the title next month. With issue #23 (no, it’s not re-starting with a new #1), a new creative team takes over the reins: Roberto (Marvel Knights Four) Aguirre-Sacasa writing and Angel (Spawn) Medina penciling.
For Sacasa, the release of his first issue is the end of a long campaign.
“Once we got 4 up and running, Marvel was asking me if I was interested in various projects, with one of the first ones that came up being Nightcrawler,” he said. “And they were asking me to pitch on stuff as well. When Mark Millar started Marvel Knights Spider-Man, and said from the get-go that he was only going to be on the title for 12 issues, I immediately started campaigning for the book. I love Spider-Man and loved the idea of telling a story that’s a little more realistic and grittier - something that can go into the harder and darker stuff if needed.
“I started campaigning, and they went to Reggie [Hudlin] with it. Once again, I went to Axel Alonso and Warren Simons, and told them that after Reggie left, I would love to be considered for it. I think at the time, Marvel was really wanting its ’10 Terrific’ writers to step up to the plate a little more and take on more high-profile projects and characters, so those stars aligned for me. That said, it’s not lost on me that I’ve been able to come from out of nowhere and write both the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man in my short career thus far in comics. I’m hugely grateful to Marvel for giving me the opportunity to do these things.”
If you’re wondering about the roots of Sacasa’s campaign itself – you have to go back even further. “I’ve liked Spider-Man since I was a kid. In fact, when I called my Dad and told him that I was going to be writing Spider-Man, he sent me a picture of me wearing a Spider-Man t-shirt when I was six, and another one when I was eight, and I was wearing the same shirt. My Dad reminded me that I essentially wore that shirt for two years straight. Then he reminded me that it wasn’t a t-short, it was a pajama top.
“I’ve always loved Spider-Man, and the way that he’s changed and grown up and deepen dove the years. I really like his relationship with Mary Jane. I like how his character has become more complicated over the years. I mean, I grew up with him, essentially. I think a lot of it has to do with Spider-Man representing what’s best about Marvel – Spider-Man is the conflicted hero with the feet of clay, unsure of himself, steps up to the plate somewhat reluctantly, but always heroically. Those are all ideals that Marvel has embodied in Spider-Man.
“He’s also got, for my money, the best rogues gallery of any hero, with maybe the exception of Batman…no, Spider-Man’s is better than Batman’s. I’ll admit that.”
As for his and Medina’s launch arc, “Feral,” its roots date back to a thread Amazing Spider-Man writer J. Michael Straczynski was playing with back when he came onto his title, that is, Spider-Man’s animalistic villains. The Vulture, Vermin, Dr. Curt Conners, Felica Hardy, John Jameson – they’re all coming back.
“Spider-Man finds himself in a place where all of his animalistic villains come crawling out of the woodwork seemingly for no reason at the same time, and all of them are much, much more brutal than they have been in a long, long time,” Sacasa said. “Spidey has no idea why this is happening, and at the same time, he’s feeling darker urges that he’s never felt before – urges that are pushing him to respond in a way that’s as violent as the villains. So, he needs to stop the villains and figure out what’s affecting them, as well as all of New York.
“It’s a great chance to play with villains and characters that we haven’t seen in a while. Vermin is back, and Black Cat touches on her villain roots again. John Jameson will be popping up in the pages, proving a serious threat to Mary Jane, while Spider-Man is off dealing with other things. But it’s a city-wide madness, and Spider-Man and his villains are at the center of it. He’s stuck trying to solve a mystery while having these vicious encounters with his animal rogues. There’s tons of action, and a mystery to be solved as well, along with a vein of sci-fi and horror running through it.”
The line drawn from themes in Amazing and Sacasa’s first Sensational arc are going to be the hallmark of this age of Spider-Man the writer said. “While we’re not going to see stories moving back and forth between the titles, what’s happening to Spider-Man in Amazing is definitely happening to Spider-Man in Sensational. There’s definitely a tighter feeling between the titles that I think we’ve seen before – there’s a lot more sharing of information. And while the flavor will still be different, a little more harder-edged repercussions will be felt in Sensational. Whatever is happening to Spider-Man in the larger view, will also be having an effect in Sensational Spider-Man.
And that includes – the new costume.
“All I can really say at this point is that whatever changes Peter Parker and Spider-Man go through in Amazing Spider-Man or Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, those will affect this book. What I’ll add to that though, is that when the costume shows up in our book, it will definitely be for reasons that are very specific to the story that we’re telling in our first arc. There’s a very organic tie-in. It’s going to actually make the story better.
And as for what’s coming up after the five part Feral? Sacasa and Marvel are still nailing that down, but he did offer two alternatives.
“We’re down to one of two storylines, one called ‘Sinister’ and one called ‘Mysterious,’” Sacasa said. “They’re a little ways off yet, and the big events that are happening Marvel Universe-wide will definitely play out in this title as well.”
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