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VAUGHAN ON DOCTOR OCTOPUS
by: Ryan McLelland (Newsarama)
Fans of Doctor Octopus won't have to wait until Spider-Man
2 next summer to see the Spider-Man rogue in action when
Marvel's Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure is released this
October. Penciled by Staz Johnson and written by Brian K.
Vaughan, the five issue limited series rewinds back to a
teenage Spider-Man facing off one again with Doc Ock, whose
secret weapon might just be another Daily Bugle photographer.
"For me he's always been Spidey's equal and opposite," says
Vaughan on Doc Ock. While Negative Exposure started as a
pitch for the now dead Spider-Man anthology Tangled
Web,
the idea grew into its own full-fledged mini-series. "The
story will even she a little light on the unexpected place
where Ock got the idea for his famous tentacles."
Negative Exposure not only brings Spider-Man and Doctor
Octopus together into a vicious battle, but find alter-ego
Peter Parker squaring off against someone not wearing a costume.
Jeffrey Haight, one of the Daily Bugle's top-notch photographers,
has grown to despise Peter, a kid with no real photography
skills who always seems to land his pictures on the front
page of the Bugle. Now Jeffrey is on a mission to find out
how exactly Peter does this.
Inspired by his own experiences as a freelance photographer,
Vaughan hopes to bring a fascinating, realistic look at Peter
Parker's first occupation while showing new and old readers
alike why Doctor Octopus is Spider-Man's most formidable
foe.
"(Editor) Axel Alonso likens Doc Ock to being the Hannibal
Lecter of the Marvel Universe. He's a brilliant, lethal sociopath
with a weakness for fine art, as we'll see in the story."
Writing Spider-Man in his teenage years provides Vaughan
a massive playground of supporting characters to play with. "I
wanted to take a stab at as many of Spidey's supporting players
as possible," says Vaughan. "Be on the lookout
for J. Jonah Jameson, a young Mary Jane Watson, and a few
other surprises." While Vaughan wouldn't reveal what
other surprises are in store, readers will be treated to
other classic webslinger villains including Electro, the
Vulture, and Mysterio.
The first issue will also sport Doctor Octopus's "new
cinematic look" designed by artist Humberto Ramos, aimed
at making Doctor Octopus look more like his on-screen counterpart
in the upcoming feature film sequel. While Vaughan is tight-lipped
about the changes, he reveals that Doc Ock won't be sporting
a haircut similar to his own, "No shaved head, I'm afraid.
I actually don't like Doc looking too cool. What will Spidey
have to make fun of if Doc is dressed better then he is?"
"I wanted to keep our story accessible to people who
may only know Spidey from the movie or the MTV cartoon, without
alienating longtime comics readers," says Vaughan. "This
is NOT a movie tie-in however, all (artist) Staz Johnson
and I are concerned about is telling a great story. Hopefully,
I've written enough halfway-decent books that readers will
have faith that I would never phone in a stock Spider-Man
story that could have simply been told in one of the regular
Spidey series."
Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure #1 goes on sale this October.
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