Marvel to relaunch ‘Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ in January

Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard team up to tell stories about Spidey’s ‘human side.’

Marvel has announced the return of another past Spider-Man title. Joining Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man in January is Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard.

“[Spider-Man editor] Nick Lowe contacted me in a period where I was weighing up a lot of exciting writing offers, but as soon as I saw Spider-Man in the email, there was nothing else in my mind,” Taylor told Marvel.com. “Spidey was my first Marvel hero and a character I’ve always wanted an opportunity to write. As a fan, this is a bit of a dream come true. I was already writing X-Men and Star Wars comics for Marvel, and to add Spider-Man to that is, frankly, a little ridiculous.”

Continue reading “Marvel to relaunch ‘Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ in January”

Spidey villain gets his own title this fall in ‘Superior Octopus’

Christos Gage and Mike Hawthorne chronicle the adventures of Doctor Octopus and his new identity.

One of Spider-Man’s greatest foes — you know, the one who took over his body for a while? — is getting his own series. Superior Octopus by Christos Gage and Mike Hawthorne will launch this fall, spinning out of the Spider-Geddon event that will also bring us the new Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider title.

For those who aren’t up on their Spider-lore, Doctor Octopus traded bodies with Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #698, setting the stage for Superior Spider-Man, where the villain took over Parker’s dual identities. Eventually Parker took control again, and the good doctor ended up in a new body during the “Clone Conspiracy” storyline. His Superior Octopus challenged Spider-Man during the whole Hydra Cap/Secret Empires story, and he showed up at the end of Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man run to save Aunt May. Love never dies.

Continue reading “Spidey villain gets his own title this fall in ‘Superior Octopus’”

IDW to publish ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Avengers,’ ‘Black Panther’ series aimed at younger readers

Marvel and IDW team up to ‘develop middle-grade comic books designed for younger readers.’

I guess this shouldn’t come as a shock, given how Disney has licensed IDW to create Big Hero 6 and Star Wars comics aimed at younger readers, but still, that headline …

IDW and Marvel announced today that they “will develop middle-grade comic books designed for younger readers. Featuring some of Marvel’s most popular characters, the monthly issues and trade paperback collections, published by IDW, will be available for sale at local comic book shops and book retailers across the country, expanding opportunities for the next generation of Super Heroes to experience the Marvel Universe.”

Continue reading “IDW to publish ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Avengers,’ ‘Black Panther’ series aimed at younger readers”

Spider-Man, Doctor Strange co-creator Steve Ditko, 90, passes away

The pioneer of psychedelic surreal comic book art impacted culture like no other.

by Stephanie Chan and James Vicari

Legendary comic book artist Stephen J. Ditko has passed away at his home at the age of 90. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, the New York Police Department said that Ditko’s body was found on June 29th. The cause of death has not been released, but it is believed that he passed away two days prior to being discovered.

Continue reading “Spider-Man, Doctor Strange co-creator Steve Ditko, 90, passes away”

Check out André Lima Araújo’s unused ‘Old Man Peter Parker’ pitch

The ‘Avengers A.I.’ and ‘Generation Gone’ artist once pitched a series where an older Spider-Man took on King Venom in the ruins of New York.

Here’s a fun “what might have been” item: On Tumblr, Generation Gone and Black Panther: Long Live the King artist André Lima Araújo shares a pitch he once created while working on Avengers A.I. “Old Man Peter Parker” would have been a story in the vein of “Old Man Logan,” showing a future Spider-Man in a setting where the villains won.

Continue reading “Check out André Lima Araújo’s unused ‘Old Man Peter Parker’ pitch”

Comics Lowdown: TSA vs United Airlines – are comic books banned from flights?

Plus: Big Hero 6, DC saves the day, Graphix winners, Best comic shops in the US, Todd Klein’s SDCC, and Spider-Man mows a lawn!

Fly the confusing skies: While at the San Diego airport on Sunday morning, Twitter user @AdiChappo sent out a warning to other Comic-Con attendees about a comic book ban on flights. Recently, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) suggested passengers needed to remove books from luggage for inspection, so this idea wasn’t out of the ordinary. Despite the fact that the pilot project was trashed due to civil liberty concerns, this was the message that greeted travelers:

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: TSA vs United Airlines – are comic books banned from flights?”

Comics Lowdown: More Manga, Scary Stories and an Inside Look at North Korea

A North Korean cartoonist looks at the lighter side of defection, an American cartoonist turns down an Iranian award, and Humanoids announces an all-ages horror graphic novel.

Struggles and Smiles: Former North Korean animator Choi Seong-guk was surprised at how different the comics were when he defected to South Korea: “When I first saw South Korean cartoons, I just didn’t get them,” he says. “There were no stories about patriotism or catching spies or war. They just seemed useless to me.” There were a lot of other differences too, including some idioms that he misunderstood. Now he has turned his experiences into an online comic that depicts both the funny and the serious side of the lives of North Koreans at home and in South Korea.

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: More Manga, Scary Stories and an Inside Look at North Korea”