NYCC 2012: Superior Spider-Man Preview

Yes! What you've been waiting for! I attended the panel entitled: Marvel NOW!: Amazing Spider-Man and Beyond. What's Beyond you ask? Well, it's the Superior Spider-Man.

Yes, after Amazing Spider-Man #700 and the cataclysmic events within, the Amazing Spider-Man series will be cancelled, to be replaced by Superior Spider-Man next January. Oh, and the kicker, this Superior Spider-Man is not Peter Parker.

When I first heard this, I was livid! How could they kill off another Spider-Man?! Not another Death of Spider-Man! I couldn't take that. But, you know, after the panel, I think my fears are somewhat assuaged.

First of all, Dan Slott and Steve Wacker made it clear that Peter not being Spider-Man does NOT mean he is dying. What it does mean is still up in the air, but I think I can say with confidence that Peter Parker will still be with us in this Superior series.

Dan Slott also assured the people that this new Spider-Man will not be some random asshole (CoughMilesMoralescough) but instead someone with "Spider-Man pedigree." That alone makes me less apprehensive about the storyline.

See, with that, it can still be about continuing Peter's story, especially if the new Spider-Man is still connected to Peter. In Ultimate, Peter's story was simply aborted, ended without a solid conclusion, to be replaced by someone we've never seen before.

One criticism that seems common about Superior Spider-Man is that people seem to think it will be "grim and gritty" while in the press release, people like Slott said it would be "dark and weird". I can understand the jumping to conclusions, but in explaining what they meant by "dark and weird" they cited stories like The Death of Gwen Stacy, and Kraven's Last Hunt, which are quintessential Spidey stories.

All that, combined with the fact that I could tell that Dan Slott still really loves Spider-Man, puts me more at ease about this project. I'm eager to see what they're doing, and I only hope Dan Slott doesn't pull another New Ways to Die and make me sad.

In other news, Venom is moving to San Franc-- I mean, Philadelphia! Yes, home of the Liberty Bell and some other stuff I guess. I don't mind him moving from New York, but I really thought the Venom series would involve a lot more exciting locales, like Yopilistan or whatever. I'll have to see how the new writer, Cullen Bunn, does.

A new Morbius: The Living Vampire series is starting, as an exploration of the more occult or supernatural horror aspects of the Marvel Universe. I can get behind that, and Morbius seems like a good enough character to follow.

Oh, and SPECULATION TIME: At one point during the Q&A of the panel, one kid asked why they don't make Spider-Man 2099 stories anymore. Steve Wacker and Dan Slott answered in a strange way, "Oh, you like Miguel O'Hara? You think he's a good Spider-Man?" Yeah, see, I think Superior Spider-Man might be some version of Miguel O'Hara. For example, look at the cover, above. See his hands on the wall? They're more smashed in, like he's using claws to climb instead of sticky fingers. I mean, it's purely speculation at this point, but that's half the fun. Some people think it might be Kaine, but since the Scarlet Spider series will continue after ASM #700, I can safely say that's not a reasonable expectation. But who knows, maybe it's Alpha! Oh god, I hope not. Until next time, this is the W Defender!

New York Comic Con Day 1

It's time for W Defender's Comic Con Coverage! Yes, I am at New York Comic Con this year, and things are looking pretty hopping. Today wasn't that busy for me, but I'll just go over what I've seen.

A Look Inside The Batmobile:

This was the premier of a documentary on the Batmobile, all variations of it, which will be on the special Blu-ray of the Dark Knight Rises. It was pretty interesting, to see the design ethos' at work behind each new edition of the Batmobile, from the Adam West version to the Tumbler. Good stuff.

Marvel And DC:

I stopped by the Marvel and DC booths, rather than check out any of the panels they had. At DC they mostly showcased their new fighting game, Injustice: Gods Among Us. It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself. They had a green screen where you could put yourself on a Justice League or DC Supervillains comic cover, and you got a print. I think mine turned out pretty well.

At Marvel, they mostly focused on their Marvel NOW series, particularly Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men. They had their usual Break Into Comics: The Marvel Way panel, which I went to because Mark Bagley and Dan Slott were going to be there.

Tomorrow is a panel on Marvel NOW, specifically the new series, Superior Spider-Man, and that's what I'm really interested in. I'm a bit afraid of what's going to happen with that, but more on that after the panel.

Also, Dan Slott recognized me by my T-shirt and the fact that I was tweeting #DanSlottProblems during the summer. It was fun.

Next time: More NYCC coverage! Hopefully more substantial.

UPDATE: Turns out the Spider-Man panel is on Sunday. Nothing happened on Saturday, we're ignoring that. Check back next time for almost definite bitching about Spider-Man. THIS IS THE W DEFENDER.

An Open Letter to Alan Moore

Dear Alan Moore,

Hey, how are you? So, just saw the announcement that you're writing another Lovecraft comic. I must say, I didn't expect another one of those to happen. See, I know you wrote the first one to pay off some bills so I can almost understand you making it.

Well, actually, no I cannot. See, Neonomicon was one the worst things I've ever read. It took the setting of cosmic horror invented by H.P. Lovecraft and perverted it into the most depraved forms of disgust I've seen. It has a ten page rape scene, for God's sake. That's not Lovecraft. That's not Lovecraftian. That's not even close.

Lovecraftian horror is about what lurks beyond human perception, it's about being unable to escape your heritage, it's about the things that lurk in the deepest oceans and the farthest reaches of space. It is not about watching a woman get raped by a bunch of depraved people and then a Deep One. Neonomicon was not enjoyable to read. It is not enjoyable to think about. It is not enjoyable to remember that such a thing exists in this world.

And now you're writing a new story set in the world of Lovecraft, starring the man himself. Apparently you're going to explore "Lovecraft's sympathies with Adolf Hitler." I wish you wouldn't do this. Like all people, Lovecraft was a man with flaws, and nobody who is familiar with Lovecraft is ignorant of this fact. He was an incredibly creative and talented writer, but that does not change the fact that he was a racist. You know this, and I know this. Is there any need to fictionalize any facet of that, to paint a little picture to show the world? It's possible it could be a cathartic experience, to see it confronted, but I know your works. I know Neonomicon. If you take the Deep Ones and create 10 of the most brutal pages of art I have ever seen, I know nothing good can come of it if you take Lovecraft's racism.

I know it's too late now to implore you not to write this. Contracts have been signed, you've likely written it already, and production is in order. I likely couldn't convince you not to, even if I had written this earlier. All I can say is, I wish you hadn't written it.

Signed,

A Concerned Lovecraft Fan

New Ways To Die Parts 3 and 4

We're back, with the next part of our ongoing series of Oh God Anti-Venom Why Does He Exist. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out the previous installment. (Also known as: I Told You That Story So I Could Tell You This Story)

Comic Review: Amazing Spider-Man #570 & #571

So yeah, Anti-Venom. That started. Venom and Anti-Venom just start beating the shit out of each other in the middle of the shelter, so Li leads May and the hobos to a safe room. Spider-Man swings in at that moment, but he really shouldn't have.

That was the dumbest panel I've ever seen. Until this one.

I... I don't... Why?

Okay, okay. Let's get back to Osborn. Maybe that won't be so dumb.

Somebody help me.

Oh look! Menace! I... I can't believe that's almost a ray of hope at this point. She blasts into Bill Hollister's office, knocking out a wall. She tries to tell Bill something, but he's unconscious. As she tries to rouse him, the police show up, so she flees. Wait no! Don't go! With you gone it's back to--

That panel got past a writer, an artist, and like, 4 editors. Let that sink in.

Anyway, Eddie throws a car which ends up flying towards some dude, who Spider-Man saves. Thus, we get a rehash of a thing that happened like, 200 issues ago, where Eddie Brock decided Spider-Man was a pretty okay guy when Spidey saved his ex-wife. That leads to a teamup between Spider-Man and Anti-Venom, then this:

Four editors. Four.

As a result of this, it looks like Anti-Venom destroyed the symbiote, which, when it comes to Gargan, is probably a good thing. But then he decides to "cure" Spider-Man.

We end with Menace meeting up with Osborn.

The next part starts with, in case we forgot, more of this.

The Feds show up to retrieve Gargan, and they try to kill Anti-Venom. They use a combination of fire and sonics, which ordinarily would take down a symbiote. Since Anti-Venom is a creature that comes only from my worst nightmares, he has no weaknesses. Great.

So Anti-Venom and Spider-Man fight the Thunderbolts, as Norman fights Menace.

Spider-Man figures out that being around Anti-Venom makes his powers cut out for some reason. I guess the invasion of personal space did that? While that's happening, Menace tries to beat up Osborn, but he just says some command code and blows up her glider. She gets past this and beats up Norman a bit, then leaves for bigger and better things. As Spider-Man flees, Norman finds something and calls a retreat for the Thunderbolts. Anti-Venom follows.

Peter shows back up at the mostly destroyed homeless shelter, and we see... wait, who are these guys again?

Oh wait, they're those Chinese people. I forgot about them because nothing but stupid has happened for the last two comics.

But we can't spend enough time for you to know what's going on there, we cut to Ben Urich, from Front Line, waiting for someone at a Diner. That someone turns out to be Harry Osborn, who has all the dirt on his dad. Apparently Osborn and Crowne have been working together to traffic slaves. I guess. I dunno, if Front Line is planning on publishing this to ruin Osborn's reputation, it's not gonna work. If people are dumb enough to love him now, what's a little slavery gonna do?

After that, Harry heads to the hospital to check on Bill Hollister, where Lily is all sad. (EVEN THOUGH SHE DID IT SHE'S MENACE)

Then we cut, again, to something completely different. More fake politics!

Okay, seriously? Another plot thread? So apparently Spider-tracers (Which, well, I didn't think people knew about) have been found on dead bodies, so naturally everyone thinks Spider-Man killed people. Crowne plans to use that to win the election.

With that, how much do we have going on right now? There's the Anti-Venom thing, Osborn trying to kill Spider-Man, the fake election, Menace attacking people for no reason, Martin Li and the homeless shelter, the Chinese people, whatever's going on with Harry and Norman, and now this! And they expected people to pick this up as a first issue!

Anyway, we see Anti-Venom has snuck in with Crowne's possie and he quickly changes to look like a guard. As Crowne's people leave, Norman reveals he got Peter's camera, which homes in on Spider-Man by tracking a chip in his chest. Now he can make guns that home in on Spider-Man. Bullseye counters that he could just throw stuff at him. There, the issue ends.

All I have to say is: Thank God there's only two parts left.

Parts 1 and 2