In considering possible storylines for “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” I thought of the notion of bringing in Spider-Man 2099 and perhaps even following up on the one-shot I wrote in which they met.
But I have to admit, I was gunshy. After all, I did a storyline in “Captain Marvel” in which we time-traveled both to 2099 and “Future Imperfect,” and it got me slammed for writing stories that required intimate knowledge of everything I’d written in the past. They were roundly criticized as proof that I was far more interested in producing insular and self-referential material instead of stories that were broadly accessible to new readers.
So “Exiles” announces a storyline going to 2099 and the world of “Future Imperfect,” and it’s greeted with excitement and cheers.
What the hëll–?!?
Understand, I don’t resent the creative team for going in that direction. Personally, I’m kind of flattered. But I’ll tell ya, if I do bring Miguel back for a drop-in on Peter Parker, I won’t be real thrilled the first time I read commentary claiming that I’m just recycling old ideas.
PAD
• 
I could never understand what was the hostility against PAD’s Captain Marvel. I personally thought that the 2099 story was great and would love to see PAD work on a new Spider-Man 2099 title.
If you ever bring Miguel to the regular 616 universes I just know that there will be many people (specially at my site) that will be trilled.
Best of luck with your new Spider-Man title
Marcus,
[i]Hmm, wait…didn’t comics in the 70s used to do exactly that? Have a brief recap paragraph at the opening to every book? And I bet at some point, an editor decided that, rather than waste that inch of page every issue telling the same story, just assume the reader either A) knew what the origin of the character was, or B) didn’t need to know every detail in order to enjoy the story contained in the issue.[/i]
Marvel still does something similar to this with the first panel “Previously in Exiles or Spider-man” of some comics.
I think that using characters from previous stories is a nice “Easter Egg” for long time readers and as was stated earlier if a new reader has a question they can ask or better yet go to a comic store and read some back issues.
R.I.F.
Reading is fundamental.
Regards:
Warren S. Jones III
Well, if there’s a certain art to cameos like that, doing it in such a way that you don’t really need to be intimately familiar with the character to read the story, but if you are, it adds another level.
I just had to chuckle at the one throw away line about Mayor Penn in Howling Mad.
-Rex Hondo-
I can just see it. Miguel swinging around in costume, runs into Venom…Brief moment of just looking at each other, and then Venom says one word.
“Copycat.”
C’mon, you can all see it too.
Personally, though, I’m still waiting for the return of Bernie the Klingon.
Although I think it would be great to revisit Spider-Man 2099 (or some of the other great characters PAD has written before), the only problem I see with it is that the title is Friendly NEIGHBORHOOD Spider-Man. But, it is possible that Miguel is sent to Parker’s time, and they have to work to get him back. Maybe even have some other Spideys come in (perhaps a Spider-Baby 😛 ).
Whatever you decide to do with the series, I’ll back you up.
I guess the whole concept of “back issue” has been obliterated. Maybe I’m just showing my age, but I was never bothered by references to previous comics, it was an excuse to go buy them.
These days Marvel would make even more money because more people would buy the trade paperback rather then the individual back issue.
Older comics were filled with references to other comics and frequently had a note, or caption, saying “go read FF#187” or “see ASM #252”.
PAD, maybe you could put some kind of an index in the back of the issue pointing to the original stories.
“Maybe even have some other Spideys come in (perhaps a Spider-Baby 😛 ).”
I can see it now: Peter Parkers from throughout the multiverse standing in Avengers Tower, and Wolverine cracks, “Geez, it’s a crisis of infinite nerds.”
My vote: do it, but not before year two. And you might as well play it up as an epic Spider-man of Two Worlds! type story. You can even do it was one of those two issue hypercompressed stories that tells an epic saga, like the Tom Strong Terra Obscura arc or the classic Flash of Two world’s type stuff. That’s my vote anyway.
How about writing new concepts with new characters instead of going to the continuity geekfest?
Best,
GG
Holy crap, yes. I’d been planning on buying this since it was announced with Waid attached, but if you put Spidey 2099 in there, you’ve got a guarenteed sale. Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 were the first two titles that I ever followed regularly and I’ve still got the crossover one-shot. I miss that world.
GG, he’s done that. Original characters, original story, no tie-ins with anything else (except, eventually, two of the writer’s other creations), wonderfully well-written tales, loads of fun – if you could find it. It was called Fallen Angel.
The fans stayed away in droves.
Those of us who did read it are really looking forward to its resurrection at IDW, but I’ve come to find that, for the most part, people don’t want original. They want rehashes of what they’ve already seen and read. Why else would there be so many remakes of Shakespeare rolling out of Hollywood today? (My personal favorite in that line is still 10 Things I Hate About You, an excellent retelling of The Taming of the Shrew, with lots of sly injokes for Shakespeare fans.)
Fortunately for us all, PAD can also serve up some dámņ fine rehash, as well as his original stuff.
I say screw them! PAD you are one of the best at what you do. Critics are just talking heads who think they understand what the audience wants. Your stint on Spiderman 2099 was some of the best stories and longest running 2099 title out there. If people didn’t read it and want to know more then they need to get their pocket books out and pony up the dough. Future Imperfect is a kick ášš Hulk story that everyone should read, not just Hulk fans. Did you get backlash from the What Savage Beast book because you used characters directly from the F.I. story in that novel? Or, did anyone bìŧçh and moan when The Abominations mini series came out? One would have to have intimate knowledge of the F.I. storyline to understand what was going on.
I say, go with what you feel is best for the book. Most of us will have no problem following what you do. Thanks for making the Hulk incredible again, and I can’t wait for Spidey!!!
Quoth Rat:
I can just see it. Miguel swinging around in costume, runs into Venom…Brief moment of just looking at each other, and then Venom says one word.
“Copycat.”
This is pretty much what happened in the “Spider-Man 2099 meets Spider-Man” graphic novel. Venom turns up, and says “Well, well! Nice outfit! Too bad that you stole it from me! I can smell an imposter a mile off! So who are you? An obsessive fan? A clone? What?” (The GN also paired Peter with Vulture 2099.) Anyway, I think it would be a bit redundant to do that scene again.
Personally, I’d like to see Miguel again, so I’m all in favour.
“GG, he’s done that. Original characters, original story, no tie-ins with anything else (except, eventually, two of the writer’s other creations), wonderfully well-written tales, loads of fun – if you could find it. It was called Fallen Angel.”
“The fans stayed away in droves.”
And continue to do so with “Soulsearchers and Company.”
PAD
Personally, I’d like to see Miguel again, so I’m all in favour.
So long as it’s Peter writing the book, fine. ‘Cause after coming onto the title, Ben Raab nearly ruined all of the preceding fifty-plus issues with the few issues he wrote that ended the series. He used then the same bland dialogue and writing style that he later used in his “Phantom” stories for Moonstone.
JAB
This was just posted in the Lying in the Gutters column at comicbookresources.com:
As well as the previously announced “Silver Surfer” miniseries, “Dream Police” and “The Book Of Lost Souls,” Straczynski states that the current Spider-Man arc will “segue into the big Spidey event that will occupy pretty much the rest of the year and span all of the relevant titles.”
Well, I was buying Incredible Hulk until it tied into House of M, so I guess I’ll read Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man until it ties into “the big Spidey event.”
–your pal, Hoy
I would most definitely love to see a SM 2099 appearance again. The appeal of the original 2099 books to me was how different they were to the MU books at the time. Marvel took established characters and gave them fresh origins. Plus Marvel 2099’s universe was mysterious and had a lot of potential. Spider-Man and Doom 2099 were the best books of the original four. I didn’t really have much of a feel for Ravage or the Punisher. X-Men 2099 became a huge disappointment after the first several issues. The books that came later were okay at best. Although I did think the design of Hulk 2099 was pretty cool looking.