Marvel Comics has finally announced Amazing Spider-Man's new creative team and the series is getting another new #1 ahead of issue #1000 (we're currently on #957).
The next era of the beloved series will be brought to us by celebrated Deadpool scribe Joe Kelly, legendary Amazing Spider-Man artist John Romita Jr. and another of the industry's most acclaimed contemporary artists, Pepe Larraz, fresh off his exemplary work on Blood Hunt and X-Men.
The new Amazing Spider-Man promises to deliver classic Spidey storytelling with bold new horizons for the web-slinger; his supporting cast (including the recently redeemed Norman Osborn and Peter's new girlfriend Shay), and the greatest supervillains in all of pop culture.
The new run finds Peter without a job and looking for gainful employment, but his job search is interrupted by a rampaging Rhino who is but the tip of a sinister iceberg. What major Spider-Villain is working behind the scenes weaponizing other Spider-Villains including one we haven’t seen in over seven years? And what is the Goblin-free Norman Osborn up to these days?
"Even though this is a new #1, I don’t think of it as a 'restart' per see," Kelly told Polygon today. "I’m writing the next chapter of the story of one the world’s greatest characters, lucky enough to follow in the footsteps of the folks before me."
"After that sinks in, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I love about Spider-Man and his cast, what stories resonated with me at different times of my life, and how I can synthesize all of that into something that works with what came before but breaks new ground," the writer added. "I feel a drive to take bold, unexpected swings in order to see how Spider-Man deals with Marvel-sized curve balls."
Larraz said, "The most important part of Spider-Man that I wanted to portray accurately is Peter. Of course I can talk about drawing a believable New York, I shot hundreds of pictures of details of the city for reference, or how I’ve focused on drawing the flow of Spidey’s movement and speed in a way closer to animation than comics."
"But I think Spider-Man comics work because we care about Peter and his world, so that was my main focus: To draw a Peter that you instantly recognize and empathize [with]," he teased.
Kelly is currently writing the "The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man" story arc and Romita Jr. most recently worked on Amazing Spider-Man alongside writer Zeb Wells.
Check out Larraz's wraparound cover for Amazing Spider-Man #1 below.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1
Written by JOE KELLY
Art by PEPE LARRAZ & JOHN ROMITA JR.
Colors by MARTE GRACIA
Wraparound Cover by PEPE LARRAZ
On Sale 4/9