Fear not, True Believers! As we reported a couple weeks ago, The Amazing Spider-Man will be coming to end this December with issue #700. Recently announced, however, is the new title to pick up where Amazing leaves off: The Superior Spider-Man, set to debut in January of 2013. It’s the same creative team you know and love, but with a new take on the iconic character.
Marvel’s “The Superior Spider-Man” #1. Cover art by Edgar Delgado
Dan Slott, who has been involved with the Amazing title since 2008, and been the writer of the last 46 out of 48 issues, spoke with USA Today about Spider-Man’s darker and new direction:
“I’ve always been the omniscient hand that’s been protecting Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and not letting anything too bad happen to him…And now I’ve become this cruel god. There’s something exciting about that, about going, ‘Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha, here is what’s going to happen to you, Spider-Man!’ And it’s drastic and it’s big and it’s exciting and it’s never been done before.”
“You’re getting a new writer on this book, and his name also happens to be Dan Slott and he is very messed up.”
Slott goes on to promise new costume alterations, new abilities, and a “new way of doing things.” Ryan Stegman, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Humberto Ramos will rotate on art duty, with Stegman penciling the first arc titled “Hero or Menace”.
Spider-Man has always been notable for his lighthearted and sarcastic demeanor. With the Superior book now headed into darker, uncharted waters, will we be losing the Peter Parker we’ve come to love? What causes Parker to change so dramatically? Why does he have a spike on his toe? Anxious Spidey fans will have to wait for these answers and more until January, but as news breaks you can count on us to keep you up to date. Sound off on the message boards below: Are you worried about the web-crawler, or is this the coolest thing since sliced bread?
For the full interview and a look at the potential new costume (with toe spike included), check out the USA Today article here.
Gamenomics & Comicology 
I’m calling it right now: Spider-man losses his powers. Or he loses a few of them.
Spider-Man has been done dark before, whether it was the early 90’s or Back in Black. Spidey can do dark well, and it can sometimes make him more relatable by playing up his vulnerabilities, but it needs to be offset with the cast’s natural charm, otherwise it is out of character. With Ryan Stegman aboard, we might be seeing more of Kaine, which could allow him to show Peter the powers he hasn’t used since the war with Morlun. That nightvision was awesome
Sure, spider-man can go dark and it will still be a good book, but I’m curious why the creative team would shake things up that much. “Amazing” is successful right now, and there will be some readers turned off by the changes who’ll stop reading. Seems like a risk by Marvel for the sake of publicity. But who knows? The new story might kick butt.