With the third SPIDER-MAN movie on the horizon, I decided to ask you Spidey-related questions this month.

1. Back in 1983, you were slated to write and illustrate a Spider-Man graphic novel, as revealed during an interview in MARVEL AGE #4 (July 1983). You had planned to place Spidey in situations he hadn't experienced previously:

"Spider-Man undergoes a really traumatic event -- he gets shot up really badly for the first time in his life. He's rescuing a woman who's the intended victim of a mob hit, and in a moment of decision, he makes a wrong move -- he goes for his webs and they're empty. He takes nine rounds of machine gun fire. So the woman he's just rescued gets him back to her house, and while he's being nursed back to health, he falls in love with her. So why not chuck Spider-Man altogether and live with this beautiful woman? Except, of course, that she's the wife of a gangland big shot."

Question: What happened to this graphic novel, was it ever released?

1. Funny you brought that up, Mike! This month's BlogLayton.com feature is the actual text to that unpublished graphic novel! Click on the link to go to the editorial, AND all your questions will be answered!           

2. You¹ve worked on a number of SPIDER-MAN issues, notably #262 (as writer, penciller, and co-inker), with the photo cover by Eliot Brown, and #283 (as the inker over Ron Frenz's pencils), featuring the Absorbing Man and Titania.

Question: In #262, Spidey was clad in his classic uniform, while in #282 he wore his black/symbiote uniform..., so which of Spider-Man's two costumes do you prefer from a storytelling point of view? I'm thinking you must have a soft spot in your heart for both, since you designed the two Spidey action figures for the Secret Wars toy line. Also, both suits are completely different: one being fabric and the other a living being!
 

(I personally like the neoclassic suit introduced during Dan Jurgen¹s Spidey run. That costume, by the way, was bootlegged for use with Spider-Girl.)

Another question, since the story in SPIDER-MAN #262 involved the antagonist¹s taking a photo of Peter Parker changing into his Spidey costume, was the issue's photo cover a suggestion made by you?
 

2.  I am a traditionalists when it comes to Marvel characters.

I like the classic Iron Man armor.

I like the original X-Men's costumes.

I like Captain America breathing.

Given that, the choice is obvious. I'm old-school when it comes to Spidey. Give me the red and blue long johns any day. You understand, of course, that the black costume was a huge sales gimmick that worked QUITE effectively.  So much so, that Sam Raimi is using the same damn trick for his third Spider-Man film!

As far as the photo cover goes, I have to credit Jim Shooter for the original idea.  Photo covers were a pet project for him and he approached Eliot and me about doing one for my fill-in project.  By the way, I actually penciled a version of it, just in case the photo cover was a bust.  Check out that unused art for the cover  for #262 on the right.

3. These days, to me, Spider-Man comics are horrendously BORING, as if some of the creative teams don't really care about the character in the long run. And it doesn't help that stories are now event driven rather than character driven. I am particularly distressed over the fact that Peter Parker is/was a SCIENTIST -- while as a teenager he created his web-shooter and webbing, but hasn't invented much, if anything, since then...and that was in the early 1960s! Meanwhile, and sadly, Spidey is now a mutant, although that subplot mercifully seems to have been forgotten.
 

Question: If you were given the nod to write SPIDER-MAN, what would your approach be?

3. I think you have some good points, Mike. If you look at what Sam Raimi has done in a very contemporary setting, he's basically gone back to the origin of the characters to create a 21st century Spider-Man for the general public. Sometimes the original intent is still the best way to go. So I'm with you on this, I think I would try to take him back to his origins and make an effort to develop storylines that would involve his interest in science and technology and kind of steer him away from the marriage and other subplots that I think have mired him down.

4. What aspects of Spidey's character endear him to you? For me, it's his ability to be a wise guy while under extreme pressure.

4. I always loved the fact that he was shooting off at the mouth while he was busting someone else in theirs. He was probably the first character in comics to be portrayed as a wise-guy. In reality, as I've learned painfully first hand, in a real fight you just try to protect your mouth, not think about snappy one-liners. What endeared me to the character was his struggle to achieve manhood while the other Marvel characters were all adult and fully-defined as 'human beings'. Peter Parker was probably the first angst-ridden teenager in the medium and, like so many of us who were going through the same things, we could relate to him. I've always enjoyed the fact that he could win the big battle, but lose the personal war.

5. During the recent Marvel Civil War storyline, Tony Stark created a new costume for Spider-Man. In your mind, if Tony Stark were to invent fresh duds for Spidey, what features would the get-up include? As all bona fide Iron Fans know, the Spider-Man/Iron Man relationship pioneered by you and David Michelinie is a classic... and, unfortunately, was corrupted by the Civil War.

5. First of all, if he really wanted to help Peter Parker out, he would design a costume with very large pockets and stuff them full of money! But seriously, the whole idea of designing a costume for a guy who already had super-powers is ludicrous to me. Iron Man's suit of armor is a functional weapon. Spider-Man's costume is there only to conceal his identity. Everything else he does on his own.  So, creating a special super-suit for Spider-Man smacks of another Secret Wars type sales gimmick. Damn, let's just give Yogi Bear a suit of armor to ensure that he'll get all the picnic baskets in the future! Sheesh!

On an unrelated note, it's interesting that during the Civil War, nobody seemed to notice that Tony Stark was on a performance-enhancement drug: Extremis. And if they did take note, nobody cared. Sad. In this respect, superheroes are like professional athletes. Well, some of them. Sadder.

On another unrelated note, my artist pal Allen Del Caro and I recently were discussing the exciting news of IRON MAN: THE END. Before long, the chat drifted onto the subject of classic Bob Layton IRON MAN covers. In a sudden burst of inspiration and creativity, Allen knocked out a cover spoof of IRON MAN #126, starring our very own nanite-armor clad War Wabbit. I hope the fans dig it. In the future, Allen hopes to present several more IM cover swipes.

 

One of the JPEGs is an homage to your famous IRON MAN #126 cover, featuring the War Wabbit character created by my artist chum Allen Del Caro and myself. All is explained at the end of the column.

I'm hoping you'd allow us to present these special cover images each month or so. All the images, naturally, would be swipes of your classic IM covers. We'd be eternally grateful if you¹d give us the nod for this one guilty pleasure.

By the way, Allen illustrated my "Stark Remarks" columns for ADVANCED IRON back in the 1990s. We had a good five-or-so year run. It would be a thrill to have him help me with "Mike's Missives."

Mike Kalibabky

Mike, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!" Consider me flattered.