Starting this December, the Amazing Spider-Man will be a radically different character. Writer Dan Slott knows all the Spider-Man secrets as he will be co-writing the thrice-weekly Amazing Spider-Man starting this December. Slott has been the critically acclaimed writer of She-Hulk and the recent Avengers: The Initiative.

Slott spoke with me about his upcoming Spider-Man run and what it’s like at those Marvel Retreats.

Prodigeek - How is it writing Spider-Man?

Dan Slott - It’s scary. I’ve written Spidey before. Spider-Man shows up in the first ever story I got to write for Marvel, the first super hero story. I’ve tried to stick him in every, damn place I could. And if you haven’t read it, my Spider-Man/Human Torch five- issue mini is just one, big, sloppy kiss to all Spider-Man continuity. I just love Spidey.

And to be honest, it’s intimidating. Working on the Free Comic Book Day comic was very hard because that comic had to do a lot of things. It had to. It wasn’t just sitting down and write a fun Spider-Man story. That comic had to serve a purpose and it had to be an all ages read. It had to set up certain pieces. It had to do a lot of things.

And my first issue is the first issue out of the gate which starts the whole new run for me and Marc Guggenheim and Bob Gale and Zeb Wells. That [issue] was hard because it had to set up a lot of pieces for where we’re all going. And it was extra intimidating knowing it was going to be the first one out of the gate. It’s going to be the first interior art by Steve McNiven after Civil War. That was intimidating at first.

But once you get going, it’s Spider-Man and how’s that not fun. Just yesterday I turned in the final revision on the first John Romita Jr. plot which is going to be my third story. My first one with Steve McNiven is a three parter. My next one with an artist who I dearly, dearly love - who I’m not allowed to mention. And then there’s this John Romita Jr. story is really big. It’s going to be the biggest story we’ve done to date. I started freezing up a little on that cause it’s John Romita Jr. returning to Spider-Man. That’s big. That’s huge. But once you break through the first wall and you start writing it’s the greatest feeling in the world knowing that you’re writing the story and Steve McNiven is going to be drawing it or this artist or John Romita Jr. It’s all so exciting.

Prodigeek - What’s been the biggest challenge in taking on Amazing Spider-Man weekly?

Dan Slott - The biggest challenge about this thrice monthly Amazing Spider-Man is that it’s really a big effort from everyone involved. There’s so much work and energy and there’s so much teamwork involved. It would be so much easier for Marvel to put out Amazing Spider-Man and Spectacular and Web or Friendly, and to have one person be the alpha dog and the other guys telling their own stories within the cracks. Like here’s the guy on Amazing and they said “For the next six months [Spider-Man’s] wearing the Ben Reilly costume cause I feel like it. And he’s grown two extra arms.” And then the guys writing Spectacular and Web would go “Oooookay.” And then they’d follow suit. This isn’t like that at all!

This is four guys working together telling stories in their own voices but making sure everything fits like a nice tight puzzle, and that the story of Amazing Spider-Man keeps going on. To make this all work, all four of us are writing multiple stories at different points in time to keep the artists fed and to make sure there are issues in the drawer. Everybody is reading everybody else’s scripts and throwing out suggestions or being there to spitball ideas. It’s amazing. And we’re all keeping track of everything on giant spreadsheets and we’re all making sure it all fits right. I’ve working in the industry coming on 15 years and I’ve never felt like a part of something so big or felt so much positive energy.

It’s so weird when I’m online and I see someone comment about how Marvel’s made this choice because it’s easy. We’ll just slap an “Amazing” on an extra two books and that’ll increase sales on the other books. It’s purely mercenary. Please! This is far from easy!

This is a big creative gamble and challenge and it’s such a big risk. It’s such a big enterprise. I can’t wait to see how it all plays together. The only thing I know that is going to freak me is how fast it’s going to go by. We’ve been working on this stuff for months and months and months. I think about how much time and how much energy I’ve put into the first three issues with Steve McNiven and how much work has come out. God, this Steve McNiven art is gorgeous. And this is going to ship on time. I’m seeing art from the last third issue coming in and its gorgeous all the way through and it’s really scary to me to think that when that comes out its going to go bang bang bang and then it’s gone. Laugh. It’s going to go week one, two, three, and then there’s three months of your life out in weeks. That’s what scares me the most; it’s how much how much time is going to gobble this up. You know time itself it’s just going to [sound of gobbling up]. One month is going to go by and there goes three months worth of your life working on this. At some point it’s exciting and on the other point it’s like oh my god. Where’s my next story?

Prodigeek - Steve Wacker is editing this coming off of 52. Do you feel he’s brought lessons or better ways of making the weekly work?

Dan Slott - This could not happen without Steve. That said, this is a new ball game for Steve too. In 52, Steve gets a whole bunch of writers producing one comic. You get all these little short stories. This is a different ball of wax. Here you’ll have one artist and one writer telling three [or so] issues in a row. You’re getting an entire creative team putting out one comic. So much of this stuff has to be so worked out ahead of time and meticulously planned. It really needs someone with Steve’s talents to keep it on the rails.

Prodigeek - How do you feel working with the team?

Dan Slott - It’s been great. I think every issue that comes out is going to be in the voice of the person working on it. I’m going to be a total geek. Did you ever see [the Star Trek: Voyager] episode where Tuvok and Nelix go on the transporter and they come out together as Tuvix. They’re a hybrid person and have all their strengths and none of the weaknesses.

I think that’s what it’s like being on “Team-Spider”. Something I’ve done my entire career is have my personal think-tank. I’ve got guys like Ty Templeton, Toby (my best friend from high school), and Tom Brevoort. People I call up and bounce ideas off of. Just having a sounding board helps you’ve got Ty Templeton and my best friend from high school and Tom Brevoort. People I call up and bounce ideas off of. Just having a sounding board helps you.

You get this great support structure working on [Amazing Spider-Man]. You know when you’re stuck on something, you get three guys who really know their stuff reading over your plot and throwing out suggestions. And it’s not stuff like “You must do this.” It’s all what if you did that; or I think this might work better; or you know in my issue this is going to happen. Maybe this could lead into that. And it helps you.

In my 2nd my second storyline, I had a really I thought a really cool scene where I had a villain doing something inherit to their power and had this big chase scene with Spider-Man. Bob Gale read it. He went, ‘Hey, why aren’t you showing me this. Shouldn’t I be seeing this?’ I looked it over and I’m like oh my god, there should be a scene like that. And he describes something quick, just jotting off ideas. And I’m like, omigod, that’s such a better scene. And I’m like can I steal that, and he says sure. And when you hit that scene, that really good jam at the top of the book, that’s a Bob Gale beat. But conversely I see stuff of mine pop up in other guys stuff too. It all works. I think we’re all getting the best and none of the worst of each others’ talents in this book and its just going to lead to a stronger book. It’s going to help the book stay interconnected.

The whole book is going to be one long thread. It’s going to be the adventures of Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man. But you are going to get chapters in our own voices, but you’ll get these little nuggets here and there about things that just make everything work. That’s everyone chipping in.

Prodigeek – You’ve talked about how much One More Day is going to cause a lot of arguing.

Dan Slott - I wouldn’t say arguing. It’s going to cause a lot of debate. It’s comic fans. They’re going to argue about the shape of a cloud, whether it looks like a bunny or a tank. And that’s part of the fun.

Prodigeek - What is your biggest concern with how the Amazing Spider-Man weekly will be received?

Dan Slott - Speaking as a Marvel employee? It’s just how awesome it’s gonna be.

Prodigeek - How about as a fan?

Dan Slott - You look at the artwork, it’s just gorgeous. And the story and it’s fallout are epic! If you’re a Spidey fan, you’re going to need your One More Day. It’s huge. It’s really going to shake up the whole Spidey-verse.

Prodigeek - Have you been keeping track of fan speculation?

Dan Slott - Yeah, it’s one of the weird things. I’m told I’m not supposed to say this but I’m a fan. You’re not supposed to say those words if you’re on the pro side, but I’m a fan. I’m a huge Marvel fan. I’m a totally fanboy geek. And it’s weird for me to wear the two hats, because I’ll get to sit in the meeting at Marvel Retreat, [pauses] I’m a big booster of Ed Brubaker and I cannot get enough of Captain America, Daredevil, and Iron Fist. I love reading every month.

This is the thing where you should never complain, but I’m going to complain about it. You’ll be sitting in this meeting and Brubaker will suddenly start telling everybody his plans for the year for Captain America. As a pro you need to know all this stuff if Cap is going to appear in your book, which he can’t because he’s dead. Those for one [laughs].

Prodigeek - So you say Captain America is going to appear in Amazing Spider-Man?

Dan Slott - No, no, no, let’s say Brubaker’s talking about Daredevil and he starts telling you what’s happening in the coming year. As a pro you need to know if Daredevil’s appearing in your book, so you can make sure it all works together. But as a fan, you’re like, aw, you just ruined a year’s worth of Daredevil for me. I didn’t want to know that was the evil mastermind behind everything. I didn’t want to know that character was going to die and that character was going live or that character was going to bla bla bla. So as a fan it kills you. But then, you’re getting to go on this cool retreat with all these cool creators and hearing all this stuff and exchanging all these ideas and getting to tell these stories, so it’s really hard to complain.

As a fan that, it’s annoying, where with One More Day, one of the problems I have is as a creator who knows some of the secrets. I have my fan reaction to it and I have my pro reaction to it. One of the weirdest things for me is what all the fans are predicting online: ‘I hear in One More Day they’re going to do this. And I hear in one more day they’re going to do that. What the hell. But then there’s also the part of me knowing that I know that I knew if I wasn’t working in the industry I’d be one of those fans writing all that stuff. So um, take it all with a grain of salt.

Prodigeek - What has been some of the craziest speculation you’ve seen?

Dan Slott - I’d say, it’s Loki did it. Whenever is going to happen, Loki did it. Remember those issues of Amazing Spider-Man when Spider-Man shared a hot dog with Loki and Loki owes him a favor, Loki did it. Whatever’s going to happen, whatever weird big thing is going to happen in One More Day, Loki did it. And you’re like, boy that would suck. And I’m like, “What? You’re reading this comic and they haven’t mentioned Loki in years and you think Loki did it? C’mon! Really?”

Prodigeek - Do you ever feel pigeon holed as kind of a comical writer?

Dan Slott - I think I get expectations of what people think I should write. But yeah, I think I’m getting over that as people start seeing stuff from Initiative, and as people start looking into my older world like Arkham Asylum. I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem in the future. Especially Spider-Man. Especially after the Free Comic Book Day issue, I worried that I might be writing a book for 8-year-olds or under. And there was a concern working on the FCBD issue to make it an all ages read. I think they’re going to find there’s a little more grit to my Amazing Spider-Man issues that are coming out. I used to be worried a lot about being pigeon holed, not so much anymore. And definitely not after December.

Check out Dan Slott’s work on Amazing Spider-Man this December and his current work on Avengers: The Initiative.