Swinging into the Spider-Verse!

Edge of Spider-Verse 2 is out next week!

Getting work at Marvel and DC is weird.

I’ve spent a lot of time emailing various editors, meeting them at conventions and afterparties, emailing them again, meeting them again, and so on and so forth, like a somewhat desperate little dance - here’s my new work, I’d love to work with you on so-and-so book, let me know if you have anything.

And honestly, I don’t know if any of it really makes a difference - because pretty much every chance I’ve gotten to work on big characters has come from out of the blue, not directly from one of those emails. Which is not to say I’ll stop sending them - I think it’s a good thing to at least try and stay in touch with the people you want to work with someday - but I’ve pretty much come to accept that whether I get these jobs or not actually has very little to do with how often I email, or how good my writing is on other projects.

It seems to be factors outside my control, namely timing, and luck, that make the difference between being liked and considered for a gig, and actually landing one - and if you’re going into comics you have to make your peace with that, or slowly go insane (though this might happen anyway.)

But hey, every once in a while, I do get lucky, and an opportunity comes my way - and when that happens, I focus on doing the best job I can, and pulling out all the stops (within the bounds of the story).

That’s why, when I wrote Superman: Red and Blue, I asked the amazing Joe Quinones to cram in Braniac, Lex Luthor, Atomic Skull and Mr. Myxlplyx onto this spread (Not to mention Solomon Grundy on the previous page, and a bunch of Youtubers throughout)

I mean, will I ever get the chance to write Superman again? I don’t know - so I wanted to get some favorite bad guys in there!

My hope is, that kicking ass on short jobs like this will lead to more opportunities, and maybe some longer miniseries or monthly sized work down the road. So, needless to say, here’s hoping EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #2, out next week, is the first of many times I get to work with Spider-Man.

CYBERNETICS MAKE EVERYTHING COOLER

As you can see in this awesome variant by Salvatore LaRocca, Cyborg Spider-Man is like regular Spider-Man, with some metallic extras tacked on that help him fight crime!

If the design feels like it’s chock-full of over-the-top 90s goodness, that’s because it is! It was created in 1992 by the one and only Erik Larsen, shortly before he and Marvel’s other star artists broke off to found Image Comics.

The OG

In the original story, Spider-Man is given temporary cybernetics to help him heal from injuries he got fighting the Sinister Six - but our story asks, what if they weren’t temporary at all? What if, seeing the crimefighting potential of these upgrades, Spider-Man just went with it?

Of course, his foes aren’t going to just sit around and let the wallcrawler out-tech them, so we’ll get a look at how this universe’s Sinister Six react to this new, jacked-up and jacked-in Spidey!

That’s a lot for one wallcrawler to take on - but don’t worry - he’s got a little help, whether he wants it or not! You’ll just have to read the issue to find out what happens!

Luckily, you won’t have to wait too long, because it’s out next week!

There’s 2 awesome covers to choose from, featuring Spooky-Man, who debuts in an excellent story from Kaare Andrews and Bob Quinn, and Cyborg Spider-Man, in the tale I worked on along with Edgar Salazar. I may have a slight bias in which one I think is cooler, but hey, can you blame me?

Hope you pick it up at your local comic store next week, and hey, while you’re there, maybe tell them you want to predorder Heartpiercer? It would really help us out!

Thanks for reading, and your support, as always. Until next time!

Rich