Into the (Manga) Spider-Verse
Power & Responsibility
Over the holidays I had the opportunity to spend time with my niece, Yumi. I found out that one of her favorite shows is Spidey and his Amazing Friends, so of course Uncle Khary was asked to do his rendition, being that I am a “professional Spider-Man artist.” As I was drawing Spidey, it really struck me how powerful these long-lasting characters are; maybe we all take them for granted. Generations of kids have grown up on these creations. These characters mean something to people. And for me, Spider-Man is where my professional career in comics really took off. Well, a very specific version of Spider-Man.
As mentioned in a previous post, Spider-Man: Legend of the Spider-Clan #5 (aka Manga Spider-Man) is the first mainstream work I did in comics. Skottie Young was the main artist on the book, but there was a scheduling conflict, and he asked me if I’d be willing to be the fill-in artist for the last issue. After some initial hesitation (I was in the middle of drawing Bunches, after all!) I agreed. And the rest is history.
Manga Spider-Man was a great intro to comics. I had already been a fan of the series and its initial creator, Kaare Andrews. Skottie was a good friend of mine, so I was acquainted enough with his style that I could emulate it but still put my own flair on it. Comics was (for a brief moment) going through a shift and becoming more receptive of art styles that diverged from the norm: and my animated art style was very much not the norm. It was a perfect fit.
I signed my Marvel contract on my birthday, January 10th, 2003. That means that in less than two weeks, I will have been a professional comic book artist for twenty years. In those two decades, I have had many people come and tell me how much this book meant to them and how it inspired them to also want to make comics. Sometimes when you’re deep in the weeds of making this stuff, it’s easy to forget how the stories we create affect people. But seeing my three-year-old niece wear her Spider-Man boots, talk about how much she loves Miles Morales, and correct me when I drew Ghost Spider incorrectly (“NO WEBS ON THE FACE”)….it reminded me that this stuff matters.
So in this last post of the year, I’d just like to send a special thank you to Skottie Young, Kaare Andrews, C.B. Cebulski, and Marvel Comics for helping make my dreams a reality. And a super special thank you to Peter Parker. I owe you everything, Webhead. I’m so thankful for the career I have, and I hope to keep creating stories and inspiring young children well into the future. Have a happy New Year, everyone, and we’ll see you in 2023.
P.S. In the trailer for the new movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, there is a quick cameo from Manga Spider-Man. Our work lives on!
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