Watcher Wednesday: Spider-Men

Good Wednesday, everyone! A brand new batch of comics have been released today including some Marvel favorites such as Amazing Spider-Man and Ultimate Comics Ultimate. One of the newer ones to come out is entitled Spider-Men #2 and the series has caused quite some excitement within the Marvel fanbase. This new miniseries will finally see the Ultimate universe’s Miles Morales meet the original Spider-Man of Earth-616, Peter Parker.

In 1962, Spider-Man first debuted in Amazing Fantasy #15 and this year marks the 50th anniversary of everyone’s favorite webslinger. The Marvel creative team thought this would be the perfect occasion for the Ultimate universe’s Miles Morales to receive some pointers from New York’s very own Peter Parker. However, when this rumor first circulated months ago, many were skeptical of this crossover between the mainstream Earth-616 universe and the Ultimate universe. Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada himself stated in 2005 that it would never happen and if it did, it meant Marvel was completely out of ideas.

However, Quesada was never one to be trusted, always misleading and inconsistent in his statements (a bit like Chairman Emeritus Stan Lee). The man who manages the Ultimate comics, Senior Editor Mark Paniccia stated that it was actually Quesada who proposed the idea for the team-up. Furthermore, he stated that this limited series won’t just be a one-shot, the events in it will dramatically alter both the mainstream and Ultimate universe afterwards.

Written by Brian Michael Bendis (writer of both the Ultimate Spider-Man comic and TV show), Spider-Men #1 opens with Peter Parker investigating a bright light from an abandoned warehouse when he happens upon Mysterio, a master of illusion who transport him to a different world where people chide him for wearing his Spider-Man outfit and say it’s an insult to Peter Parker’s memory. He stumbles upon a younger, less-experienced Spider-Man and they must work together to defeat the forces of evil.

Happy 50 years, Spidey. Here’s to another 50!