LFCC 2018: 10 Takeaways From The Dan Slott Panel

by Olly MacNamee

You wouldn’t believe Dan Slott had just arrived in town with jet lag and, like the rest of us, suffering from the heatwave the UK has been burdened with for the past two months. Where he gets his energy and enthusiasm from is one of the great mysteries of the modern world, but it made for a very lively and animated panel at the end of the first day of LFCC. Here’s 10 takes from this spotlight panel to share with you this weekend.

1. Dan Raspler, DC editor at the time, gave Slott his first big break, with Arkham Asylum: Living Hell. Slott had been writing Justice League Adventures, based on the animated show, and Raspler realised that these were stories that would be equally suitable in the mainstream DC books. But, only if Slott locked away his games consul. He admits it was an addition of his and, in DC locking up his pride and joy, the best thing that could have happened to him for his writing career.
2. Slott realised if he could make Arkham Asylum: Living Hell as horrific and brutal as possible, he’d never be asked to write another Loony Tunes/funny book ever again. Clearly this tact worked.
3. Spider-verse has a lot of nasty deaths, often involving decapitation, but only under Steve Whacker’s editorship. When he was replaced by Nick Lowe, Lowe’s philosophy was simple: an 8 year old should be able to pick up Spider-man and read it. The decapitations stopped immediately.

4. Dan Slott brought back Squirrel Girl into the Marvel Universe through his book, The Great Lake Avengers. But, if he’d asked only two weeks alter, he’d have been told she was being used by Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire on their Defenders series. Talk about good timing!
5. Slott got his big break at Marvel during the Civil War writers’ summit he was invited to, almost be accident. Others had dropped out and Slott was local, so Joe Quesada invited him along. Having no horse in the race, Slott was more at liberty to shoot ideas to the group and walked away with The Initiative.

6. With specials and one-offs, Slott has now written over 3200 Spider-man comics. Like him or loathe him, you’ll never forget get him, as one of the definitive Spider-man creators.
7. Always carry a notebook with you, is the advice Slott gives would be writers. Even as a kid he kept files of notes on his favourite heroes, including the Fantastic Four! I wonder if he’ll be revisiting these notes on his upcoming run?
8. Slott hinted, quite heavily, that he’ll be on FF for a loooonnnngggg time to come. Buckle up then, true believers.

9. Jokingly, nearer the end of the panel, Slott claimed Marvel would never publish two Spidey stories he would have loved to pitch. First up, Spidey at a furries’ convention. This being a fictional universe, one of the furries is mistaken for a hired goon and given the name, The Weasel. Soon he’s battling Spidey, but would rather have people believe he’s a villain rather than a furry! The second, a story about Swarm, a Nazi made up of bees. Asking the question, what happens to the honey produced by these Nazi bees, Slott would have had those eating this honey become Nazis too. Entitled, ‘Nazi Gold‘ he knew it wouldn’t fly. Although, looking at America today, I’m not too sure some haven’t tasted it.
10. Slott, a keen advocate against spoilers, had to spoil his own Red Goblin reveal because he’d had word that a Red Goblin prototype action figure was to be shown at a toy convention imminently. Not wanting the toy to reveal the secret, he had no other choice in this instance. The toy was never shown. D’oh!