What If…?: ‘Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow’ Redefines Marvel’s Greatest Hero
by Tony Thornley
Chip Zdarsky gave Peter Parker a sister and changed one of his longest relationships forever in Spectacular Spider-Man, then chronicled the webslinger’s greatest triumphs and tragedies in Spider-Man: Life Story. Now, in his return to Parker’s life, he tells a terrifying story of his darkest hour…
Peter Parker once put on an alien suit that changed his life forever. As fate would have it, he was able to break away from its dark influence, and become his own man again. However, in Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow Zdarsky teams with Pasqual Ferry and Matt Hollingsworth to ask what if he didn’t force it away, but instead gave into its darkness.
“I’m thrilled to be kicking off a new era of “WHAT IF” stories with this tale of a Spider-Man gone bad!’ said Zdarsky, “How bad will he be? Will he have a goatee and no hyphen in his name? Pick up issue one to find out! But seriously, I feel that with Spider’s Shadow we’re exploring some dark situations with Spidey and the Marvel Universe, while making it cool and fun to read. I think longtime fans will love it and new readers will be amazed at what Marvel lets us do. Pasqual and Matt are producing amazing work on this book. When every page comes in, I share them with all of my friends even though Marvel says I’m not allowed to do that.”
Ferry was equally thrilled. He said “Since I started working at Marvel some long years ago, I always dreamed of drawing Spider-Man, I came close a couple of times to get it, but the God of Thunder and Iron Man got in the way at the last moment— which were quite a joy too. So when I was offered the opportunity to draw this miniseries, you can imagine my happiness. In addition, I always wanted to experiment with the black suit from Secret Wars so the icing on the cake was doing that in the form of a “What If” series set at the beginning of that journey. Chip’s script is really shocking and surprising, a delight for someone fan of the character like me, and I’m sure it will catch the readers as much as it is drawing it with me. Hold on to the seats, because Spider’s Shadow is going to surprise you in a way that you cannot imagine!”
Marvel’s What If…? franchise has long needed an update, and this exciting new format with top tier talent seems to be it.
Check out Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow when it hits stores in April!
