Sean McKeever's Amazing Friends

Thank goodness Marvel writer Sean McKeever is a lot like you and I, in that he grew up loving early '80s cartoon Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, and spends a lot of time checking out Internet sites about superheroes.

 

Otherwise, Marvel might have completely missed the chance to celebrate an important milestone in Spider-history. 

 

"I was bored out of my mind, tooling around the Internet when I came across a Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends fan site, and realized that 2006 was the 25th anniversary of the show," McKeever said, explaining how the upcoming Spider Man Family: Spider-Man's Amazing Friends one-shot came about. "Seeing an opportunity to write a Spider-Friends story of some sort, I emailed my Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane editor Nate Cosby about it, and it wasn't too long before I was told I could write a story for the Spider-Man Family series."

 

That all-new story is the lead in the 96-page anthology, which will also feature a new Chris Giarrusso "Mini Marvels" story and reprints from Untold Tales of Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099.

 

While McKeever's better known for his work on his original Marvel characters in Sentinel and Gravity, he's no stranger to the character of Spider-Man, writing the Marvel Adventures Spider-Man series as well as his own version of Spidey in the Mary Jane and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane series.

 

We checked in with McKeever about what's going on in his corner of the Marvel Universe these days, and discovered his favorite Amazing Friends villain. Here's a hint: It begins with a "V" and it ain't the Vulture.

 

Bam!Kapow!: So you were a fan of the show when it originally aired?

 

Sean McKeever: Oh yeah. Big time. I was a fan of the 60's Spidey animated show growing up; I remember rushing home from the bus to see the reruns right after school.

 

So when I moved to northern Wisconsin in the late 70s, I no longer was able to watch that show in syndication, and I was jonesing for an animated Spidey fix.

 

When that fix finally arrived in '81, I was all over it.

 

BK!: Did you do any special research for the story, re-watching old episodes or anything like that?

 

McKeever: Oh, totally. I DVR'ed a bunch of episodes from ABC Family and found a few on YouTube. It was a hoot to watch those things. So dated and hokey, but it definitely has its charm.

 

BK!: For me personally, the show was my first real introduction to the Marvel Universe, and when I got older and actually started reading some comics, I suffered some real cognitive dissonance. It took me a while to get my head around the fact that Iceman was a mutant and an X-Man rather than Spidey's best friend.

 

How different is the "Amazing" continuity from official Marvel continuity?

 

McKeever: The characters are essentially the same, but the continuities are so different that my story is actually the only Marvel Universe adventure between Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar. That blew my mind, actually, 'cause I was so sure someone over the years would have put those three together in the MU…but nope, no one did. Which is great, because that makes this story that much more special to me.

 

BK!: Was there any heavy lifting involved in getting these three characters from pretty disparate franchises together into one story then?

 

McKeever: It wasn't too hard to bring the characters together, since they all operate in and around NYC. The toughest part was picking the right spot in past continuity to have them meet up. I wanted to make sure it made sense so that those who care about such things will consider my story canon.

 

BK!: What can you tell us about the story? The solicits indicate this is back in the earlier part of Spidey's career, and he's setting his friends up on a date?

 

McKeever: Since it's a one-off story, I don't want to give away much more than you've mentioned. In publishing terms, it's set around 1990-1991, in the early days of the New Warriors, when Iceman had just returned to the X-Men from X-Factor, and Spidey was married and living in Soho with his supermodel wife, Mary Jane.

 

BK!: Will there be any supervillains involved?

 

McKeever: There are a few supervillains in the story. I made sure that each and every villain who appears has been in the cartoon series. The coolest part—for me, at least—is that the main baddie is Videoman. He appeared in a few episodes of the cartoon and was created for the cartoon, but he's never been in Marvel continuity. Until now, that is.

 

BK!: If Spidey wants to set Firestar up with someone, why Iceman? Seems like there powers would make it impossible for the two of them to get along, whereas his pal the Human Torch also flies around while on fire?

 

McKeever: The title of the story is "Opposites Attack," so that should tell you something about what we're going for. And it'll make perfect sense why Spidey fixes these two up, as opposed to hooking Firestar up with Torchie.

 

BK!: Will we get to see Miss Lion?

 

McKeever: Yep, though no one will ever guess where and in what context. It's a great cameo.

 

BK!: You write an awful lot of different Spider-Men, from the Marvel Adventures version to the one co-starring in Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, to the 616 Spider-Man in Gravity and this story. Are they all pretty much the same character in your mind, or does each require a different approach? Is it ever a challenge keeping them all straight?

 

McKeever: In a very general sense, they're the same, but there are differences. MA Spidey is that classic, teenage wisecracker. The MJ-verse Spidey is a bit more neurotic and lacking in social confidence, because that's a really fun way to play him in that series. And the MU Spidey is more confident and clever.

 

Since I really immerse myself in a story when I'm writing it, and since I place a lot of weight on character, it's never too hard to keep them apart. Though I remember I watched the Mysterio episodes of the 60s Spidey 'toon to get myself in the mood to write him in MA Spidey, so when I started on the script, I was totally writing the "Whalloping websnappers!" Spidey. I had to re-dialogue it quite a bit.

 

BK!: That said, do you have a favorite version of Spider-Man to write?

 

McKeever: I really like writing him in SMLMJ because I think he's really funny, and since he's never the focal character and wears a mask, the reader has to really interpret the body language and dialogue to try and figure out what he's all about.

 

BK!: Takeshi Miyazawa has just announced his last issue will be #15, any thoughts on his departure, and how it will affect the book in general? When you add in the miniseries, he was actually on the book for quite a long time—given how short the average artist's run on a mainstream book is these days.

 

McKeever: In a way, this SMLMJ is me and Tak and [colorist] Christina Strain, you know? So it's really hard for me to accept that he's leaving, and he won't be easy to replace. At the same time, I'm super excited about Tak's journey, and I'm going over some great possible replacements with editorial.

 

BK!: For such a new character with relatively few appearances, Gravity seems to have branched out into the broader Marvel Universe pretty quickly, appearing in the Marvel Holiday Special, Marvel Team-Up and Beyond. What have you thought of his subsequent appearances? Is there any sort of, "Oh no, my baby!" that goes on when you see other writers tackling him?

 

McKeever: Not really. I've liked what Jeff Parker, Robert Kirkman and Dwayne McDuffie have done, respectively. I don't think anyone else quite understands that he can't use his powers beyond his immediate vicinity, but oh well…

 

BK!: Even though Kirkman put him on a team called "League of Losers," thus implying that Gravity is, in fact, a loser?

 

McKeever: I thought "League of Losers" was a hilarious title. And knowing Kirkman's love for Darkhawk, I knew it was very much tongue-in-cheek.

 

BK!: So, whose side is Gravity on?

 

McKeever: Good question, but I don't want to say in case the answer is something I get to write somewhere down the line.

 

BK!: It's still a couple months out, but any teases you can make about your back-up in Ultimate X-Men #75 (the one with Ultimate Cable on the cover) at this point? Will you get to Ultimize any of your favorite yet-to-be-Ultimized mutants?

 

McKeever: No new intros, but I do get to tell a story about Doug Ramsey, which is cool. For whatever reason, Cypher was my favorite New Mutant when I started reading that series. Now that he's been dead for some time in the MU, the Ultimate U (the UU?) is the only place I can write about him.

 

Basically, it's him and some classmates at Emma Frost's Academy of Tomorrow in Chicago getting into a bit of trouble.

 

 

Spider-Man Family: Featuring Spider-Man's Amazing Friends is set for an August 9 release. For more info on McKeever and his work, click to www.seanmckeever.com.