It’s hard out there, even for a genetically enhanced superperson, and Spider-Man will learn it the hard way in his next relaunch. Polygon can exclusively announce that Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man #1, from writer Joe Kelly and artists Pepe Larraz and John Romita Jr., will drop in April 2025.
The pieces are in place for a classic Spider-Man adventure: Peter Parker is jobless, the Rhino is on the loose, and according to the an official synopsis for the book, “a major Spider-Villain is working behind the scenes weaponizing other Spider-Villains including one we haven’t seen in OVER SEVEN YEARS?!”
Meanwhile, Norman Osborn is Goblin-free and… well, that’s for Kelly, Larraz, and Romita Jr. to reveal.
Based on gushing comments sent to Polygon, Kelly and Larraz are living a dream with this new Spider-Man book — both men cite the hero as one of their first comic book obsessions when they were kids. So where do you even begin when challenged with adding to the 60-year legacy of the webslinger and his rogue’s gallery?
“Humility is a good start,” Kelly writes back to me, with a well-earned smile emoji. “Even though this is a new #1, I don’t think of it as a ‘restart’ per se. I’m writing the next chapter of the story of one the world’s greatest characters, lucky enough to follow in the footsteps of the folks before me. After that sinks in, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I love about Spider-Man and his cast, what stories resonated with me at different times of my life, and how I can synthesize all of that into something that works with what came before but breaks new ground. I’m fascinated by the internal lives of these characters and exploring new territory there — Peter’s youth is interesting, for example, the days before he was “puny Parker” in high school. At the same time, I feel a drive to take bold, unexpected swings in order to see how Spider-Man deals with Marvel-sized curve balls. Pressure makes diamonds.”
In approaching Spidey as a lifelong fan, Larraz also found himself gravitating toward the physicality of the icon.
“The most important part of Spider-Man that I wanted to portray accurately is Peter,” he said. “Of course I can talk about drawing a believable New York, I shot hundreds of pictures of details of the city for reference, or how I’ve focused on drawing the flow of Spidey’s movement and speed in a way closer to animation than comics. But I think Spider-Man comics work because we care about Peter and his world, so that was my main focus: To draw a Peter that you instantly recognize and empathize [with]. Fortunately Joe’s script is fantastic and he captured Peter’s voice in a way so perfect that made the work much easier for me.”
Larraz credits not only Kelly’s humor and sense of action for making the tall order of illustrating a Spider-Man book a thrill, but nods to both colorist Marte Gracia (“a guarantee that no matter what I do, the book will be beautiful”) and Marvel editor Nick Lowe for the support required to bring it all to life in an authentic way.
“I didn’t think we could get Joe for a substantial run of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN,” Lowe said in a statement. “He’s always so busy with animation and television and movies, so he usually just dips in and out of comics. That’s why we tapped him for ‘The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man.’ He was doing so great so when he asked if we’d consider him for being the ongoing writer, I felt like I won the lottery. Add Pepe Larraz’s masterful and supersonic talent to the equation and we knew we had the makings of an instant classic. Then John Jr. agreed to stay on… fireworks went off. I better go buy some lottery tickets!”
Get your first look at Amazing Spider-Man #1 below. The book arrives to comic store shelves on April 9, 2025.
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