As Amazing Spider-Man rounds the corner of the half-year mark and
drops the Brand New Day moniker from its cover, Newsarama is talking to
some of the people behind the comic's creation about how it's gone so
far and what the thrice-monthly title has coming up in future issues.
In the first part of our discussion
with writer Marc Guggenheim yesterday, we asked about his thoughts on
the reaction so far to Brand New Day, as well as previewing the story
in his upcoming issue #574 about Flash Thompson that hits in October.
Today we continue our conversation with Guggenheim by discussing another issue he's got coming out in October: Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1.
As readers of Brand New Day have seen during the last few months, the
new character named Jackpot isn't giving up her secret identity anytime
soon. Well... at least not until this Annual by Guggenheim. We talked
to the writer about the big reveal of Jackpot's identity and asked
Guggenheim whether he's part of the so-called Spider-Man "brain trust"
for the long haul.
Newsarama: From the looks of solicitations, the Amazing Spider-Man Annual reveals the answer to an ongoing mystery, doesn't it?
Marc Guggenheim: It does. At the beginning of Brand New Day, we
introduced a new character named Jackpot. She has red hair and likes to
say "tiger." And her code name is evocative of the first appearance of
Mary Jane. Ever since then, we've been teasing with the idea that this
is Mary Jane in disguise and we've been teasing her identity. At the
end of my first arc, Spider-Man went to the home of the woman he
thought was Jackpot, and the woman was like, "I have no idea what
you're talking about."
NRAMA: So in the Amazing Spider-Man Annual, we'll get the answer to Jackpot's identity?
MG: Right. The Annual will clear up that mystery. We'll actually
give the readers a legitimate answer to all the questions we've raised
concerning Jackpot. So the Annual is really your one-stop shop for all
the answers about the character.
NRAMA: Jackpot is central to the Secret Invasion: Spider-Man mini-series coming up by Brian Reed. Has he been working with you to make sure this fits with the Annual?
MG: Brian has been involved with the brain trust at every stage during the plotting of his Secret Invasion
tie-in. I looked over all of his drafts, which were amazing, by the
way. He's a really phenomenal writer and he wrote some great, great
scripts. And we've given notes here and there, like, "you can't really
say this," or "actually, the answer's that." So I don't think Brian's
storyline spoils anything in the annual. But we're certainly working very closely with him to make sure everything was tracking.
NRAMA: Between his mini-series and how he's said she's going to
bring Spider-Man's universe into the Marvel Universe, and how you've
written her and dedicated this Annual to her, it sounds like she's a
pretty important character for this series. Is that an accurate
statement?
MG: Yeah, we put a lot of new characters on the board at the
beginning of Brand New Day, and I think there are certain ones that
have jumped out "louder" than others. Any character that got their
introduction at the beginning of Brand New Day has a relatively high
profile by virtue of that introduction. Jackpot is certainly one those.
One of the reasons we wanted to introduce a character like Jackpot is,
when we sat down at the very first Spider-Man summit and discussed
Brand New Day, we talked about various elements that the Spidey books
had historically had that had kind of gotten lost in the shuffle or
sort of gotten short shrift over the past several years. And one of
them was the notion of other street-level vigilante characters, kind of
like the Prowler or even Black Cat -- just the notion of these other
costumed people occupying Spidey's world. There just haven't been a lot
of new characters along those line recently. So we wanted to kind of
kick it old school, as it were, and get back to that. For us, that was
part of the allure of Jackpot, in addition to the whole mystery
concerning her identity.
NRAMA: That's also something that's been around in Spider-Man
comics a lot over the year, isn't it? That idea of a mysterious
identity?
MG: Yeah. It's a sort of a long-standing tradition, although
typically it's focused on the other side of things, like Green Goblin.
Dan Slott actually had the idea of this character that may or may not
be Mary Jane, and we all thought it was great and decided to run with
it.
NRAMA: But you've known from the beginning whether or not this was MJ, haven't you?
MG: Oh yeah. We've known from the beginning. Honestly, I will
say, every character who we've introduced -- in terms of characters
whose identities you don't know, so I guess we're talking about Jackpot
and Menace -- we know exactly who those characters are. We've always
known. I'm a big believer that, and I think I speak for the whole brain
trust when I say this, it's a lousy comic book convention whose
identity is concealed without knowing what that identity is. And you've
really got to do your homework ahead of time. In modern comics, you
have to know who the character is.
But yes, we've known all along. And it's been a long time, actually. I
think the first Spider-Man summit was November of two years ago, and
this whole thing -- this story with Jackpot that comes full circle in
the Annual -- that was stuff we talked about way back at the very first
summit. So for me, it's gratifying to see storylines that we concocted
two years ago finally come to fruition. For me, it's been a long time
coming.
NRAMA: But one of the most interesting things about her is not
only this mystery, but the idea that she might be Mary Jane. Is there a
fear that this character is all of the sudden not going to be as
interesting anymore once you expose her secret identity? Or is it a
case of, you have to do it at some point?
MG: Well, you do have to do it at some point. You can't tease
forever. I will say that I think the answer to that question, on a case
by case basis, depends upon what the answer is. Depending upon what the
secret identity is, it can be anti-climactic, or it could open up a
whole host of new stories. And that's really what you want to do. You
want to answer the mystery in such a way that readers go, "Oh my God! I
can't wait to read more about this and see what the next story is!"
NRAMA: So... are you saying that's what's going to happen in this case, with Jackpot's secret identity?
MG: Yeah, I actually think, I will say in this particular case we really nailed that pretty nicely.
NRAMA: Now in the solicitations, Walter Declun is mentioned. Is he an important part of the mystery?
MG: I wouldn't say he's an important part of the mystery as much
as he's an important part of the story. Here's the thing, just from a
purely mechanical perspective. All I went into the Annual knowing was
that I basically had to reveal Jackpot's secret identity. But you still
need a villain to fight. And I actually wrote this story during the
writer's strike last year. I wrote the script for the annual then. And
being on strike at the time and having these negative feelings against
these corporations, I was sort of interested in the subject of
corporate malfeasance and unbridled greed. And as I was thinking about
that, I remembered the character of Walter, who I had created for my
Wolverine Civil War arc. And I thought that would be an interesting
person to throw into the mix here with Jackpot. One of the things we've
established with Jackpot is once she gets someone in her teeth, she
really has a tough time letting go. So I thought the notion of fighting
this corporate bad guy who existed in this moral gray area was an
interesting person for Jackpot to go up against.
NRAMA: Obviously, people think the name "Jackpot" and her use of
the term "tiger" have been clues to her identity. Are there other clues
that we could find if we went back and looked?
MG: Honestly, there are clues all over the place, because, like
I said, we've always known who Jackpot is. There are clues in Brian's
story, there are clues in Dan Slott's Paper Doll arc, and I would say
that whenever Jackpot and/or Mary Jane have appeared during Brand New
Day, we've figured out a way to drop one hint or another. So yeah,
there are hints everywhere. So comb your backissues and trade
paperbacks and take a look once you're at the Annual.
NRAMA: How's it been working with Mike McKone?
MG: He's amazing. I was so thrilled to get him for this. He's an
outstanding artist -- just one of the best. I think he's done a
spectacular job with this particular Annual. There are a lot of moments
in the Annual that really require some ambitious visuals, in some cases
because they're really dramatic moments. Part of it's just good old
fashioned superhero action. But because part of it is the exploration
of this secret identity, there are a few talking head scenes. One of
the things Mike has done a really job of in this Annual is rendering
those talking head scenes and making them really interesting visually
so you don't just feel like it's talking heads. So he really made me
look good here.
NRAMA: We've talked about the issues you have coming up, but
when you mention that you wrote these scripts awhile ago and with the
nature of the rotation on this title, it's hard to tell if you're still
writing Spider-Man. We know you're busy with your television and movie
commitments. Are you on Amazing Spider-Man for the long haul?
MG: I totally am still on it for the long haul. I love whenever
a Spider-Man script comes up in my script rotation. I'm always really
happy when I'm writing Spider-Man. The guys are great. The artists are
great. I'm feeling the groove. I think I'm happier with the work I've
done on Spider-Man than any comic book work I've done since or prior to
it. It's a heck of a lot of fun.
