By Marc Strom
There's a Gale force wind blowing into
Spider-Man's life.
Come March 5, Bob Gale—famed screenwriter of the "Back to the Future" films—kicks off his first three-issue "Brand New Day" arc in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #552, with art courtesy of Phil Jimenez. With the bar set high by writers Dan Slott and Marc Guggenheim's on the first two BND salvos, Gale hops on a runaways Spidey train moving faster than a Delorean outfitted for time travel.
While Gale's no stranger to the world of comics, this marks the first time he's tackled an ongoing gig, and Marvel.com spoke with him about the transition, his upcoming arc and what it's like working with the other AMAZING writers.
Marvel.com: You've done some comics work before, but never in any regular capacity like this. Were you looking for a fulltime comics gig or did this just happen to fall in your lap?
Bob Gale: It fell into my lap. Back in early December 2006, Joe Quesada called me up and asked me if I could participate in a "Spidey Summit" in [New York City] two weeks later. He gave me the broad strokes of what Marvel wanted to do with the post-["One More Day"] Spidey, and he thought it would be good to have someone like me in the room to spitball ideas and provide a slightly different point of view.
When he told me Dan Slott was going to be one of the writers, I said, "I'm in." I loved Dan's [work on] THE THING and SHE-HULK and with him involved, I knew the book would have the right tone. Oh—I also wanted Joe to assure me that
Gwen Stacy wasn't going to be brought back to life, which he did! And as an extra added bonus, I got paid!
At the end of the summit, Joe asked me if I'd write an arc, and I said yes, and after one or two scripts, [Spider-Man editor Steve] Wacker asked me if I could do another three down the line, and I said yes. My day job is still writing screenplays and trying to get movies made, so everyone understands my priorities. But I'm having a blast doing Spidey and working with such a great group of guys.
Marvel.com: How do you find the transition from movies to comics?
Bob Gale: The transition from movies to comics is tricky. Both are visual storytelling mediums, but there's less room for subtlety in comics. I have to remember that a line of dialog will be read rather than heard, so that changes my approach a bit. Nor is there the same control of time that we have in film.
On the other hand, we have some wonderful tools in comics that we don't have in the movies—specifically, thought balloons, captions and footnotes. I've been a vociferous advocate of bringing them back, and everyone's gotten onboard. I always loved Stan Lee's captions and footnotes. They created a wonderful irreverence that set Marvel books apart from DC's. So we're trying to bring that back in Spider-Man.
Marvel.com: How did your previous work on shorter runs such as your DAREDEVIL arc prepare you for this job?
Bob Gale: This gig is way different. My prior comics work—as was everyone's—was writing alone. The exciting part of doing Spidey is the Brain Trust aspect. There's a whole team of guys who love Spidey as much as I do, and there's a lot of give-and-take, which makes everyone's books better.
Marvel.com: Do you think your experience in Hollywood helps you when it comes to the group-method of hammering out Spider-Man stories?
Bob Gale: Absolutely. All movies involve collaboration and great things happen when you allow other talented people to contribute their abilities in a positive, supportive, non-egocentric environment. What's great about this is that we all want each other's books to be as good as possible and we're all there to contribute. As an example, Dan came up with some dialog for one of my scenes in [issue] #553 that was way better than what I wrote, so I was happy to use it and have him make me look good!
Marvel.com: If you had to describe each member of the "Spidey Brain Trust" in one sentence, what would it be?
Bob Gale: Whoa, you're really setting me up for trouble, aren't you! Okay, Marc is the absolute master of banter and wisecracks. Zeb [Wells] is the guy with the most edge and sarcasm. And Dan, simply put, was born to write Spidey.
Marvel.com: Your villain for this arc is the Freak. Tell us a little about him. Where did the impetus for this character come from? Did the "Brain Trust" create these new villains collectively, or is Freak your own creation?
Bob Gale: Freak is my own creation. Some of the characters you'll be seeing in BND were specifically created by individual writers, and others were developed as a group.
Mr. Negative is Dan's creation,
Jackpot is Marc's, Deity is Zeb's, the Bookie is mine…but all of us contributed to
Dexter Bennett,
Menace, Carlie, and Lily. And of course there are several more you'll be seeing soon.
But back to Freak: he's the drug addict I established in my little 3-pager in #546. Freak stumbles into Curt Connors' lab and shoots up the wrong stuff…with very serious consequences. He basically becomes the poster boy for "Just Say No." Y'know, "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. And this is you and your brain on drugs
and Curt Connors' animal stem cells!" It ain't pretty!
Marvel.com: Since the Freak frequents the homeless shelter Aunt May is working at, will May play a role in your arc?
Bob Gale: May plays a role, but not a significant one.
Marvel.com: In recent issues, May hasn't seemed very happy with the fact that Peter's back living at home. What's Peter and May's relationship like these days?
Bob Gale: [Artist] Barry Kitson has just drawn a wonderful scene for #558 that really captures their current relationship, so wait for it!
Marvel.com: What plotlines will you be picking up from Dan Slott and Marc Guggenheim's arcs before yours?
Bob Gale: The "Spider-Tracer killings" is a
major plot line that goes through everyone's books. Same for the Mayoral Election, Menace, and Dexter Bennett. JJJ's
health and future is another ongoing story line. And the soap opera aspect with Lily, Carlie, Harry and Peter is an essential aspect of what everyone is doing.
Marvel.com: Is there anything you'll be leaving for the next couple writers to pick up on?
Bob Gale: Besides what I just mentioned, you'll be getting a closer look at two NYPD cops in my arc who were first seen in "Swing Shift." You'll be seeing more of them in the future, particularly
Vin Gonzales.
Marvel.com: What's it like working with Phil Jimenez?
Bob Gale: I don't know! Phil gets my scripts, and these amazing pages come back. That's all there is to it!
Marvel.com: Previously you've worked quite a bit with artist Phil Winslade, whose style is similarly heavy in detail to Jimenez. What do you think these types of artists bring to your scripts?
Bob Gale: I honestly don't think about it in those terms. I like to think that my scripts spell out enough great visuals to get an artist excited, while also allowing room for an individual artist to "do their thing," and make the book his own. Alex Maleev did some fine work on the Batman books I wrote a while ago.
Marvel.com: Next up you have a one-off story drawn by Barry Kitson. Anything you want to say about that? What do you have coming after it?
Bob Gale: That would be #558, due out in May, which is a sort of part four to this arc. When Steve Wacker told me Barry was on board, I was over the moon, as I've been a huge fan of his since JLA: Year One.
Barry is so damned good with facial expressions and human drama—he's no slouch in the action department either—and there are a couple of scenes in 558 that really play to those strengths. We started seeing his pages this past week, and I think Barry's doing some of his best work ever. Then in June, I've got #562 and #563 which feature the Bookie—also seen in #552 and #553—center stage. But more on those issues later!
Bob Gale's run on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN with Phil Jimenez kicks off March 5 with issue #552. While you're waiting, go read the classic first hundred issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN on Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.
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