Writer Dan Slott: From Scooby Doo to Spider-Man
Author made the transition from kids books to superheroes thanks to a nasty Joker
THE MAN who helped Spider-Man reach the "big time" is coming back to the City of Brotherly Love for Wizard Philly 2015 - and he couldn't be happier.
"I've been to Wizard Philly numerous times. I love Philly," said Dan Slott, one of the most popular and prolific writers working in comics today. "I am most looking forward to finally putting to rest . . . Pat's or Geno's? The eternal question! Though, I hear if I want the real Philly cheesesteak experience, I have to stray from the bright lights of Pat's and Geno's."
Slott plans to be very busy during the weekend.
"I plan on meeting fans, signing books and talking about Spider-Man and Silver Surfer," he said.
Slott's "overnight" success started way back in 1991, with a Speedball backup story in "New Warriors Annual No. 1" and then "Mighty Mouse," "Ren and Stimpy," "Scooby Doo," "Looney Tunes" and "Powerpuff Girls."
Though appreciative of the work, Slott was getting slowly typecast as a writer for children's comics.
"Oh, I was completely pigeonholed," he said, "because when I wrote 'Ren and Stimpy,' it was one of Marvel's top 25 books. It was such a success that people thought that was all I could do. I was getting pitches only for all-ages books."
One of those was "Justice League Adventures," for which Slott was told that his stories were so solid that with more modern art they would make great regular "Justice League" stories. So, he was asked if he wanted to pitch anything, which became an "Arkham Asylum: Living Hell" miniseries starring Batman.
"I went home and I went, 'If I do a real sinister version of the Joker, they'll never ask me to do a children's book again' - and that's what I did," he said.
"That put me on track to do real superhero stuff, which is what I'd always wanted."
After that, Slott did a humorous take on "She-Hulk" and that led to him becoming one of the writers of the then-thrice-monthly "Amazing Spider-Man" book, in January 2008. He then took over the now-twice-a-month "Amazing Spider-Man" in November 2010.
Slott said that Spider-Man is "the character I've always wanted to write and that's why I'm never leaving. I'm never, ever leaving this book. Somebody who wants this book may push me under a bus, but I ain't leaving of my own free will. I will happily do this until the day I die."