JJ Abrams and son cowriting Spider-Man mini-series; Sara Pichelli on art

[PlatinumThorns]

Do you really need "qualifications" to write comics in this day and age?

[HypnoHustler]

“Co-creator” who left after the pilot episode. If you like ‘Lost’, for good or for ill, 95% of it is due to Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof.

[Derek Metaltron]

Woop de freaking do. I mean I like what he’s done with Lost and his takes on Star Trek and Star Wars but there is no way this will sell a million copies.

[HypnoHustler]

Do you really need "qualifications" to write comics in this day and age?

Are you serious? Yes, if you want to write an important flagship book like Spidey, you better have some work under your belt. That’s something you build towards. If the kid wants to start his own indie book and spend years working his way up the industry through blood and sweat like everyone else, then more power to him.

[comicscollector]

Perhaps because Henry has that young adult and "die-hard comics fan" perspective to contribute. Many current writers started off that way.

Gerry Conway and Jim Shooter are some writers i remember that started writing at a young adult age.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Plus, his son. Who has.... what qualifications? I really can’t stand nepotism, whether it’s politics or in Hollywood or here.

It just feels so random. I mean J. J. Abrams? If James Cameron were doing this that would make sense since JC actually did work on a Spider-Man project that didn't get made and seeing a comic of his take on Spider-Man and his involvement would have been cool. Cameron also loves comics, citing Jack Kirby's machine designs as an influence for Aliens and so on. He's also you know James Cameron, has a great visual style and solid sense of story.

But Abrams is basically a generic producer who somehow made okay franchise movies in action movie genres and now he's doing a miniseries on Spider-Man? Even as nepotism this doesn't make sense. If he wants his kid to make it in comics there are better ways of doing it, and in any case why comics, when you can use nepotism to make him a screenwriter or teach a class in film school, safer and more stable careers.

I do wonder what Marvel is doing with all these weird miniseries projects this year : Symbiote Spider-Man, that Lizard one-shot series, this Larsen/Conway tribute issue, now this "lame celebrity cameo" series? It's a little weird. These are all 616 projects which are logically speaking under Spencer's direction. So does this mean that Marvel is losing confidence in Spencer?

[Tuck]

Gerry Conway and Jim Shooter are some writers i remember that started writing at a young adult age.

Shooter was 16 I believe.

[HypnoHustler]

JJ Abrams is incredibly overrated. He only wrote the pilot episode of LOST, and now people give him sole credit for the entire series and forget Lindelof and Cuse. It’s insane. What else has he done? That new Trek series is incredibly mediocre...

[Snoop Dogg]

it means spider-man is spider-man and during the anniversary year they wanna milk more spider-man

buckley we need more spider-man dollars how how how
let's do spider-man: gets old, spider-man: with big movie person that will attract interest, spider-man: but an alien some more, spider-man with these old creators you like

[PlatinumThorns]

Are you serious? Yes, if you want to write an important flagship book like Spidey, you better have some work under your belt. That’s something you build towards. If the kid wants to start his own indie book and spend years working his way up the industry through blood and sweat like everyone else, then more power to him.

It's just a mini. It's not like he was given the reigns of the main, on-going, Spidey book.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Gerry Conway and Jim Shooter are some writers i remember that started writing at a young adult age.

Yes, and their first work was little known titles, anthology, and other work, through which they built respect and earned credit among editors and so on. It's not like Conway wrote The Night Gwen Stacy Died as his debut. Jim Shooter didn't get to be EIC at the age of 13. Rather, at that age, he worked on DC under Mort Weisinger and built up credit, and famously wrote Legion of Superheroes and so on.

Bear in mind also, that comics writers back then were paid very little. Comics writers are still not paid very well but I gather, and I hope, it's better now than before. Fan writers like Conway and Shooter did it out of love, and whatever fame and respect they earned as writers is stuff that came out of their own merit and efforts.

In this case, I guarantee you that Abrams and his kid will be paid a lot more than any anonymous comic writer first starting out. There might also be stuff like rights to characters, and a cut of sales profits and so on, which first time writers and experienced professionals will never get. The money will definitely be lower than Abrams' usual stuff in Hollywood and so on, but given his out-of-industry credentials, it'll still be higher.

[Tuck]

JJ Abrams is incredibly overrated. He only wrote the pilot episode of LOST, and now people give him sole credit for the entire series and forget Lindelof and Cuse. It’s insane. What else has he done?

Fringe, Alias, some of the Mission Impossible movies, the Cloverfield stuff, Super 8.

[Tuck]

Jim Shooter didn't get to be EIC at the age of 13. Rather, at that age, he worked on DC under Mort Weisinger and built up credit, and famously wrote Legion of Superheroes and so on.

Shooter created Karate Kid.

Hall of Fame, first ballot, just for that.

[WebSlingWonder]

Can you guys cool it? This is a great announcement and a chance for brand new fans to be interested (and get in the door for Marvel in places they haven't been). I for one am in full support of this and think it's, once again, the jaded fanbase acting like know it alls because "Henry Abrams doesn't have qualifications" or "JJ is an average/mediocre producer." You literally just heard the news. There's no reason to bash this at all until you've heard a story.

And no, none of these miniseries mean they're losing confidence in Spencer.

[Snoop Dogg]

Stan Lee's career only exists because of who his cousin was, therefore Spider-Man only exists because of nepotism. It's in the Marvel DNA.

hey movie person we want you on some spider-man that will make the big banks

okay fellas can I bring my son

sure j jonah we literally have no reason to give a **** as long as you produce legible, complete scripts