Comics
Zomblog – Should A Zombie Story Walk or Run?
It’s one thing to envision a zombie story. It’s another thing to write a story in somebody else’s zombie world. There are certain sets of rules you must adhere to. Once you get those down, you’re free to come into your own and really play freely. But, despite having a handle on the rules, different people have different sensibilities.
An outline is an essential part of storytelling. It gives the writer a skeleton to refer back to, or a road map to show them where they are headed. It’s not meant to be finite, but rather serves as a fluid basis for storytelling.
When I first submitted my outline to Double Take the immediate feedback was that I packed far too much into one issue. We had agreed on the basic backbone of my story before they saw the outline, but I had a few surprises up my sleeve. Maybe too many zombies, but that’s another story.
It took a few days for me to get feedback on my outline. It was definitely packed with a few surprises for the editorial team of Bill Jemas, and Michael Coast. But after a weekend had passed and I hadn’t heard anything I get a call from Bill out of the blue. He’s had some vague ideas about where to take the story – and the one detail which I had anticipated the most struggle – well that was taken without issue.
The feedback I received on my outline was:
Description/photo ref etc.
People don’t look like what they do
Clothes I want to wear, places I want to be, things I want to do.
Remember I said vague? Well these notes were illuminated on a follow up call. The first note is rather easy. Double Take requires photo reference for certain sequences in the book, if not all of them. It was something that they found helpful in giving the artist something to draw. I didn’t have an issue with this, but rather included too few photo references. They were pretty content on having photos for every step of the story.
As for the people don’t look like what they do – I have a character in my story who’s very nature is a little difficult to describe without giving spoilers. What I can say, is that this character’s nature was more than revealed in their appearance in my outline. They wanted a little more subtlety and arguably a more tangible element of reality to this character. We workshopped a couple things on the phone and rested on a powerful combination of Anton Chigurh and Brienne of Tarth… seriously. This character is my absolute favorite of the story.
The third note is a follow up on the others. Double Take wanted me to visually define the character with as much detail as I could. I’m used to working rather closely with artists to refine a look of a character but here – at least so far – I don’t have the fluid communication with the artist. I was instructed to leave as much on the page as possible.
So the outline had some pacing issues for the folks at Double Take. Namely it was moving too fast for what they anticipated. I didn’t spend enough time lingering in the smaller moments. We eventually found a very awesome compromise – one that extended the length of the story and expanded the world, stakes, and character motivations in very real and awesome ways.
To find out just how we did that, you’ll have to wait until Monday where I’ll talk about how we blocked out the opening scene of my book. Which also has a fancy new title: “Race: Brother’s Keeper” #1.
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This Zomblog will run every Monday and Friday until I run out of things to say about zombies. Next time – blocking out action sequences with zombie shuffling.
Until then check out Double Take’s blog – Double Take Universe to keep up to date on the incredible comics that will be coming your way in September. And head over to their Kickstarter to secure yourself the full ten launch issues. Which just went over 10k and has only a few days left to go! So please get out there and support good comics!
Comics
‘Spider-Noir’ Comic Changes Explained: How the TV Series Reinvents Marvel’s Darkest Spider-Man
A little while back, I wrote an article chronicling the Hellraiser franchise’s affinity for Film Noir and touched on how that genre has, historically, always been connected to horror.
This connection can be observed in everything from the cannibalistic serial killers of Frank Miller’s Sin City to the disturbing criminal plots fueling neo-noir thrillers like Stuart Gordon’s underrated King of the Ants. That’s why it came as no surprise when I finally sat down to watch all eight episodes of Prime Video’s recently released Spider-Noir series and was confronted with plenty of classic horror tropes.
What did come as a surprise, however, was how showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot approached these horror elements when compared to the 2009 comic book that the show is based on. From the heavily altered rogue’s gallery to an equally terrifying yet completely different origin story for Nicolas Cage’s take on the webslinger, there are plenty of changes here that I feel might be of interest to genre fans.
With that in mind, I’d like to invite readers to take a closer look at all the adjustments that Spider-Noir made to the story in order to bring this incarnation of Spider-Man to life in all of its monochromatic glory (unless you watched the True-Hue color version of the show, in which case you’ll be treated to a surprisingly comic-booky palette that you don’t usually see on television).
The Dark Origins of Marvel’s Spider-Man Noir
Our first order of business should be to examine the origins of the Noir comics themselves. Originally published as part of the Marvel Noir alternate universe that reimagined several characters as hard-boiled crime-fighters, Spider-Man Noir became the most successful book in the entire run. This highly politicized story about Peter Parker coming to terms with the capitalist evils of the Great Depression seemed to have struck a nerve with audiences looking for a darker take on the wall-crawler, which is likely why we’d soon see several sequel stories as well as a video game adaptation of the character in 2010’s underrated Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
Of course, it wasn’t just Spider-Man’s darker disposition that made this version of the character a hit, as 1930s New York City was depicted as being much more hostile than what we generally see in the standard Marvel Universe. From Peter’s powers coming from an Eldritch Spider God that spawns man-eating arachnids to Vulture being an ex-Freak-Show Gimp with a taste for human flesh, you can definitely understand why this Web-Head isn’t pulling his punches.
Unfortunately, this alternate universe was a little too popular for its own good, with each subsequent sequel/adaptation further diluting the political anger and classic horror influences that fueled the original comic-book run in order to appeal to a wider audience. Spider-Man Noir was nearly unrecognizable once we got to the Spider-Verse crossover that turned the character into a household name, though this would at least lead to an interesting adaptation in 2018.
The Classic Horror Influences Hidden Throughout Spider-Noir
Jack Huston as Sandman in ‘Spider-Noir’
When Phil Lord and Chris Miller finally translated Spider-Man Noir to the big screen, with Nicolas Cage bringing the character to life in an unexpected case of pitch-perfect casting, he was still mostly relegated to comic relief as his nazi-punching antics and over-the-top edginess were played for laughs. However, while this version of the character had little to do with the comics that spawned him, Spider-Noir’s newfound popularity eventually resulted in the announcement of a darker live-action spin-off – a spin-off that I was cautiously optimistic about.
While the showrunners ultimately decided to go in a completely different direction than the 2009 comic, the new team of writers appeared to understand Noir as a genre in ways that even the folks at Marvel Noir couldn’t quite grasp. That’s likely why 2026’s Spider-Noir boasts plenty of horror elements, just not in ways we’ve seen them before.
The series is obviously borrowing tropes and aesthetics from period-accurate monster movies, with Universal’s 1930s output being a particularly big influence. From the re-imagining of Sandman and Tombstone as tragic figures to The Spider even being operated on by a mad scientist with hilariously antiquated techniques, this bizarre collection of super-powered freaks could have easily shown up in a classic creature feature.
The scares aren’t all retro, however, as the showrunners also injected plenty of body-horror into the mix during their attempt at unifying the origin stories for all these larger-than-life characters. Hell, the Spider himself is now revealed to have gained his powers after being bitten by a half-mutated Man-Spider during World War I, and the aforementioned mad scientist keeps a disturbing collection of failed experiments in her basement, proving that not all of her patients were lucky enough to simply gain superpowers after being experimented on.
Nicolas Cage Reinvents Spider-Man Noir for Television
Ben Reilly/Spiderman (Nicolas Cage) in SPIDER-NOIR
Photo: Aaron Epstein/Prime
© Amazon Content Services LLC
I also really appreciate how Cage insists on depicting Ben Reilly as an arachnid trapped inside of a human body, with his uncanny physical performance and classic Hollywood impressions keeping your eyes glued to the screen while also providing some of the show’s funniest moments.
I still think it’s a shame that the character is no longer politically motivated, and I miss the detail about Uncle Ben having been cannibalized by Vulture after his social activism ruffled too many feathers, but at least this time our protagonist actually feels like someone who could have been written by Raymond Chandler if he were a fan of Superheroes.
In fact, the writers nailed the snappy back-and-forth that Noir authors like Dashiel Hammett used to refer to as the “riposte”, and it’s fun to see supervillains being depicted as horrific movie monsters instead of specialized henchmen – with The Spider feeling like just as much of a Freak Show attraction as the rest of them. Purists might be put off by the lack of reverence for the source material, but I think that’s a small price to pay when even the show’s most clichéd moments intentionally harken back to the golden age of Hollywood.
That’s why I’d argue that Amazon’s Spider-Noir isn’t really an adaptation, but rather an equally valid take on the same premise that inspired Marvel back in 2009. And in a world filled with recycled storylines that only serve to advertise future releases, I’d rather have two completely different visions of the same character than a straight-up retelling of the same handful of ideas.
At the end of the day, there’s enough space inside this comic fan’s heart for both man-eating Vultures and a Cronenberg-inspired Man-Spider. And if you’re also a fan of nostalgic creature features with comic book flair, I’d highly recommend this street-level superhero story with a spooky twist.
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