Spider-Man Gets ‘Superior’ in January

Throughout his five-decade history, he's been Amazing, Spectacular, Sensational and even Unlimited, but starting next year, Marvel's wall-crawling Avenger will become something he's never been before: Superior.

Launching in 2013 is Superior Spider-Man, a new series that will replace Amazing Spider-Man and, it seems, replace the Spider-Man character we know and love with... something else. According to Dan Slott, who'll write the new series, "The one thing that does not go with this Spider-Man is the term 'Friendly neighborhood.' No. That's gone... He's not going to be doing things the old Spider-Man way. There will be a new way of doing things. The first story arc is called 'Hero or Menace?' I think that pretty much tells you where we're going."

Drawing that first arc will be Ryan Stegman, who will alternate story arcs in the series with Slott's Amazing Spider-Man partners Humberto Ramos and Giuseppe Camuncoli. Talking to USA Today about his new gig, Stegman said "I try to keep the history [of Spider-Man] in mind... I remember having Spider-Man covers I would tear off and put on the wall. I hope that first-issue cover can be that for some kids out there."

That's presuming kids want to read about a new scary Spider-Man. Slott promises that the changes in the series' status-quo go far beyond a renumbering and retitling: "I've always been the omniscient hand that's been protecting Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and not letting anything too bad happen to him," he said. "And now I've become this cruel god. There's something exciting about that, about going, 'Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha, here is what's going to happen to you, Spider-Man!' And it's drastic and it's big and it's exciting and it's never been done before."

Superior Spider-Man launches in January.