SCOOBY AND SPIDEY

Got home to find advance copies of this massive tome sitting on my porch.

Scooby Apocalypse was my final project with my friend and frequent collaborator, the great Keith Giffen. When Keith first told me about it—the basic premise sprang from Jim Lee's fertile mind—my reply was, "Scooby what?!" But, as I've often said, I would have worked with Keith on anything—Millie the Model, Sgt. Fury, Stumbo the Giant, anything—and so I signed on, little realizing that this weird, unexpected series would evolve into three years of pure creative fun. (The splendid art was provided by Howard Porter, Pat Oliffe, Dale Eaglsham, Ron Wagner, and quite a few others—and I thank them all.)

Delighted the entire run—which actually comes to a definite conclusion, a rarity in comics—has been collected. And deeply sad that Keith's not here to see it.

But wait, there's more!  This just arrived—after years and years of waiting—and I couldn't be happier.

This Spectacular Spider-Man run remains one of my all-time favorite gigs and collaborating with Sal Buscema, one of the absolute Marvel greats and as masterful a storyteller as the medium has ever seen, was a joy in every way. I'm extremely proud of these stories, which dig deep into the psyches of Peter Parker and his cast, and grateful they've finally been collected.

I'm in omnibus ecstasy!

SPOTLIGHT

Brief and to the point: The full audio of my Comic-Con spotlight panel is online and you can listen to it here.  (I added a few pictures from the panel below.)

SPIDER-MAN DAY 2025

Sixty-three years ago a radioactive spider took a bite out of a kid named Peter Parker and the pop culture universe was changed forever. In honor of Spider-Man Day, here's an essay that first appeared here a few years back. Enjoy!

June, 1966. I was standing in the Brooklyn, New York candy store where I bought all my comics and I couldn’t take my eyes off the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #39: There was the Green Goblin gliding through the sky dragging a bound and defeated Peter Parker—his Spider-Man costume visible beneath his street clothes—behind him. To my twelve-year-old eyes—conditioned as they were to the pristine DC Comics of the day—this was mesmerizing. A villain who’d actually unmasked the hero! A hero so utterly helpless! As with all great comic book covers, this one fired up my imagination. I didn’t even have to read this story: that single illustration, brought to vibrant life by the incomparable John Romita, Sr., suggested dozens of incredible tales that played out in my head. (This, I later learned, was Romita’s first issue of Amazing Spider-Man. It looked like he’d been drawing the book all his life.)

I was still a hardcore DC fan then—there was something spooky, almost dangerous, about those early Marvel Comics and I wasn’t quite ready to take the leap—so I resisted buying that issue; but a month later I gave in to temptation and purchased the story’s conclusion: I was, as the British say, gobsmacked. Stan Lee’s scripting was so exciting, so nakedly emotional. And Romita’s interior art—with his dynamic layouts and impeccable storytelling—was every bit as irresistible as the cover that had enchanted me thirty days before.

I tracked down the first chapter, along with many earlier Spidey issues—brought to life by the incomparable Steve Ditko, who co-created the character and plotted many classic Spidey tales—at a local used book store (this was before the days of comic book shops) and lost myself in the magical world that Lee, Ditko, and Romita created. Peter Parker entered my life then and he’s never left.

As much as I adored Spider-Man as a reader, it was as a writer that I really fell in love with the character. Peter Parker is perhaps the most emotionally and psychologically real protagonist in any superhero universe. Sure he wears a mask and swings around on a web-line, but, beneath that mask, he’s as confused, as flawed, as touchingly, wonderfully human, as the people who read, and write, about him. The book may be called Spider-Man, but it’s all about Peter: a decent, compassionate young man who’s always struggling to do the right thing.

I think that’s what I love most about Spider-Man (and why his popularity has continued, pretty much unabated, for all these years): his humanity. His decency. No matter how discouraged he may be, no matter how often he fails, he always picks himself up and tries again; and every time Peter Parker triumphs, it’s a triumph for all of us, because he’s such a wonderful example of the human spirit at its best. Spider-Man both mirrors our weaknesses and inspires us to reach for our highest ideals—and that makes for a truly timeless character.

And a massively relatable one.

I don’t know if I’d want to spend a Saturday night hanging out with Bruce Wayne or Reed Richards, but I’d most certainly want to spend an evening enjoying a good meal—talking about life, the universe, and everything—with Peter. I think that’s why those of us who’ve been lucky enough to chronicle Spider-Man’s adventures have simultaneously found ourselves in the character and infused him with our own doubts, fears, and highest aspirations. As we write about Spider-Man we inevitably merge with him. And I think Spidey’s millions of fans share the same experience as they read his comic books or watch him bound across a movie screen. In some strange, wonderful way, we’re all Peter Parker.

I’m honored to have had the chance to journey along with Peter and add to his ongoing, ever-evolving mythology.

©essay copyright 2025 J.M. DeMatteis

BACK TO 1994!

If you click on over to Comic Book Resources, you'll find my conversation with Brian Cronin about the upcoming Spider-Man '94 series.

And if you want to see a few pages of preview art, just cast your gaze below.

The first issue of Spider-Man '94 will be out in September. I hope you'll join us as we return to the universe of this classic animated series.

SDCC 2025

Just got back from Comic-Con International (my first visit in 20 years) and I'm exhausted, overstimulated, and overwhelmed. It was like being dropped onto the surface of an alien world. The good news? Everyone on the planet is very much like you, filled with the same strange passions for all things fantastic, magical, and larger than life. (Especially in the case of the guy doing the Galactus cosplay.) 

With Heath Corson at my Spotlight Panel, Inkpot in hand

To recycle an old 60's phrase: It was a trip. But spending time with my daughter, Katie, and son in law, Ben—who were the best assistants I could ever ask for—meeting up with old and new friends, and getting to interact with the amazing, heartfelt people who read my work made the lunacy worthwhile.

With my amazing daughter, Katie.

One lovely moment came at the top of my spotlight panel (hosted by my buddy Heath Corson) when SDCC's Tommy Goldbach presented me with the Inkpot Award "for achievement in comic arts." It's going on a shelf in my office, right next to my Eisner. All three of my panels were great fun and the two signings brought me face to face with a wonderful group of heartfelt, appreciative fans. Some of these encounters with the people who read and appreciate my work were deeply moving. As I've often said, I spend a good part of my time alone in a room, playing with my imaginary friends, so stepping out of that bubble and getting to meet and talk with people who have been impacted by the stories I write leaves me profoundly grateful and, sometimes, just plain stunned. (In the very best way possible.)

With Patton Oswalt and the Minor Threats crew

Thanks, Comic-Con. Thanks, Katie and Ben. Thanks most of all to those aforementioned fans. I repeat: It was a trip. A great one.

The crew from the "Evolution of the Superhero" panel

SDCC 2025

It's been 20 years since I last attended Comic-Con International in San Diego and I'm very happy to be returning as a Special Guest of the convention. For those of you attending, here's my schedule of events...

Thursday 7/24

Minor Threats panel

2:00PM - 3:00PM, Room 6DE 

Come be a (bar)fly on the wall as Minor Threats co-creators Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, and others discuss the C-list villains and henchpeople that populate the world of Minor Threats. Additional panelists include collaborators Heath Corson, Gerry Duggan, Soo Lee, Hannah Rose May, Dan Hernandez, J.M. DeMatteis, and Timmy Heague. 

Saturday, 7/26

Spotlight on JM DeMatteis

12:30 PM—1:30 PM, Room 29CD

Join Heath Corson (Minor Threats: The Brood) in conversation with J.M. DeMatteis (Spider-Man, Moonshadow, The DeMultiverse) as they discuss J.M.’s forty-plus years writing comics, television, film, and prose, taking a deep dive into J.M.’s creative process. Followed by a Q&A session.

Signing: 

Saturday Autograph Area AA14
02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

Sunday, 7/27

Super Hero Evolution

1:15PM—2:15PM, Room 5AB

This panel will include JM DeMatteis, JG Jones, Terry Kavanagh, Todd Klein, and Jae Lee. Moderator TBD.

Signing: 

Sunday Autograph Area AA14
02:45 PM - 03:45 PM

Those will be my only signings. I will not have a table in Artists Alley.

The rest of the time I'll be wandering around like everyone else, with my mouth hanging open, marveling at how this event (which I first attended, quite by accident, way back in 1976—but that's another tale for another time) has changed.

Onward to San Diego!

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SILENCE

Today is the 100th anniversary of Avatar Meher Baba's Silence. 

 
"You have had enough words; I have had enough words. It is not through words that I give what I have to give. In the silence of your perfect surrender, my love which is always silent can flow to you — to be yours always to keep and to share with those who seek me.

When the Word of my love breaks out of its silence and speaks in your hearts, telling you who I really am, you will know that that is the Real Word you have been always longing to hear."—Avatar Meher Baba

Wishing a very happy Silence Day to my Meher Baba family around the world.