{alltv} Spider-Man's world to get too crowded for comfort

PHILADELPHIA — Things are going to get buggy for Spider-Man as the Marvel Comics hero realizes what life can be like when everybody — from the food cart vendor on the corner to the guy sitting across the subway train — can crawl on walls, tingle with spider-sense and even spin webs.

Marvel writer Dan Slott is set to upend Peter Parker's existence — one where his arachnid-inspired powers were usually his own — with a story this summer set in Manhattan and, fittingly, dubbed "Spider-Island."

The seeds of the eight-issue story starting in "The Amazing Spider-Man" No. 666, drawn by Stefano Caselli, and concluding with the epilogue in No. 673, also drawn by Caselli, will be sown in one of the two comics that Marvel is giving away on Saturday as part of the international Free Comic Book Day celebration, now in its 10th year.

"It's an honest to gosh all new issue of Spider-Man, 20 pages," Slott said, adding that events in the issue, titled "The Way of the Spider" will set up the upcoming "Spider-Island" story.

The free issue, illustrated by Humberto Ramos, who is also drawing the full story in issues No. 667-672, with inks by Carlos Cuevas and Victor Olazaba, features not just Spider-Man but also Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu, and Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman.

"This issue will also set up a new challenge for Spider-Man which will play into the events of 'Spider-Island,'" Slott said. "There is something that happens in this free issue — that any out there can get — that sows an important seed for 'Spider-Island.'"

Slott is tightlipped about what that seed is and about the wider story line planned for this summer, but called the saga a new struggle for Peter Parker, Spidey's alter-ego.

"One of the things we all know about Spider-Man is his great catch line — even President Obama has said it — 'With great power comes great responsibility,'" Slott said. "And 'Spider-Island' is asking, 'What if his power was not great?'"

What if New Yorkers suddenly wake up with abilities like Spider-Man? How would that change things? What would it mean for Spider-Man?

"Peter Parker will not be the only spider-powered person in New York. His power will not be so great," Slott said. "Everyday folks — the guy putting the schmear on your bagel, the guy driving you in the bus, your neighbor down the block — it's spider powers for everyone! All shapes and sizes!"

Of course, infecting that many people at the same time is hard, but Slott has found a unique way to affect the transfer, one that real New Yorkers already fear: bedbugs. An evil person has genetically altered the critters. Who is that malevolent force?

You'll just have to read the comic book to find out.