Spider man! It's no secret that our team at Insomniac Games loves this character; So we wanted to celebrate the webmaster's 60th birthday in a beautiful way Cue... the comic! We partnered with Marvel to design five Beyond Amazing covers inspired by our studio's take on the Marvel Spider-Man series.
Check out our cover gallery below! Each cover is accompanied by an advertisement from artist Insomniac sharing his inspiration, understanding and love for Spider-Man! This issue is starting to appear in the US and more releases are on the way... Contact your local US reseller for availability! Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales are out now on PlayStation 5 and PC.
John Staub
What inspired this cover?
The cover is inspired by the Spider-Man cover created by the amazing John Romita.
What tools did you use to make it?
The cover was created in Photoshop.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Spiderman was definitely a part of my childhood as I grew up watching cartoons at night. The opening, with its 3D buildings and iconic theme music, has stuck with me my entire adult life. I always thought how beautiful it would be to walk around the city. I rediscovered that feeling years later playing Insomniac.
What makes a good comic book cover?
Its simplicity makes it extraordinary. I can imagine this cover being displayed in a comic shop where hundreds or thousands of comics are competing for our attention with their dynamic compositions. This cover will stand out only in contrast.
Oliver Fetcher
What inspired this cover?
This cover is an homage to the Spider-Man #1 web theme (artwork by Charles Vess), so it's a great inspiration. That said, I became a Spider-Man fan in the 90s and 2000s and wanted to showcase the artistic talent that inspired me as a kid. I love detailed images and strong compositions that tell stories on many levels.
What tools did you use to make it?
I mostly use Photoshop and a little 3D to give the scene background and perspective.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Since childhood I was sure that I was Spider-Man, and after reading a new comic I had the idea to destroy the bookshelf at home... Seriously, I have always been a big fan of comics, and Spider-Man has always been. In this list, some of my earliest images feature Spider-Man and his villains. I remember looking at the art and thinking maybe one day I could draw something like that.
What makes a good comic book cover?
I think there are a lot of good ideas about what makes a good cover. Sometimes I like really simple old school covers.
This is my favorite cover idea that conveys what can happen in a theme without saying too much. I'm a big fan of mystery and anything that looks or foreshadows what's going to happen.
Dennis Chan
What inspired you to create this cover or what made you choose this cover?
What really made me choose this skin was how the original skin created by Tony Harris stood out from the many options I could choose to create this skin variation. The concept and composition was very clear, simple and powerful, but most importantly, the cover touched me emotionally. Realizing how complex this work is, I wanted to challenge myself to create variety and somehow maintain the original look.
What tools did you use to make it?
To create this illustration, I used Zbrush to sculpt and pose Spider-Man and Peter Parker's costumes. I use Blender to set the lighting and render with the cycle. I took this opportunity to give this skin a more interesting look, so I intentionally rendered at a low resolution so as not to lose the sharp details. In the end, I spent several hours redoing the render with Adobe Photoshop to get the desired result.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
One of the two superheroes I met at a young age was Spider-Man. I'm not old enough to understand the text of the comics, but the lists are very useful to me, and I'm surprised by their consistency. I can understand the story without reading it. Even without life experience at a young age, I felt I could relate to Peter Parker's everyday life on an emotional level. The history of art studies intrigued me as a teenager. I had a subscription to Spider-Man comics that arrived in my inbox every month until I was in my early 20s.
What makes a good comic book cover?
For me personally, a great book cover captures it's emotion. If the cover moves the viewer emotionally, I consider it a success.
Daryl Mandry
What inspired this cover?
This cover is a remake of the classic Here Lies cover, but with a twist in the form of an advanced suit.
What tools did you use to make it?
This is basically done in Photoshop using all the basic digital painting tools. The tombstone was modeled in Blender and inserted into the image.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Spider-Man is one of my favorite superheroes. As a kid, I watched classic cartoons and bought a lot of Spiderman comics. I have encountered his funny nature and various fictional villains. As I get older, I understand Peter's issues with relationships and finances =)
What makes a good comic book cover?
Some things it needs to make a good first impression so that the reader is motivated to pick it up and read it. So the image has to be interesting and dramatic, tease you with all the joy it contains, and be clear and simple enough to convey quickly. It has to stand out from what's next to it on the shelf, so it has to have something special — be it color, composition or texture. I guess we can say that I found the "hook" in the picture. It's not an exact science, but I think if you keep that in mind, you're at least on your way to success.
Bobby Hernandez
What inspired this cover?
This cover is dedicated to John Romita Sr.'s 100th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Made by legend. It's inspired by the designs we created for Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales at Insomniac Games.
What tools did you use to make it?
Spider-Man is rendered in 3D to minimize his anatomy and help understand his pose. This helps me know where the suit is folded and what details will be visible.
I then use it to paint with other images in Photoshop. I finished drawing and rendering Spider-Man in Photoshop, then painted additional characters with white outlines on a black background to mimic the original cover style.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Spider-Man has been a part of my life since I was a kid playing with action figures. Collecting and reading Spider-Man comics had a huge impact on my artistic career as I saw different artists portray the villains and Spider himself and tell this iconic story through comics and covers. Today I am very grateful to work for Insomniac Games and help add to the history and legacy of Spider-Man through the games we create.
What makes a good comic book cover?
To me, a good comic book cover is like a good movie poster - it has to make you curious and interested. They have to show story elements without betraying them. It shows the tone and emotion of the story on the page you're reading.
You combine it with excellent composition and design and I think it's a great cover.