BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO
Ever wonder what Aunt May would do if she had the accessories of Spider-Man and went out to fight crime? Would she break her hip? Would she give those criminals a good talkin' to after webbing them up? Well, even if you didn't wonder before, I bet you're thinking about the possibilities now! Abby Denson's revealing just what a day in the life of Spider-Ma'am would be like in the pages of this month's Amazing Spider-Man Family #3


THE PULSE: How did you come to be working on the adventures of the Amazing Spider-Ma'am? Was it your idea to spotlight good old Aunt May for a few stories?

ABBY DENSON: I met with editor Steve Wacker and he mentioned he was interested in stories that spotlight Aunt May for the Amazing Spider-Man Family books. That was percolating in the back of my mind for a while and when I came up with the idea for Amazing Spider-Ma'am. I made the proposal and it was accepted. I was pleasantly surprised since it's a fun story with camp and slapstick sensibilities which is not typical of the super hero genre. So I'm very grateful to Steve for his willingness to go in an unorthodox direction like this and also for his enthusiasm!

THE PULSE: I love thinking of Aunt May in a Spidey suit, but how did she come to get one of Pete's costumes?

DENSON: In this initial story she "borrows" the suit which was in his closet when Peter is out of the house, but I'm thinking of possibly having her sew her own suit in the future. We'll see... Right now I'm getting some fun gags out of her borrowing his suit.

THE PULSE: Is this "now" Aunt May or a younger Aunt May? How did you decide "when" to do these stories?

DENSON: One of the fun things about writing this series is that it doesn't have to follow continuity of the other Spider-Man books, so there's a lot of freedom regarding when they happen. Even so, she's current time-wise in that she is a senior citizen. I have her at the point where she does know Peter is Spider-Man. She is a lot younger at heart and more vibrant than previous depictions because I want her to be more current and a better representation of senior citizens now as opposed to this feeble old woman who is always needing to be rescued. I want to emphasize her sense of humor and make her a bit sly like Peter. I think she and Peter would share those qualities. Style-wise I wanted to get rid of her bun, one of my style inspirations for her is Helen Mirren. I also want to have her wearing comfortable clothes like jogging suits, capri pants, and cardigans. Clothes that are cute but that she can be active in as well. She also is pretty tech savvy, she has
an iphone (a birthday gift from Peter so it has sentimental value) and a computer for writing her memoir.

THE PULSE: Ok, so I can see how Aunt May might get lucky once with the Spidey costume and spoil a would-be house burglar. But why does she think she can use the suit more than once in Queens ?

DENSON: That's how she starts getting involved in crime-fighting, but suit aside, her biggest strength is her wits. Aunt May is concerned with community issues and quality of life issues that everyday people have concerns about in their neighborhoods as opposed to super villains. She also has her own neighborhood nemesis who will be introduced the next story (out in Amazing Spider-Man Family #4). She will use her wits and the suit and sometimes web fluid for extra leverage and intimidation against the local petty criminals. What's also fun is she is hiding her crime fighting activities from Peter. So in a twist, I have her making quick changes out of the suit before he comes home and coming up with excuses when he gets suspicious.

THE PULSE: What qualities do you think define May Parker?

DENSON: Wisdom, cleverness, a good sense of humor, loving attitude, nurturing, kindness, and a practical nature, to name a few.

THE PULSE: How do those qualities aid her when she's trying to be Spider-Ma'am?

DENSON: Her wits and humor play into the adventures a lot but she will also display her own sense of justice and responsibility to make her neighborhood the best place it can be.


THE PULSE: In the past, May's been pretty feeble -- except the May we've seen in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man. How are you trying to change the way people regard her in these pages?

DENSON: I have a whole list of qualities for her in mind that inform her character while writing the stories. For instance, she practices yoga and tai chi, she loves to garden, and she is working on a memoir (Feebleness aside, she's had quite an exciting life so far!). Also, I have some inspiring seniors in my own life and my parents are heading in that direction (as are we all!). Seniors have more active and healthy lives than ever before and I want to reflect that in May's stories. Like they say these days: "Sixty is the new fifty is the new forty, etc..."

THE PULSE: How many Spider-Ma'am adventures are you working on?

DENSON: At this point it looks like it will be a regular feature in Amazing Spider-Man Family, so there's no set number of stories. Of course I hope for it to run indefinitely!

THE PULSE: How is working on May Parker's adventures here different than some of your indie projects?

DENSON: When writing for licensed properties I'm always conscious that I'm "playing with someone else's toys" so to speak. There are parameters I have to work within, but I can still have a lot of fun, especially working with an editor like Steve who is very supportive and open to input. For instance he wanted my suggestions on which artists to use and we got Colleen Coover for this one, she was our first choice! It was really nice to be in the loop for that decision.

On my own stories, like Tough Love and Dolltopia, it's a lot more work to write and draw the whole thing but I get total control of EVERYTHING. So it's obviously great to be able to create my own world and characters and tell stories that are all original with no limits or boundaries.

Of course, getting to work on a Spider-Man book is an amazing milestone for me. I keep thinking how lucky I am to do this and how this is a dream gig for myself and so many people. It's pretty surreal thinking about that sometimes!

THE PULSE: Who or what is inspiring you the most in these pages? Have you read a lot of Spider-Man adventures?

DENSON: I read Essential Spider-Man Volume 1 to get into the groove, and I just love that classic style. I really want to have that bombastic Stan Lee exuberance, where every story is presented as the most exciting, amazing, shocking tale you've ever read! Also, the first story was inspired a bit by the shenanigans in the movie Home Alone and the overall concept of the series has some influence from the John Waters film Serial Mom (without the murdering of course!) because her sense of justice leads her to punish people for petty crimes with humorous results. Also, I've always loved the Golden Girls so as I have May interact with other local seniors (including her nemesis) I want to have some of that humor and sassiness in their interactions.

THE PULSE: If you've followed a lot of Spidey's adventures, who are some of the people who've worked on the stories you've enjoyed reading the most?

DENSON: Again, the classic Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby stories. I also enjoyed Peter Bagge's Megalomaniacal Spider-Man, it was cool to see his take on Spidey.

THE PULSE: How does it feel to have Colleen Coover bringing your first Spider-Ma'am tale to life in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Family #3?

DENSON: It feels great, especially since she was my first choice and an amazing artist! It was thrilling to see her art illustrating my story. It's always wonderful getting to work with an artist I'm a fan of.


THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?

DENSON: I'm about to finish teaching my first semester of Comic Book Storytelling class at The New School - Eugene Lang College. It's been really great and also being called "Professor" is awesome, it's funny since it hasn't been THAT long since I've been a student myself. The students are enthusiastic and very talented! I'm going to have to take a break from that next year because of some pressing projects now, but I definitely plan to get back to teaching.

My NYC dessert review comic, The City Sweet Tooth is going strong, running in NYC's The L Magazine and on the site: http://www.citysweettooth.com

I just put out my first full-color mini-comic "My Boyfriend is a Space Robot". It's about a teenage girl with muscular dystrophy and her romance with an alien robot, it's heavily influenced by Keiko Takemiya's classic willowy teen boys and space operas. It's available online, there is a direct link to buy it on the front page of my site http://www.abbycomix.com

Also, my graphic novel Dolltopia is on the way! More details on that when I'm at liberty to spill them ...

Yuck! Some ailing old Aunt she is! Why don't they just call all this semi-Spidey xerox junk what is really is?

SPIDER-SPAM !!!