SPIDERMAN! It’s no secret that our team at Insomniac Games loves the character – so we wanted to show up for the site’s 60th anniversary in a fun way. Cue… comics! We’ve partnered with Marvel to design five Beyond Amazing variation covers, featuring art inspired by Marvel’s Spider-Man series of games, our studio takes on this character.
See our cover collection below! Each cover is accompanied by an introduction by an Insomniac artist sharing their inspiration, insights, and love for Spider-Man! These issues have already started rolling out in the US and will be releasing more soon… check with your local US retailers for stock availability! Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Now available 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 create it?
Cover done in Photoshop.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Spider-Man was definitely a part of my childhood growing up watching cartoons in the afternoon. The opening with 3D buildings and the iconic theme song has stayed with me throughout my adulthood. I always think how great it feels to be able to go around the city. It took many years after playing the game Insomniac that I found that feeling again.
What makes a great comic book cover?
Its simplicity is what makes it great. I can imagine this cover appearing in a comic book store with hundreds, if not thousands, of comics, all vying for our attention with dynamic layouts. This cover simply stands out just by contrast.
Oliver Fetscher
What inspired this cover?
This cover is a tribute to the issue of Web of Spider-Man #1 (Art by Charles Vess), so that was the main inspiration. With that said, I grew up as a Spider-Man fan in the 1990s and 2000s and wanted to bring back some of the artistic flavors that inspired me growing up. I have a great love for detailed artwork and powerful pieces that tell a story in many different layers.
What tools did you use to create it?
I mainly use photoshop and some 3D to set up the base and perspective in the scene.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
I was convinced that I was Spider-Man as a kid and ruined my bookshelf at home after getting ideas from reading some new comics… Jos aside, I’ve always been a fan of manga. fanatical paintings and Spider-Man is always at the top of that list, some of my first drawings were of Spider-Man and his villains. I remember looking at art and thinking maybe someday I’ll be able to draw like that.
What makes a great comic book cover?
I think there can be many different good concepts around making a good cover. Sometimes I like very simple, stylized or vintage covers.
My favorite idea behind the cover is the one that gives an idea of what could go wrong without saying too much. I’m a big fan of mystery and see something that eludes or foreshadows what’s to come.
Dennis Chan
What inspired this cover or what did you choose for this cover?
What really prompted me to choose this cover photo was how the original cover art created by Tony Harris stood out from the many options I could choose to create this variation cover photo. The concept and layout are clear, simple and powerful but above all, the cover art captivated me on an emotional level. Realizing how complicated this piece is, I wanted to challenge myself to make a variation of it and somehow retain its original feel.
What tools did you use to create it?
To create this illustration, I used Zbrush to sculpt and pose for the Spider-Man and Peter Parker suits. I used Blender to set up the lights and render using Cycles. I took this opportunity to show a more realistic look for this cover so I purposely created a low resolution render so that I wouldn’t get lost in the highly rendered details. In the end, I spent many hours repainting the render using Adobe Photoshop to achieve the results I wanted.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Out of the two Super Heroes I came into contact with as a child, one of them was Spider-Man. I’m not old enough to understand the text in balloons yet, but these bands have a lot of power for me and I’m amazed at how sequential they are. I was able to understand the story without reading. Even at a young age, without much life experience, I felt I could relate to Peter Parker’s daily life on an emotional level. The story tied to the arts kept me interested for many years into my late teens. I almost signed up for the Spider-Man comics that were sent to my inbox every month until I was 20.
What makes a great comic book cover?
For me personally, what makes a book cover great is the emotion it reflects. If the cover art can capture the audience on an emotional level, I will consider it a success.
Daryl Mandryk
What inspired this cover?
This cover is a remake of the classic cover “Here Lies”, but with a twist on the introduction of the Enhanced Suit.
What tools did you use to create it?
This is mostly done in Photoshop, using basic digital drawing tools. The tombstone was modeled in Blender and stitched into the image.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Spider-Man is one of my favorite Super Heroes. When I was a kid, I watched classic cartoons and bought a lot of Spidey comics. I love his witty personality and the plethora of imaginative villains he has to face. As I get older, I can think of Peter’s struggles with relationships and finances =)
What makes a great comic book cover?
Something. It must make a good first impression for the reader to be motivated to pick it up and read it. Therefore, the image should be eye-catching and impressive, enticing you with all the excitement within, and it should be clear and simple enough to convey this quickly. It has to stand out from the things next to it on the shelf, so something about it has to be unique – this could be color, composition or storytelling. I guess you could say find the ‘hook’ for the image. It’s not an exact science, but I think if you keep these things in mind, at least you’re on your way to success.
Bobby Hernandez
What inspired this cover?
This cover pays homage to the 100th Amazing Spider-Man cover, created by legendary John Romita Sr. It was inspired by the designs we created at Insomniac Games for the Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales games.
What tools did you use to create it?
Spider-Man was created in 3D to understand his anatomy and help me understand how to pose. This also helps me understand where the suit is folded and what details will be visible.
Then I used this to draw him in Photoshop along with the rest of the composition. I finished it off in Photoshop by drawing and painting Spider-Man, then drawing additional characters with white lines on a black background to mimic the approach from the original cover.
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 has had a huge impact on my artistic career, seeing different artists interpret villains as well as Spider-Man himself and tell stories. that iconic look through the comic boxes and covers. Today, I’m grateful to now work at Insomniac Games and be able to help add to the story and legacy of Spider-Man through the games we create.
What makes a great comic book cover?
To me, a good comic book cover is like a good movie poster: It will capture you and your interest. It should show elements of the story without losing sight of the story. It suggests the tone and emotion of the story in the pages you are about to read.
You combine that with a great layout and design, and I feel like that really makes for a great cover.
