Spider-Man! It’s no secret that the team at Insomniac Games loves this character. So we wanted a cool way to celebrate his 60th anniversary as a web head. Cue… Comic! We worked with Marvel to design five of his covers for Beyond Amazing variants. Marvel’s Spider-Man A game series, our studio’s take on a character.
Check out the cover gallery below! Each cover is accompanied by a blurb in which Insomniac artists share inspiration, insights, and information about their love of Spider-Man. These issues are already starting to roll out in the US, with more releases coming soon.Check with your local US retailer for availability! Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered When Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Available now for PlayStation 5 and PC.
John Staub
What is the inspiration for this cover?
The cover was inspired by the Spider-Man cover created by the wonderful John Romita.
What tools did you use to create it?
The cover was made in Photoshop.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Spider-Man was definitely a part of my childhood growing up watching anime in the afternoon, and the opening, with its 3D buildings and iconic theme song, stuck with me throughout my adulthood. I always wondered how nice it would be to hang out in the city. Rediscovering that feeling would be playing the game of Insomnia many years later.
What are the criteria for a good comic book cover?
Its simplicity is what makes it great. You can imagine this cover sticking out in a comic shop full of hundreds if not thousands of comics fighting for our attention in a dynamic composition. It just stands out in contrast.
Oliver Fetcher
What is the inspiration for this cover?
This cover is an homage to the Web of Spider-Man #1 (Art by Charles Vess) issue, which is the main inspiration. That said, I grew up a Spider-Man fan in his 1990s and his 2000s and wanted to capture the artistic flavor that inspired me to grow up so much. I love detailed artwork and strong compositions that tell stories on different layers.
What tools did you use to create it?
Primarily Photoshop and 3D were used to set the base and perspective of the scene.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
When I was a kid, I was convinced I was Spider-Man, and after reading a new comic and getting an idea, I ruined my bookshelf at home… Jokes aside, I’ve always been a big fan of comics. And Spider-Man was always on top of the world. On that list, some of my early drawings are of Spider-Man and his villains.
What are the criteria for a good comic book cover?
I think there are various good concepts to make a good cover. You may like stylized or old school very simplistic covers.
My favorite idea behind the cover is one that doesn’t say too much and creates an idea of what happens in the issue. I’m a big fan of mysteries, and I see things that I miss or foretell what’s to come.
Dennis Chan
What inspired this cover or why did you choose this cover?
What inspired me to choose this cover was how the original art cover created by Tony Harris stood out among the many options I had to choose from to create this variant cover. The idea and structure were very clear, simple and powerful, but above all his cover art captured me on an emotional level. Realizing how complex this piece is, I wanted to challenge myself to create a different version while somehow preserving the feel of the original.
What tools did you use to create it?
To create this illustration, I used Zbrush to sculpt and pose the Spider-Man suit and Peter Parker. I used Blender to set up the lights and Cycles to render. I took this opportunity to give this cover a more painterly look. I intentionally created a low resolution render so as not to get lost in the highly rendered detail. Finally, I spent hours overpainting the render using Adobe Photoshop to get the desired result.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
One of the two superheroes I met when I was little was Spider-Man. I wasn’t old enough to understand the text in the speech bubbles, but the strips were very powerful to me and I was amazed at how continuous they were. I could understand the story without reading it. Even at a young age when I didn’t have much life experience, I felt I could relate to Peter Parker’s everyday life on an emotional level. continued. I mostly had subscriptions to Spider-Man comics that were dropped into my mailbox every month until my twenties.
What are the criteria for a good comic book cover?
Personally, what makes a book cover great is the emotion it reflects. If the cover art captures the audience on an emotional level, it’s done.
Darryl Mandrick
What is the inspiration for this cover?
This cover is a remake of the classic cover “Here Lies”, but with the twist of featuring advanced suits.
What tools did you use to create it?
Basically, this was all done in Photoshop using basic digital painting tools. The tombstone was modeled in Blender and composited into the image.
What is your personal history with Spider-Man?
Spiderman is one of my favorite superheroes. As a child, he watched classic cartoons and bought many Spidey comics. I loved his wisecracking personality and the imaginative variety of villains he faced. When I got older, I could relate to Peter’s struggles with relationships and finances =)
What are the criteria for a good comic book cover?
some things. It has to make a good first impression, so the reader will want to pick it up and read it. Therefore, the image should be compelling, dramatic and entice you with an inner excitement. Also, it should be clear and simple in order to communicate this quickly. Something has to be unique, be it the color, the composition, the storytelling, because it has to stand out from what’s next to it on the shelf. I guess you could say you find the “hook” in the image. It’s not an exact science, but I think if you keep these things in mind, you’re at least on your way to success.
Bobby Hernandez
What is the inspiration for this cover?
This cover is a tribute to the cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #100 created by the legendary John Romita Sr. Inspired by a design we created at Games.
What tools did you use to create it?
We posed Spider-Man in 3D to understand his anatomy and help him understand his poses. This also helped me understand where the suit was folded and what details were visible.
I then used this to draw him in Photoshop along with the rest of the layout. I painted and rendered Spider-Man in Photoshop, and finished off the additional characters with white lines on a black background, mimicking the original cover approach.
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 art and his career. We’ve seen various artists interpret the villains and Spider-Man himself, telling those iconic stories through the panels and covers of the comics. Today, I am currently working at Insomniac Games and am extremely grateful to be able to add to the story and legacy of Spider-Man through the games we create.
What are the criteria for a good comic book cover?
To me, a good comic book cover is like a good movie poster. It should engage you and your interests. It suggests the tone and emotion of the story within the page you are about to read.
Combine that with a great composition and design and I think it makes for a really great cover.
