One of the Spider-People in New York City is named Araa. Alex Segura takes her on a new adventure that strands her in the future and causes her to team up with Spider-Man 2099, a billionaire CEO, and they discover they have similar enemies in the past. io9 is excited to announce his new novel, Araa and Spider-Man 2099. James, you just helped start a new chapter in Edge of Spider-verse. What made you return to her?
I have a lot of vivid memories of first reading Araa's adventures. It meant a lot to see a Latinx Spider-character, and to get the chance to write a novel that reintroduced the character to readers felt special. It comes after I get the chance to further her comic book story. She is driven, talented, and brave. She and PeterParker have a lot in common. She is trying to find her way in a complex world. No matter your age or experience, that is very relevant.
The natural foil for Anya was Miguel. He was a great mentor for her in the Spider-verse.
In the book, we find both heroes at different points in their careers, with Anya trying to find some guidance in terms of how to be a hero. Miguel is reeling from a tragedy and doesn't know if he wants to be Spider-Man. When they meet, they have to realize that they need each other, but they have to evolve to the point where they can help each other. To chronicle the struggle for Miguel to get back to being a hero, and at the same time have Anya learn from him, was really interesting to me. When we talked about the idea, I was amazed that we were given the chance to explore it first. The dynamic was my favorite part of the book.
What challenges do you face in bringing characters made for the medium of comics into the literary medium? If you were to script this as a comic, how different would it be?
When you're writing comics, you're collaborating and watching as others add and expand on your idea. You are kind of driving the whole sensory experience when you play a novel. I can't rely on the artist to make my dialogue look better. It is a different type of challenge. As a fan of both characters, I wanted to take the chance that prose provides and get into their heads a bit more than we might see in comics, and also to find a special balance, where the story is wide open enough that new readers can enjoy it, but also loaded with wink I was surprised I was able to use a few characters.
Is there a place where you would like to see Anya's journey go? Do you believe she has the ability to break out more in the Spider-heroes?
Definitely. She is an amazing character with a lot of upside. She should stay in the spotlight for a long time. She thinks she is ready to break out.
As a Cuban American middle school child, I was obsessed with Spider-Man. The first issue of Spider-Man 2099 was written by Peter David and Rick Leonardi and I was blown away by it. I saw a Latinx Spider-Man for the first time. Identifying with the characters you're reading is important and vital, and that moment played out in my head many times as I wrote the adventure.
Araa and Spider-Man 2099 are available to pre-order.
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