"King and Queen" ("Spider-Man: Homecoming")
While I'm relatively certain their stance has changed since the Walt Disney Corporation acquired them (how often do you hear that sentence?), I still follow the rule using licensed Marvel Comics characters in the gallery is a capital no-no. Having tested the waters back in 2014 with "Amazing Spider-Man 2" when I used a penciled illustration by Tony, I'm sure it would be fine as long as it was for non-profit purposes. But then we'd be losing out on what has always been an interesting challenge. And this piece was a challenge; just not for the usual reasons.
Moments after hearing what the title of the new Spider-Man film was going to be, I knew I wanted to homage the cover to "Amazing Spider-Man" Annual 21 featuring the wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Drawn by John Romita Sr., the over-sized issue changed the life of Peter Parker forever. That is, until twenty-one years later when he made a deal with the devil to wipe out all existence of his marriage to save the life of his Aunt May. But nevertheless, it remains a milestone in the history of the character and an iconic cover. Everything clicked in my head and I thought if the idea was simple to come up with, surely the execution would be as well.
Little did I know what I was getting myself into.
There's a reason why John Romita Sr. is considered a legend. To try matching up as close as possible to the characters he had in the background took me an entire week. Even when it was finished, I discovered mistakes in a few areas. And then there was the fonts. I already knew I'd be drawing the main logo by hand but what surprised me was mimicking the banner on the top of the page. I spent hours searching the internet for a typography which came close. In the end, I wound up settling on something different and altering it heavily.
I suppose I'm being overly critical since this was the last entry for the 2017 season. You always want to go out on a high-note. And perhaps I did achieve that and time will change my perspective. It's by no means a terrible illustration and the concept is perfect. I just wish it had came out better. - Jake