Many comic lovers dream of being able to write their own stories for their favorite superheroes.
Mangum and Bradys comic writing debut sees them drawing on their own experiences as comedians and improvisers.
What if Spider-Man lost his funny mojo?
Where would he go?
How would he get it back?
says Brady of what fans can expect from their story.
Spidey is used to making things up on the fly.
So he goes to Jonathan and myself to maybe take that to the next level.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You guys are both comic book fans.
Was Spider-Man always one of your favorite heroes?
JONATHAN MANGUM:Growing up [Spider-Man] would be one of the first ones you get exposed to.
Its Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, the trifecta of superheroes.
Spiderman always had a sense of humor, which was always really cool to see.
Batman could not tell a joke to save his damn life.
Thats something brilliant in the creation of Spider-Man.
Spider-Man is the bullied kid who got a chance to stand up to the bully.
As a kid I really, really liked Spider-Man because of that fact.
It was a little bit of aspirational kid wish list in there too.
Everyone has something they want to see in a superhero story.
What did you guys definitely want to write about when you first came on board?
MANGUM:you’ve got the option to totally see Spider-Man signing up for an improv class.
It just seems like something hed do.
BRADY:Especially with improv being in the zeitgeist.
People are very familiar with the art form.
Its kind of an in-joke thats an out joke to get to everybody else as well.
BRADY:Thats what happens to you in this day and age of social media.
There is no mystery anymore.
He has to get to up his funny game.
Considering that this the first time writing a comic for both of you, what was that experience like?
We just treated it like we were writing dialogue for a sketch or for a short movie.
When you see it put up with the panels, thats a completely different thing.
Jonathan handled the dialogue duties.
I did story work.
MANGUM:Going from writing scripts to writing comics was different.
You dont realize thats four panels.
Its a little bit of a learning curve.
BRADY:Id love to take a crack at aGuardians of the Galaxystory.
Star-Lord, especially the way he is written in the movie is just a ridiculously funny character.
Theres a lot of room for humor, especially when the stakes are so high.
Theyre flying around chasing all manner of aliens and trying not to get killed.
It reads like a very funny space opera.
Id love to get my hands on that.
Like What if Rick Jones wouldve become the Incredible Hulk?
I would love to do aWhat Ifstory.
MANGUM:I always loved theIncredible Hulkas a character.
You get this nerdy scientist who turns into this beast.
TheAmazing Spider-Man Annual #1is currently available for purchase in comic book stores and onMarvel.com.
