Spider-Man
Down These Mean Streets
My return to Spidey is Down These Mean Streets, the second of this new line, which, I hope, combines the best elements of Spider-Man: colorful, nutsy super-villains and the city of New York. While many super heroes are based in New York, one of the things I've always liked about Spidey is that New York is such an integral part of his world. The Avengers or the Fantastic Four could be based in any large city and not be changed significantly, but Spider-Man wouldn't be Spider-Man in Atlanta or L.A. or Chicago.
My fondness for police procedurals is well known, so it will come as no surprise that the NYPD also plays a big role in this story. The novel also makes use of Peter Parker's current career as a high-school science teacher, and his wife Mary Jane's career as an theatrical actor, both straight out of the current Spider-Man comics.
The plot revolves around a new drug that has been unleashed on the streets of New York: Triple X, a form of ecstasy that has been irradiated with gamma radiation (the same stuff that turned Bruce Banner into the Hulk), so it not only gets you high, it temporarily gives you super powers. Spidey and the NYPD have to find out who's responsible for the drug, stop the rampaging "gamma-heads," and also keep the lid on a drug war that's breaking out, since the new drug is cutting into the profits of those that distribute other illicit substances, and the latter are expressing their displeasure with guns.
Spidey's supporting cast plays a role, including his Aunt May and the folks at the Daily Bugle, and the climax is a dramatic confrontation with a major Spidey villain.
The book is on sale in September, and can also be ordered from the good folks at Amazon.com. You can read an excerpt here.
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