Between the immense crowds and just my general exhaustion of canvassing the Jacob Javits Center like a maniac the past two days, I cut short my Saturday session at New York Comic Con. But I come bearing news for Dan Slott fans, and also had an opportunity to speak to one of my all-time favorite writers in Peter David. So, as far as I’m concerned, today was a win for Chasing Amazing and Superior Spider-Talk!

As for the Slott news, as a number of us speculated (including me… you can pat me on the back any time you want), Marvel confirmed today during its “Inhumanity and All New Marvel Now” panel that Dan and artist Mike Allred are launching a brand new Silver Surfer series that will debut in March. Slott, who has historically had reservations about taking on another title in addition to his twice monthly Spider-Man work, sounded incredibly excited to be the next Marvel writer to tackle the enigmatic Norrin Radd.

“When I was growing up, the first superhero comic I read was the (Fantastic Four) ‘Galactus Trilogy,'” Slott said. “When I was in college I did my own superhero strip for my school newspaper and it was a shameless ripoff of Silver Surfer.”

Slott said he first talked about a Silver Surfer series with the Marvel editorial team during a company retreat, but because of his Spider-Man schedule, he had no intention of actually working on the story. When the Marvel team left the retreat unsatisfied with some of the other Silver Surfer pitches they received, Slott talked to senior vice president Tom Brevoort who told him, despite the scheduling reservations, “we’ll make it work … I want to edit that book,” Slott said.

Slott was ecstatic about the Allred team-up (who currently illustrates FF) because “this is going to be the most Kirby-ish of characters, doing the most insane stuff in weird cosmic, quirky places.”

Another Slott-spin on the book is that he’s looking to move away from the “lone sentinel of the skways story” and there will be “a girl” involved. “He’s going to meet a kindred spirit … and he’s going to find the universe is more fun when you see it with someone.”

Dan Gvozden and I will do and more extensive NYCC “news” reaction podcast for Superior Spider-Talk, but let me throw out there that I’m very intrigued to see what Slott can do on Surfer. There’s such a Silver Age sentiment to how Slott writes and beyond being Spider-Man’s number one fan, he’s also a very adamant follower of the Fantastic Four universe. I’m going to guess this book is completely different in tone from Amazing/Superior Spider-Man (I heard Slott tell a fan after the panel that he had no intentions to bring his Spidey cast into the Surfer’s cosmic universe) but it will still feature plenty of Slott’s token humor and charm. It won’t release until March, but this will definitely go on my pull list.

As for the rest of my day at the Javits Center, I had the honor to speak with Peter David this morning for a Superior Spider-Talk segment. Peter was a fantastic interview, as we touched base about Spider-Man 2099, Jean DeWolff and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Naturally, given my recent obsession, I also made sure to ask Peter about the Hobgoblin!

What do YOU think I asked Peter David about?

I also spoke to Marvel colorist-extraordinare Edgar Delgado. Delgado talked to me about his philosophy towards coloring the Spider-Man universe and working with such a diverse cast of pencillers. He also had some poignant things to say about Amazing Spider-Man #700. Obviously, look for more details of that interview to be released at a later date.