Cork native lands dream job drawing Spider-Man
Artist Will Sliney has gone and nabbed himself a dream job: drawing the art for Spider-Man.
Sliney, who works out of his home in Ballycotton, is arguably Ireland's premier comic artist, working with Marvel Comics – who publish some of the most famous superheroes of all time, like Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and, of course, Spider-Man.
The Cork native announced he has now landed himself the new series Spider-Man 2099. "Absolute dream gig here," he told fans on Facebook yesterday.
was one of the biggest comic series in the 1990s, lasting almost fifty issues, until 1996. It tells the story of Miguel O'Hara, 100 years from now, who acquires the powers of the original Spider-Man while researching them.
The character has popped up here and there since, but never with his own series - until now.
It's a big step for the Cork artist, who has already been brought on to work on several Spider-Man stories, as well as his Fearless Defenders series, and has published his own comic on the Irish hero Cú Chulainn.
"Ever since the book ended, almost 20 years ago, fans have been begging for it to be relaunched," Sliney told us.
"Since then Spidey 2099 has gone onto star in a couple of very successful video games so really, in terms of his popularity, there could not be a better time to bring him back."
And, even better, this version of Spider-Man is an Irishman himself.
"As far as we know, George O'Hara [his father], moved to Nueva York (New York of the Year 2099) and designed the public surveillance system for the city," Sliney explains.
"It looks like even in the future, a few of our engineers are working over in the States. The book hasn't delved too much into his back story, but now I guess it's handy having an Irish man involved in the production of the book."
His experience working on modern-day Spidey might be helpful too, as this new series will see the future version trapped in our own time - alongside his namesake.
Vader Step 9.. Finished. Thanks for all the kind words everyone pic.twitter.com/yDqkpbYJCC
— Will Sliney (@WillSliney) March 23, 2014
Sliney's well-known among the Irish comic enthusiast community, partly because of his high-profile work, but also thanks to his approachable social media presence.
He constantly posts work-in-progress for aspiring artists to see his process, has appeared on the Late Late Show among others, and is an absolute must-follow for young artists, comic book readers, and secret Spidey fans.
