Before the characters we know and love make their way to our television screens in their animated form, their every action is planned out thoroughly and storyboarded. Adam Van Wyk is the man behind the scenes storyboarding all of the action of the Spectacular Spider-Man and has done work on several other shows you might have seen. ComicsOnline had the chance to talk to Adam about his current work on Spidey as well as some of his past projects.

CO: How did you become involved with Spectacular Spider-Man?

AVW: It is hard to remember exactly how it came together, but I'm pretty sure my friend, Dave Bullock, gave me a call to let me know he was going to be a director and would like me to be a storyboard artist on his crew. Dave and I met on Batman Beyond and have had the good fortune to work together on several projects since then. I had also worked with the one of the Spider-man producers, Vic Cook, on the Tarzan animated TV show and a few other Disney TV projects.

CO: Were you familiar with the Spider-Man Universe before your work on this show?

AVW: Spider-man is my favorite super hero. I learned to read watching Spider-man on the Electric Company and reading the daily newspaper strip. Doctor Doom and Doctor Octopus will probably always be my favorite villains since they were the first two featured in the daily strip when I discovered it…

CO: Which comic book series have you enjoyed working on the most and why?

AVW: I have been very lucky to work on a lot of super hero properties. I love comics and no Wednesday is complete without a trip to the comic book shop. (I go to Cup of Kryptonite, a coffee shop/comic shop in Des Moines.)

The Spectacular Spider-Man – I love this character. It has been a lot of fun bringing him to life. I really like the live action movies and they have been great inspiration for creating new ways for Spidey to move and use his webbing. Spidey has the best villains too. So far, I have gotten to do episodes with the Lizard, Rhino, Green Goblin, the Black Symbiote, Kraven the Hunter, Molten Man, Black Cat and Silver Sable. They all have a great look (Thanks to Sean "Cheeks" Galloway!) and unique personalities and motivations. It has also been great to work with friends I've made on other shows…My first season director, Dave Bullock, second season director, Kevin Altieri, and producer Vic Cook.

Teen Titans – I was a fan of this show long before I worked on it, so it was a privilege to help with the fun and insanity in seasons 4 and 5. Such great characters and fun stories…

Justice League: The New Frontier – I was a little intimidated working on Darwyn Cooke's masterpiece. My director on this was again Dave Bullock and together we tried to squeeze everything from the comic into the movie. I think it turned out really great. It would be awesome to do a "special edition" of it that includes the Losers sequence in the first issue of the comic. In the end, I think Darwyn enjoyed the adaptation of his work, which was really the most important thing to me. We are friends and I didn't want to let him down!

Batman Beyond – I know this show wasn't based on a comic, but it feels like a comic book show. At the time, I had just been hired to work on the Superman animated series. I worked on one episode, and then we switched to start working on Batman Beyond. At the time, I was disappointed because I wanted to work on more Superman and not some teenage Batman knock off. However, Batman Beyond quickly became the best experience of my career. We got to have our cake and eat it too with an elderly Bruce Wayne, the original Batman, training the new Batman, Terry McGuinness. We had a new hero with a super suit…anything we imagined we could do. Crazy martial arts and anime moves, cool gadgets and powers for the costume, a futuristic Gotham…it was all great fun to play with. I was really new to the business at the time and Batman Beyond was a great learning experience. Dave Bullock and Darwyn Cooke were also storyboarding on the show at the time. They were so generous with their time…they would look over my boards and give suggestions and push me to new heights. I worked for directors Dan Riba and Curt Geda for a few episodes, but mostly with director Butch Lukic. Butch is hilarious to work for. I would usually come to him with some crazy ideas and he would ponder for a moment and they say, "Yeah…try that shit…". When I had sketched all my ideas, he was also good about going through the board with me and finding things that could be taken out and things that could be punched up. I think most of our episodes hold up really well. If you look at the crew, it was a magical convergence of a lot of talent. The producer was Bruce Timm, who I have continued to work for on Justice League and the Warner Premiere movies. The art director was Glen Murikami, who I have worked for on Teen Titans and Ben 10: Alien Force. Another board artist was James Tucker. Tucker moved up to director on Batman Beyond and I have continued working for him when he became a producer on Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. One of the designers was popular comic artist Dave Johnson. Dave was art director on the original Ben 10, which I also worked on. The list goes on and on. The Batman Beyond series was a time of great learning and building friendships for me. It was awesome. And we managed to put together a pretty cool show too!

CO: Have there been any Spider-Man characters that you have enjoyed working on specifically?

AVW: Each villain I have done has had his or her own great scenes. I love the Rhino when he is trashing the Daily Bugle, Green Goblin when he is beating up Spidey with his own webs, Dr. Connors transforming into the Lizard, Black Cat evading laser sensors, Silver Sable blowing up Hammerheads car, and so on…but my favorite scenes were the flashbacks with Peter getting his powers and saying good bye to Uncle Ben. I tried to get as many shots from the Sam Raimi movies and the comics by Steve Ditko, John Romita, John Romita Jr. and Ross Andru as I could. I have the panel of Ben holding Peter's hand as he is dying on the sidewalk pinned to my wall. I made it look as close to the movie as I could…that really is the birth of Spider-Man. So good.

CO: You had mentioned that Batman Beyond was one of your earlier projects, could you share any favorite moments or storylines that you got to work on?

AVW: I really liked the character Inque. I worked on each of her three appearances. Ten from the Royal Flush gang is another favorite character…kind of Terry's Catwoman. Mad Stan is a riot. Art Lee, one of the designers who sat next to me had tons of ideas for Mad Stan's wrestling moves…every day a new sketch for a funny move would appear on my desk. My favorite episode was "Lost Soul". It was creepy, had great mood, atmosphere, and crazy action. I think is showed the strength of Terry and Bruce's relationship. (Let me tell you, it can get confusing when the producer of the show and the main character of the show are both named "Bruce"… sometimes I was unsure which Bruce people were talking about!) I really liked Terry fighting the Batsuit…showing that Terry IS Batman. The suit is just a costume. It is the person inside that matters.

CO: If you could work on any Comic character who would it be and why?

AVW: Spider-Man! He's still my favorite. Spider-Man is the best because he does what is right even though it ruins his life. He's always breaking dates with girls he loves, disappointing Aunt May and Jonah Jameson. He's on the run from the cops, all the villains want him dead, he's always broke and tired and late…his life would be so much better if he never put on the costume. But he has learned the hard way that people like his Uncle Ben need Spider-Man. With great power comes great responsibility!

Thanks for the questions. I hope everyone enjoys the surprises waiting for them in Spectacular Spider-Man season 2!

Stay tuned to ComicsOnline for more EXCLUSIVE interviews with the team from Spectacular Spider-Man!