For several years, the Spider-Man franchise has consisted of one ongoing series – Amazing Spider-Man. That has slowly begun to change again in 2011 as new books have emerged. First came Rick Remender's venom. Next month, Zeb Wells' Avenging Spider-Man makes its debut. And now the Spider-man family is growing again as the Scarlet Spider receives his own series.

But who is this mystery hero? Is Ben Reilly back from the grave, or is someone new claiming the title? We talked with writer Chris Yost and artist Ryan Stegman about this new book, its connections to Spider-Island, and how it factors into Marvel's larger plans for 2012.

No. I welcome it. I want it. Because a thousand years from now, people will be all like, "Man, I'm not so sure about the Clone Saga, but Yost and Stegman's Scarlet Spider book was worth it." I actually dug the Clone Saga. Much like what Dan Slott's doing in Spider-Island (#spiderisland for Arune), it gets to the heart of who Peter Parker is. Anyone can take the name Spider-Man, anyone can get powers, but it's Peter Parker that makes Spider-Man a hero. With Scarlet Spider, back in the day, you got to see Peter Parker in a new light. Given that particular situation, would he still be a hero. Ben Reilly certainly was.Plus, you just couldn't help but enjoy the insanity of it all. Ben Reilly, Kaine, Jackal, Spidercide, all the Judas Traveller, Scrier stuff. It was inspired insanity. I loved it. I bought them all. And the look of Scarlet Spider just can't be denied. Hoodie, with ripped sleeves. Every cosplayer just lit up when they debuted that. The ultimate homemade costume.No. Assume nothing. Wait, no. Assume awesomeness. But not necessarily Ben Reilly. Not necessarily a hero. Not necessarily a dude.It's Armless Tiger Man. But he gets bionic arms. Also, I'm lying.Incredibly close. You don't need to have read it, we cover everything in the first issue. So you can come in cold. But if you do, you're missing out on a hell of a story. The character of Scarlet Spider is set up there, the situation he or she is in comes out of that story, but we catch you up pretty fast.Steve Wacker suggested Houston, and I thought it was great. New York, we get it. Lots of super-heroes, lots of history, but it's crowded. Future Foundation, Avengers, other Avengers, other other Avengers, Daredevil, you name it... it's all there. And our character is in a situation where they want to get the hell out of there, and feel they have a lot of heat coming down on them. So it's the best of both worlds. There's an opportunity to give this book a new look, a new setting, new characters, new environments, and it's all for story purposes. There's a good reason this character can't be there.For me, it's a very exciting opportunity to create a bunch of new characters. Which is a dream of mine. You should see the long rambling emails I send to Chris suggesting new characters! I'm glad he doesn't hate me yet.In November a 'Point One' one-shot is coming out with multiple short stories, teasing/launching various new projects. The Scarlet Spider book launches later with a full on number ONE, not a .1. Does Scarlet Spider benefit from being associated with the issue, also featuring stories from guys like Jeph Loeb, Matt Fraction, Brian Bendis and Ed Brubaker. No. I don't see that. People aren't going to pick that up. And man, look at the roster of artists.In general, however, I like the ideas of the point one issues. It calls the issue out, lets people know it's special, and more importantly a good jumping on point. I think if retailers can get that idea across to customers, it'll be a great thing.Certainly important to me. I think the Scarlet Spider is certainly going to make a name for him/herself in the Marvel U fairly quickly. Some attention is going to get drawn to Houston, Texas. Ryan and I have talked a ton about opportunities for Scarlet Spider interacting not only with the Marvel Universe, but with all new characters, too.The significance to that is that Ryan Stegman is awesome. I think I had suggested ski-masks.I try to defy Chris as much as possible.I have always been attracted to Spidey's world. When I drew that issue, a ton of memories came flooding back to me. Namely my dad's old collection of Spider-Man comics that he gave me when I was a kid. I loved those things. I loved them so much that the covers are torn up and otherwise valuable issues are completely ruined. And I also realized that every time I did samples to try to break into comics, they were samples of Spider-Man. I don't remember ever consciously deciding that he was my guy or anything. Or deciding that Spider-Man was the character that I wanted to draw. But as soon as I started working on the issue, it all clicked into place. It may sound cheesy, but it felt like this is what I was supposed to be doing all along. And so this opportunity is so...so exciting.