#The Realization that Ben Esposito has done A Lot

[wouldyourfavepaychildsupport]

Would the realization that the same person is responsible for both Donut County and Neon White pay child support?

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 28 October 2019

Quick Bits:

Afterlift #1 is a digital original from Chip Zdarsky, Jason Loo, Paris Alleyne, and Aditya Bidikar. Very interesting concept here playing with a character who drives for a Lyft analogue in Cabit, leading to becoming a rather unique courier.

| Published by Jams & Jellies

Batman Annual #4 actually gives us many adventures and stories as we go through almost two months’ of diary entries of Batman’s exploits from Alfred, as told by Tom King, Jorge Fornés, Mike Norton, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles. It’s a nice way to pack a lot of story into this annual in a fairly unique way, while also showcasing just how busy Batman really is. 

| Published by DC Comics

Black Panther #17 sets up for the next confrontation with N’Jadaka and his forces, also giving us a rather...awkward but interesting conversation between Storm and Nakia. Gorgeous art from Daniel Acuña.

| Published by Marvel

Bloodshot #2 continues the balls to the wall action as Bloodshot and the Black Bar conflict escalates, from Tim Seeley, Brett Booth, Adelso Corona, Andrew Dalhouse, and Dave Sharpe. It’s a bit of a throwback to a more action-oriented style, but it definitely works for Bloodshot. A nice change of pace to give a variety of storytelling.

| Published by Valiant

Conan the Barbarian #10 spins us the twins’ yarn as they plotted their revenge on Conan, from Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar, Matthew Wilson, and Travis Lanham. The art from Asrar and Wilson is gorgeous. The backstory building up to last parts of this story and the fate of Conan is gripping.

| Published by Marvel

Contagion #5 brings an end to this series from Ed Brisson, Adam Gorham, Veronica Gandini, and Cory Petit. Gorgeous and creepy art here from Gorham and Gandini. 

| Published by Marvel

DCeased #6 is surprisingly hopefully, even as everything dies and everybody hurts. It appears to be setting up a sequel, though likely to be incredibly bleak. Tom Taylor, Trevor Hairsine, Neil Edwards, Stefano Gaudiano, Rain Beredo, and Saida Temofonte conclude this series in epic fashion as we say goodbye to Earth.

| Published by DC Comics

Death’s Head #4 is another ending to a series this week, from Tini Howard, Kei Zama, Felipe Sobreiro, and Travis Lanham. Some very nice character work here for Death’s Head and Vee.

| Published by Marvel

Doctor Strange Annual #1 gives us a pair of tales. The lead from Tini Howard, Andy MacDonald, Tríona Farrell, and Cory Petit is a fun Halloween story dealing with the spirits haunting the Sanctum Sanctorum. Any art from MacDonald is a treat. The back up is a bit more deadly serious with Pornsak Pichetshote, Lalit Kumar Sharma, Sean Parsons, José Villarrubia, and Petit revealing a failsafe should Strange go rogue.

| Published by Marvel

Ether: The Disappearance of Violet Bell #2 continues to be incredibly inventive as Boone tries to track down the assassin. David Rubín’s art is absolutely amazing. And Boone’s continued inability to really think about anyone other than himself is telling.

| Published by Dark Horse

Excalibur #1 is another tick in the win column for “Dawn of X”. The X-Men dabbling in magic isn’t common, but Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega, and Cory Petit do so with amazing flair, fittingly taking us in through Otherworld, Captain Britain, and Betsy Braddock. Apocalypse’s new incarnation as  “ •|A| •” and his newfound interest in magic is fascinating.

| Published by Marvel

Five Years #5 spotlights Zoe’s rather elaborate imagination for coming up with ways to murder people. Granted, the Russian agent may well deserve it, but still... Terry Moore continues to deliver some unexpected twists as the end of the world inches closer.

| Published by Abstract Studio

Giant Days: As Time Goes By #1 is a one-shot finale special from John Allison, Max Sarin, Whitney Cogar, and Jim Campbell. It picks up roughly a year from the end of the series, dealing with why Esther has been missing from their reunions. It’s full of all of the humour that we’ve been used to and hammers home the power of friendship. Also, it gets very, very weird. 

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

Harleen #2 works hard to portray Harley’s seduction by the Joker. Stjepan Šejić and Gabriela Downie portray it as an insidious, manipulative thing. It might appear romantic on the surface, but there’s definitely a darkness there. There are ideas of bringing back a monster from the edge of insanity, but the story makes you realize that some may well be beyond hope.

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label

Hellboy and the BPRD: Long Night at Goloski Station might well be the best of these new format tales yet, and both of the previous ones were incredibly strong. Here Mike Mignola, Matt Smith, Dave Stewart, and Clem Robins deliver a single issue story building on Hellboy’s confrontation with Baba Yaga, Sir Edward Grey, and demons. 

| Published by Dark Horse

Invisible Kingdom #6 begins the second arc, “Edge of Everything”, as the crew first try to find food and fuel and then run afoul of a salvage ship. G. Willow Wilson, Christian Ward, and Sal Cipriano keep things interesting as we start to see the crew’s life after Lux.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Invisible Woman #4 is disturbing, basically everything goes to hell and everyone that Sue was trusting to see this operation through has let her down. Or worse. Mark Waid, Mattia De Iulis, and Joe Caramagna set up a rather horrifying situation in this penultimate chapter. Again, De Iulis’ artwork is stunning. 

| Published by Marvel

Joker: Killer Smile #1 is essentially a psychological horror from Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Jordie Bellaire, and Steve Wands. It comes from the point of view of a psychiatrist, Dr. Ben Arnell, who is trying to get to the heart of Joker’s mental state. It’s not going so well and it appears like the good doctor is losing time, doing strange things, and possibly worse. Very intriguing beginning to this story.

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label

Knights Temporal #4 has some stunning artwork from Fran Galán, particularly during the gangster sequences where colour comes into play as another important storytelling element. There are some very nice twists this issue, making you wonder about a lot of what we thought we knew.

| Published by AfterShock

The Last God #1 is dark fantasy done right by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici, Sunny Gho, Dean White, Tom Napolitano, Steve Wands, and Jared Blando. It gives us lying kings, heroes who weren’t rightly heroes, and a Lovecraftian terror returned to show the truth. It plays deep on resentment and distrust, and of a complete failure of institutions to uphold a decent society. All with absolutely stunning artwork from Federici, Gho, and White. This is a beautiful, haunting work.

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label

Last Stop on the Red Line #4 is very, very weird. We get a peek behind the masks of the monsters and it’s even stranger. There’s a very interesting mix of symbolism and the supernatural where we’re really not sure where one begins and the other ends. This was a very unique series from Paul Maybury, Sam Lotfi, and Adam Pruett.

| Published by Dark Horse

Mall #3 goes even harder into inter-faction warfare as it seems like all of the groups are at one another’s throats. Great world-building here from Michael Moreci, Gary Dauberman, Zak Hartong, Addison Duke, and Jim Campbell, with some interesting plot developments.

| Published by Vault

Manor Black #4 concludes the series as we see what essentially amounts to order vs. chaos as the old blood takes on wild magic. This doesn’t feel so much as a conclusion as an end to a chapter of a wider arc, leaving much unresolved. Hopefully we see more. The artwork from Tyler Crook is phenomenal.

| Published by Dark Horse

Marvel Zombies: Resurrection #1 is really damn good. Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Leonard Kirk, Guru-eFX, and Travis Lanham kick off this series with a new angle on the Marvel Zombies, playing up more on the horror angle, with a truly terrifying spread of the disease through a new vector. Gorgeous artwork from Kirk and Guru-eFX.

| Published by Marvel

Monster Planet #1 is the kind of thing that you used to see regularly published by Image and Top Cow, the military action comic that throws in horror elements, from Joe Brusha, Marcelo Mueller, Maxflan Araujo, and Taylor Esposito. It’s not bad, setting up a world where humanity has been turned into dinosaur-like beasts and the remnants of society need to turn to classical monsters for help.

| Published by Zenescope

The Necromancer’s Map #3 takes a bit of a different approach, giving us a fair amount of action as Tristan’s Will catch up with Bethany and co. as well as some great character building in between the action. Great stuff from Andrea Fort, Michael Christopher Horn, Sam Beck, Ellie Wright, and AndWorld Design.

| Published by Vault

The Plot #2 is wonderful horror storytelling from Tim Daniel, Michael Moreci, Joshua Hixson, Jordan Boyd, and Jim Campbell. Very creepy build of supernatural events once Chase Blaine and his family arrive back at his ancestral home. Hixson and Boyd’s presentation of the black, gooey masses are also disturbing.

| Published by Vault

Queen of Bad Dreams #5 concludes this excellent series from Danny Lore, Jordi Pérez, Dearbhla Kelly, and AndWorld Design. Rather interesting confrontation with and revelations about Eleanor Chase here.

| Published by Vault

Red Goblin: Red Death #1 is a one-shot featuring three stories set during Norman Osborn’s tenure as the Red Goblin at the end of Dan Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man. It’s kind of weird that it doesn’t instead tie-in with current events in Absolute Carnage, but it’s not bad for what it is. The art of the first two stories from Pete Woods is great.

| Published by Marvel

Relics of Youth #2 is even better than the first issue, delving deeper into the mysterious tattoos that the kids have been branded with and their connection to the island that they’ve landed on within the Bermuda Triangle. Matt Nicholas, Chad Rebmann, Skylar Partridge, Vladimir Popov, and AndWorld Design are telling a very compelling adventure here.

| Published by Vault

Roku #1 begins another mini-series focusing on one of the luminary villains in the Valiant Universe, this one from Cullen Bunn, Ramón F. Bachs, Stéphane Paitreau, and Dave Sharpe. It’s full of action and intrigue as Roku is hired by an unknown client to retrieve...someone. Things get more interesting as a new face stands in her way and we find out the unusual nature of the target.

| Published by Valiant

The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer #1 is a homecoming of sorts for John Constantine, back to his old haunts alongside some of the other Vertigo corner of the DC Universe. Si Spurrier, Marcio Takara, Cris Peter, and Aditya Bidikar spin a yarn that reconstitutes John after a massive magic war led by an evil Tim Hunter. How exactly the pieces fit are anyone’s guess, but it’s a brilliant darker take resetting him here. 

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label / The Sandman Universe

Savage Avengers Annual #1, though largely a self-contained story, is still integral to Conan’s adventure through the Marvel universe and the overall narrative as he, Hellstorm, and Black Widow stumble across a human trafficking ring that bears the marks of Kulan Gath. Gerry Duggan, Ron Garney, Matt Milla, and Travis Lanham deliver a compelling story.

| Published by Marvel

SFSX #2 does further world and character building, showing us just how much has changed since the Party took over, and how utterly betrayed many of the people from the Dirty Mind felt of Avory abandoning them. Very interesting stuff from Tina Horn, Michael Dowling, Chris O’Halloran, and Steve Wands.

| Published by Image

Silver Surfer: Black #5 concludes what has been a very trippy series from Donny Cates, Tradd Moore, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles. There are some very interesting revelations of the past here, and it really makes you wonder about the Surfer’s new incarnation.

| Published by Marvel

Star Pig #4 concludes the series, kind of, from Delilah S. Dawson, Francesco Gaston, Sebastian Cheng, and Shawn Lee. There’s some rather disturbing tentacles in this one.

| Published by IDW

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #5 brings an end to this round of the series. I think it’s a perfect approach for some all ages “ghost stories” within the Star Wars universe. Wonderful resolution for the framing story from Cavan Scott, Francesco Francavilla, and AndWorld Design.

| Published by IDW

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: The Death of Superman #1 is the second of these one-shots spotlighting DC events gone horribly wrong, this time giving us a much angrier Lois Lane’s grief at the loss of Superman to Doomsday. Jeff Loveness, Brad Walker, Drew Hennessy, Norm Rapmund, John Kalisz, and Clayton Cowles present her as vengeance against a world that didn’t deserve Superman’s grace, raising some of the questions that you’d often see in The Authority. Only, you know, kind of evil. It’s not bad, but definitely dark.

| Published by DC Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #99 is the extra-sized penultimate chapter of “City at War” as all of the pieces begin falling into place for the grand finale. The story here from Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz, Dave Wachter, Ronda Pattison, and Shawn Lee feels truly epic and that something huge may just happen next issue. As it is, there’s still a ton of action here, some interesting developments with the Rat King, more disappointment when it comes to Raph, and something new with the mutagenic bomb.

| Published by IDW

Test #5 is very strange. Christopher Sebela, Jen Hickman, Harry Saxon, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou end this story as Aleph and Laurel find one another and a new way is planted, but there’s still seeds of something going awry.

| Published by Vault

Venom #19 largely plays out the end bits for the Maker and Dylan’s portions of Absolute Carnage, with some very interesting revelations. It seems like even bigger seeds are being lain for future stories here. Great art from Iban Coello and Rain Beredo.

| Published by Marvel

Witchblade #16 gives us the fight between Alex and Haley, after a few distractions and discursions. The stakes are pretty high here and there are a few rather tense moments as it plays out. Beautiful art from Roberta Ingranata and Bryan Valenza.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Wonder Woman Annual #3 is largely a flashback tale, set five years ago as Wonder Woman and ARGUS attempt to extract an agent sent to infiltrate Gorilla City to see the legitimacy of Grodd’s rule. What Steve Orlando, V. Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Hi-Fi, and Pat Brosseau do with is establish a new backstory and interpretation for a very old Wonder Woman foe in a fairly interesting way that even ties in to Event Leviathan. It may strain a bit of credibility for the villainous turn, but that will largely depend on the follow-up.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: Archie 1955 #2, A Basketful of Heads #1, Batman and the Outsiders Annual #1, Chrononauts: Futureshock #1-4, Dead Man Logan #12, Fantastic Four: Grand Design #1, Fight Club 3 #10, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #13, Ironheart #11, James Bond 007 #12, Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance #2, Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Alliance #4, Jughead’s Time Police #5, Kick-Ass #18, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #44, Rick & Morty #55, The Ride: Burning Desire #5, Runaways #26, Star Trek: Year Five #7, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Annual #3, Star Wars Adventures #27, Superior Spider-Man #2, Tremor Dose, Warlord of Mars Attacks #5

Recommended Collections: Amazing Spider-Man: Red Goblin, Amber Blake - Volume 1, Black Science - Volume 9: No Authority But Yourself, Deadpool - Volume 3: Weasel Goes to Hell, Dept H. Omnibus - Volume 3: Decompressed & Lifeboat, Dick Tracy Forever, Hit-Girl - Volume 5, Jimmy’s Bastards - Volume 1: Year One, Lucifer Omnibus - Volume 1, Marvel Action: Spider-Man - Book 2: Spider-Chase, Punk Mambo, Spider-Gwen: Gwen Stacy, Star Trek: The Q Conflict, Symbiote Spider-Man, Thor - Volume 3: Wars End, Tony Stark: Iron Man - Volume 3: War of the Realms, Vamps: The Complete Collection, War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men, The Wild Storm - Volume 4

d. emerson eddy feels like stale, day old pepperoni pizza.

[aion-rsa]

Spider-Man: 15 Things His Clone Can Do (That He Can’t)

The “Clone Saga” of the mid-1990s has a bad reputation. Originally, it was only planned to last less than a year, but strong sales led to Marvel’s editorial staff extending the saga far longer than the plot could support. The confusing, convoluted story arc came to represent, in the minds of fans, everything wrong with comics storytelling in the ‘90s.

RELATED: Clone Zone: The 15 Craziest Comic Book Clones

It’s easy to forget that the saga wasn’t always bad. In fact, the early stories in the clone saga were great, which is why it sold so many books in the first place. Most of that was due to Ben Reilly. Peter Parker’s clone took on the role of The Scarlet Spider, reinvigorating the series with his fresh attitude and a few unique abilities. With his recent return to “The Amazing Spider-Man” as the quasi-villainous Jackal, it’s time to take a look at the things Ben Reilly can do that Peter Parker just can’t.

SENSE VENOM

Longtime “Spider-Man” readers will remember that Peter Parker donned the Venom suit during the first “Secret Wars” crossover in issue #8 (written by Jim Shooter with art by Mike Zeck, and inks by John Beaty, Jack Abel and Mike Esposito). While the symbiote never fully bonded with Parker, it was enough to affect his Spider-Sense, such that now, he can’t sense when Venom is nearby. That makes Venom one of Spider-Man’s more dangerous villains, as he can easily sneak up on the wall-crawler.

Ben Reilly doesn’t have that problem. He has all of Parker’s memories of Venom, but he never actually put on the suit, so his Spider Sense is still fully functional. When Reilly, as The Scarlet Spider, confronts Venom in “Spider-Man” #52 (written by Howard Mackie with art by Tom Lyle and Scott Hanna), Venom thinks it will be an easy battle. Reilly’s Spider-Sense proves invaluable in allowing Reilly to survive the encounter (and the next one, and the next, and so on).

CLONE THE DEAD

This is something we only recently learned about Reilly. In “Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy” #3 (written by Dan Slott with art by Jim Cheung), the returned Jackal reveals himself to be Ben Reilly, having been resurrected, or more accurately, re-cloned. During his time as The Jackal, Reilly cloned Gwen Stacy and convinced her to become his business partner by cloning her father, George Stacy. Like Miles Warren before him, Ben Reilly has made a habit out of using clones to bring loved ones back from the dead.

This turned out to be another thing that Peter Parker just can’t do. While it’s true that Parker is intellectually capable of making a clone, he has a moral inability to do so. When he reveals his identity to Parker, he offers to clone Uncle Ben, whose body is in a box nearby. Though initially tempted, Parker refuses. He reminds Reilly that Uncle Ben would disapprove. (Uncle) Ben would see such an action as using great power without responsibility.

PLAN AHEAD

During Ben Reilly’s five-year exile from New York, his fighting skills atrophied. He got rusty. Meanwhile, Peter Parker has been fighting off supervillains nonstop, and he’s gotten very good at it. As a result, he’s begun to take a more direct approach, leading with his fists and confronting enemies head-on.

Reilly, on the other hand, has to take a more strategic approach. When he returns to New York, he finds that direct confrontation doesn’t work out well for him. He’s forced to hang back, even occasionally retreating to gain an advantage at a later time. In “Spider-Man Unlimited” #7, written by Tom Lyle with art by Al Milgrom, he tries to defend a homeless man from a gang of drug dealers. When it becomes clear they will overpower him, he briefly retreats to grab his suit and web canisters. With his identity protected and all the tools at his disposal, he’s able to get the drop on the gang and make short work of them.

IMPACT WEBBING

Ben Reilly’s most notable improvements over Peter Parker’s Spider-Man were his web modifications. Parker seemed to take an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to his webbing. Occasionally, a new villain would force him to create a stronger formula, but for the most part, his webs did what they always did.

Reilly was a tinkerer. Though he avoided acting as Spider-Man during his exile, he didn’t stop working on his web canisters. Impact webbing was one of the more useful additions to his arsenal. Rather than firing a simple string of webbing, Reilly is able to fire a small ball that explodes on impact. Once the ball hits its target, web tendrils explode outward, trapping the enemy in a cocoon. The more Reilly fires, the stronger the cocoon becomes, giving The Scarlet Spider a way to quickly deal with stronger enemies. The added gadgets did make his web shooters too large to be worn under his costume, but that’s a small price to pay for added utility.

WEB-SEPARATE VENOM

This is another advantage of impact webbing. When Reilly returns to New York, he’s shocked to find that Peter Parker has struck a deal with Venom. With all the memories of the terrible things the Lethal Protector has done, he can’t believe Parker would allow him to roam free. He immediately picks a fight with Venom, which doesn’t go so well, and he’s forced to seek treatment for a serious gut wound.

When he returns to finish the fight in “Spider-Man” #53 (written by Howard Mackie with art by Tom Lyle and Scott Hanna), he’s prepared. He’s able to protect Scream from Venom’s wrath by entangling him in a web cocoon long enough for her to get away. Then, when Venom grabs Reilly and brings him close, Reilly fires a few impact web balls into Venom’s mouth. The cocoons form around Eddie Brock, successfully separating him from the symbiote. Unlike Parker, the Scarlet Spider can defeat Venom without having to seek out loud noises.

PARALYZE

As we’ve already seen, Ben Reilly did more with his web shooters than Peter Parker ever dreamed possible. It appears when you spend a few years without having to defend New York from crime, you have time to get creative with your gadgets. This handy invention makes an appearance after Reilly has been defending New York as The Scarlet Spider for a short while. By this point, he’s ended up at odds with two formidable enemies: The Grim Hunter (Kraven’s son) and the rapidly degenerating clone, Kaine. And wouldn’t you know it, they both catch up with him at the same time.

In “Spider-Man” #53 (written by Howard Mackie with art by Mike Manley, Joe Rubenstein and Kevin Tinsley), Reilly has taken several beatings from Kaine. This time, Ben is able to gain the upper hand by introducing Kaine to his stingers. Apparently invented with Kaine in mind, the stingers are small darts that inject a muscle-paralyzing serum into their target. Reilly may not be as strong as Parker, but he sure seems a lot smarter.

TRACK ENEMIES BETTER

Peter Parker’s Spider Tracers are pretty remarkable. In a world before GPS was as widespread as it is today, Parker was able to create a small, easy-to-use tracker that he could stick on enemies (or their vehicles) and use his Spider-Sense to follow them. That is, until the enemy in question found the spider-shaped tracker and disposed of it or lured him into a trap. As impressive as the technology was, it could definitely be improved upon.

That’s where Ben Reilly comes in. Realizing that not everything needs to be spider-shaped, Reilly designed his tracers to be smaller and less obvious. His microdot tracers are smaller and circular. Like Parker’s, they can be launched from Reilly’s web shooters, but their circular shape makes them spin as they fly. That means they fly faster and further, and they can stick to their targets without being quite as obvious as Parker’s red spider-shaped models.

GO BLONDE

Most of Ben’s appearances in “Spider-Man” comics took place in the 1990s. For those who don’t remember, the ‘90s were an embarrassing time for hair. Even our most beloved, long-running superheroes didn’t escape without a few missteps. (Remember Superman’s flowing shoulder-length locks? Oof.) Possibly the most embarrassing trend was bleaching your hair blonde. Too many ’90s kids have a cringe-inducing photo of themselves rocking bright yellow hair (dark roots showing through, of course).

For some reason, when Ben Reilly bleached his hair, it didn’t look stupid. It looked perfectly acceptable at the time, and still doesn’t look that bad today. Maybe it’s because he kept his roots from showing. Maybe it was because he wasn’t Peter Parker. Though Parker never tried dying his hair blonde, he absolutely couldn’t have pulled it off so well. His general appearance has been established for so long, a change that drastic would be immediately rejected. Ben Reilly is his own character, though. He may have Parker’s face, but being a blonde just suits him better.

MAKE A DECENT CUP OF COFFEE

Peter Parker was never one for domestic tasks. When Mary Jane comes home from visiting family in “Amazing Spider-Man” #397 (written by J. M. DeMatteis, art by Mark Bagley, Larry Mahlstedt and Bob Sharen), she finds the apartment a complete mess. It’s safe to assume that Mary Jane made the coffee in the Parker household. Also, in all the jobs he’s held (freelance photographer, teacher, tech CEO), none of them required him to learn how to make a good cup of coffee.

Ben Reilly, on the other hand, held down a steady job at The Daily Grind, a classic New York diner and coffee shop. Not only was he able to remain an employee there, he was well-liked and earned enough to live in Manhattan. You can’t do that at a diner without knowing how to make a customer’s coffee just right. Reilly also had to learn to make every kind of latte and cappuccino out there without an automated espresso machine. No matter how useful Parker’s spider-sense is, it’s not going to help him pour a drinkable shot of espresso.

HAVE A (RELATIVELY) NORMAL LOVE LIFE

Peter Parker has had the worst luck when it comes to love. Aside from his early flirtations with Betty Brandt, it’d be hard to call any of Parker’s relationships normal. The first woman he really loved, Gwen Stacy, was killed by the Green Goblin. When he found love again, and got married, it was all eventually undone by Mephisto, who reset the world so his marriage never happened.

By comparison, Ben Reilly’s relationships were fairly normal. During his years of exile in “Spider-Man: The Lost Years” (Written by J.M. DeMatteis, art by John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson) he formed a serious relationship with Janine Godbe. Although she carried her own scars and traumas, none of it was supervillain-related. During Ben’s time in New York, he dated Jessica Carradine. That relationship had its own problems, but they all stemmed from the fact that her father was the burglar who killed Uncle Ben. Ben Reilly may not have the best luck with love either, but at least his relationship troubles were fairly normal… comparatively speaking, anyway.

TURN TO DUST

To be fair, this isn’t something Ben Reilly can do whenever he wants. He only turns to dust when he dies. It is, however, something that Peter Parker can’t do. We’ve seen what happens when Peter Parker dies. In “Ultimate Spider-Man” #160 (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mark Bagley, Andy Lanning, Andrew Hennnessy and Justin Ponsor), Parker is killed in a fight with the Green Goblin. He lies there in Mary Jane’s arms as he dies.

When Reilly is killed by The Green Goblin in “Spider-Man” #75 (written by Howard Mackie, art by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Kevin Tinsley), his body starts degenerating quickly. He turns to dust as he dies. That serves as the final proof that Peter Parker is truly the original and Ben Reilly is the clone. It seems to, anyway. Turning to dust isn’t consistent with clone degeneration. That, of course, raises the question: Is Reilly truly a clone… or something else entirely?

DESIGN A COSTUME WORTHY OF A TEENAGE GIRL

Peter Parker’s Spider-Man costume is iconic, to be sure. The sharp angles, the black web pattern over the red, the web-wings underneath his arms. When you hear the name “Spider-Man,” you imagine that costume. Not bad for a 16-year-old science geek. It just wasn’t good enough for his alternate-universe teenage daughter or her best friend.

In the MC2 universe, Parker and Mary Jane’s child survived, developed spider powers and protected New York City as Spider-Girl. But did she choose to wear dear old dad’s costume? Nope, her costume was the same one Reilly wore after he gave up the Scarlet Spider mantle and became New York’s only Spider-Man. When her friend Felicity Hardy (Felicia’s daughter) joined up, she took on the Scarlet Spider identity completely, costume and all. So not only can Ben make a costume that a teenage girl would wear in public, he can make two.

STAY POSITIVE THROUGHOUT THE GRIM 1990s

The 1990s were a tough time to be a comics fan. Storylines got darker and darker, characters became more brooding and self-serious. The ‘90s were an era where everything had to be gritty and extreme. In following the fad, a lot of comics lost what made them fun in the first place. Spider-Man had an especially noticeable change in attitude; so much so that Doctor Octopus called him out on it in “Amazing Spider-Man” #397, asking where his wit had gone.

That’s what made Ben Reilly such a welcome addition. Though he had Parker’s memories up to a point, he hadn’t gone through some of the heavier stuff that happened in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Reilly still had the wit, the sense of humor and the easygoing attitude that fans loved about Spider-Man. He brought some much-needed levity back to the series, when all Parker could do was drag it down. It’s no wonder some people at Marvel wanted to make him Parker’s permanent replacement.

SELL MORE COMICS

Ben Reilly reinvigorated Spider-Man comics like Parker, at that point, could not. No matter what writers did with him, Parker was carrying too much baggage by the mid-’90s. For some reason, he couldn’t excite fans anymore. Ben Reilly, as the Scarlet Spider, was exactly what fans were looking for, to the point where three Spider-Man series were briefly rebooted to be Scarlet Spider Series. For a few months, comics shelves displayed “The Amazing Scarlet Spider,” “The Spectacular Scarlet Spider” and “Web of Scarlet Spider” where Spider-Man used to be.

Those issues sold far better than their Spider-Man counterparts had in a long time. The original plan was to have Reilly take over as Spider-Man permanently, but plans changed after Scarlet Spider comics sold so well. Reilly repeatedly refused to take on the Spider-Man name, just so Marvel could continue selling Scarlet Spider comics. Eventually, Marvel was forced to make Ben the new Spider-Man, but they dragged out his Scarlet Spider run for as long as possible.

LET PEOPLE IN

Ben Reilly realized the importance of letting people into his life much quicker than Peter Parker did. It took him forever to admit to Mary Jane that he was Spider-Man. In fact, she figured it out long before he even considered letting her in on his double life. Parker insisted on keeping his secret even to the point of endangering those closest to him. Perhaps it was because he wasn’t around as long as Parker was, but Reilly never took nearly as long to be honest with the important people in his life.

When he dated Janine Godby (real name Elizabeth Tyne), he wised up quickly that keeping his powers a secret from her was impossible. He accepted her as she was and told her all about his abilities and the fact that he was a clone. The world didn’t end. They became a stronger couple for it. Their relationship didn’t work out in the fullness of time, but Ben realized early on that he was happier letting people in.

Do you think Ben was the better Spider? Was he also the better man? Let us know in the comments!

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