One thing you may have noticed about last week’s chapter of the Ben Reilly Saga is that the name “Ben Reilly” was never uttered by any of the characters at any point in the comics that were covered. That’s because as far as writer Gerry Conway was concerned, the whole clone ordeal was a one off story that would never be revisited. Why give the clone a name when he dies by the end of the story? If only Gerry had known what he had inadvertently created.
Fans of Spider-Man comics were treated to a smorgasbord of ongoing titles in the 1990s. By 1994 you had Amazing Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, and adjectiveless Spider-Man. That doesn’t even include miniseries and spin-offs that would come and go as well. The previous year in 1993 featured a massive fourteen part crossover that ran through every ongoing Spider-Man book called “Maximum Carnage.” It was a huge success that would transcend comic books and cross into the pop culture zeitgeist culminating in a popular video game adaptation. What storyline could recapture that fan excitement? Enter: the “Clone Saga.”
As an avid reader of Spider-Man comics at the time, I distinctly remember reading Spider-Man #48 (written by Howard Mackie with Tom Lyle on art) as a mysterious figure whose face is never seen calls Mary Jane from a pay phone but can’t work up the nerve to speak to her when she answers. I remember wondering what this was supposed to signify. Little did I know at the time that this would end up being the central figure that all of the Spider-Man titles would revolve around for the next two-and-a-half years.
There would be more cameos and teases for a few issues until Spider-Man would finally come face to face with this mysterious figure in Web of Spider-Man #117 from Terry Kavanagh and Steven Butler. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the mysterious figure is the clone that had been presumed dead since the 1970s. The meeting does not go well to say the least. Peter is distraught over the failing health of Aunt May, and he unleashes all of his anger and frustration on his clone. They go their separate ways as the clone visits the hospitalized and unconscious Aunt May and reveals he goes by the name Ben Reilly. The next few issues see Peter tangling with new villain Judas Traveller while Ben does some moonlighting in a DIY Spider-Man costume taking on some street level villains. Eventually the two Spider-Men do what two heroes always do after they fight for a bit: they team up to fight the villains (including a very fun tag team beat down of Carnage).
Simultaneously there was a four-part backup story taking place in Web of Spider-Man #117, Amazing Spider-Man #394, Spider-Man #51, and Spectacular Spider-Man #217 called “The Double” written by J.M. DeMatteis with art by Liam Sharp. It’s essentially a prequel to the original story of the clone detailing Ben Reilly’s creation by and subsequent torture and abuse (both physical and emotional) by Miles Warren. It’s a heart-wrenching story that shines light on the horrors Ben endured that easily could have broken him. Instead he survived and went on to become the hero he is now. It’s this story (now collected in Spider-Man: The Lost Years #0) that made me a Ben Reilly fan for life.
One thing that’s very fascinating about these early issues of the “Clone Saga” is we spend just as much time with Ben and his internal thoughts as we do with Peter, and it becomes immediately apparent that Ben holds himself to the same standards as Peter. In fact, the name he uses is a tribute to his Uncle Ben Parker and Aunt May Reilly (her maiden name) even though he acknowledges that all of his memories of the two aren’t really his memories. It’s both tragic and endearing to hear Ben acknowledge his status as a clone while still striving to live up to the responsibility that comes with his abilities.
From there the four primary Spider-Man titles are broken up so that Web of Spider-Man and Spider-Man follow the adventures of Ben Reilly while Amazing Spider-Man and Spectacular Spider-Man follow Peter Parker. Spider-Man Unlimited, being a longer page count than the others, tells one solo story for each character.
The first Ben Reilly adventure is an instant classic. It begins in Web of Spider-Man #118 (written by Terry Kavanagh with art by Steven Butler) with Ben putting together his first costume and superhero identity: the Scarlet Spider. I remember as a kid thinking it was incredibly cool. It’s basically just Spider-Man’s body suit colored a much deeper solid red and a teal sleeveless hoodie with a spider logo on it. It couldn’t be more simple, but the color combination really pops. It feels like something a fan of Spider-Man would make with what he’s able to scrounge up (which is essentially what he did).
With a costume and moniker selected, it’s time for our new hero to swing into action and save the day. Unfortunately for Ben, he swings right into a certain symbiotic lethal protector who is none too pleased with this “imposter” Spider-Man ruining his day. I talked about this story a bit in last week’s post on my ten favorite Venom stories, and it genuinely lives up to the hype. It’s a four issue brawl that sets the tone for the kind of hero Ben Reilly is. He lacks experience, but he makes up for it with heart and ingenuity. I especially enjoyed the Spider-Man issues from Howard Mackie and Tom Lyle because I’ve always loved how Lyle draws Spider-Man/Scarlet Spider and Venom, and Mackie has always written Venom with a twisted sense of humor and dark wit that defined the character for me in the 1990s. We’re also introduced to a shadowy figure in these issues that will come to be a staple of the “Clone Saga” journey: Kaine. Kaine will soon establish himself as Ben’s chief nemesis and tormentor, but I’ll wait until next week to fully dive into that.