Comics The Clone Saga is back

[Blader5489]

SPIDER-MAN: THE CLONE SAGA #1 (of 6)
Written by HOWARD MACKIE & TOM DEFALCO
Penciled by TODD NAUCK
Cover by PASQUAL FERRY
You’ve been asking for it…and now it’s here: THE CLONE SAGA!!! Marvel’s most controversial event of all time returns with a vengeance, presenting the Clone Saga as it was originally intended to be told! From the minds behind the crossover that changed comics forever and the artist that introduced Spider-Man to President Obama, it’s six issues of twists and turns that will shock fans old and new alike! Be here as Peter Parker’s worst nightmare begins again…now with an ending you have to see to believe!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Not sure if this is a retelling or just a reprint of the old stories.

Coming out in September.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

Sounds like it ends differently then we read originally.

interesting. I wonder if Ben's gonna be sticking around...

 

[SpideyStu2]

I would say it's a new read, especially based on the last part.
But it does say it's written by Mackie and DeFalco who did write during the original clone saga so maybe it is old material.

If this is Marvel redoing the Clone Saga so that they can spin stories out of it for Amazing Spider-Man then they must be hurting for ideas. Still the return of Ben Reilly would get me buying ASM again. Ben was a good character and would have been a great Spider-Man if Marvel had just used him as a bona fide "next generation" Spidey instead of the hated, "oh, Pete's a clone and you guys have been duped all along".

 

[Jack O Lantern]

link to the story

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Wow.... this isn't a dream. First X-Men/Spidey#3 starring Ben Reilly came out. Then we found out the Spider-Man annual will reintroduce Ben followed by an arc titled "Who is Ben Reilly?" .... and now THIS! Marvel is really going clone crazy again for some reason. As a Reilly fan, I guess I'm happy, but shocked that all of this was given the green-light. I really, really, really never thought we would ever see Ben again. Or if we did it would be a lot more low-key. This is all a lot to absorb. On the subject of the mini though, I've never been a fan of retelling old stories (even if they're bad). I hope this new clone saga isn't canon (but it probably will be). Oh well. I'll take what I can get. Amazing. Ben Reilly is back.

 

[Themanofbat]

I think that this will be a good wayt to "re-introduce" Ben Reilly to the comic fans, especially the newer readers, and seeing as it's a "what-if" type of premise with the "ending it was intended to have", it won't be canon because that would mean that the Spidey in the books would have to be Ben... and we know that ain't it...

Nonetheless, the original Clone Saga was supposed to be told in 6 months, so I wonder if this series will last 24 issues...

 

[Ultra Magnus]

Ben is BAAACK. A dream come true.
I love you guys at Marvel, this is going to be the best period in comic history for the last 14 years.
I can't tell how happy that makes me... JOY.

 

[ScottishFogg]

Ben won't disintigrate. MJ and Peter won't be married. MJ won't be pregnant. And . . . I don't know what else.

 

[Ray-Fu]

Pretty interesting...I'll probably buy this as a monthly. It's only a 6 part mini so and I've always been interested in seeing how the original story was supposed to be, and I think we might get that here

 

[Ultimate Kaine]

I'm guessing this won't be "imaginary" but rather the new, streamlined ONE MORE DAY continuity version, so Ben Reilly's upcoming arc in AMAZING won't get bogged down in backstory. If this is so, it sounds like a killer plan to me.

Sadly, this seems to be the only clone-friendly place on the internet. It really bummed me out to read all the venom and cheap jokes at all the other sites that announced the return of the clone saga. Not just the commenters - but the news "journalists" too. I guess the spirit of WIZARD is alive and well... *sigh*.

 

[Venom 1988]

^^^
Indeed, all other forums and boards that I go to seem to be bashing this return of the clone saga.

Anyways, I'm very interested, but I wonder....is 6 issues enough? Yea I know it seems to be a re-telling/retconing story and they're probably gonna get rid of a lot of things, but even then there still a lot of info.

 

[Ultimate Kaine]

Indeed, all other forums and boards that I go to seem to be bashing this return of the clone saga.

To be a clone saga fan is to identify with Ben's own neuosis of being an outsider rarely fitting in anway... :P

Anyways, I'm very interested, but I wonder....is 6 issues enough? Yea I know it seems to be a re-telling/retconing story and they're probably gonna get rid of a lot of things, but even then there still a lot of info.

I always had trouble imagining how they were going to resolve the whole saga by AMAZING #400 which was the original plan, so I guess it'll be something along those lines of what they originally planned to do. I fully expect later elements like Maximum Clonage and Gaunt to be stripped out - but hope not, obviously.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

^^^
Indeed, all other forums and boards that I go to seem to be bashing this return of the clone saga.

Huh? Most forums I've seen have people excited about it. I even checked the WIZARD forums to make sure that I wasn't missing something, and even the posters there seem pretty jazzed about it.

Where have you seen the negative stuff?

Anyways, I'm very interested, but I wonder....is 6 issues enough? Yea I know it seems to be a re-telling/retconing story and they're probably gonna get rid of a lot of things, but even then there still a lot of info.

I know Ultimate Kaine mentioned Gaunt and Maximum Clonage, but I think the only real important thing they don't discard is Kaine (the character, not the aforementioned poster )

 

[Themanofbat]

I'm still thinking that this story will be "off-continuity", but still a testing ground for Ben's sales figures and likeability (which essentially are one in the same )

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I'm still thinking that this story will be "off-continuity", but still a testing ground for Ben's sales figures and likeability (which essentially are one in the same )

TMOB, there will be no testing. They've already made their decision. Ben is coming back as well in the present-day Spidey books in the ASM annual next month and an upcoming arc "Who is Ben Reilly?"

 

[Reikowolf]

I think this is Marvel's retcon of the clone saga. I'm sure that key events will be featured and it will be a way to better help readers follow exactly what happened and close up any plot holes.

I think the biggest question I was left asking was regarding the skeleton in the smoke stack.

Someone died the day the two spider-men fought... and to this day I still don't like the way they explained it

"another clone"

I remember reading issue 409 of ASM and thinking that the original spider-man had actually died and these were all copies.

I mean... even the original clone arc with the jackel ended with spider-man just saying

"Only the real spider-man could have survived that" ftw?

This could be a good thing. I'm sure someone has dug through the archives and figured a way to connect the dots.

 

[peterparker30]

TMOB, there will be no testing. They've already made their decision. Ben is coming back as well in the present-day Spidey books in the ASM annual next month and an upcoming arc "Who is Ben Reilly?"

I am glad they've comitted to this, I think this time around they will have learned what worked and what did'nt work with the fans with the original clone saga. I would love to see Ben and Peter interact in a situation were we know that Peter is the one true Spider-man, with a good writer/artist team this could be a future classic for us Ben Reilly fans.

I think they will test Bens popularity with these upcoming books as to whether or not he survives when Mephisto undoes his mind wipe which I am convinced will happen. It would be cool if Ben was a wild card Mephisto did'nt count on so that Ben could pose as Spider-man while Peter Parker was looking on, a good way to continue the re-masking of Spidey while re-instating the status quo of the pre BND Spider-man universe.

 

[shinlyle]

I read this earlier.

Ugh.

I honestly understand this as a "what the originators would have done" story, much like X-Men Forever, but just seeing that horrible costume made me want to puke.

Back to the well....

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

I hope they bring back the other costume too. Yeah, it's 90s, but it rocked.

 

[farmernudie]

Um...yeh...the only OTHER time i did NOT collect was this (Clone Saga)

How many times in interviews and everywhere have they ALL spoke out about what a mistake it was, and about how the fans do not like clone stories in general? All the Gwen clone stories....oy....

This is like 5 years from now when we're back to Regular Spidey Continuity..bringing back a BND mini series.....

...with Peter RE-DEALING with the devil again & running out of webbing while getting beat up by ballerinas while Flash loses his toes in the 2012 Korean War & it's retconned: Aunt May was never really his Aunt & she returns (young and hip) in a new role for part 6 as his ex-elderly aunt who knows Petes flaws.
Gwen and MJ will BOTH be alive & when the come together they form Voltron. Everything still happened the same except no-one can remember anything unless Pete plays peak-a-boo with his ho ho ho magical mask & Kraven returns transgendered & Harry will be a rainbow-brite European based Venom & the title will be Obama 3X to maximize sales. Everyone will debate what the dwindling monthly numbers mean, those that don't read it will be encouraged to read Spider-Ham Family Pack Bacon, a new ongoing, and low numbers, if admitted at all, will be blamed on Sarah Palin and/or national milk prices being too high.

(not meaning to give Marvel ideas here......)

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Um...yeh...the only OTHER time i did NOT collect was this (Clone Saga)

Well, since you're already not buying the books, then I guess it doesn't matter what they do... t:

Viva la Reilly!

 

[farmernudie]

As a long time Spidey fan....i miss the days where all the spidey fans loved reading spidey and it wasn't so devisive. Was simpler.

Grew up reading this stuff. Wish i still was.

The thing is...i DO care about the character and what they do.

 

[Themanofbat]

It's too bad you can't get over the deal with Mephisto... it has been good, and it might be good to you as well if you weren't as biased...

just sayin'...

 

[ScottishFogg]

I've tried reading it. I really have. I've put my selfish desires on the shelf, sat down, and read some post-OMD comics. I can't get it into them. They're all written with this "nudge and wink" from the writers that says both, "see? See? This is the story we wanted to tell," and "yeah, we know there's a big white elephant in the room. We're going to address that maybe someday but LOOK OVER HERE! ANOTHER GOBLIN!!"

 

[Themanofbat]

I've tried reading it. I really have. I've put my selfish desires on the shelf, sat down, and read some post-OMD comics. I can't get it into them. They're all written with this "nudge and wink" from the writers that says both, "see? See? This is the story we wanted to tell," and "yeah, we know there's a big white elephant in the room. We're going to address that maybe someday but LOOK OVER HERE! ANOTHER GOBLIN!!"

Methinks that the biasedness is still coming through.... ... though I appreciate the efforts in reading.

Listen, I went in with all kinds of apprehensions, but I momentarily turned a blind eye and simply waited for some explanations... which we've mostly gotten... Have they been perfect? Of course not... but they work, and while I think both Peter & MJ's actions in OMD were not in character, there have been lots of "not in character" moments in their comic histories that I have turned a blind eye to them before, so why should I now? They are comics, for pete's sakes... I've read some of the greatest AND worst stories to see print in comic book form... it's not perfect, but I just can't understand some people's disdain of the book... I understand if they feel "it's not for them" anymore... that's a normal feeling in the medium, but to hear them go on and on for so long... it's really like somebody shot their Moms...