| "The Clone Saga" | |||
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Cover to Web of Spider-Man #117 (October 1994), which officially launched the 1990s "Clone Saga" |
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| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||
| Publication date | October 1994 – December 1996 | ||
| Genre | Crossover | ||
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| Main character(s) | Spider-Man Ben Reilly |
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| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Terry Kavanagh Joey Cavalieri Todd Dezago J. M. DeMatteis Tom DeFalco |
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The Clone Saga or Spider-Clone Saga was a major story arc in Marvel Comics which ran from 1994 to 1996 involving many clones of Spider-Man.
The story is considered to be one of the most controversial Spider-Man stories ever told. Although it was intended to wrap up in less than a year, the comics sold very well and the writers were encouraged to prolong the saga as long as possible. This led to some changes to the storyline that ultimately proved unpopular.[1]
Although there were many people involved, the Clone Saga is most closely associated with Terry Kavanagh, who proposed the idea, Howard Mackie, who worked on the majority of the smaller crossovers involved in the overall storyarc and Gerry Conway, who devised the original story. Executive editors on the storyline included Tom DeFalco, Bob Budiansky, and Bob Harras.
Contents |
There were two "Clone Sagas:" the original storyline in the 1970s and the second saga which consumed all the regular Spider-Man series, several limited series and one shots between 1994 and 1997. Between the two, there were also two smaller storylines that dealt with elements from the original saga.
In the summer of 1973, writer Gerry Conway made the decision to kill off the girlfriend of Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, because the editorial team felt that Gwen had become stale as a character and they wanted to instill an additional element of tragedy into Peter Parker's life.[2] In the follow-up arcs, Conway introduced a new villain, the masked Jackal, and let Gwen Stacy seemingly return from the dead.
The Jackal was the secret identity of Gwen and Peter's biology professor Miles Warren, who could not cope with the death of his secret love, Gwen. As an expert on cloning, he creates clones of both Gwen and Peter, discovering Peter is Spider-Man as a result. Jackal blames Spider-Man for Gwen's death and wants to kill him.[3] The Jackal kidnaps Spider-Man and forces him to fight his clone. Both men believe they are the real Peter Parker. The two Spider-Men soon decide to work together, but one is seemingly killed by the same bomb that kills the Jackal. The surviving Spider-Man determines he is the original because he is in love with Mary Jane Watson, which didn't happen until after Prof. Warren created the clone. Spider-Man drops the body of the clone into an incinerator. Gwen Stacy's clone disappears to find a new life for herself.[3]
A few years later, Spider-Man encountered Carrion, who claimed to be a degenerated clone of Warren.[4] The clone of Gwen Stacy reappeared many years later when she was being pursued by the High Evolutionary, who was determined to discover how Warren had been able to perfect cloning. In the process, he discovered that Warren had not, but had instead created a genetic virus which transformed already living beings. "Gwen Stacy" was seemingly cured of the virus and left to lead her own life once more.
Later, Spider-Man investigated Warren's old laboratory and discovered that Carrion had in fact been a genetic weapon created by Warren. Another former student of Warren's, Malcolm McBride, became infected with the virus and became the new Carrion.[5] After that, with Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1, this story arc was molded to fit into the New Clone Saga.
More years passed before Spider-Man's clone reappeared. He had survived the battle and for five years had lived an existence under the name Ben Reilly (a combination of Peter's Uncle Ben's first name and Aunt May's maiden name). A series of chaotic events followed, in which Peter and Ben were plagued by both a resurrected Jackal and by Kaine, who was an unsuccessful first clone. In the process, another clone of Spider-Man became the villain Spidercide. Matters were further confused by the interventions of the mysterious and seemingly all-powerful Judas Traveller and Scrier.
The revelations made by the High Evolutionary were revealed to have been inaccurate, driven by a determination to discredit Warren, who had formerly worked with him.
Medical tests indicated Peter was actually the clone and Ben the original. Peter temporarily retired as Spider-Man, leaving the mantle of Spider-Man to Ben while he prepared for his new role as a father after the discovery that Mary Jane was pregnant; Peter even lost his powers for a time during his 'retirement', although they eventually came back after a near-death experience. An explosive climax revealed that Peter, Ben, the Jackal and many others had all been manipulated for years by Norman Osborn a.k.a the Green Goblin, who had returned from the dead and had been secretly masterminding the entire saga all along. Osborn said Peter was the original- having faked the evidence that revealed Peter's status as the clone as part of a plan to break Peter's spirit-, a claim that was confirmed when Ben died saving Peter's life and his body degenerated like any other clone's. Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal (February 1997) explains the Green Goblin's role in the entire storyline.
During the mid-1990s, Marvel consistently published four monthly Spider-Man series, roughly one every week. For the most part, the Spider-titles were treated during this storyline as a single weekly series, although occasionally they would separate, pair off, or have special anniversary editions. The Clone Saga ran through all four titles from October 1994 to December 1996, in addition to a multitude of spin-offs, one-shots, and ancillary issues. The relevant issues are:
Ongoings:
Special one-shots and mini-series:
The original clone story from 1974–1975 was released as a trade paperback in June 1995 called Spider-Man: Clone Genesis (ISBN 0-7851-0134-9), reprinting Amazing Spider-Man #141–150. In 2011 a re-release is scheduled, now titled Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga.
Though no longer in print, there was a trade paperback released in 1997 titled Spider-Man: Revelations (ISBN 0-7851-0560-3) which collected the four-part "Revelations" storyline that ran in Amazing Spider-Man #418, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75, Sensational Spider-Man #11, and Spectacular Spider-Man #240. Originally, The Osborn Journal was to be included. Instead, Spider-Man #75 has 14 bonus pages. The first seven show Ben fighting briefly with Norman Osborn, set during Amazing Spider-Man #418. The second seven show Peter and Mary Jane mourning over the loss of Ben Reilly and Baby May, which has Spider-Man dumping Ben's ashes in the river. The bonus pages are drawn by John Romita Jr..
Marvel is currently reprinting the second saga's entire run in large TPBs titled Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic. As of July 2011 Five volumes (collecting between 12 and 19 issues each) have been released. After the fifth volume the reprint series will be retitled Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic and will begin with The Return Of Spider-Man arc and Reilly's tenure as Spider-Man. As mentioned above, a re-release of the original 1970s story will be released in summer 2011, bridging the Clone Saga and Ben Reilly Epics.
The second Clone Saga was inspired by Marvel Comics' determination to produce a strong Spider-Man "event" story that would rival DC Comics' monumental storylines "The Death of Superman" and "Batman: Knightfall," both of which sold extremely well. Spider-Man editor Mark Bernardo said "Marching orders we were given by upper management to come up with something similar in scope to DC's "Death of Superman" storyline, which at the time was breaking sales records left and right. Thus, no outrageous idea was out of bounds. Terry Kavanagh was cajoled into blurting out his clone idea, which first met with groans and indifference, until someone (to my recollection, J.M. DeMatteis) suddenly realized the radical possibilities of such a storyline."[6] Several of the Spider-Man creators believed that the character had drifted too far from his original portrayal and sought a way to restore the Spider-Man of old, in particular jettisoning his marriage to Mary Jane. Howard Mackie revealed "When the story was begun we knew it would be controversial, and that was part of the point. He also commented "The return to the single Spider-Man did enter the conversation eventually, but it was not the intent of the story when pitched."[7]
Bernardo added that the length of the arc was initially planned to be short, "The whole arc was supposed to end in Amazing Spider-Man #400, and leave "Ben Reilly" as the one and only "original Peter Parker" and forge a new beginning. The whole storyline, was supposed to simplify Spider-Man's mythos and ultimately bring him "back to basics."
Eventually, Editor in Chief Tom Defalco gave the final approval to begin the story. However, there is some discrepancy between the recollections of production staff at the time, confused further by evidence that plans for the direction seemed to shift almost constantly. Furthermore, Marvel's editorial structure at the time was divided into separate "groups" or "families," and some Spider-Man editors reported pressure to compete with the X-Men family's successful "Age of Apocalypse" event.
Although the readers have been getting clues about a mysterious figure with links to Peter Parker, in the issues leading up to this story, The starting point for the second Clone Saga was not until the end of Spectacular Spider-Man #216 comic (Sept 1994), written by Tom DeFalco and Todd Dezago, in which Spider-Man is confronted by an exact look a like of himself.[8] In the following issues, the writers established the clone's backstory as a frightened, homeless outcast; and introduce the character Judas Traveller. Traveller's agenda was to analyze the true nature of evil. Taking interest in Spider-Man and his clone, Traveller and his ally Scrier pit Spider-Man both teaming and against his clone in a test of motivation. The writers set up the possibility that the clone could be the real Spider-Man.[8] The clone was then further developed editorially, and given the name, Ben Reilly by having the character name himself. Additionally, he became known as the super-hero the Scarlet Spider complete with unique costume.
According to established Spider-Man assistant editor Glenn Greenberg "No one -- not the writers, not the editors -- seemed to know who or what the hell Judas Traveller was. He was seemingly this immensely powerful, quasi-mystical being with amazing abilities, but what was the real deal with him? ... But to be honest, a character like Traveller didn't really fit into Spider-Man's world."[8] As such, Traveller's role would remain a mystery to readers for a while, as writers dropped him in and out of this saga.
A major change in status quo was the decision to make Spider-man's wife Mary Jane pregnant. It had been an idea of Tom DeFalco, who felt that "a major, dramatic event that would help set up the [clone] saga's ultimate resolution, would be Mary Jane becoming pregnant." and so the characters pregnancy was written and sold. It was a very controversial move and bold move. Little did they know that it would prove to cause many creative difficulties for years to come, yet it would all work out as part of Delfaco's plan for a new Spider-Man to take over.[9] But then, Marvel Comics as a company experienced a major financial crisis which nearly bankrupted the company, and the company went through a series of profound changes,[9] Editor-in-chief DeFalco was fired, and Notably, Marvel's comic line was broken into five separate groups each with its own editor-in-chief and the Spider-Man editor became Bob Budiansky[9]
By then, the writers had established a new Spider-Man foe, namely Kaine. To prove that he was dangerous, and to make room for new villains, the writers had him killing classic Spider-Man foes, including Doctor Octopus, and the death so was supposed to be so graphic that fans would rule out any possibility that Dr. Octopus would return.[9] However, Kaine soon became another reoccurring character of unexplained origin and purpose, like many others, such as Judas Traveller and the Scrier, whose roles would not be revealed for quite some time.
Then, the creative staff brought back the Jackal, the original culprit of the clones.[10] He was used as a plot device to explain the "clone degeneration" and also set up the possibility he was part of a greater plan by Judas Traveller and Scrier.[10] In this plot developed by J.M. DeMatteis, and part written by Todd DeZago and Howard Mackie, Jackal gave readers doubt and suspicion by stating that Peter was the clone, followed by a reverse statement, and then assessing them as both being clones of an original; because of this, the story was considered "convoluted", as well as "confusing and unnecessary" Spider-Man Vol.1 #56 In a 2008 interview, Glenn Greenberg recalls "It only made sense, from a dramatic standpoint. It was this story that kicked off what would become an increasingly tiresome stream of clones, lies upon lies, fake-outs, and convoluted twists and turns."[10]
At this point, the creative staff, seemingly without strict direction, inserted a lot of open plot points waiting to be resolved, such as Ben Reilly worrying about "degeneration" of his body due to cloning, why Kaine was protecting Spider-Man but preying on Ben Reilly, why Ben and Spider-man shared dreams, why Kaine was foreseeing Mary Jane's death, who the mysterious new character Seward Trainer was as well as the identity of the "Third Peter Parker" aka Spidercide.[9]
With a plethora of writers and editors, the storyline was initiated throughout all the regular Spider-Man series, but slowly grew out of control. The sales department requested extensions to the storyline, buoyed up by very strong sales on the book at a time when most other comics were experiencing a noticeable decline in buyers. With this extension, the storyline outlived several key creative staff and many decisions on the eventual direction of the storyline were changed.
With Amazing Spider-Man 400, intended originally to end the series, instead, in a major controversial decision, the writers ended the life of Spider-Man's aunt May Parker, a major supporting character since 1962. The writers felt that Aunt May had outlived her usefulness and there was nothing left to do with her. Still the issue was highly praised exemplified by Greenberg elaborating his sentiments "No Spider-Man story published since ASM #400 has even come close to matching the quality, the power, the drama, and the heartfelt emotion of this story. A true classic." because of that, he also mentioned that the death of Aunt May should never have been retconed ( All despite the fact that May's death was greeted with dismay and contempt by a contingent of very vocal fans ).[11]
In the "Mark of Kaine" storyline by Terry Kavanagh and Mackie, more creative disarray awaited, because they juggled with more and more clones of Spider-Man.[12] However, Greenberg recalled that the sales of the Spider-Man comics skyrocketed, and therefore, the writers were encouraged to keep the saga going longer and longer.[12] instead of finishing so many open ended storylines.
The plot deepened as Spider-Man writer Howard Mackie reintroduced Judas Traveller. Mackie and J.M. DeMatteis arc featured Judas Traveller teleporting Spider-Man into another dimension and had long philosophical debates on life, death and sorrow. This was widely criticized as out of scope with the down-to-earth Spider-Man comics.[13] To add to the chaos, another incarnation of classic Spider-Man villain Green Goblin was introduced without any backstory.[13]
At the conclusion of the story arc "The Trial of Peter Parker" in Spectacular Spider-Man #226, a major bombshell was dropped in which Peter is revealed by Dr. Seward Trainer as the clone of Ben. Peter Parker/Spider-Man is so emotionally wrecked by this that he hits his wife by accident. Peter would subsequently retire as Spider-Man based on this premise and move to Portland to live with Mary Jane, allowing Ben to take over as Spider-Man.
This resulted in a major backlash by fans, that wrote letters to Marvel with various complaints.
The next chapter in the saga became "Maximum Clonage" a storyline was penned by Todd DeZago (who followed up Kavanagh, who had left the project), Mackie, Lyle, DeMatteis, and DeFalco; intended to tie up the many plot lines which had been dangling around for a while. Goletz said that the intended ending was to "begin the new era of Spider-Man. Peter and Mary Jane would be written out of the books, and sent off to live in peace with their soon-to-be-born child. Ben would get the chance to establish himself as Spider-Man and move forward. Going into the planning stages for what would turn out to be 'Maximum Clonage', the intent was indeed to finish up the clone story line once and for all and quickly get Ben started as Spider-Man."[14] Also, the Gwen Stacy clone who had started the whole Clone Saga in the 1970s was to be killed to provide a fitting end.[14] But impressed by the Age of Apocalypse crossover of sister Marvel Comics title X-Men, in which huge sales were achieved by long, spread-out story lines, Bob Budiansky ordered to duplicate this recipe for the Maximum Clonage project. Instead of tying up loose ends, the story was changed in such a way that practically every issue brought up new clones.
The climax was "Maximum Clonage" Part 3', in which Ben Reilly encounters hundreds of his clones. The stories became more and more absurd, with the Peter teaming up with the Jackal, Spidercide turning on his creator with influence from the Scrier, and finally Jackal, Kaine, and Spidercide getting killed off in a contrived "virus bomb" plot. However, the Gwen Stacy clone slips away unnoticed and ever since then, has not been a part of the fiction as of 2011. The story arc was heavily criticized for its undefined character motives, and an apparent lack of distinction between villains, heroes, and their allies.[15]
Following the end of "Maximum Clonage", the creative staff launched revamps of established villains (a new female Doctor Octopus, a new Vulture, and the Grim Hunter, the son of the dead Kraven the Hunter), without much success. Plot lines were long and sprawling, in spite of Bob Budiansky's plan to finally end the limbo, and replace Peter Parker as Spider-Man and establish Ben Reilly as his successor. It took so long that DeMatteis, who was impatiently waiting for the green light to launch the Ben-Reilly-as-Spider-Man comics, resigned.[16] In retrospect, he was right; Greenberg recalled: "The idea was to have each Spider-Man book retitled so that the Scarlet Spider's name would replace Spider-Man's - AMAZING SCARLET SPIDER, SPECTACULAR SCARLET SPIDER, BEN REILLY SCARLET SPIDER, and WEB OF SCARLET SPIDER. We'd get four new number #1's out of it, and it would be a way to capitalize on the Scarlet Spider's popularity one last time before he became (the new) Spider-Man. What that meant was holding off Ben's debut as Spider-Man even longer."[16] By that time, the Marvel marketing division had completely overpowered the creative department and could do whatever they wanted.[16]
The idea was to move Ben forward as the main character and replace Peter Parker as Spider-Man, Thus the story "Return of Spider-Man" was written, and debuted in the newest series Sensational Spider-Man #0. In this story Ben finds a new Spider suit and develops a life of his own. It seemed that having Ben as the new Spider-Man would work but replacing Peter Parker would prove to be very difficult, due to the fact that Ben looked exactly like Peter, so naturally characters would mistake him for Peter. This was written as part of the fiction as the explanation for Ben dyeing his hair blonde, which was in reality insisted by editor Budiansky. More major efforts were taken to solidify Ben as the new Spidey and focus of the series, such as establishing a supporting cast for Ben. However, there were many staff that had a hard time accepting Ben as Peter's replacement, most notably the new writer of "Sensational", Dan Jurgens. Jurgens wanted to work on the Peter Parker version of the character, and was disappointed to have Ben instead, and so he made a very convincing plea to Budiansky to bring back Parker, arguing that Ben confused new readers, and was a disappointment to long time readers who had grown to love Parker. Budiansky was sold on the idea.[17]
The this decision resulted in creative chaos, illustrated by the Spider-Man: The Final Adventure limited series, originally intended to write Peter Parker and the pregnant Mary Jane Watson out of the Spider-Man comics, have their baby and give them a happy farewell; finally, Ben Reilly would be the sole focal point of the franchise.[18] Instead Budiansky suddenly decided to reinstate Peter Parker as Spider-Man at all costs.[18] But he did not want a super hero who was a father. So therefore, writer Fabian Nicieza had to change the ending to the limited series giving it less of an impact, and as the plot events that occurred during it, were reversed soon by new stories.[18]
Plot twists had become so confusing that readers and staff demanded closure of the Clone Saga, and pointed out that what the readers and staff demanded was an "end". Editor Glenn Greenberg explained the scenario, "The big question became, how do we bring Peter back as Spider-Man without it looking like a colossal cop-out? What would be the most exciting, dramatic, satisfying way to accomplish this task? Bob Budiansky was looking for a great idea, and he didn't care where it came from."[17] In the storyline "Return of Kaine", in addition to revealing that Kaine is alive, the plot introduced a skeleton that was discovered in the original clone saga lab wearing a Spider-Man suit. This was a way of suggesting that maybe neither Ben nor Peter were clones. This was ultimately used as a plot device to bring Peter back, which also meant having to separate him from MJ, nullifying her pregnancy, and therefore work backwards. This ultimately made things more difficult and again led to much debate about whether to re-instate Peter as Spider-Man or keep Ben. Meanwhile the ID of the skeleton was completely undecided.
Eventually a story titled "Blood Brothers" began and would lead to revealing everything. Greenberg elaborated the set-up of the resolution: "A mysterious figure was intended to be the sole mastermind behind the entire clone saga, a powerful and influential figure who was controlling Seward Trainer and manipulating the lives of Peter Parker and Ben Reilly from the shadows. Forced to wear an environmental suit to maintain his life functions, he would eventually be restored to health by Seward, and at that point, we would reveal his identity."[19] But before he was revealed, a major breakthrough in the creative department occurred. A new idea introduced a detailed and highly optimistic plan, developed to solve everything. The plan would reveal that Peter Parker was sent five years back in time ( to the end of the original clone saga ) by the Scrier, as part of a contest between himself and Judas Traveller, to determine if mankind was pure or selfish. The Scrier would actually be revealed as Mephisto, the Marvel Comics equivalent of Satan, who would appear at the end of the "Time Loop" to give Ben the option of saving Peter's life in replace for his own. This would eliminate the idea that either Ben or Peter was a clone, instead replacing it with the idea that they were both Peter, and in fact Ben was a Peter from 5 years in the future, that was sent back by Mephisto to co-exist with the current Peter. Also the Jackal would be worked into this explanation as making the Peter that was sent back in time, believe that he was a clone, thus taking on the ID of Ben. The major selling point to this plan was, that it would restore the memories of Ben ( who was really Peter all along ) and thus (hopefully) satisfy long time readers. Many staff members supported this plan, and even the editor attempted to see it through.[19]
The "Time Loop" idea was soon refuted by writers because of the "minimal impact" of Spider-Man in that draft, and deemed inappropriate to use characters like Traveller. The same complaint as reflected by DeFalco was that "Mephisto is not a Spider-Man villain", and does not fit in the down to earth style, Spider-Man books were known for. Other villains were suggested to take his place. Also near that time, DeFalco had proposed on a number of occasions that at some point, there should be a scene where Scrier reveals to the audience that he was just a guy in a mask. At various times, Tom D. suggested that Scrier turn out to be the Jackal or Harry Osborn wearing a Scrier costume, and that all of the "awesome power" displayed by both Scrier and Judas Traveller was just clever trickery.[20] Many more ideas, possibilities, and scenarios were running rampant but the "Time Loop" idea remained the most popular, yet there was a writers-against-editors atmosphere at Marvel Comics and none were unanimously accepted, so the group fell into a creative stalemate.[21]
Greenberg recalls that "Budiansky was mired in indecision, and it was hurting the entire line." Ultimately it was a memo from Dan Jurgens, written as a last ditch effort to provide what he felt was a proper ending to the clone saga. The memo went against the "Time Loop" scenario and would exclude Traveller and Scrier. Essentially the story was tragic and would include not only the death of Ben as a clone, but also MJ losing her baby and possibly wanting to separate from Pete. That would have become the new direction for the "blood brothers" story if not for what was to come.
As a result of a downgrade, Marvel dissolved the five EICs into one (Bob Harras) and under his reign, he ordered the clone saga's finale to be postponed due to the major Crossover event "Onslaught" that was about to happen. So for 6 months the conclusion was delayed. This resulted in Jurgens quitting the company. Meanwhile Budiansky was downgraded to Spider-Man group editor. The plan under Budiansky had been to develop Harry Osborn as the mastermind of the clone saga. Harras described how he always felt that Harry was inferior to Norman Osborn. Regardless of this, Budiansky hated the idea of bringing Norman back, and felt that "Norman's death should never be undone, as he said "In my opinion. It's too classic… Let him rest in peace." Budiansky wanted to resolve everything in the best way possible. The fact that Budiansky had managed to maintain the sales on Spider-Man, and even improve them, during a time when sales were going down across the entire comics industry, was not enough to save him, just as they were finally settling on a solid new direction and a definite conclusion to the story, he was fired.[22]
Marvel dissolved the five EICs into one (Bob Harras) and Harras replaced Budiansky with Ralph Macchio as editor and under his reign, the main plot became that Peter was dying from what would seem to be "clone degeneration" but actually turned out to be Peter regaining his powers spontaneously. Meanwhile, in the book titled "Redemption" the final chapter in the fictional long running Kaine & Ben relationship would come to a dramatic conclusion, that saw Kain & Ben saving each other, and Kaine taken to prison where he would remain for the rest of the saga.
When it came time for Harras to implement his idea that Norman Osborn would be the master planner of the cloning, it was poorly received by staff. Glenn Greenberg elaborated that "The reaction was not enthusiastic. I don't think ANYONE - from the writers to the editors to the assistant editors - agreed with Harras's idea, as they stated things like "We would be totally betraying the trust of the fans if we went in and undid that story! As much as some of us (including me) tried to change his mind, he was firm in his belief." Harras felt that Norman was the only solution, yet we felt there was simply no way that we'd ever be able to address and fix every continuity conundrum raised by Norman's return. "[23]
Finally, the "Revelations" story arc was penned, in which Seward Trainer is killed by Norman Osborn himself. Harras maintained a strict control over the plotting and refused to compromise on many points. As a consequence, Mary Jane's baby is seemingly stillborn and taken to Europe by Alison Mongraine, per orders of Norman. Upon being submitted to hospital, Mary Jane seemingly miscarried, and she was told by her Doctor that her baby had been killed. However, the Doctor supervising the pregnancy was also an agent of Osborn. "Revelations" reveals the man in the environmental suit to be Mendel Stromm, a former partner of Osborn who had been thought dead for quite some time.
The final ending came in Spider-Man #75. There, Norman Osborn reveals himself to Peter & Ben and says he wants revenge. He shows them the scar on his chest from when he was impaled by the glider to prove he is a real Norman and nothing else. He also explains that the goblin formula regenerated his vital organs. Norman then reveals to them that Ben has been the clone all a long. Norman explains to them that he manipulated Jackal, and Seward, to do his bidding. In the following fight, Ben Reilly tries to help Peter, but is mortally wounded by Osborn's trademark goblin-glider and dies, his body dissolving, proving once and for all that he was the clone. In the end, Mary Jane and Peter rejoin as Peter says he already knows about their baby, & together they mourn.
In the trade paperback collection of "Revelations", there are 14 additional pages by John Romita Jr. These pages include Ben's fight with Norman, and a congregation of Ben's friends (including Jimmy Six) at Aunt May's to mourn. Peter than brings Ben's ashes, as Spider-Man, to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge and dumps them into the wind.
The counter part to this story, "The Osborn Journal," written by Glenn Greenberg and illustrated by Kyle Hotz, reveals the details of how Norman survived being impaled by the glider so long ago, and his thoughts leading up to the events of "Revelations". This book also describes how Stromm was rejuvenated with Osborn's help, and along with Jackal, Seward, Traveller, and the Scrier(s) became part of Osborn's plan to steal Peter's identity and humanity. The issue also resolves many plot points including the infamous skeleton in the smokestack, yet it fails to acknowledge the disappearance or whereabouts of the Gwen Stacy clone.[24]
Ex-editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco said that under him, the Clone Saga would have been resolved in a different way: "Our plan was to structure the clone saga like a three-act play. Act One would climax at or around Amazing #400 - when we revealed that Pete was the clone and Ben was the real guy. Act Two would last around three months and follow Ben's adventures. In Act Three, Peter would triumphantly return as the one, true Spider-Man. Mark and I was hoping the Spider-crew could make Ben a viable character during his turn in the spotlight, and we planned to star Ben in his own monthly title after Peter returned. It was kind of like what I had already done with Thor and Thunderstrike—two very different titles based on a single concept. Of course, our plan went into the trash the day I got fired."[25]
In September 2009, a six-part mini-series based on the outline of the original Clone Saga came out. Written by Tom DeFalco and Howard Mackie, and drawn by Todd Nauck, this "writer's cut" mini-series gave the story as it was originally conceived.
Series Co-creator Howard Mackie, described how this project had a long, meandering origin which was born out of multiple conversations, over a period of years, with Editor Ralph Macchio. "Somewhere along the line I discovered a notebook which contained the original notes from the very first meeting at which the clone story was discussed. The original notes showed that the story was planned as a three month event spread across the four monthly Spider-Man titles. At some point Ralph talked to Joe Quesada, and I got a phone call from Ralph asking if I wanted to do a mini-series showing a version that was truer to what the writers originally imagined. Tom and I remember certain story points differently. The goal with this mini-series was get back to basics, to strip away the extraneous stuff that got layered onto the original story, and to present the cleanest possible version of what was a pretty simple story at heart. It was decided that it would be best if only two writers collaborated on this mini-series."[7]
The first issue reintroduced Ben Reilly and Kaine, as well as addressed Mary-Jane's pregnancy and Aunt May's hospitalization, an infection that is seemingly incurable. Ben and Peter bond after Kaine attacks them, and Ben stays in New York as Peter's blond haired cousin so he can build a life of his own. He also adopts the identity of the Scarlet Spider and works at the Daily Grind.
Ben, Peter, and Kaine reach the lair of the shadowy figure responsible for infecting Aunt May and Mary Jane with a genetic virus. The villain is revealed to be Jackal, who captures all three and reveals that he plans to make an army of Spider-Clones and take over the world. Since Ben was the only clone to turn out stable, Jackal takes a sample of his blood to perfect his cloning technique of Peter, while noting mixing the two would be catastrophic. A mastermind over Jackal wants the blood sample as well, for the body of Norman Osborn.
Jackal intends to clone Gwen Stacy and another unknown figure, and Kaine breaks himself, Ben, and Peter free. During the subsequent fight, the clones desolve and Jackal suggests that Ben is the original Peter Parker. Kaine kills Jackal, Ben and Peter escape with the cure and save Aunt May and Mary Jane, who is revealed to be pregnant. Peter retires, saying Ben is the real one, so Ben creates a new costume.
Peter and MJ begin planning for their baby with the support of Aunt May (a radical departure from the original saga, where May died not long after her recovery, leaving Peter and MJ to prepare for the baby alone), while Peter focuses on acquiring a research grant (in the original saga, he was framed for murder and faced a long court battle). Ben battles Doctor Octopus, who escapes after knocking down debris. After Ben tracks Octavius down, the villain notes that the newly costumed Spider-Man seems to be an imposter. Kaine arrives and attempts to kill Octopus (a great retcon from the original Saga, where Kaine murders Octavius, who is later replaced with a female version) by asphyxiating him with some webbing and then escaping. Ben shreds the webbing off, saving his enemy's life.
MJ's water breaks at the Daily Grind while she is with May, so they inform Peter and Ben and rush to the hospital. Donning web shooters, Ben and Peter swing to the hospital in their respective Spider-Man costumes (another retcon departure, in the original, the two never appeared in costume together), coming into a short conflict with Kaine, who escapes and is chased by Ben as Peter goes to the hospital. At the hospital, nurse Allison Mongraine takes them to the delivery room (Originally, Mongraine induced labor using poisoned coffee with a doctor's help, but in the new storyline, she is working alone). The baby is born and named May Parker. Mongraine takes the baby to ready her for the parents, but actually hands the baby to Kaine at the docks (another departure as Mongraine exited without a meeting). Kaine tells the mastermind he has the baby, who remarks that it will be raised overseas.
The mastermind, now in control of a Parker blood sample, resurrects Norman, who is shocked by the identity of the man who has brought him to life. The mastermind, Harry Osborn, gives a Green Goblin mask to Norman and tells him there is work to be done. Moments later, Ben (as Spider-man) is attacked by a new Green Goblin, who identifies Spider-Man both as "Ben" and a clone. The Goblin impales Ben with his glider.
Ben is kept alive with the Goblin and captured as bait for Peter. After assaulting Ben, the Green Goblin reveals himself as Harry and reasserts that Ben is just a clone. Kaine speaks with the revived Norman, who is a clone, and discusses baby May's fate.
Kaine tells Norman he feels that May is his family in addition to Ben, Peter, Mary Jane, and the elder May, and she should not be held accountable for the sins of her father. Harry deploys a Goblin signal outside the building (OsCorp), which attracts Peter, who is still searching for his daughter.
Peter finds Ben and both are threatened to be killed by Harry, but he decides to give the honor to Norman, who blasts Harry and tells him that he cannot continue the cycle of violence, that Harry's madness is a product of Norman's sins. Peter frees Ben, and both help Norman. Peter's shoulder is dislocated, and Ben demands to know where baby May is, as Aunt May and Mary Jane wonder where Peter is. Kaine enters through a window with baby May and gives her to her family. May remarks that Kaine "seems familiar" and asks if they know one another. Kaine responds, "No, and that is my loss" and exits.
Back at OsCorp, Harry is restrained by Ben, so he activates his glider to impale Peter from behind. Ben prepares to leap in the path of the flying glider, but Norman jumps in the way, killing himself with it once more. Norman disintegrates due to cellular degeneration (in the original, it was Ben's body that melted).
Harry vows to get even. The scene cuts to Aunt May, Mary Jane, Peter, Ben and the baby outside May's home (another departure, as the baby was missing at the conclusion of the original), where it is revealed that Kaine is missing and Harry is in a sanitarium. Ben leaves the city, but says he will return from time to time. Peter tells Ben that both villains were liars, and it does not matter who is the clone, but they each have a life.
The final spread shows Ben riding away on his motorcycle and a giant mirage of the Scarlet Spider above him. In the distance MJ asks Peter if he thinks Ben will ever return and he remarks: "Trust me, MJ. We haven't seen the last of Ben Reilly-or the Scarlet Spider".
The decision to replace Peter with Ben as the regular, true Spider-Man met with a massive outcry from many readers and was also unpopular with many of the creative staff of the day. The parts with Judas Traveller and Scrier were seen as being widely out of Spider-Man's league (coincidentally, this was similar to the plot device used by Marvel for the Spider-Man storyline "One More Day," which retconned Peter's marriage to Mary Jane). The decision to resurrect the original Green Goblin was also very controversial; his death was part of "The Death of Gwen Stacy" storyline that was widely considered a classic, but it was deemed necessary by Marvel's then-Editor-in-Chief. Glenn Greenberg author of the Osborn Journal commented "If Norman was alive and watching everything from the shadows, why did he let his son Harry die? Why did he let the first Hobgoblin come into being-especially since Hobgoblin #1 broke into Norman's secret hideout and stole his personal journals? " He further mentioned " (Tom) Brevoort didn't think Norman's return could ever possibly work. " and "Brevoort felt that there was just no way that Norman could have been alive all that time. Tom B. felt that if Norman could manipulate Spider-Man's life from afar, for so long, to such an extent, then so much of what had occurred in the books over the years would never have happened, or would have happened very differently."[20]
Spider-Man editor Mark Bernardo said "the length of the story arc was initially planned to be short, but rapidly spun out of control and ended as a fiasco: Ironically, the whole storyline, which was supposed to simplify Spider-Man's mythos and ultimately bring him "back to basics" ended up complicating everything beyond what anyone imagined!"[6]
Howard Mackie stated that "the Clone Saga has not always had the best rap. The thing that struck me in reading various things on the Internet is that people would complain about the Clone Saga, and then go on about how wonderful Ben Reilly was. There is a big movement of “Bring Back Ben Reilly” folks. I found that very curious." Interview host Matt Adler seemed to get to the heart of the criticism when he asked Mackie "You could have liked Ben as the Scarlet Spider, but disapproved of him replacing Peter Parker. Or you might have liked Ben as Spider-Man, but were displeased with how the Saga was resolved. Do you think having all those wildly disparate elements/phases makes it more difficult for readers to embrace the original Saga as a whole?" To which Mackie replies "Yes, and that is why I think the original, short, simple and direct story should have been stuck to. Even if it had not ended the way some of the readers had wanted, it would have been a tighter story. One that could have been more easily resolved." and further laments, The Clone story became the Clone Saga because the powers that be got cold feet based on initial impact from a vocal group of readers."[7]
Recognizing the chaos of the storyline, Marvel eventually parodied it in Spider-Man: 101 Ways to End the Clone Saga (January 1997). The Clone Saga was parodied again with a gag cover for "Sheep-Man" in an issue of What If... that had a text box saying "Part 1 of 80 of the New Sheep Clone Saga - AAAAAGGGHH! NOT AGAIN!" In an issue of his own series, Deadpool frequently states that "kids don't like clones". In one of the last pre-One More Day Spider-man comics, J. Jonah Jameson remarks several times that he hates clones.
While the mainstream Spider-Man titles rarely touches upon the Clone Saga, The supposedly alternate universe of MC2 Spider-Girl (May "Mayday" Parker) can be considered a distant sequel. The series establishes that six months after Spider-Man: Revelations Mongrane was tracked down by Peter's first clone Kaine, who rescued baby Mayday from her grip and returned her to her parents Peter Parker and Mary-Jane, subsequently she grows up to become Spider-Girl. '
The events of The Final Chapter (or more accurately, "The Gathering of Five"), take place two years later. At the conclusion of the MC2 version of the "Gathering" storyline, Peter and Norman Osborn's final battle costs Osborn his life and Peter one of his legs.
Mayday generally wears the costume based on Ben Reilly's Spider-Man design. Elizabeth Tyne/Janine Godbe from The Lost Years had Ben's son, Reilly Tyne (Darkdevil). Felicity Hardy fights crime as The Scarlet Spider. Kaine is also a recurring character.
Spider-Girl #44–50 and 52 focus on loose ends of the Clone Saga, such as Alison Mongrain planning to kill Normie Osborn, believing he could pose a threat to the child who was placed in her care. May reveals herself to Alison, in order to save Normie. Alison is last seen in Spider-Girl #52. #44 is noteworthy as Peter tells May about her Uncle Ben, minus the fact he was a clone. Overall, the issue recaps the Clone Saga storyline. There was to have been a panel with Ben Reilly in his Scarlet Spider outfit, but it was left out,[26] hence the cover mentions him as The Scarlet Spider.
A new Clone Saga began in the pages of Amazing Spider-Girl. Normie Osborn, inheriting a few of his grandfather's laboratories, stumbles across a fluid tank containing an exact physical duplicate of Mayday Parker, with several journal entries left behind by Norman Osborn indicating that she is the real Mayday. This May is eventually revealed to have symbiotic powers. Eventually, both Mays come to an understanding and, with the aid of Peter and the spirit of his late Aunt May, defeat Norman Osborn in a psychic duel when all three Parkers are merged briefly into one body controlled by Norman's active consciousness. The story continued in The Spectacular Spider-Girl, a feature being published both online and in the pages of the new Web of Spider-Man. In it, the new May changes her name to April and becomes Mayday's rival and occasional partner. Eventually, April is defeated by the Fury The Goblin Queen and told that she is the clone, April is eventually freed and together, she and Mayday defeat Fury. April afterwards begins to get involved with the gang warfare erupting in New York and eventually cuts herself off from The Parker Family.
The saga ends with a future incarnation of April, having experienced a drasticly darker future which is created from Mayday's death, travels back in time and urges her past self to save Mayday's life. April agrees, and seemingly sacrifices her own life to save Mayday as she caught in a ferocious explosion. Mayday mourns April's passing, though Peter is not convinced of her death and assures May that clones have a habit of turning up again.
The Clone Saga was adapted for Marvel's Ultimate imprint. It began in Ultimate Spider-Man #97 (July 2006) and concluded in #104,[27] with a small epilogue in #105. In the Ultimate Spider-Man continuity, the character Miles Warren was first introduced as Harry Osborn's psychiatrist who was hired by Norman Osborn to brainwash out any memories of his Goblin persona. Ben Reilly was established as an African-American lab assistant with no personal ties to Peter. Although in the "Carnage" story-arc, Reilly refers to the Carnage creature as "Little Ben". The creature itself being created from Peter Parker's and Curt Conner's DNA with traces of the Venom suit's genetic material as well.
In this version, Bendis wrote a story in which the Ultimate Scorpion is captured and revealed to be Peter's clone, sharing 94.2% of Peter Parker's DNA (issues 97, 98). MJ is then abducted, and searching for her, Peter runs into Ultimate Spider-Woman, and in the following issues, further Spider-Man clones appear, among them one with a disfigured face (Kaine) and a black-suited clone with six arms (Tarantula). Bendis also made Peter reveal his secret identity to Aunt May and the Fantastic Four, and let an amnesiac Gwen Stacy and Peter's presumed dead father Richard re-appear (though the former of the two actually escaped). Via a longer dialogue through Peter and Spider-Woman, Bendis also established that every clone has inherited Peter's love for MJ, and his worries of her getting hurt; as a result, they each tried a different approach, the Scorpion trying to make sense of his jumbled memories, Spider-Woman trying to stop the other clones, Kaine using his advanced mind to incorporate the drug OZ into MJ's body, and the Tarantula trying to defend MJ from Kaine.
Upon waking to find that she has been injected with OZ, MJ is enraged, and her anger triggers a transformation into a large, red monster. As of issue 103, the masterminds behind the clones seem to be Dr. Octopus and Ben Reilly (Reilly stole a sample of Peter's blood shortly after the death of Gwen Stacy). A fight between the clones and Dr. Octopus leaves the Tarantula and Kaine apparently dead, and Dr. Octopus captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. As a twist, Bendis established that Dr. Octopus and Reilly acted with consent of the FBI. In addition, Gwen is revealed to be Carnage, and Richard revealed to be yet another clone (issues 99-103), aged artificially and given psychic treatment to create his false memories.
As of the end of the Ultimate Clone Saga, the clone posing as Richard Parker died from his rapid aging, Jessica Drew fled after helping Peter defeat Octavius, and Doctors Franklin Storm and Reed Richards found a cure for Mary Jane's OZ-related affliction; Peter's relief at her safe condition made him realize his true feelings for her and resumed their relationship. Reed Richards suggested that they might even remove Peter's powers after some more research, since they are also partially caused by the OZ serum. However, after a talk with Nick Fury, Peter rejects the cure and got back together with MJ. The Spider-Woman clone left to embrace the "Jessica Drew" identity and the other remaining clones - the Scorpion and Gwen Stacy - were left in the custody of Nick Fury, who advised his Scientists to 'get to work' on them.
In re-imagining the story for the Ultimate Universe, Brian Bendis inserted many references to the original Clone Saga. Among them are that the brief appearances of the characters Miles Warren and Ben Reilly; Peter re-examining his relationship with MJ; an amnesiac Gwen Stacy appearing from nowhere, then turning out to be more than she seems; Aunt May experiencing a heart attack; a "Scarlet Spider" (Spider-Woman) evading Peter and later being used as a plot dump; a half-formed, semi-insane clone appearing several times, specifically wanting to protect MJ; a 'mystery woman' called 'Jessica'; an old friend and colleague of Norman Osborn appearing to have been manipulating the scenes from behind (Dr. Mendel Stromm in normal Marvel continuity, Otto Octavius in Ultimate Marvel continuity), later revealing unseen powers over metal.
In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the Clone Saga appears in two forms. First in the show, Spider-Man is reunited with Mary Jane after she disappeared into a vortex in his last fight with the original Green Goblin. It was soon revealed that this Mary Jane was a clone as was the resurrected Hydro-Man all of which were the product of the experiments of Miles Warren. Spider-Man tears his costume in a fight with the Hydro-Man clone. The Mary Jane clone saves him with water powers she has by virtue of her body structure being derived from Hydro-Man. Warren runs off from an upcoming flood Hydro-Man's clone would create and finds a piece of Spider-Man's costume, hinting at the possible cloning of Peter Parker. Due to their unstable cell structures, the Mary Jane and Hydro-Man clones evaporate in front of Spider-Man. The death of the Mary Jane clone devastates him, and he is next taken to another dimension by Madame Web to fight in the animated version of the Secret Wars. Warren managed to get a sample of Spider-Man's DNA from a torn piece of his costume.
After that was the two-part Spider Wars series finale, where Spider-Man is presented in an alternate reality version of the Clone Saga. In this version of events, though, the revelation that Peter is the clone, and Ben Reilly is the original leads Peter to become incredibly depressed and vulnerable. The Carnage symbiote takes advantage of this and merges with Peter Parker, becoming the composite being known as Spider-Carnage, who then attempts to destroy all of existence; which includes all universes; from his native universe. Later, after his plan to destroy all of reality is stopped by the original Spider-Man and other Spider-Men from different realities; including the Scarlet Spider; Carnage attempts to destroy every reality, one at a time, starting with the universe that was home to a wealthy, armored version of Spider-Man. However, the "prime" Spider-Man follows Spider-Carnage into that reality. Realizing that his armored counterpart is so arrogant because he has never failed, the "prime" Spider-Man contacts that reality's version of Uncle Ben, the only person who might be able to get through to Spider-Carnage. The gamble works, and Spider-Carnage stops the chain of destruction he had been about to initiate. He sacrifices himself by jumping in one of his unstable portals from the Time Dilation Accelerator in his reality which disintegrates him. The "prime" Spider-Man at one point remarks: "This is starting to sound like a bad comic book plot!" and part of the arc was called "I Really, Really Hate Clones".
The Spider-Carnage character first appeared in comics, and was the result of a forced merger between the Carnage entity and Ben Reilly, who had taken on the role of Spider-Man at that time. The Peter Parker with whom the symbiote merges with was wearing the original version of the costume; however, when the symbiote merges with him, his costume takes on the appearance of Ben Reilly's Spider-Man costume, which was itself subtly changed by the creature merging with him.
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