Only one Marvel #1 this week:
Ben Reilly Scarlet Spider #1 - Ben attempts to create a new life in Las Vegas after the Clone Conspiracy Story by Peter David, art by Mark Bagley.
I wasn't reading comics during the initial Clone Saga, so I have no actual feelings one way or the other about Ben Reilly. This is an interesting take, however, as Reilly is obviously having some mental issues. There are a couple of funny moments, but a couple of really frightening ones as well. I think I'm recommending this one.
Replies
Did this comic have two covers? I didn’t make it to my LCS until Thursday last week, and by that time only one cover was in stock. The one I had seen solicited, the one I wanted, featured the Scarlet Spider with a little smirk showing through his mask. The one I bought had a shadow over his mask. It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed he was wearing his old 1990s costume, too.
I was a big supporter of the “Ben Reilly” Spider-Man, my reasoning being that I like the Spider-Man of issues #1-150 more than I liked the one of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. It was a daring move for Marvel in the ‘90s, but one that didn’t pay off. Although the revelation that “Ben Reilly” is the original Spider-Man has long since been overturned, I still think of him that way. Consequently, this story of him being a psycho nut-job was not to my liking.
I think the original Ben Reilly storyline was the first attempt to get rid of Mary Jane.