The Jackal is back, and Spider-Man is beside himself again! Where did the Spider-duplicate come from, and where has he been? Is he Peter Parker's dark side...or his better half? Everyone wants answers, and the cloaked killer Kaine is ready to rip them out of whoever has them! Plus: Venom and Vermin! Carnage and Chameleon! New allies, new enemies. and a new crimefighting identity! No other Spider-storyline was as innovative or infamous as the 1990s Clone Saga, and you can follow it right from the start! Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1962) #394, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #217, Spider-Man (1990) #51-53, Spider-Man Unlimited (1993) #7, Web of Spider-Man #117-119, Spider-Man: The Lost Years #0-3, and subplot pages.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By J. Jones
Format:Paperback
So...how to review this...
The storyline is an absolute "must read" for true Spidey-heads. This is the book that nearly brought it all down. Overly-long, with confusing twists and turns for the sake of those twist and turns, the saga will begin to meander. I have no idea how many volumes will be in this but I am assuming 4 to 6. At $35 a pop (MSRP,) this set is expensive. It also has been errataed out of existence. I remember reading at one point in early 2000 that this set would NEVER see the light of day as a trade paperback. That, my friends, is the negative aspects.
The book is gorgeous. If you dig John Romita, Jr. then you need to read this. The crisp art work is a marvel to behold easily rivaling any of his Strazinsky work. This work is historic. It shows a worse time for comics. It was indicative of all that was wrong in the mid-90s that lead to Marvel's bankruptcy (and D.C.'s purchase by Warner.) Huge cross-overs emptying our wallets, new characters that never needed to see the light of day, umpteen foil-holographic, glow-in-the-dark, diecut, scratch-and-sniff "collector's editions" of every single issue on the rack. This story will take you back to a time that almost killed comics. And yet, there is a story here. What Tom DeFalco and co. wanted to do took cahones. Granted, it took so much cohones that they were told to stop, but I wonder what would have happened if they would have been able to do it. As I read current post-Brand New Day Amazing Spider-Man, I can't help but see the vision of the creators of the Clone Saga. Also, this set has a return-to-vicious Venom and I know you'll love that.
So is this set for everyone....heck no. This is for those that love a little existentialism. It is for those that like to rubber-neck at a train wreck. It is those that wax-nostalgic about how awful the 90s' comic scene truly was. If this is you the run (don't walk) to the check out screen. If this sounds like a product you aren't interested in...please ignore it. I hope this (my first review!) was helpful!
The storyline is an absolute "must read" for true Spidey-heads. This is the book that nearly brought it all down. Overly-long, with confusing twists and turns for the sake of those twist and turns, the saga will begin to meander. I have no idea how many volumes will be in this but I am assuming 4 to 6. At $35 a pop (MSRP,) this set is expensive. It also has been errataed out of existence. I remember reading at one point in early 2000 that this set would NEVER see the light of day as a trade paperback. That, my friends, is the negative aspects.
The book is gorgeous. If you dig John Romita, Jr. then you need to read this. The crisp art work is a marvel to behold easily rivaling any of his Strazinsky work. This work is historic. It shows a worse time for comics. It was indicative of all that was wrong in the mid-90s that lead to Marvel's bankruptcy (and D.C.'s purchase by Warner.) Huge cross-overs emptying our wallets, new characters that never needed to see the light of day, umpteen foil-holographic, glow-in-the-dark, diecut, scratch-and-sniff "collector's editions" of every single issue on the rack. This story will take you back to a time that almost killed comics. And yet, there is a story here. What Tom DeFalco and co. wanted to do took cahones. Granted, it took so much cohones that they were told to stop, but I wonder what would have happened if they would have been able to do it. As I read current post-Brand New Day Amazing Spider-Man, I can't help but see the vision of the creators of the Clone Saga. Also, this set has a return-to-vicious Venom and I know you'll love that.
So is this set for everyone....heck no. This is for those that love a little existentialism. It is for those that like to rubber-neck at a train wreck. It is those that wax-nostalgic about how awful the 90s' comic scene truly was. If this is you the run (don't walk) to the check out screen. If this sounds like a product you aren't interested in...please ignore it. I hope this (my first review!) was helpful!
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I look back on the Clone Saga with a mixture of frustration and nostalgia. These were my prime comic reading days...and some parts of the story were good. So when I heard that a series of volumes would finally collect this massive plotline within several books, I was pretty excited. After all, I never did read the entire thing...how could I? Almost every story was a crossover, meaning that you had to buy at least four comics a month to get everything. My allowance couldn't quite support that.
So right away, I was grateful for the idea to finally fill gaps in my knowledge of this saga which had lingered for years! Spoilers will abound, so if you don't want 15-year-old story twists ruined for you, turn back now.
So let's kick this off with some context: Peter Parker was really depressed following the revelations of the "robot parents" storyline, and was swinging around all dark and moody and calling himself "The Spider." Aunt May was in the hospital for a stroke, which didn't help things. Most of this is recapped quickly in the collection using random pages from various issues to help get us up to speed.
We start with "Birth of a Spider-Man," which was a supplemental story published in other issues that serves as a retelling of the very first 1970s Clone Saga from the clone's point of view. At the end of that first confrontation, Peter believed his clone was dead. Not so. This short story is really dark and kind of ugly, but it does help capture the most essential points from the 70s tale - the entirety of which is in a trade called "Clone Genesis," not sure if that's still in print.
Next is "The Parker Legacy," another short story about the clone's existential woes upon learning he is not the real Peter Parker. I always liked this story. Despite the fantastical subject matter, there was something very human and poignant about what the character was dealing with. It also introduces the clone's chosen name for himself - Ben Reilly.
The same creative team from that story (J.M. Dematteis and John Romita Jr) did the "Spider-Man: The Lost Years" mini-series, which touches on Reilly's adventures while living the nomadic lifestyle in Salt Lake City. I had never actually read this until now, and it was impressive. This is barely a superhero story, it's more like a straight up crime drama involving a few superpowered characters. The character of Kaine, an early attempt at cloning Peter Parker that went awry, was ubiquitous during the Clone Saga and he was never cooler than he is in this story. This three-issue story is some of the best stuff that came out of this whole saga.
Following that, the "Power and Responsibility" storyline that officially kicked off the new Clone Saga is a disappointment. Peter meets his clone, who returned to NYC to visit the ailing Aunt May, and the two of them get wrapped up in the sinister machinations of one Judas Traveller. Right from the first chapter of this, the writing was just weak. Of course, that may be the fault of Terry Kavanagh, who wrote "Web of Spider-Man" for quite a while around this time. Even as a kid, I knew this guy's writing was bad. Almost every bit of dialogue is a run-on sentence that stretches on through at least two panels. Hard to explain without showing you an issue, but trust me when I say it gets very repetitive. During "Maximum Carnage," which ran a couple years before this, Kavanagh was the genius who had the poor, unedcuated Cletus Kasady spitting off ham-fisted lines like "Your pathetic arrogance, fools, will be your very downfall!" *groan*
Still, the story has plenty of other problems. Traveller is just kind of a lame villain, his motivations about understanding the nature of evil or whatever are really boring and trite, and the scene where Spider-Man has a full-on whimpering meltdown in front of him was just embarrassing. I winced when I read that in the 90s and it made me wince now. By the time the four-part story ends, it doesn't seem anything all that important happened, except for Reilly's return.
The final story in this first collection is "The Exile Returns," a Ben Reilly solo adventure. This story has a lot going for it. I really like what the clone has to deal with - the cheap, homemade costume, the sense that he has to lay low or else risk messing things up for Peter. It was fairly compelling - plus the clone (who would be named The Scarlet Spider) got to beat Venom! Venom was ludicruously overexposed during the 90s, he deserved the beat down he got in this story. With that, the first installment of the collected Clone Saga ends on a triumphant note.
By itself, bringing the Spider-Man clone back was a good idea. Having two Spider-Men running around was kind of cool, and Ben was a good character. It's a shame the promise seen here would be ultimately undone by horrible writing decisions down the road, and indeed symbols of that decline are visible in this first book.
So right away, I was grateful for the idea to finally fill gaps in my knowledge of this saga which had lingered for years! Spoilers will abound, so if you don't want 15-year-old story twists ruined for you, turn back now.
So let's kick this off with some context: Peter Parker was really depressed following the revelations of the "robot parents" storyline, and was swinging around all dark and moody and calling himself "The Spider." Aunt May was in the hospital for a stroke, which didn't help things. Most of this is recapped quickly in the collection using random pages from various issues to help get us up to speed.
We start with "Birth of a Spider-Man," which was a supplemental story published in other issues that serves as a retelling of the very first 1970s Clone Saga from the clone's point of view. At the end of that first confrontation, Peter believed his clone was dead. Not so. This short story is really dark and kind of ugly, but it does help capture the most essential points from the 70s tale - the entirety of which is in a trade called "Clone Genesis," not sure if that's still in print.
Next is "The Parker Legacy," another short story about the clone's existential woes upon learning he is not the real Peter Parker. I always liked this story. Despite the fantastical subject matter, there was something very human and poignant about what the character was dealing with. It also introduces the clone's chosen name for himself - Ben Reilly.
The same creative team from that story (J.M. Dematteis and John Romita Jr) did the "Spider-Man: The Lost Years" mini-series, which touches on Reilly's adventures while living the nomadic lifestyle in Salt Lake City. I had never actually read this until now, and it was impressive. This is barely a superhero story, it's more like a straight up crime drama involving a few superpowered characters. The character of Kaine, an early attempt at cloning Peter Parker that went awry, was ubiquitous during the Clone Saga and he was never cooler than he is in this story. This three-issue story is some of the best stuff that came out of this whole saga.
Following that, the "Power and Responsibility" storyline that officially kicked off the new Clone Saga is a disappointment. Peter meets his clone, who returned to NYC to visit the ailing Aunt May, and the two of them get wrapped up in the sinister machinations of one Judas Traveller. Right from the first chapter of this, the writing was just weak. Of course, that may be the fault of Terry Kavanagh, who wrote "Web of Spider-Man" for quite a while around this time. Even as a kid, I knew this guy's writing was bad. Almost every bit of dialogue is a run-on sentence that stretches on through at least two panels. Hard to explain without showing you an issue, but trust me when I say it gets very repetitive. During "Maximum Carnage," which ran a couple years before this, Kavanagh was the genius who had the poor, unedcuated Cletus Kasady spitting off ham-fisted lines like "Your pathetic arrogance, fools, will be your very downfall!" *groan*
Still, the story has plenty of other problems. Traveller is just kind of a lame villain, his motivations about understanding the nature of evil or whatever are really boring and trite, and the scene where Spider-Man has a full-on whimpering meltdown in front of him was just embarrassing. I winced when I read that in the 90s and it made me wince now. By the time the four-part story ends, it doesn't seem anything all that important happened, except for Reilly's return.
The final story in this first collection is "The Exile Returns," a Ben Reilly solo adventure. This story has a lot going for it. I really like what the clone has to deal with - the cheap, homemade costume, the sense that he has to lay low or else risk messing things up for Peter. It was fairly compelling - plus the clone (who would be named The Scarlet Spider) got to beat Venom! Venom was ludicruously overexposed during the 90s, he deserved the beat down he got in this story. With that, the first installment of the collected Clone Saga ends on a triumphant note.
By itself, bringing the Spider-Man clone back was a good idea. Having two Spider-Men running around was kind of cool, and Ben was a good character. It's a shame the promise seen here would be ultimately undone by horrible writing decisions down the road, and indeed symbols of that decline are visible in this first book.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By John Friscia
Format:Paperback
I think "J. Jones" did a pretty good job of establishing the context in which the looong Clone Saga was written. I figured I would write a supplementary review offering my perspective on matters, because I did not start reading comics regularly till 2001, a few years after the saga concluded. The first comic that really *hooked* me was an issue in the J. Michael Straczynski/Romita Jr. run of Amazing Spider-Man (the first Morlun story), and I was about 12-years old. I've collected every ASM issue since then, and I've taken it upon myself to read up as much as possible on the character's history.
Everything I ever read about the Clone Saga made it sound like an incredible idea that, through the fault of higher-ups saying "this is selling too well to just LET IT END now!", ended up straying severely from what its progenitors envisioned. That's frankly too bad. However, that whole "straying severely" part is not something you will see in this first volume! This volume is mashed potatoes and gravy--practically every story oozes excitement and creativity. You will absolutely come to understand just how much it sucks (or sometimes how convenient it can be!) to be the clone of Spider-Man. The writing here is primarily top notch, with the pinnacle being DeMatteis/Romita Jr.'s The Lost Years, where the art is as spectacular as the writing.
Basically, even if you don't care about Ben Reilly or Kaine or anyone else in the Clone Saga, there are still some pretty fun stories here. Carnage and especially Venom make several appearances (which seemed to be mandatory in the 90s), which should be enough to satisfy the action junkies when Peter Parker or Ben get too mopey. The only hindrance here is the price tag, which is already much less if you buy it through Amazon. But look at how much you get! This is one of the meatiest standard trade paperbacks I own, and I look forward to picking up all subsequent volumes as a major Spidey fan. But even if you don't plan to buy the next volume, it shouldn't really matter. This volume does a good job of answering the "Who is Ben Reilly?" question that new fans seem to stumble upon these days, and on top of that, this volume is just a plain fun read.
Everything I ever read about the Clone Saga made it sound like an incredible idea that, through the fault of higher-ups saying "this is selling too well to just LET IT END now!", ended up straying severely from what its progenitors envisioned. That's frankly too bad. However, that whole "straying severely" part is not something you will see in this first volume! This volume is mashed potatoes and gravy--practically every story oozes excitement and creativity. You will absolutely come to understand just how much it sucks (or sometimes how convenient it can be!) to be the clone of Spider-Man. The writing here is primarily top notch, with the pinnacle being DeMatteis/Romita Jr.'s The Lost Years, where the art is as spectacular as the writing.
Basically, even if you don't care about Ben Reilly or Kaine or anyone else in the Clone Saga, there are still some pretty fun stories here. Carnage and especially Venom make several appearances (which seemed to be mandatory in the 90s), which should be enough to satisfy the action junkies when Peter Parker or Ben get too mopey. The only hindrance here is the price tag, which is already much less if you buy it through Amazon. But look at how much you get! This is one of the meatiest standard trade paperbacks I own, and I look forward to picking up all subsequent volumes as a major Spidey fan. But even if you don't plan to buy the next volume, it shouldn't really matter. This volume does a good job of answering the "Who is Ben Reilly?" question that new fans seem to stumble upon these days, and on top of that, this volume is just a plain fun read.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
I love Spider Man, but this is not so great
I always loved Spider Man (he got me into comics) and I wanted to read more about the clone saga as I never got the chance to catch everything until now. Read more
Published 5 months ago by GronchMangler
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better with Age
Everyone knows the Clone Saga was a mess. Heck it Drove me away from Spider-man at the time. But what everyone doesn't know is that after the Saga was over the Story was actually... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Livebackwards
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD?
SPIDER-MAN: THE COMPLRTR CLONE SAGA EPIC, BOOK 1
If you were to talk to any one who knows me and asked them what my favorite comic is they would answer easily with... Read more
If you were to talk to any one who knows me and asked them what my favorite comic is they would answer easily with... Read more
Published 22 months ago by fmwaalex
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book One of a Psychological Epic
I remember when this story arc first saw print. As a whole, the Clone Saga is a deep psychological thriller. Read more
Published on February 9, 2011 by James K. Collins
4.0 out of 5 stars
How can you apologize for dragging out the worst Spider-Man story of...
You apologize by making the whole thing available, in order, so your entire mistake is on display for everyone to see.
To be fair, this volume isn't that bad. Read more
To be fair, this volume isn't that bad. Read more
Published on July 16, 2010 by J. Dollak
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