As someone who remembers the backlash of the time, picking up The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Web of Life, Web of Death is somewhat eye-opening.
To say that The Clone Saga’s critical and fan reactions were negative would be to underestimate just how big, long-lasting, and vitriolic the backlash was. For years, The Clone Saga has been the butt of jokes, fueling many complaints about the arrogance of the 1990s. Fans tweeted about it not just as a “bad” story, but as an insult to fans. Fans are not only angry but also hurt by what happened. Even fans who never read the story in its entirety carried this burden until 2005’s The Other storyline replaced it as the most toxic story in their minds.
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The story of Peter Parker clone Ben Reilly, who returns to New York to visit Aunt May in the hospital (this time suffering from a stroke) and is drawn into the world of superheroes as Scarlet Spider, begins with a troubling twist. It wasn’t something. That opening arc, included in The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: The Clone Saga, doesn’t do much to turn Spider-Man’s story on its head. In Web of Life, Web of Death, we begin to understand where the hurt comes from.
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In this volume, Riley and Parker finally begin to interact due to the machinations of the clone’s original creator, the Jackal. The odious aspect was that Peter Parker’s legitimacy as the “real Spider-Man” was called into question not once, but twice. If Riley (or Kane, or the third clone, or any of the other six clones the Jackal has running around in the lab) were the real Spidey, that would mean that from the original clone story, Isn’t that what 20 years means? From the mid-19970s to the Clone Saga in 1995 – Nullified? From Peter and Mary Jane’s wedding to Kraven’s final hunt to the massacre, all the big stories may seem like lies.
It was a bit naive on the part of fans and critics at the time to believe that such a major rewrite of Spider-Man could happen in a media that thrives on the status quo. After all, this was a character for whom the author insisted on the “illusion of change.” But this was a time when people believed Superman could die (or transform into two electric men in a few years). It’s important to understand that superhero comics were still relatively new. The medium was only 60 years old, and Spider-Man himself was just over 30. Fans of this book were still young.
But the story wasn’t the only problem. Perhaps much of the dislike for this event lies in its expensive nature. Emboldened by the popularity of Maximum Carnage, the company insisted that readers follow the story from title to title. This meant several things, the most obvious of which was that readers were forced to buy all Spidey comics every month instead of just buying one Spidey comic every month. Web of Spider-Man led to Spider-Man Without Adjectives, which led to The Amazing Spider-Man. With potentially five titles coming out in a given month (Spider-Man: Unlimited only came out every few months), readers have 13 to follow their favorite (and second-favorite) webslinger. I had to spend more than a dollar. That may not seem like a big deal – $13 is barely enough to pay for three comics today – but it still felt inexcusable.
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It’s inexcusable because the story was inevitable. There was no room for readers to experience Spider-Man without the heavy, clunky machinery of pervasive events at every tap of the book. Readers were not able to choose the lowest commitment title out of the five offered. Additionally, no matter how well-planned the story was, the creative team was never completely on the same page. Peter Parker and Ben Reilly’s motivations change from issue to issue, as do the details of the illustrations.
I love Mark Bagley…
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Looking back on the books with nearly 30 years of hindsight, what was eye-opening was that these books weren’t actually bad, even if they had a lot of inconsistencies. A quarter of the issues were written by JM DeMatteis, the longtime architect behind The Amazing Spider-Man, and his tenure was marked by one breakthrough after another. These issues are also portrayed by the wonderful Mark Bagley, who rivals that of Steve Ditko, Sal Buscema, and Todd McFarlane for the character’s aesthetic. Other books included heavy hitters like Tom DeFalco, Howard McKee, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Buscema himself. Stepping away from the Clone Saga legacy, they were masterclass creators of exceptional craftsmanship.
…But I hate this panel.
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These books, while they could be upbeat, bombastic, and fun, tended towards moodiness and self-loathing (Ben Reilly: People who felt Peter Parker wasn’t moody and whining enough). for). Even for those who remember the trademark geeky acerbity, there’s a lot to see here.
Safely removed from its lively plotline and frustrating publication schedule, the Clone Saga, especially the portion included in The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection, Web of Life, Web of Death, is full of its bombast and anger. It doesn’t deserve its reputation. Fans don’t have to struggle with that conundrum in real time, and the readership may have developed a healthy dose of cynicism about believing in absurd narrative turns.
Eventually everything will be returned to the status quo so the next creator can mess everything up again. That sort of turmoil is what makes manga interesting, even The Clone Saga.
The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Web of Life, Web of Death kicks off the Clone Saga in earnest (and it’s not as bad as you remember)
The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Web of Life, Web of Death
While fan complaints were legitimate and varied, the parts of the Clone Saga in Web of Life and Web of Death are mostly solid, well-written comics. It turned out.
Portrait of a great creator.
Full of melodrama.
Build the Scarlet Spider.
Intravenous drip with complications.
A chaotic creative collaboration.
It escalates into ridiculousness.
