Yes. You read that right.
Whilst there is a lot to be said on the subject, I’m uninterested in discussing behind the scenes drama with the ‘Clone Saga’. Nor is my intent to convince you of the saga’s worth by pointing to far worse Spider-Man stories.*
Rather, I want to highlight the fact that the ‘Clone Saga’ is in fact…not a story.
By this I don’t mean to damn the saga. What I mean is that to call it a storyline would imply there was a clear cut, beginning, middle and end to it when in reality there wasn’t.
Let’s compare the saga to one of the stories it was created to compete against, the Batman’s ‘Knightsaga’ storyline.
Whilst this saga has been divided into several portions, broadly speaking it divides pretty neatly into three acts. ‘Knightfall’ where Batman is defeated, ‘Knightquest’ where a pretender assumes his mantle and ‘Knightsend’ where he reclaims his mantle.
Nice ad simple right?
Well now try and compare this to ‘Clone Saga’.
We might be able to identify the arc where it begins (‘Power and Responsibility’) and ends (‘Revelations’), but where does the middle begin exactly?
Is it when Peter Parker is revealed as a clone?
Is it at the end of ‘Maximum Clonage’ when Peter accepts this fact?
Is it when he finally hangs up the webs in ‘The Greatest Responsibility’ arc, enshrining Ben Reilly as the new main character?
Is it when Ben Reilly retires his Scarlet Spider identity in the ‘Cyber War’ arc?
Or is it when Ben Reilly becomes Spider-Man in Sensational Spider-Man #0?
Making matters even more confusing is that the original intent behind the ‘Clone Saga’ changed multiple times as it played out.
It was originally supposed to definitively end with ASM #400. Then it was set to end with ‘Maximum Clonage’. Then ‘The Greatest Responsibility’.
In each instance the intended end point was pushed back, although the latter arc is when the ‘Clone Saga Epic’ trades stop, consequently transitioning into the ‘Ben Reilly Epic’ trades. However, in my experience whenever anybody refers to the ‘Clone Saga’ they mean Web of Spider-Man #117-Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75.
With that in mind the writers at the time might’ve believed the saga concluded with ‘The Greatest Responsibility’, but their immediate plans to make Ben Reilly the new Spider-Man were yet further delayed for the so called Scarlet Spider months. Finally, they were able to enshrine Ben as the new Spider-Man forevermore…only for another change in plans.
What had been the first few arcs of the new and permanent chapter for Spider-Man retroactively became a mere extension of the ‘Clone Saga’, with a new long range plan to reinstate Peter as the one true Spider-Man. And yet the intended resolution for this (the ‘Blood Brothers’ story arc) was also delayed, making the climax merely a kind of ‘mid-season finale’ for Ben Reilly’s tenure as Spider-Man.
To say this is not structured, as a story would be an understatement.
Consider also that there were three editors and six writers on the main monthly titles between the start of the saga and it’s conclusion. There were four monthly titles primarily chronicling the story. I say ‘primarily’ because there were one shots, mini-series, guest appearances, annuals and quarterly titles too. Many of these were significant to the on-going narrative and not necessarily written by any of the writers for the main books.
So the ‘Clone Saga’ was a mess right? Well…yeah.
But because of the specific content within the stories more so than anything I’ve discussed. Rather, when we look at how things played out it reveals the ‘Clone Saga’ to not be a story so much as an era.
The time period when Tom DeFalco was in charge of Amazing Spider-Man, Peter David of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man and when Web of Spider-Man had no regular creative team would be an example of an older era.
An example of a later era would be when J. Michael Straczynski was handling ASM, Peter David Friend Neighborhood Spider-Man and Roberto Aguirre Sacasa Sensational Spider-Man.
What all eras have in common is that they are very rarely consistent.
This is critical in the misunderstanding of the ‘Clone Saga’ because it’s simply far too big and unwieldy to be judged as though it was start to finish intended to be consistent.
Like every era before and since it had its highs and it’s lows.
It’s just that its lows were among the worst in Spider-History.
But its highs were among the best in Spider-History.
Spectacular Spider-Man #226 and Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1 should be in the conversation for some of the worst single issues of Spider-Man ever. But ASM #400 and Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75 are unquestionably among the best single issues ever.
There have rarely been more broken multi-part arcs than ‘Maximum Clonage’, ‘Virtual Mortality’ and ‘Cyber War’. But it’s also rarely seen arcs as well constructed as ‘Web of Death’, ‘The Lost Years’, and ‘Redemption’.
As horrendous as it was to reveal Peter to be a clone, it was equally beautiful that we got to see Peter deal with impending fatherhood.
Judas Traveller is probably the single most obnoxious character to be introduced in the storyline. However, Kaine has proven himself one of the most substantive figures in Spider-Man lore.
Miles Warren’s return reinvented him as an unrecognizable drag. The return of Peter’s clone however reinvented him as ultimately a fan favourite.
What’s ultimately misunderstood about the ‘Clone Saga’ is that it is not truly wall-to-wall garbage.
In reality it’s got a lot of gold amidst the garbage.
It is the ultimate mixed bag of Spider-Man.
*But you know…’One More Day’ and ‘One Moment In Time’ do exist. Just saying.
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It makes sense in one thing: indeed it’s an era.
But also, the era where the marketing department had more saying in than the writers and editors themselves.
Here is a great 35 page article detailing every aspect of the Clone Saga.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING!!
http://www.benreillytribute.x10host.com/LifeofReilly1.html
The idea of permanently replacing Peter was bone-stupid from the first moment it came out of somebody’s mouth. It was another example of Marvel’s incomprehension of their own audience, and confusing reality with their own boredom and flittering imaginations.
I hate to admit this, and i reserve the right to deny it later, but when the clone saga started, i really enjoyed it. I was actually excited about the coming issues as the story unfolded, although i remember being a little less excited when an initial resolution seemed to drag out., but i still was going to pick up my books every month, really interested to see what would happen next.
It was the reveal of Ben as the real Spider-Man that killed everything for me. I liked Ben Riley, until i learned he was going to replace the Spider-Man I’d read my whole life. (My first comic off the rack was two years after the original clone saga.) I, probably unfairly, hated everything to do with the clone era after that, and i bought the issues when Peter was reinstated, but i didn’t return to reading every month even then.
I think, if it wasn’t for that move, (and maybe a better resolution to the whole baby May fiasco) the clone era, as you call it, would be much better remembered.
Agreed. Wait did Spidey-dude write this? Mixed bag is the best way of eplaining it, for some it was the first time they were reading SPidey, for some it was toward the end of what they felt was their Spidey and for most it was too much to feel completely on board. Myself , I had no confusion that Peter was the orginal and that Ben was the clone, even afte the tests etc … I was excited to see what was to happen with the Baby and a little bit of hope that the character would evole into fatherhood. I would have settled in having Ben be the stand in while maybe Peter got to be with MJ during birth … But it just seemed that the rollercoaster wasn’t mean to last and the end which felt like the biggest cheat was that the abandoned everything without considering a building on point for the next step in the Spidey mythos. I mean sure they of course had the Clone Conspiracy but it was like a dipped toe into someting that had already been wished away.