If you have been following recent comic book news, you may have noticed that there are some pretty big changes coming to the Spider-Man line of comics. First and foremost, Ben Reilly will be taking over as Spider-Man in the Amazing Spider-Man title beginning in October. After that, a new five-part miniseries titled Ben Reilly: Spider-Man kicks off in January. If you weren’t reading Spider-Man comics in the ‘90s, this name is likely pretty foreign to you. If you were reading Spider-Man comics in the ‘90s, that name probably conjures up two words in your head: “Clone Saga.” That event (though “event” doesn’t accurately describe what it was…we’ll get there) and the character of Ben Reilly deserve a deep dive that one article/essay/newsletter could never do it justice. That’s why I’ll be doing a multi-part series over the next few weeks examining the comics that compose the character’s history, the creators responsible for those comics, the climate of the comic book industry at the time they were published, and the lasting legacy of those comics and how they shape the stories being told today.
Next week I’ll dive into the first appearance of Ben way back in Amazing Spider-Man #149 in 1975. In the meantime, here’s a primer on the most important characters you need to know going forward.
Peter Parker
He’s the Amazing Spider-Man! Bitten by a radioactive spider, the nerdy high school student developed the proportional strength, speed, and agility of a spider along with the ability to climb walls and sense danger with his “spider sense.” You may have heard of him.
Ben Reilly
He’s a clone of Peter Parker. He has all of Peter’s abilities as well as all of his memories up to that point in Peter’s life. In other words, he’s an exact replica of Peter as he existed in comics as of 1975.
Gwen Stacy
Peter Parker’s girlfriend who was murdered by the villainous Green Goblin back in 1973.
Miles Warren
A professor at Empire State University who had an extremely icky obsession with his student Gwen Stacy and a violent hatred for her boyfriend Peter Parker. He develops a method to clone human beings and becomes the super villain known as the Jackal.
Kaine Parker
The first somewhat successful clone of Peter Parker who experienced deformities and slightly amplified powers. He harbored a jealous hatred of Ben Reilly.
There are other minor figures who will pop in and out of the story, but these are the major players.
Next week will kick off the first part of our journey into the life of Ben Reilly. Buckle up.