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Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic
Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic, Book 5
Peter Parker lies gravely ill in a hospital bed ... so who's that swinging around the Big Apple? Ben Reilly, the former Scarlet Spider and newly christened Spider-Man! But our webbed rookie soon finds out that his new super-ID isn't going to grant him a free pass when the likes of Swarm, Will O'the Wisp, Dragon Man, the Lizard, and other baleful bad guys rear their malevolent heads! COLLECTING: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 414-416,ANNUAL '96; SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN 7-10; SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN 235-239; SPIDER-MAN 71-72; SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP 4; SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED 13
464 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2012
About the author
Tom DeFalco
2,506 books109 followersTom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well-known for his association with Marvel Comics and Spider-Man.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 13, 2017
Loved it! How can ya not love a book with John Romita, Jr. drawing Spider-Man? I'm really don't get why folk are so down on this series. I pretty much am loving it. I think I'm enjoying the Ben Reilly series over the Clone Saga. Might be the computer aided color that is swaying my opinion though.
November 12, 2023
Things start off strong in The Spectacular Spider-Man #235-236 with the return of an old favorite of mine, Will O' The Wisp. Wisp is being coerced by Doctor Jonas Harrow to steal a piece of technology for the Roxxon Corporation...a piece of advanced technology known as the living android, Dragon Man! I am a sucker for all of these classic scenarios, which Todd Dezago seamlessly weaved together.
There is a crime wave of B and C list villains going on, or so it seems. I won't spoil the identity of the true perpetrator, as it is one of the better subplots running through these issues. Another great subplot running through this book is the rush to fill the power vacuum left by the absence of the Kingpin.
Spider-Man Unlimited #13 completely sucks, from the cheesy artwork by the abysmal Joe Bennett to the horridly redesigned Scorpion costume to Jack Morelli's vomit-inducing hand lettering. Hand lettering is great when done right, a real lost art. Morelli is an argument for ComiCraft computerized lettering, though. Bennett's renditions of Luke Cage/Power Man and Iron Fist are crimes against humanity. I am dumber for having read this issue.
Spider-Man Team-Up #4 is a textbook example why the '90s get such a bad rap from comics fans. Spider-Man teams up with The Avengers, in all of their updated, extreme '90s glory. The Wasp is now a real, mutated human-wasp hybrid. Iron Man is now some time-displaced 19 year old version of himself. No, I don't get it, either. Giant-Man has a crappy headgear/pouch-laden costume which was sadly the style at the time. Thor is a shirtless hippie with hair past his ass. On top of all of this, the story and artwork completely suck as well. These two issues nearly killed the book for me. I am a completist and am grateful to have the kitchen sink thrown in, but man did these two issues suck!
Mike Wieringo's artwork is a breath of fresh air. His style is a mixture of classic Marvel “house style” coupled with then-modern, almost Manga-esque flourishes. He passed away in 2007 at age 44 from an aortic dissection.
I really enjoyed the Onslaught crossover issues. I've read them before, and they hold up pretty well on their own, even without knowledge of the entire crossover. So long as you understand that something major is going on you can enjoy watching Spider-Man and Peter Parker battling Sentinels. I also enjoyed the return of Swarm, which was a logical follow-up to the fallout of Onslaught.
Towards the end of the book two characters who will play a major role in the next volume appear: Scrier and Judas Traveller. Yes, I know that Traveller is spelled wrong, I'm not an idiot. I typed it as it was spelled in this book. There was a great multi-part Lizard story where the conclusion is marred by the substandard artwork of Luke Ross. The '90s saw so many untalented hacks working in comics due to the glut of Image-inspired dreck, and this “artist” fits that bill to a tee. Horrid, horrid work. My eyes have been raped.
The book ends on an incredibly high note with the main story from Amazing Spider-Man Annual '96, a flashback story where Ben Reilly remembers the first time he met with Captain George Stacy. This “Untold” tale fills in some gaps about Stacy's knowledge that Peter Parker was actually Spider-Man. Of course this is told from Ben Reilly's perspective, since it was believed that he was the real Spider-Man and not the clone. Unlike many ret-cons, this does not contradict any of the events of the Silver Age.
Aside from two really, really, really bad issues, which were so bad that I docked the book .75 points and I am angry that those issues were ever published in the first place, this was another solid, enjoyable read. I still can't see why this era of the title is despised so much. Only one more Clone Saga book to go!
There is a crime wave of B and C list villains going on, or so it seems. I won't spoil the identity of the true perpetrator, as it is one of the better subplots running through these issues. Another great subplot running through this book is the rush to fill the power vacuum left by the absence of the Kingpin.
Spider-Man Unlimited #13 completely sucks, from the cheesy artwork by the abysmal Joe Bennett to the horridly redesigned Scorpion costume to Jack Morelli's vomit-inducing hand lettering. Hand lettering is great when done right, a real lost art. Morelli is an argument for ComiCraft computerized lettering, though. Bennett's renditions of Luke Cage/Power Man and Iron Fist are crimes against humanity. I am dumber for having read this issue.
Spider-Man Team-Up #4 is a textbook example why the '90s get such a bad rap from comics fans. Spider-Man teams up with The Avengers, in all of their updated, extreme '90s glory. The Wasp is now a real, mutated human-wasp hybrid. Iron Man is now some time-displaced 19 year old version of himself. No, I don't get it, either. Giant-Man has a crappy headgear/pouch-laden costume which was sadly the style at the time. Thor is a shirtless hippie with hair past his ass. On top of all of this, the story and artwork completely suck as well. These two issues nearly killed the book for me. I am a completist and am grateful to have the kitchen sink thrown in, but man did these two issues suck!
Mike Wieringo's artwork is a breath of fresh air. His style is a mixture of classic Marvel “house style” coupled with then-modern, almost Manga-esque flourishes. He passed away in 2007 at age 44 from an aortic dissection.
I really enjoyed the Onslaught crossover issues. I've read them before, and they hold up pretty well on their own, even without knowledge of the entire crossover. So long as you understand that something major is going on you can enjoy watching Spider-Man and Peter Parker battling Sentinels. I also enjoyed the return of Swarm, which was a logical follow-up to the fallout of Onslaught.
Towards the end of the book two characters who will play a major role in the next volume appear: Scrier and Judas Traveller. Yes, I know that Traveller is spelled wrong, I'm not an idiot. I typed it as it was spelled in this book. There was a great multi-part Lizard story where the conclusion is marred by the substandard artwork of Luke Ross. The '90s saw so many untalented hacks working in comics due to the glut of Image-inspired dreck, and this “artist” fits that bill to a tee. Horrid, horrid work. My eyes have been raped.
The book ends on an incredibly high note with the main story from Amazing Spider-Man Annual '96, a flashback story where Ben Reilly remembers the first time he met with Captain George Stacy. This “Untold” tale fills in some gaps about Stacy's knowledge that Peter Parker was actually Spider-Man. Of course this is told from Ben Reilly's perspective, since it was believed that he was the real Spider-Man and not the clone. Unlike many ret-cons, this does not contradict any of the events of the Silver Age.
Aside from two really, really, really bad issues, which were so bad that I docked the book .75 points and I am angry that those issues were ever published in the first place, this was another solid, enjoyable read. I still can't see why this era of the title is despised so much. Only one more Clone Saga book to go!
January 4, 2023
Sensational SPM 9 & 10 - 5 stars. Fun as Ben fights Swarm. Art is great.
Team Up 5 - the Gambit story is okay. The Howard the Duck story was a mess.
Four stars for the issues leading up to the end. Hated the ending. I wanted Peter and Ben to both fight crime, to be brothers, for Peter to be a Dad.
I read the Osborn journal and can see how it all fit together, even if it was forced to fit after the event.
Didn't read Dead Man's Hand cos its not on MU.
Team Up 5 - the Gambit story is okay. The Howard the Duck story was a mess.
Four stars for the issues leading up to the end. Hated the ending. I wanted Peter and Ben to both fight crime, to be brothers, for Peter to be a Dad.
I read the Osborn journal and can see how it all fit together, even if it was forced to fit after the event.
Didn't read Dead Man's Hand cos its not on MU.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2021
Not bad. Some of the villains were pretty goofy, like the man made out of bees and "Deadly Delilah," but overall they were good. The story of Peter Parker losing his powers, the Onslaught crossover and the Desiree/Ben Reilly romance were highlights.
April 17, 2018
This shit is treading water like Jack in Titanic.
August 21, 2022
Classic 90s garbage! I feel like this shows the potential of what Ben Reilly could’ve been.
June 13, 2016
I realize at this point that I am shitting all over these books because Dan Slott executed this concept so much better in The Superior Spider-Man because the idea of Otto being Spider-Man is just so much more interesting than it being a copy-not-copy of Peter. After having read almost every volume of "The Clone Saga" I think the biggest weaknesses are just the multitude of writers writing Spider-Man books during this event creating a "too many cooks spoil the broth" scenario and the heavy hand of Marvel editorial, who foists the Onslaught story arc onto this one. Also, let's face it--making Spider-Man a bottle blonde copy of the "original" Spider-Man is BORING. It's like someone thought Hal Jordan would be more likable if he had just gone to the hair salon. Peter as an adult has never been as compelling as when he was a teenager, and as I've said many times before, white guys don't need to have their stories told these days.
That said, I'm going to complete this slog. Too much water under the bridge at this point not to.
That said, I'm going to complete this slog. Too much water under the bridge at this point not to.
September 9, 2016
Better than the other volumes, but not by much. There are definite nineties panels with women that have terrible body proportions. Granted comics haven't got much better but there are some elements that just say comics boom.
The story is still ridiculously convoluted. But at least a few issues managed to not mention that Ben was actually the original clone, which is a vast improvement.
The story is still ridiculously convoluted. But at least a few issues managed to not mention that Ben was actually the original clone, which is a vast improvement.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews