The Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond, Vol. 1

The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) (Collected Editions)

by Zeb Wells, Kelly Thompson, Cody Ziglar

Amazing creators unite for a brand new era of Spidey! Ben Reilly — the clone of Spider-Man — is back! He’s been through hell, but now with the support of a major corporation, Ben is thwipping once again and being the best Spider-Man he can be. And what does Peter think? Well, he’s just been through the Sinister War and he’s exhausted! But even if Peter is against Ben’s return to the limelight, does he have a choice? The webs that are about to be woven will take you to places you’ve never been…pit our spectacular heroes against classic villains reloaded, as well as brand-new foes…and make you rethink the whole concept of Spider-Man! But what will all this change and upheaval mean for Mary Jane, the Black Cat, Aunt May — and all of New York City?!

Collects Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #75-80, 78.BEY and material from Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #74.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Spider Man, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 18, 2022

About the author

Zeb Wells is an American comic book writer known for his work at Marvel Comics, as well as his work on the animated TV series Robot Chicken.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spider-Man, the name, the brand has been patented and copyrighted, and anyone else using the brand will be given a cease and desist! The Beyond Corporation have legally acquired the Spider-Man brand, publicly represented with their own Spider-Man fortified with lots of innovative tech and a back-up team of 100s. If Beyond are the genuine article they may have just revolutionised superhero-ing!

Despite a creative team of numerous writers and artist this is one of the better post Superior Spider-Man arcs I have read. A smart look at corporate acquisition of superhero brand and how they'd manage it. On top of this there 's an ongoing supporting story covering Peter Parker and co. as well as a cool supporting cast of old and new characters. So far, so good, a 7 out of 12, Three Star read.

2023 read

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite fun as we get to see Ben Reily return and then him vs different threats and also the fate of Peter Parker after his battle with U-Foes but this is just the writers sidelining him to focus on Ben and its well done and I like his evolution here and like the shady things going at Beyond corp which I think is gonna come back big time and then facing off against villains like Morbius and Kraven and the effects there and well Maxine Danger (beyond corps) with her own secrets so like it leads to a great drama series type of read.

It has a good cast of supporting characters most of whom are unexplored and maybe in future volumes will be given more highlight and I also like the way we follow Peter's journey and what will become next of him especially with Ock and May working together now.

Its a decent one time read I will say and the writing varies from good to bad with so many writers involved so.

[Rylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this a lot so far I can’t wait to see where they go with this. It’s strongly written and has great art probably the best Amazing Spider-Man stuff we’ve gotten in awhile.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ben Reilly -- Peter Parker's clone and the erstwhile Scarlet Spider -- returns to take up the mantle of Spider-Man on behalf of a corporate sponsor that has come into possession of the trademark. Conveniently, Peter Parker gets sidelined with a pesky coma while Reilly runs around getting the hang of the hero thang and his fancy new high tech suit and gadgets. The Daughters of the Dragon duo, Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, get shoehorned in as freelance employees of Beyond Corporation so they can train Reilly and look suspiciously at the very suspicious corporate leadership.

I skipped the Nick Spencer run of Spider-Man and thought this might be a jumping on point to revisit my old friend Pete, but, whoops, Pete is M.I.A. and Ben Reilly is no Peter Parker regardless of what any DNA test might say. And while Spencer is gone, this is a round-robin effort by four different writers and a half-dozen or more artists to produce a generic corporate comic book about a generic corporate superhero. So it's not a jumping-on point so much as a proceed-with-caution sign.

For reference:
Contains material originally published in magazine form as Amazing Spider Man (2018) #74-80 and #78.BEY and Free Comic Book Day 2021: Spider-Man/Venom.

Contents:
Amazing Spider-Man #75-76 / Zeb Wells, writer; Patrick Gleason, artist
Free Comic Book Day 2021: Spider-Man/Venom [only the Spider-Man story]
• "Test Drive" / Zeb Wells, writer; Patrick Gleason, artist
Amazing Spider-Man #74 [only the back-up story]
• "Janine" / Zeb Wells, writer; Ivan Fiorelli, artist
Amazing Spider-Man #75 [back-up stories]
• "Kafka" / Zeb Wells, writer; Ivan Fiorelli, artist
• "Love and Monsters" / Kelly Thompson, writer; Travel Foreman, artist
Amazing Spider-Man #77 / Kelly Thompson, writer; Sara Pichelli, artist
Amazing Spider-Man #78 / Kelly Thompson, writer; Sara Pichelli with Jim Towe, artists
Amazing Spider-Man #78.BEY [featuring Daughters of the Dragon]/ Jed MacKay, writer; Eleonora Carlini, artist
Amazing Spider-Man #79-80 / Cody Ziglar, writer; Michael Dowling, artist
Variant cover gallery

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, let's get my Ben Reilly bias out of the way - Ben was the Spider-Man I grew up with, he took the Spider-Mantle (see what I did there?) just as I was really getting into comics, and so I'll always have a soft spot for him, which may mean I enjoy this more than everyone else does.

But these are my reviews, and I love Ben Reilly, damn it.

This first volume of Beyond sets the scene and throws Ben into his first set of adventures. The way the new Spidey Brain Trust shifts Peter off to the side for a bit is clever, and makes it clear that he's not going anywhere overall, just for now. Just as well done is the establishing of Ben's new status quo - taking these issues individually he comes across a little blunt and mean-spirited towards his "brother" at the beginning, but literally an issue later he's explaining himself better and growing. It feels very natural and human for both Ben and Peter, with some very well done conversations between the two.

Then it's time for Ben to battle some classic Spidey foes like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter, which is a good way to establish both how he differs and how he's very similar to the OG. They did this in the original Clone Saga stuff when Ben took over and it worked well there too. The way Ben takes them down is also very specific to this Beyond era given his new suit and the tech involved, so these aren't your normal spider-battles.

Also included is the first .BEY tie-in issue which focuses on the Daughters Of The Dragon and how they got roped into Beyond's plot. The ending here gives me hope that the Beyond Corporation isn't just being used for the name recognition, and that their history in the Marvel Universe might actually come into play somewhere down the line.

I think the only problem I have with this volume is that everything moves very fast. The 'rematch' with the U-Foes literally happens off-panel, and the Morbius story comes to an abrupt halt. Whether they'll get revisited later on I'm not sure, but Beyond has a big overarching story running through it, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

The artwork's fairly consistent, despite different artists onboard to keep up with the weekly shipping schedule. We get some issues from Patrick Gleason, Sara Pichelli, Michael Dowling, and Eleanora Carlini, alongside scripts from most of the Brain Trust in Zeb Wells, Kelly Thompson, and Cody Ziglar.

Everything old is new again with a new era, new writers, new artists, and a new Spider-Man. Even without my Reilly-tinged goggles, I still think this is pretty damn good.

[Tom Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a character I don’t feel any particular affinity for I sure do seem to get lured into reading a lot of Spider-stuff. Spidey runs have an annoying habit of starting off well and then going to shit, with Nick Spencer’s interminable psychodrama only the most recent example. So yes, I enjoyed this first volume of a new direction; but that enjoyment is tinged with suspicion that it’s all going to end badly.

Creatively, that is: the actual story is definitely going to end badly. This is not a status quo so much as an accident waiting to happen, with poor old Ben Reilly back in the suit thanks to the Beyond Corporation, who have acquired the rights to Spider-Man. Everything about the Beyond Corporation screams “these guys are extremely dodgy”, but Ben is desperate to live up to his memories of Spider-hood, desperate enough to cut a deal with these clear wrong ‘uns. Peter meanwhile is in a coma, which delays the inevitable confrontation for a few acts down the line.

So it’s the old replacement hero shuffle again, with the advantage that because Ben Reilly is synonymous with failed replacements the writers can ditch the pretence that This Time It’s For Real and have fun telling a story where things are very obviously going to go extremely wrong. Marvel are taking a writer’s room approach with (presumably) heavy editorial co-ordination, which works pretty well except for the fact that they haven’t yet got the hang of juggling subplots with the required villain of the week story, so antagonists regularly just get shunted offstage for the next writer’s stint. The art is more erratic, with abrupt lurches between styles and a slightly concerning inability to fix what Reilly actually looks like.

But these are glitches, not major creative fails. I’m writing this knowing that this storyline has already wrapped up, but not knowing how. That in itself is reassuring after the last absurdly bloated saga, so my fingers are cautiously crossed for a Spider-Man run I might actually want to finish.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the last few years, Nick Spencer has been writing The Amazing Spider-Man with a run that lasted for seventy-four issues, which started great, but quickly began to overstay its welcome with a storyline that heavy and convoluted with its own mythos. There had been some great Spider-Man comics during that time, from Saladin Ahmed’s current run on Miles Morales, to Tom Taylor’s short-lived Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man. Teased at the end of the last volume of Spencer’s run, Peter Parker’s infamous clone, Ben Reilly, returns to the spotlight, setting up the next big storyline in Amazing Spider-Man.

Moving back to the format the comic book had during Brand New Day where it would have a rotating cast of writers, I was initially sceptical about this approach, as well as Ben takes up the mantle of Spider-Man once again, with Peter out of the equation. Following a battle with the U-Foes, Peter falls ill and before going into a coma, gives Ben his blessing to carry on as the main Spider-Man, who is backed by the Beyond corporation, who actually owns the rights to the superhero name.

The premise behind this storyline is not far off from what Dan Slott was during his Superior Spider-Man run, in that someone else replacing Peter Parker and perhaps has a different set of skills and tech to fight crime. The difference here, however, is as well as the Beyond Corporation funding now Spider-Man's crime-fighting, whilst having other motives that are perhaps sinister, the new Spidey is someone who has had a complicated history that has retconned itself over the years.

Long known for being the Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly was a character I hadn’t read much of, despite knowing his aforementioned history in the comics, most notably the controversial Clone Saga in the nineties. The first two issues, written by Zeb Wells, are a great introduction to the central dilemma that causes Ben and Peter’s lives to intertwine, to the former eventually taking over the mantle whilst taking care of his partner Janine Godbe, who was living comfortably at Bedford Falls Correctional Facility where she was sentenced for murder.

Going in a new direction where we are spending a lot of time among the staff of the Beyond Corporation – including Maxine Danger, the obviously-sinister head of the company’s superhero development – we get some time with Mary Jane who sits beside with her comatose lover. There's even a touching moment where one of Peter’s former romances, Black Cat, visits him in the hospital, only to have a friendly conversation with M.J. Writing the next two issues, Kelly Thompson seems less interested in the main story featuring Ben versus Morbius the Living Vampire, and more so with the Daughters of the Dragon. Introduced as sparring partners for Ben, Colleen Wing and Misty Knight not only resolve this particular conflict, they get their own issue, which is a fun one, but serves really nothing to the main storyline.

The final two issues are written by Cody Ziglar, who puts Ben Reilly through a bit of an existential crisis as he questions his role of Spider-Man and his actions and the benefits of Beyond are serving good for New York. This all leads to a fight with Kraven the Hunter, who drugs Spidey, who then goes on a psychedelic trip, with Michael Dowling providing some great art featuring trippy visuals and a visually-distinct Kraven. In fact, the other artists do as good a job, despite what could have been jarring from one artist transition to the next. Among the other artists, you have Patrick Gleason with his clean and expressive character work, whilst Sara Pichelli, whose work isn’t as polished as it used to be, but her balance of action and drama is kinetic.

Given my initial worries with numerous writers and artists involved in one ongoing storyline, the episodic nature of its storytelling works really well, at least in this volume. I may miss Peter Parker, but Ben Reilly with his own quips and conflicts is winning me over and I’m excited to see where he, as well as the other characters, goes from here.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Substituting Ben Reilly just doesn't do anything for me. The story is kind of dull so far. The art is all right. But the core problem is that Peter Parker, the ostensible star of this book, is sidelined for no real good reason (unlike that time when Dr. Octopus took over his body).

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collects Amazing Spider-Man (2018) issues #75-80, issue #78.BEY, material from Amazing Spider-Man (2018) issue #74, and material from Free Comic Book Day 2021: Spider-Man/Venom

Ben Reilly is back! I'm so happy! My favorite Marvel character is the Scarlet Spider, but seeing Ben back in the role of Spider-Man is a real pleasure. Honestly, it doesn't even matter what happens in the story, I'm just overjoyed that this is happening.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me until the 78.1 (or 78.BEY?) issue alongside this volume to put my finger on where I’d heard “Beyond Corporation” before: NEXTWAVE. Precisely, in MacKay’s Daughters of the Dragon homage, where they’re whipping out a Santa’s bag full of lethal party tricks.

And I was almost tempted to re-read the whole thing to see how closely they cleaved to Ellis’s absurd corporate mantras, but it doesn’t matter. I got the joke, I’ll see it coming now, I win the never-ending ego contest that is reading ongoing comics. :)

But good god, take this premise and waste it on Kraven and his bananas “man is only pure when he runs laps in the moist jungle” drivel? I mean I’m sure there’s a generative AI that would mimic this parody without fail. I’m just not entertained by it.

This book is…fine. I was expecting it to be mind-bogglingly fun, what with Wells and Thompson scribing here. What gives - are the webby tights a writer’s straightjacket, and we need to wait til next book for them to escape the Houdini trap?

[Sem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd take anything after the long-winded epic but this is actually quite decent. The only problem is that I'm writing this from the future, where I've read another volume and it retroactively soured my impressions.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

How to trash a run in five (or so) short issues? Entirely replace the hero and the supporting cast under the most artificial of circumstances, replacing them with a hero from a recently cancelled title. Then introduce totally repetitive stories like yet another Kraven-captures-Spiderman-and-then-commits-suicide story. Seriously?

There was one good story in here, but it was about the Daughters of the Dragon, not Spideman.

Wells has often been a good writer, so I really don't know what this is.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
This is pretty good. Long time Ben Reilly fan. Fun times him back. Obvious, Peter will return. But what I'm most happy about is good storytelling. Spencer run PTSD.

[Ashe Catlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben Reilly is back as Spider-Man and I’m all for it, since Amazing Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy he’s not been in a good place both in the comics and by the creative teams themselves, very questionable choices. But finally my Spider-Man, the one I grew up with has taken back the mantle as Peter has been taken out of the equation.

The Beyond corporation has bought the Spider-Man trademark, meaning that as they hold the license there can only be one Spider-Man, their Spider-Man. They’ve chosen Ben, given him a new spiffy new suit and sent him to New York, sending him against various foes such as the U Foes, Kraven and Morbius. The downside to this is that it’s a very interesting direction to have Spider-Man with a company behind him, with lots of new toys and even medical care when he gets hurt. Though the villains, barely appear in this they each have a little tussle and then it’s quickly resolved. Usually we are given a whole arc dedicated to a fight but this just felt kind of pointless in comparison.

Another thing I like is how they handle Ben and Peter’s relationship, it’s back to the brotherly bond which I honestly love. Recently they’ve essentially stuck Ben and Kaine together but with him being alone, it gives his character a chance to breathe and this is essential his redemption arc. Being that this has been written by a writing room of creators, as opposed a single creative team with a singular vision, so far this has been very well put together by no means is it a Frankenstein mess.

[Matthew Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been about three years since I read ASM regularly or an up to date collection. Heard good things about Beyond so I thought I’d give it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe it’s because I’ve been completely burned out by Peter Parker’s inability to she or grow but a comatose Parker with an active Ben Reilly felt fresh to me. A new collection of secondary characters taking the spotlight was a big help too. Can’t wait to keep reading the rest of this run. Might be a red flag to some readers but it reminds me a lot of Brand New Day shooting on every cylinder, trying to see what sticks.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

After an exhausting, long drawn out run by Nick Spencer, Peter Parker takes a break. It's honestly a good time for it. Spencer's run was really uneven and I could use a break from the same Spider-Man stories. So Pete gets sick right after Ben Reilly returns to New York, now working for the Beyond Corporation. Of course, as time goes on it seems like Beyond may be on the not so up and up, pretty much like most corporations. This is a good jumping on point as everything is fresh and new. There are 4 writers and a gazillion artists working on the book to meet the bi-weekly schedule. So sometimes the art isn't up to snuff and sometimes it's great.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not his fault, but Ben Reilly is no Peter Parker. And it's not like Spider-Man can only be Peter (ex. Miles, or that he can be the only Spider-character), but it really suffers from having corporate clone characters take place of the ones we love.

[Joseph Domingo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is the best spider suit, and I like Ben Reilly as a character, but I feel like some of the exploration into the corporate aspects and the Peter in the hospital is kind of weak. Overall worth a read I think!

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite. But I am probably biased because I still remember that big clone saga from the 90s….maybe PTCD post traumatic clone disorder….anyway I will give star next trade a try.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://youtu.be/OtjUJ0mRjuM

[Bren’Dan Culton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first half of beyond- Amazing love every issue. A great jumping on point coming from a previous run that wasn’t all that great imo. Been picking up each issue ever since.

[Brunò · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm AMAZED . A good Spider-Man book finally? Impossible.

Itsy bitsy English/Spanish review:

Well,that's kind of a lie cos it's not a Spider-Man Peter Parker book,it's his lil bro Ben! Despite of my absolute bias towards this character since there's none a damn place he shows up and doesn't end up fucking up the book...this is a really good start. I feel like a dreamer wondering if this can be a fresh start (bam dum tss) for him. I mean,probably it'll end up being BAD but what more can I do if not hope?



I totally skipped Spencer's stuff bcs I don't feel like suffering so not sure how things are going on rn.
Plot has a niiice start. Beyond corp bought spidey's copyright (yeah) and after our hero takes sum days off someone takes the mantle. We see him being differentiated from his counterpart after fighting some of old Spidey enemies his own way. Only problem I've got is that he's acting like an amateur and that's not really accurate since he's done this on the past. He visiting Peter and having some character evolution was sweet.
Pete's side was real good. Mj's back YEEEEEEEEEES FINALLY and we get real gold dialogue from the side cast. Felicia and May were gold here.
Beyond Corp is stupidly SUSS obviously evil but the author could hide it a bit more.

Art was consistent. I liked most of it but some panels did look bad. Some splash panels could've been done way better,some really cool showing off moments were wasted.

I hope this won't follow the usual good start,shitty continuation Spidey books tendency and goes on being cool. Man I wanna read some good Spider-Man stuff. (Even though I don't get Peter rn,mixed feeling bout it)



Spanish:

Bueno,eso es una especie de mentira porque no es un libro de Spider-Man Peter Parker, ¡es su hermanito Ben! A pesar de mi imparcialidad absoluta hacia este personaje,ya que no hay un puto libro donde aparezca y no la re contra cague...este es un muy buen comienzo. Me siento como un soñador preguntándome si esto puede ser un comienzo fresco (bam dum tss) para él. Quiero decir, probablemente terminará siendo MALÍSIMO, pero ¿qué más puedo hacer sino soñar?



Me salté por completo lo de Spencer porque no tengo ganas de sufrir,así que no estoy seguro de cómo van las cosas.
La trama tiene un buen comienzo. Beyond corp compró los derechos de autor de Spidey (sí) y después de que nuestro héroe se toma un par de días libres,alguien toma el manto. Lo vemos diferenciado de su contraparte después de luchar contra algunos de los viejos enemigos de Spidey a su manera. El único problema que tengo es que está actuando como un amateur y eso no es realmente exacto ya es un experimentado. Su visita a Peter y tener algo de evolución del personaje fue un caramelito.
El lado de Pete era realmente bueno. Mj ha vuelto DAAAALE LA CONCHA DE SU MADRE y tenemos un diálogo zarpado del elenco secundario. Felicia y May hicieron ORO acá.
Beyond Corp es estúpidamente SUSS obviamente malos,pero el autor podría disimularlo un poco más.

El arte era consistente. Me gustó la mayor parte,pero algunos paneles se veían mal. Algunos paneles de página entera podrían haberse hecho mucho mejor,pero se desperdiciaron algunos momentos de show-off que podrían haber estado realmente zarpados.

Espero que esto no siga la tendencia buen comienzo,continuación de mierda habitual en los libros de Spidey y siga un buen camino. Loco,quiero leer algo bueno de Spider-Man. (Aunque no esté Peter,tengo sentimientos encontrados al respecto).

[Alex Sarll]

After the dreary slog into which Nick Spencer's Spidey run sagged, I had high hopes for this. Ben Reilly, the Peter Parker clone last seen in Peter David's blackly comic Scarlet Spider, ends up with the rights to the Spider-Man alias, now owned by the Beyond Corporation, best known from the blackly comic Nextwave. Writers here include the likes of Zeb Wells and Kelly Thompson, both of whom have good form on recent black comedy books at Marvel. You may by now have picked up a hint of what sort of book I was expecting, and there are glimmers of that here, but the occasional namecheck of broccoli people feels like a sop in a series that seems to have got frightened of its own potential strangeness and opted to play it safe, Ben engaging in standard Spidey stuff right down to the endless bloody angsting, taking on a succession of uninspiring enemies (Morbius, the U-Foes, Kraven - where they don't even explore the resonances of both characters being fakes of the original, unless of course Kraven has been reset yet again and I missed it, which is entirely possible). The art doesn't help; despite including issues from Sara Pichelli, the umpteen colourists seem to have had a memo to make it all look like a slightly (but only slightly) less naff Greg Land. Things only really come alive on the issue which barely features Reilly, where the absence of top tier IP appears to have resulted in a longer leash for Eleonora Carlini and the increasingly indispensable Jed MacKay, who get to go full mad science kick'splode with the Daughters of the Dragon. But otherwise, a brief run which could have had the same sense of carnival as Superior Spider-Man, had some fun with Reilly trying to be the real Spidey by selling out in a way he never would*, mostly feels like the same old same old.

*Well, except for that brief interlude working with Jonah's website not very long ago. Which ought to be another problem, reusing that idea so soon and making out Peter would never, but TBH my mind is already doing its best to bury most of that run, so this is barely registering as an issue.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Parker in a hospital bed: This was supposed to be the summer of Peter.

Ben Reilly: 🤠

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable trade that features plenty of emotion for Peter, fun and action for Ben Reilly, and very glib hijinks for Misty and Colleen. 3.5 stars.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this revamp...especially after Nick Spencer's overly long run on this title.
Nice concept...enjoyed Daughters of the Dragon..Kraven..U-Foes ..
Let's hope it continues this way

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay... the fact that it took me practically THREE MONTHS to read this book is probably pretty telling. I had to practically force myself to go back to reading this. (And I only did because I don't like leaving a graphic novel unfinished.)

I guess it will be easier to say what I do like: (1) The idea of a "corporate" Spider-Man is interesting, as it does provide different advantages (medical care, extra tech, etc.) for helping innocent people, and then obviously a whole host of conflicts. (2) I don't know much about Ben Reilly, but I do get that this is a redemptive arc, and I'm a sucker for those. (3) Some of the banter and quips did actually make me chuckle.

Now on to what I didn't like (which all carried much more weight in my opinion of this book): (1) WHAT IS WITH COMICS KILLING/REPLACING OUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS RIGHT NOW?!?! I don't know if they're going to actually commit to offing Peter Parker, but considering that the library just received a book called "The Death of Doctor Strange".... Well, my hopes aren't high. DC I know is in the same boat, with their whole "Death of the Justice League"-thing. But, guess what? I've stopped reading DC. And I'm probably not going to be picking up more of Spidey right now either. It's almost as if comic writers don't really GET why we read comics. We want to see the heroes we know and love. We want to see them succeed. We want to see them LIVE. I'm not anti new heroes, AT ALL. HOWEVER--and this is a big HOWEVER--that doesn't mean we want our favorite heroes, who we see the best of ourselves in, who we have nostalgic ties, who MEAN SOMETHING TO US--we don't want them to be replaced. I don't see why we can't have the new characters alongside our favorite heroes. Wouldn't it be so much cooler to see a corporate Spidey alongside classic Spidey? Then we could really dive into that redemptive arc, using both Peter and Ben as mirrors of each other. (2) Peter Parker is dying of radiation poisoning? The guy who got powers by being bitten by a radioactive spider is dying of radiation poisoning? It feels like such a cop-out. If Peter dies, I want it to be by saving innocent people. I want it to be a sacrifice. Spider-Man deserves that from his writers. (3) We're really going to the clone route again, Marvel? Did we learn nothing from the '90s?

I think this is particularly frustrating because when Nick Spencer started on Spidey, it was SO GOOD. And then it just fell a part. (The same is true for a lot of DC; it was SO GOOD with Rebirth, and then, sometime around "No Justice" it just fell a part.)

I may read more of this series, but I feel like I probably won't. At least not for a really long time. There's not really a lot here for me to get excited about.

[Blindzider · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most people who are fans, I have an idea in my head of what a Spider-Man series should be. The character means a lot to me and any time there is a creative change on the title I get a little on edge, bracing myself for a take on my favorite hero that doesn't sit well with me. Way back with the original Clone Saga, I actually quit reading Spider-Man for the first time ever. I had no interest in any of the clones and the idea that Peter might be the clone? Instead of intriguing me to keep reading I ended up quitting.

Fast forward to now, Spencer has just left the title and while there isn't a single creative team on the book, this volume is all about bringing Ben Reilly back. Peter is pushed to the side (again) in order to shine the spotlight back on Ben. I also have an aversion to the many duplicates and variants of Spider-Man as it only dilutes the concept. Yes, it creates a new "Spider-Man" for every generation, but at some point there are just too many.

Anyway, Ben is back and he's a "corporatized" Spider-Man, complete with a technology based suit and some legal requirements with the Beyond Corporation. It sounds suspiciously like the plot for the movie Robocop if anyone remembers that. They've gone too far also with the suit, packing a little too much capability into something that looks like skintight pajamas. This plot is also very similar to the Superior Spider-Man run.

All that aside, there's nothing inherently wrong with these stories, I just don't have any background or interest in the character. Sadly, I think this title is rebooting to number 1 (again) and Ben will be the main character. Looks like I'll be dropping this title...again.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the recent events in Amazing Spider-Man, you'd think Peter would be entitled to a break, especially after the whole Kindred/Harry Osborn thing... and apparently Marvel thought so too. But was a coma the right way to go?
Highlights:
- Another day of web swinging and saving people, when a different Spider-Man swings by Spidey. When confronted, this new Spidey shuts Pete down.... but is later revealed to be Ben Reilly, Peter's clone (if you don't know who Ben Reilly is, you really should go way back and read highlights on the Clone Saga). Ben has been sponsored by the Beyond Corporation, who purchased the rights to the Spider-Man name (Doc Ock had got it trademarked when he was Spidey... again... go back and read).
- Together, both Spideys fight against the U-Foes, and Peter gets radiation poisoning, which puts him in a brief coma. During a moment of clarity, he gives his blessing for Ben to be Spidey, but mostly is unconscious.
- Part of Ben's deal to be Spidey was that his woman, Janine, be released from prison and given a chance to rehabilitate at home. You can see how much she loves him, but I think her stir crazyness is going to become an issue before long.
- Beyond Corporation is definitely more than we are seeing. Very powerful and owning lots of things, I wouldn't doubt if they were very shady.
- Ben does have an amazing suit and is able to train with Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, but even he has trouble against Kraven.
- The end of the Volume gives us two bad things on the horizon: 1) Beyond has set its sights on shutting down Miles, and 2) Aunt May has gone to Doc Ock for help in curing Peter!

Definitely a good series and very much looking forward to the next Volume (is it really coming out monthly?). Strong recommend!

[Sam Whale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took some time off Spider-Man after Slotts run ended but that was a few years ago now and I heard Beyond was a good place to jump back on so here I am.

Beyond has a cool premise, in the 90’s Ben Reily was supposed to become the real Spider-Man permanently and finding reasons for him to take up that mantle once again is a compelling and interesting idea. I also like the idea of Beyond corporation owning the IP for Spider-Man and how that ties back to the Worldwide arc. Overall the main overarching plot shows a lot of premise though it feels early days and I look forwards to seeing where it goes.

The more micro plot lines were less enjoyable. The conflicts agains Kraven and Morbius the Living Vampire both felt very rushed and like they could have done with at least an issue more to breath bud feel more like real threats. There was a rep monster of the week feeling to them, which I didn’t think worked at all especially as we’re told a lot that the stakes are high and that Ben is in a lot of trouble; I just didn’t feel like he was while reading.

The characters were well written. This is a good solid take on Peter thus far, and Ben is really enjoyable to read in Amazing, I really don’t mind him being the lead at all. It’s also nice that we’re getting Misty knight, Colleen Wing and Monica Rambo kicking about, three feet character who are never used enough. I didn’t get much from any of the Beyond employees however which is unfortunate seeing as they are supposed to be Ben’s main side casts.

I’m intrigued but not yet hooked. I’ll certainly pick of volume 2 when it hits shelves but at the same time I’m hoping for a stronger read overall.