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Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic, Vol. 5
Collects Amazing Spider-Man Super Special, Spider-Man Super Special, Venom Super Special, Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special, Web of Spider-Man Super Special, New Warriors (1990) #62, Web of Spider-Man #128-129, Amazing Spider-Man (1962) #405-406, Spider-Man (1990) #62-63, Spider-Man Unlimited (1993) #10, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #228-229, Spider-Man Team-Up #1, Spider-Man: The Parker Years.
The saga of Peter Parker and Ben Reilly continues! The true origins of Venom are revealed as his entire race of Symbiotes invades the planet! And as Mary-Jane enters the final stages of her pregnancy, will Peter decide to retire?
The saga of Peter Parker and Ben Reilly continues! The true origins of Venom are revealed as his entire race of Symbiotes invades the planet! And as Mary-Jane enters the final stages of her pregnancy, will Peter decide to retire?
472 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 19, 2011
15 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Mark Waid
3,192 books1,275 followersMark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 2, 2017
Excellent finale to the Clone Saga Epic series! Digging right into the Ben Reilly follow up series which looks even better to me. Was pleased to find a Mark Waid Spider-man/X-men team-up story included in this book. Has Waid ever really sunk his teeth into the X-Men? Would love to read that. Or Spider-Man for that matter. Still one of the best in the biz. Not that the story here is any great shakes. But on the whole I really loved this whole book. Can't wait to get my hands on Vol. 4 which I had to skip over. If you have a copy mail it to me asap.
November 6, 2018
This "saga" may have jumped the shark in the last volume, but, there's still some good material here. If anything, these comics have old-school charm going for them. While the conclusion was rather epic and some of the other issues were good fun, a few felt like filler. Still, I had fun throughout the entire journey...including this last leg.
May 3, 2016
I've completed The Amazing Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic, Vol. 5 and I'm thoroughly unimpressed by the whole journey. As we come to the close, Peter thinks he's a clone (which the fans hated, so it got retconned) and he's quit being Spider-Man, leaving the mantle to the "real" Peter Parker, who now goes by Ben Reilly. Of course, this was never going to stand, so eventually Peter becomes Spider-Man again. I think if anything, the "Clone Saga" will suffer in hindsight from the existence of Dan Slott's Superior Spider-Man which I think readers will agree is the right way to have someone take the mantle of Spider-Man from Peter. But unlike with Slott, there was no unified writer managing the "Clone Saga" and the source, a story arc that Gerry Conway wanted nothing to do with in the first place and went out of his way to disavow after the fact may not have been the most fertile ground for doing a major event.
Of course, I should probably quit while I am ahead, but I have six volumes of The Complete Ben Reilly sitting on my nightstand and I am a glutton for punishment.
Of course, I should probably quit while I am ahead, but I have six volumes of The Complete Ben Reilly sitting on my nightstand and I am a glutton for punishment.
August 26, 2023
The dreaded Clone Saga! This is my review for all 5 volumes since it is really one big story arc.
I grew up reading Spider-Man and loving it but this was the story that ended my comic collecting in the 90's. To be fair there were other factors but this was a big one. I decided I would go back and give it a second chance and see if maybe it wasn't truly as awful as I remember it being. Well yeah it was pretty bad but maybe slightly better than I gave it credit for. To be fair this final volume 5 doesn't really wrap up the story and I have moved onto reading the rest of it that is captured in the Ben Reilly omnibuses. I am hopeful that there is a much better resolution to this clone vs real spidey issue than what these books offered. All in all though it was a fun trip down memory lane but not one I will repeat.
I grew up reading Spider-Man and loving it but this was the story that ended my comic collecting in the 90's. To be fair there were other factors but this was a big one. I decided I would go back and give it a second chance and see if maybe it wasn't truly as awful as I remember it being. Well yeah it was pretty bad but maybe slightly better than I gave it credit for. To be fair this final volume 5 doesn't really wrap up the story and I have moved onto reading the rest of it that is captured in the Ben Reilly omnibuses. I am hopeful that there is a much better resolution to this clone vs real spidey issue than what these books offered. All in all though it was a fun trip down memory lane but not one I will repeat.
March 3, 2016
Just awful. Not even an additional story by Mark Waid could save this. The art is pretty bad. The comics are waaaay too wordy and not in a good way.
The New Warriors issues aren't too bad, but they don't add anything. It seems like there is no reason to include them in the "Clone Saga" other than Ben is there. And Peter shows up complaint that he's a clone. Maybe it'll come around to being relevant.
The New Warriors issues aren't too bad, but they don't add anything. It seems like there is no reason to include them in the "Clone Saga" other than Ben is there. And Peter shows up complaint that he's a clone. Maybe it'll come around to being relevant.
January 28, 2022
A man in a meeting in the early 90s remembered that a Spider-Man clone from 1975 existed and went on to almost plunge Marvel into bankruptcy over it and here I am giving it three stars in earnest because it made me laugh alot. The Clone Saga isn't that bad, parts of it are actually brilliant, and collections one and three at the very least are worth your time if you're a big fan.
June 10, 2019
Alot of filler to the never ending clone saga.
Alot of bad art. Alot of bad plot. A New Spider-Man!
Alot of bad art. Alot of bad plot. A New Spider-Man!
November 20, 2023
It’s just as shlocky and dumb as the previous volume, but at the very least it finally wraps some things up. The art is also more consistently good than in the last book.
June 25, 2021
Reprints Amazing Spider-Man (1) #405-406, Spectacular Spider-Man (1) #228-229, Spider-Man (1) #62-63, Spider-Man Unlimited (1) #10, Web of Spider-Man (1) #128-129, New Warriors (1) #62-64, Spider-Man: Team-Up #1, Amazing Spider-Man Super Special #1, Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special #1, Spider-Man Super Special #1, Venom Super Special #1, and Web of Spider-Man Super Special #1 (June 1995-December 1995). The time has come. Ben Reilly has learned that he is the original Peter Parker and is forging his own way as the Scarlet Spider…but with two Spider-Man patrolling New York City, is there room for both of them? Mary Jane faces a difficult pregnancy, and Peter must make a decision…will he be Spider-Man or hand off the mantle to Ben Reilly?
Written by Tom DeFalco, J.M. DeMatteis, Todd DeZago, Terry Kavanagh, Mike Lackey, Howard Mackie, Tom Peyer, Evan Skolnick, and Mark Waid, Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic—Book 5 is a Marvel Comics superhero collection. Following Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic—Book 4, the entry is the final volume of the series and features art by Claude St. Aubin, Pat Broderick, Roy Burdine, Sal Buscema, Steven Butler, Phil Gosier, Gil Kane, Ken Lashley, Shawn McManus, Angel Medina, Darick Robertson, Roger Robinson, Tod Smith, Kevin West, and Patrick Zircher. The flipbook versions of the Super Special issues do not contain the Planet of the Symbiotes storyline and issues in the volume were also collected as part of Spider-Man Clone Saga Omnibus—Volume 2.
The Clone Saga might have been one of the most divisive Spider-Man storylines. The previous collection angered people by having the Spider-Man that they had followed for years end up being the clone. This entry has everyone’s favorite Spider-Man retiring…and it didn’t go over well.
The story is divided into multiple short mini-series including a collection of Super Specials that were stand-alone one-shots. Part of the problem with the Spider-Man Clone Saga was that there was just too much of it. There were too many issues and too many titles to follow…and with cost and the bottom line of “do I like this story?”, a lot of readers dropped off.
The writers in addition to tweaking Spider-Man was also tweaking his villains. Everything (like in the 1990s) was getting more extreme. Lizard was more mutated. The new Doctor Octopus was more dangerous. Vulture was younger…but still not cool. It was a lot to throw at readers at once.
One of the more interesting aspects of the Clone Saga was Ben Reilly joining the New Warriors as Scarlet Spider. It was a bit odd of a choice with plans for Ben to become the real Spider-Man and you have to wonder whose sales it was supposed to boost. It also never feels like Scarlet Spider really integrates with the New Warriors due to his own insecurities and the problems within the New Warriors at the time.
With time and distance, Spider-Man: The Clone Saga has softened a little. At the time, I didn’t enjoy it and still don’t love it, but I also don’t hate it. I always kind of liked the Ben Reilly character and the Scarlet Spider, but I didn’t like what they did with them. Of course the popular opinion on Ben Reilly and Scarlet Spider created a reversal on the decision that Ben was the original Spider-Man…in classic comic bait and switch. Ben Reilly might end up as Spider-Man at the end of the volume, but don’t get used to it.
Written by Tom DeFalco, J.M. DeMatteis, Todd DeZago, Terry Kavanagh, Mike Lackey, Howard Mackie, Tom Peyer, Evan Skolnick, and Mark Waid, Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic—Book 5 is a Marvel Comics superhero collection. Following Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic—Book 4, the entry is the final volume of the series and features art by Claude St. Aubin, Pat Broderick, Roy Burdine, Sal Buscema, Steven Butler, Phil Gosier, Gil Kane, Ken Lashley, Shawn McManus, Angel Medina, Darick Robertson, Roger Robinson, Tod Smith, Kevin West, and Patrick Zircher. The flipbook versions of the Super Special issues do not contain the Planet of the Symbiotes storyline and issues in the volume were also collected as part of Spider-Man Clone Saga Omnibus—Volume 2.
The Clone Saga might have been one of the most divisive Spider-Man storylines. The previous collection angered people by having the Spider-Man that they had followed for years end up being the clone. This entry has everyone’s favorite Spider-Man retiring…and it didn’t go over well.
The story is divided into multiple short mini-series including a collection of Super Specials that were stand-alone one-shots. Part of the problem with the Spider-Man Clone Saga was that there was just too much of it. There were too many issues and too many titles to follow…and with cost and the bottom line of “do I like this story?”, a lot of readers dropped off.
The writers in addition to tweaking Spider-Man was also tweaking his villains. Everything (like in the 1990s) was getting more extreme. Lizard was more mutated. The new Doctor Octopus was more dangerous. Vulture was younger…but still not cool. It was a lot to throw at readers at once.
One of the more interesting aspects of the Clone Saga was Ben Reilly joining the New Warriors as Scarlet Spider. It was a bit odd of a choice with plans for Ben to become the real Spider-Man and you have to wonder whose sales it was supposed to boost. It also never feels like Scarlet Spider really integrates with the New Warriors due to his own insecurities and the problems within the New Warriors at the time.
With time and distance, Spider-Man: The Clone Saga has softened a little. At the time, I didn’t enjoy it and still don’t love it, but I also don’t hate it. I always kind of liked the Ben Reilly character and the Scarlet Spider, but I didn’t like what they did with them. Of course the popular opinion on Ben Reilly and Scarlet Spider created a reversal on the decision that Ben was the original Spider-Man…in classic comic bait and switch. Ben Reilly might end up as Spider-Man at the end of the volume, but don’t get used to it.
June 26, 2024
This book shows a marked improvement over Volume 4 in the series. While the artwork and hand lettering are still cringe inducing, the writing is more palatable, almost enjoyable at times. I'm sorry, but this is about as glowing as I can get for most '90s Marvel Comics. The '90s were such an ugly decade for superhero comics.
I was surprised to see Gil Kane handling the pencils in Spider-Man No. 63, as I was unaware that he had even ever returned to Marvel after the '70s. His craft had deteriorated with age, but I think that much of it had to do with Tom Palmer's uneven inking. Kane needs a more heavy handed approach for his work, like what John Romita, Sr. did with him on Amazing Spider-Man in the early '70s.
I am typically spoiler free, but for the sake of discussion I will assume that certain outcomes are already known and are part of canon. Peter Parker is the clone and Ben Reilly is the original at this point in time. I can see how this enraged fans at the time, as it feels hollow. This was an editorial decision done to make Spider-Man single and child-free, but was far from perfect. Mary Jane is pregnant with what would become May “Mayday” Parker, a/k/a Spider-Girl in the soon to be alternate future timeline, MC2. Peter Parker steps down as Spider-Man and allows Ben Reilly, the clone whom they reveal to be the real Spider-Man, to take over the webs so he can retire and raise his child.
The clunky writing and garish '90s artwork and early computer color separations are painful to look at. Colorists went crazy with shadings and gradients during this time, which is forgivable since it was new at the time. It doesn't make it any easier for me to look at, but it is forgivable. There is the occasional good issue in here. While I am normally opposed to changing characters, especially those from the '60s, this '90s take on the Lizard is pretty badass. I guess that ol' Doc Connors regressed/ evolved further, and did so with spectacular results. He looked and behaved more like a real lizard. His tail broke off when Spider-Man grabbed him by it, much like a real lizard. He burrows into the ground to escape. Things like this are new developments for the character and his powers, and they all worked. Plus, he looked really cool.
Like how ridiculous and exaggerated the Black Cat looks. Her hair and the fur fringes on her boots and gloves would cause her to trip or otherwise prove to be a hazard. Not only does this go against every previous rendition of her, but it would prove hazardous to one who goes swinging from rooftop to rooftop. '90s fanboys (term used in the original pejorative) loved all of the “detail” from all of these useless extra lines. I am not even going into how incorrect her anatomy is.
So, after 5 volumes and 2,000 pages (give or take a hundred) we have reached the end of the Clone Saga. This is hardly the end, though. I have the first two Complete Ben Reilly Epic trade paperbacks in queue, and they have planned 6 of them. These are all 400+ page books, so the terror will last for quite some time.
I was surprised to see Gil Kane handling the pencils in Spider-Man No. 63, as I was unaware that he had even ever returned to Marvel after the '70s. His craft had deteriorated with age, but I think that much of it had to do with Tom Palmer's uneven inking. Kane needs a more heavy handed approach for his work, like what John Romita, Sr. did with him on Amazing Spider-Man in the early '70s.
I am typically spoiler free, but for the sake of discussion I will assume that certain outcomes are already known and are part of canon. Peter Parker is the clone and Ben Reilly is the original at this point in time. I can see how this enraged fans at the time, as it feels hollow. This was an editorial decision done to make Spider-Man single and child-free, but was far from perfect. Mary Jane is pregnant with what would become May “Mayday” Parker, a/k/a Spider-Girl in the soon to be alternate future timeline, MC2. Peter Parker steps down as Spider-Man and allows Ben Reilly, the clone whom they reveal to be the real Spider-Man, to take over the webs so he can retire and raise his child.
The clunky writing and garish '90s artwork and early computer color separations are painful to look at. Colorists went crazy with shadings and gradients during this time, which is forgivable since it was new at the time. It doesn't make it any easier for me to look at, but it is forgivable. There is the occasional good issue in here. While I am normally opposed to changing characters, especially those from the '60s, this '90s take on the Lizard is pretty badass. I guess that ol' Doc Connors regressed/ evolved further, and did so with spectacular results. He looked and behaved more like a real lizard. His tail broke off when Spider-Man grabbed him by it, much like a real lizard. He burrows into the ground to escape. Things like this are new developments for the character and his powers, and they all worked. Plus, he looked really cool.
Like how ridiculous and exaggerated the Black Cat looks. Her hair and the fur fringes on her boots and gloves would cause her to trip or otherwise prove to be a hazard. Not only does this go against every previous rendition of her, but it would prove hazardous to one who goes swinging from rooftop to rooftop. '90s fanboys (term used in the original pejorative) loved all of the “detail” from all of these useless extra lines. I am not even going into how incorrect her anatomy is.
So, after 5 volumes and 2,000 pages (give or take a hundred) we have reached the end of the Clone Saga. This is hardly the end, though. I have the first two Complete Ben Reilly Epic trade paperbacks in queue, and they have planned 6 of them. These are all 400+ page books, so the terror will last for quite some time.
November 15, 2022
This is the comic that I found on one of my libraries shelves and it changed me forever. Ben Reilly is one of the most complex spider people out there and he's become by far my favorite. His stories have made me think about everything, from questioning yourself to taking risks to feeling alone and excepting who you are, he's amazing and this book gave me such a good understanding of him and has such a good story line that has you always wanting to know what comes next! So if you're wanting to either get into comics or find something new, this is such a good start!!!! And Ben is a character that you always want to know what is going to happen to him once you discover him. And let's face it: You don't mess with the hoodie. (:
July 25, 2022
As usual a mix of good and poor art. And the story tries to untangle itself. Not convinced it manages it.
But I don’t regret reading it.
But I don’t regret reading it.
September 1, 2016
awful....
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews