Ben Reilly: the Scarlet Spider #11 Spoilers/Review

[Pav]

PAD continues to throw a bunch of story into our faces each month - and even though this issue felt like a quick read, I also feel like there's a lot to digest from the issue.

1) Many of us called it wrong on Ben's degeneration! Not just an illusion! ~I liked Cassandra's thought that perhaps a super-villain did it

2) Cassandra is not the kind of comic book character who can't tell that that one guy who disappears is actually the hero: she's above all of that. I wonder if she will prove to be a character that rises above tropes and such things - if she'll have staying power as a character with depth - or if she'll eventually just be another forgettable face from Ben's past. I liked seeing that she was not only okay with Ben's heroing, but that she thought better of Ben because of it! Which leads me to a thought I had during my read: can Ben be "good" without simply being Peter Parker in everything but name? Can Ben make "good" decisions that Peter wouldn't make? Or will Peter's choices ultimately prove to be Ben's choices as well if he wants to be righteous, good, etc and etc etc? (OH, and I love the twist that's happened regarding Ben telling Cassandra to call him Peter.)

~What I like about Cassandra's character is that she was initially presented as this ruthless tycoon - but we see now that she cares about more than herself and her daughter. Perhaps she can show Ben how to straddle that line without becoming a villain.

3) Thorne is a bastard and has the Slingers totally played - but getting played is just as characteristic of the team as anything, so I don't mind.

But who cares about Thorne, really? We got shoveled so much Slingers goodness into our eyebulbs today!!!

4) We learn that this "Silas" character got the Hornet costume from the Black Marvel. History note: The Black Marvel is a golden age(?) superhero who, in the original Slingers comic, gave the titular heroes their costumes and, in some cases, their powers as well. He was able to do this with the help of none other than MEPHISTO - and why the BIG RED ONE used the one-time costumes of Peter Parker was never explained. He ended up almost losing his soul to MEPHISTO but the the Slingers saved it by giving up being heroes (more or less). The Black Marvel should be dead, sure, but Silas implies that he should be dead too. CRAZY!!!!

5) I liked the art okay, especially the portrayals of Ricochet and Dusk - but man, the entrance of Prodigy did not look majestic at all to me. He looked like a lump. AND NO CAPE WHERE'S THE CAPE GUYS THE CAPE IS THE THING YOU KNOW, THE THING THAT...

*cough* sorry.

6) "I'm in costume, Johnathon. Call me Prodigy." <---- this right here. I <3 you PAD

7) But wait! Prodigy knows Silas? Prodigy knows the Black Marvel is back?! The BLACK MARVEL PUT THEM IN TOUCH WITH THORNE?!

What. is. going. on.

8) I like how they're displaying Dusk's powers as a teleporter - it seems like they're sort of combining it with the original Dusk's ability to blend completely into the shadows.

9) But wait again! Prodigy knows what's up with Slate: something called the "Diogenes Initiative." Interesting word choice, considering Prodigy has been linked with the Avengers Initiative these past few years; plus, the guy should have no powers at this point. Interesting choice to visually show us that Prodigy and Slate can both take on bullets - a hint, perhaps, to show us that Prodigy got his powers the same way?

OKAY, what do we make of all this?

This issue really excites me as a Slingers fan because it seems like PAD is doing his best to tie them into the narrative by knowing other characters, by having them have their own mysteries that need solving, by giving them so much panel time!

We now know that their former mentor, the Black Marvel, is pulling the strings behind things. We know that there are two more issues under the "SLINGERS RETURN" storyhead, and that two issues after that Ben will be participating in the DAMNATION event - an event whose central villain is none other than

M
E
P
H
I
S
T
O
!!

It seems to me that PAD is tying every aspect of this book together: everything has to do with life and death and how we are affected by the morality of our choices. We still have Mysterio and his daughter in the background, as well as Kaine! And they have ties to death as well!

I'm so excited to see how PAD weaves it all together - what strings he's going to pull each issue, which mystery will be answered and which kept on for another issue. He's really nailing this book right now.

Oh, and one more thing:

10) Do you think Ben will meet Death's sister, Life?

Can't wait to hear what you guys think of the issue!

-Pav, who also really enjoyed today's new issue of RUNAWAYS...

[Michael Watkins]

so who is Hornet?

[Pav]

so who is Hornet?

That, my friend, is a good question!

I suspect we'll find out in an issue or two.

-Pav, who is intrigued but misses Eddie...

[Huntsman Spider]

Some random named Silas. Beyond that, good issue was good, and I am looking forward to how this arc wraps up in the next two issues. And if Mephisto gets involved . . . will there be any references to his previous targeting of Peter Parker, and will they affect how or if he chooses to deal with Ben?

[Daska]

I really enjoyed this issue, but I miss Kaine I hope he comes back soon.

[Huntsman Spider]

I really enjoyed this issue, but I miss Kaine I hope he comes back soon.

Same here.

[classicgmer]

Some random named Silas. Beyond that, good issue was good, and I am looking forward to how this arc wraps up in the next two issues. And if Mephisto gets involved . . . will there be any references to his previous targeting of Peter Parker, and will they affect how or if he chooses to deal with Ben?

If PAD writes a glorious scene/encounter showing how a "Peter Parker" is suppose to react when confronted with a deal from Mephisto I might just have to forgive Ben's earlier doucebaggery.

[Scott Taylor]

I like how Ben and "Marlo" are on a first name basis and she comes when he calls. She likes him.

[Huntsman Spider]

If PAD writes a glorious scene/encounter showing how a "Peter Parker" is suppose to react when confronted with a deal from Mephisto I might just have to forgive Ben's earlier doucebaggery.

Wouldn't be the first time Ben was set up to be the "superior" Peter Parker. Hell, it goes all the way back to his first appearances as Ben, when he expressed horror at the idea of Spider-Man making a deal with a killer like Venom and set out to take Venom down himself.

I like how Ben and "Marlo" are on a first name basis and she comes when he calls. She likes him.

Yeah, she probably does, except how's that going to work out for him, if you look at what happened with Thanos and Deadpool?

[boots]

Wouldn't be the first time Ben was set up to be the "superior" Peter Parker. Hell, it goes all the way back to his first appearances as Ben, when he expressed horror at the idea of Spider-Man making a deal with a killer like Venom and set out to take Venom down himself.

i never really saw that as "superior", more that life and our choices sometimes take us down paths that we couldn't anticipate or even appreciate.

ben was effectively peter from 5 years prior, so he didn't have the same context to view peter's choices through. if they really had swapped places and "peter" went on the road and "ben" was spider-man... he would have made the same choices.

i think it's a great moment of self reflection for both characters. ben gets to see where he would have been, and peter gets to see how far he's come.

and i think the "me" from 5 or 10 years ago would be pretty surprised by some of the life choices i've made up to now too.

[Scott Taylor]

Wouldn't be the first time Ben was set up to be the "superior" Peter Parker. Hell, it goes all the way back to his first appearances as Ben, when he expressed horror at the idea of Spider-Man making a deal with a killer like Venom and set out to take Venom down himself.

Kaine is much more like that right now than Ben. In an odd twist.

[Huntsman Spider]

i never really saw that as "superior", more that life and our choices sometimes take us down paths that we couldn't anticipate or even appreciate.

ben was effectively peter from 5 years prior, so he didn't have the same context to view peter's choices through. if they really had swapped places and "peter" went on the road and "ben" was spider-man... he would have made the same choices.

i think it's a great moment of self reflection for both characters. ben gets to see where he would have been, and peter gets to see how far he's come.

and i think the "me" from 5 or 10 years ago would be pretty surprised by some of the life choices i've made up to now too.

Point taken.

Kaine is much more like that right now than Ben. In an odd twist.

Yeah, that is pretty odd.

[protege]

Haven’t read it yet, but geez, another event? How big will it be? I may have to drop the book if it ties in too heavily to it. I am so tired of marvel and their all encompassing events.

[Kurolegacy]

Haven’t read it yet, but geez, another event? How big will it be? I may have to drop the book if it ties in too heavily to it. I am so tired of marvel and their all encompassing events.

It's just a mini event similar to how Spider-Verse or Last Days of Magic were "events". Only books it seems to affect are Doctor Strange and Scarlet Spider (since it's set in Vegas, the setting of the story).

[Scarlet-Spider]

So it's about time Marvel reprints the Slingers ongoing from the early 2000s in a trade.