Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider #25. SPOILER WARNING.

[Batman Begins 2005]

So I was able to read this earlier instead of next week and it pissed me right off. Pissed at what happens to Reilly and pissed I saw this through till the end. Poor Ben and Kaine gets offed for what, fifth or sixth time?

[Hypestyle]

Um, what happens, exactly? Lol...

[Reilly]

I'm dissapointed and angry. What is the point of bringing character back from the dead if you're going to destroy him and piss off his fanbase? It would be better if he had stayed dead and I hope he'll die. I can't stand it and I don't want to see him like this. To me, it's like OMD. Worst thing ever.
Poor Ben, never really came back.

[SuperiorIronman]

So you mean to say that the direction Slott took Ben in that wasn't very liked was ultimately what they did to close out the book? So all in all the book meandered on good and evil, and didn't even give a satisfying conclusion to the developments from Clone Conspiracy? Ben's just evil?

Are they still under the impression Clone Conspiracy was good?

[HypnoHustler]

This issue was a travesty. I have no idea what PAD was thinking. Did he think this was edgy and it’d subvert expectations? Because that doesn’t mean it’s good writing. I’ve seen writers destroy previous writers’ runs, but I’ve never seen a writer destroy his OWN run like this. What a nhilistic, cynical and insulting ending. I know PAD can be great, so I’m wondering if editorial had a hand in this. Maybe they’re setting Ben up to be cannon-fodder in Spidergeddon.

Fwiw, I don’t think Kaine is dead. But besides that the issue was trash. Even the non-evil Ben stuff. The Abigail stuff was so convoluted, I have NO idea what her deal is. And I never want to see her, or Diva, or June, or Slade ever again. I liked Dusk and Kaine’s new girlfriend (that Ben forced to stab Kaine with her prosthetic hand smh). But the rest of the supporting cast was one-note trash. Also that Misty robot came out of nowhere and made zero sense.

[Miles To Go]

Maybe they’re setting Ben up to be cannon-fodder in Spidergeddon

It would make sense, Spidergeddon seems to be tying up all the loose ends from Clone Conspiracy so far.

[HypnoHustler]

So you mean to say that the direction Slott took Ben in that wasn't very liked was ultimately what they did to close out the book? So all in all the book meandered on good and evil, and didn't even give a satisfying conclusion to the developments from Clone Conspiracy? Ben's just evil?

Are they still under the impression Clone Conspiracy was good?

Unfortunately Slott has a lot of friends and influence in the Spidey office, even though he’s no longer running things. I think Spidergeddon is still his show, no matter what Gage says. Maybe Slott wants Ben to stay evil, just like he wants Peter to stay a single man-child. Who knows...

[wleakr]

Can we get a calm and collected summary spoiler in this thread? LOL!!

FWIW they can ALWAYS bring clones back.

[Miles To Go]

FWIW they can ALWAYS bring clones back.

This isn't about bringing clones back, it's about saving Ben's soul from corruption (and yes this is the second Spider Man story in a row involving Mephisto which has resulted in this)

[Scarlet Spider-Man]

What the actual F, PAD?!

This issue was just horrible. HORRIBLE! I really wish I hadn't been buying the trades now. Will try to sell them and hopefully get some of my money back.

Quick summary (SPOILERS!):

- Ben is taken over by some form of Abigail and beats Mephisto, then restores Ben to life despite Ben fighting against it because he doesn't want to turn evil
- Misty shows up for some reason and Ben punches a hole through her, revealing a robot. Misty was apparently never a real person. Ben realizes that his first instinct was to kill Misty, and he liked it
- Cassandra offers Aunt June a free room and food for life to make amends for accidentally killing Ben, since her memories were restored
- Cassandra goes back to Abigail's room to find her alive and well
- Kaine is agonizing over killing Ben when a hooded figure shows up, grabs Kaine's girlfriend's hook arm, and stabs Kaine multiple times with it, then threatens to finish the job if Kaine doesn't leave Vegas
- The hooded figure is revealed to be Ben, who laughs maniacally, then falls into a fetal position and starts crying
- The End

Not only did this issue defecate all over Ben Reilly, but the plot was confusing and rushed and the art was terrible. Worst Spider-comic since OMD.

[HypnoHustler]

There’s spoiler breakdowns in the Ben Reilly appreciation thread just below from me and others. Don’t feel like copy and pasting (or rewriting) so just go there.

It’s rare that comics make me upset to the point I’m angry. The Gathering of Five/Final Chapter when Aunt May’s touching death was retconned did it. Sins Past did it. OMD did it. Clone Conspiracy did it. And now we can add this pile of crap Scarlet Spider #25 to the list. This might be the most disappointing of all, because I had a lot of faith in PAD and how it seemed he was trying to undo the damage of CC. And he was partially successful by the end of the run. And not only did he throw that all away, but he did it in a way that it’ll be really tough for any future writers to undo.

[Miles To Go]

Quick, call Lewis

[Scarlet Spider-Man]

I think I'm done with Marvel. I'm sick of putting up with their anti-Ben Reilly BS.

I'm definitely boycotting anything by Dan Slott and PAD going forward.

[Spiderfang]

What the actual F, PAD?!

This issue was just horrible. HORRIBLE! I really wish I hadn't been buying the trades now. Will try to sell them and hopefully get some of my money back.

Quick summary (SPOILERS!):

- Ben is taken over by some form of Abigail and beats Mephisto, then restores Ben to life despite Ben fighting against it because he doesn't want to turn evil
- Misty shows up for some reason and Ben punches a hole through her, revealing a robot. Misty was apparently never a real person. Ben realizes that his first instinct was to kill Misty, and he liked it
- Cassandra offers Aunt June a free room and food for life to make amends for accidentally killing Ben, since her memories were restored
- Cassandra goes back to Abigail's room to find her alive and well
- Kaine is agonizing over killing Ben when a hooded figure shows up, grabs Kaine's girlfriend's hook arm, and stabs Kaine multiple times with it, then threatens to finish the job if Kaine doesn't leave Vegas
- The hooded figure is revealed to be Ben, who laughs maniacally, then falls into a fetal position and starts crying
- The End

Not only did this issue defecate all over Ben Reilly, but the plot was confusing and rushed and the art was terrible. Worst Spider-comic since OMD.

The only saving grace to this disasterpiece would be if the hooded "Ben" wound up being another clone or perhaps Spidercide, but I doubt it since Marvel has the biggest hate boner for Ben Reilly for some reason.

[Batman Begins 2005]

No, just no:

https://whateveraspidercan.com/2018/...spider-25/amp/