Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider Appreciation 2020

[Pav]

20200627_154741.jpg

Look who came in the mail today!

As you can see, I've already switched him into his proper attire

-Pav, who didn't know this product even existed as a kid...

[Pav]

So today CBR has an article about forgotten siblings of heroes: https://www.cbr.com/forgotten-marvel...ut-spider-man/

Screenshot_20200703-101752.jpg

CRIMSON SPIDER?!

I thought this was a website about comics!

-Pav, who can't believe the audacity...

[Huntsman Spider]

So today CBR has an article about forgotten siblings of heroes: https://www.cbr.com/forgotten-marvel...ut-spider-man/

Screenshot_20200703-101752.jpg

CRIMSON SPIDER?!

I thought this was a website about comics!

-Pav, who can't believe the audacity...

I am sorely disappointed. This isn't some obscure character, team, or franchise you're dealing with here, it's Spider-Man --- the biggest name in Marvel, if not comics, period. There ought to be at least some greater impetus on getting stuff related to him right.

[classicgmer]

So today CBR has an article about forgotten siblings of heroes: https://www.cbr.com/forgotten-marvel...ut-spider-man/

Screenshot_20200703-101752.jpg

CRIMSON SPIDER?!

I thought this was a website about comics!

-Pav, who can't believe the audacity...

How do you even get this wrong?? No matter what character profile you want to use to look up information on him his Scarlet Spider moniker is consistently one of the first things mentioned about and is most likely the first image someone would spot of him.


I think the author of the article was trying to be funny or something.

[Spiderfang]

It just further cements the belief I've had that no one really gives a crap about Ben or the Scarlet Spider name.

[Pav]

It just further cements the belief I've had that no one really gives a crap about Ben or the Scarlet Spider name.

Except for all of his fans - especially those who count him as their favorite character, of which there is more than a few!

-Pav, whose favorite character in all of fiction will always be Ben Reilly...

[Celgress]

Except for all of his fans - especially those who count him as their favorite character, of which there is more than a few!

-Pav, whose favorite character in all of fiction will always be Ben Reilly...

Exactly, I think it is a shame what had been done with Ben's character since his return. Honestly, I'd have rather he stayed "dead".

[Pav]

Exactly, I think it is a shame what had been done with Ben's character since his return. Honestly, I'd have rather he stayed "dead".

Wouldn't have had nearly as much to talk about over the past couple of years though.

-Pav, who won't let a bad story get him down...

[Celgress]

Wouldn't have had nearly as much to talk about over the past couple of years though.

-Pav, who won't let a bad story get him down...

Granted, but a big part of me still often wishes Ben's return (following such a prolonged hiatus) hadn't been as a deluded, semi-genocidal villain.

[Huntsman Spider]

Granted, but a big part of me still often wishes Ben's return (following such a prolonged hiatus) hadn't been as a deluded, semi-genocidal villain.

Same here. At least there's another article on CBR, more recently, that acknowledges 90s-era Ben had the better fashion sense between him and Peter.

[Pav]

Same here. At least there's another article on CBR, more recently, that acknowledges 90s-era Ben had the better fashion sense between him and Peter.

One of the best parts of that era was the budding relationship between Ben and Peter, and the teasing about costumes and whatnot.

I really miss their brotherhood.

-Pav, who gets why writers may be wary to go back to it...

[classicgmer]

Wouldn't have had nearly as much to talk about over the past couple of years though.

-Pav, who won't let a bad story get him down...

Personally i feel like it's easier to maintain this type of positive attitude when dealing with characters who have are utlized/seen all the time like the Avengers, X-men, FF, Spider-man and so on. Even with properties that are not continuously in publication as much as the big guns like say Iron Fist, Punisher or Black Panther i personally feel a subpar story is easier to forgive because you know in the not too far off future they're going to get a crack at another ongoing.


Ben had decades of inactivity and when they finally did bring him back we got some really mediocre stories. (and that's me being generous). Outside of cameo appearances there's no real telling when we'll see him again and there's no telling what they'll want to do with him to differentiate from Peter and that doesn't exactly fill me with a ton of confidence as to how he'd be written.

[Huntsman Spider]

Personally i feel like it's easier to maintain this type of positive attitude when dealing with characters who have are utlized/seen all the time like the Avengers, X-men, FF, Spider-man and so on. Even with properties that are not continuously in publication as much as the big guns like say Iron Fist, Punisher or Black Panther i personally feel a subpar story is easier to forgive because you know in the not too far off future they're going to get a crack at another ongoing.


Ben had decades of inactivity and when they finally did bring him back we got some really mediocre stories. (and that's me being generous). Outside of cameo appearances there's no real telling when we'll see him again and there's no telling what they'll want to do with him to differentiate from Peter and that doesn't exactly fill me with a ton of confidence as to how he'd be written.

Good points, sadly, especially since he was tied to a period in Spider-Man's published history that Marvel for a long time tried to pretend never really happened. That wouldn't necessarily fill me with confidence for how his character could be handled, either.

[Spiderfang]

Personally i feel like it's easier to maintain this type of positive attitude when dealing with characters who have are utlized/seen all the time like the Avengers, X-men, FF, Spider-man and so on. Even with properties that are not continuously in publication as much as the big guns like say Iron Fist, Punisher or Black Panther i personally feel a subpar story is easier to forgive because you know in the not too far off future they're going to get a crack at another ongoing.


Ben had decades of inactivity and when they finally did bring him back we got some really mediocre stories. (and that's me being generous). Outside of cameo appearances there's no real telling when we'll see him again and there's no telling what they'll want to do with him to differentiate from Peter and that doesn't exactly fill me with a ton of confidence as to how he'd be written.

He should have been brought back sooner when all of the teasing first began, we could have gotten numerous subpar to decent stories within that time and editorial wouldn't be so hesitant on doing NOTHING with Ben for another almost 20 years.

[SpideyClone]

At this point, Ben deserves at least another mini-series like Lost Years or Redemption to chronicle his own redemption. Peter David's attempts to convey some sort of interior conflict never rang true, especially the way the series ended. We got kind of a whitewash when Otto resurrected Ben to his default state, good old Ben was back, but that didn't feel earned either. I'd like to see Ben and Kaine on the road, Ben looking for redemption and Kaine as his conscience, but failing at it from time to time too because his own path is also a work in progress.