Originally Posted by
Pav
I really think everyone nailed it here, regarding the mess that was PAD's Scarlet Spider series. Putting PAD on the book when he was never a fan of Ben Reilly seems obviously dumb now, but perhaps editorial was interested in his pitch. Perhaps it may be said that an intriguing pitch doesn't matter if the writer doesn't hold a certain amount reverence for the character(s) in question. Personally, I was down for the story -- I've always been interested in the notion of Ben exploring a morality beyond what he inherited from Peter -- but PAD's take on it left a lot to be desired. I do agree that the middle point of the series is the best after a beginning that felt all over the place and subplots seemingly tossed aside, with Damnation being a fun tie-in and the Slingers arc being the highlight of the run; Ben's questionable morality and the fallibility of the Slingers attempts at heroics worked better together than almost any other aspect of the series -- and yes, it's sort of ironic that Kaine's subplots were more interesting than Ben's. That being said, I do diverge from others regarding Ben's supporting cast: I kind of liked the idea of Ben creating a "funhouse mirror" version of Peter's family and friends. But, again, I don't think the execution was there to make it compelling enough. As far as the final issues go, it was clear that PAD only had so much room to wrap up plotlines that were still open. Misty being a robot made absolutely no sense to me; Kaine never found out who tried to hurt his girlfriend's brother. And the finale with Ben going crazy? Yes PAD, you're very clever: how ironic that doing the heroic thing caused Ben to become a villain; it's like an inverse of what happened with Peter and the burglar. But again, I think PAD's take simply failed because he never really understood who the character of Ben had been before; therefore, he wasn't able to take him to the next phase of his existence properly as a character.
FWIW, I choose to interpret that final issue differently than what was intended: Mephisto keeps telling Ben he's a villain, he knows he's a villain, etc. Ben insists this isn't true, and of course, as readers, we know that Ben is a true hero based on his past stories regardless of what PAD might want us to believe for the sake of his story. When Abigail brings him back to life, he 1) punches Misty through the (robotic) stomach, realizing he doesn't care that he acted without worrying about killing her; 2) attacks Kaine and his girlfriend, threatening to kill Kaine; and 3) the issue ends with him laughing hysterically to himself until the laughter turns into sobbing. My purposefully incorrect but necessary reading of this is that Ben's laughter/crying is a result of THINKING about attacking Kaine; I purport that we canonize the notion that he merely IMAGINED attacking Kaine, and that his troubled emotions express his realization that he's not E V I L -- but merely that he is a man who is suffering, emotionally and mentally, and that even heroes can want to do harm to others sometimes, as he did to Misty. It makes no sense that an evil man would lament his fall; he would embrace his "freedom" from the "chains of morality" or some ridiculousness like that. But Ben's emotional reaction may indicate a more nuanced understanding regarding his own moral state: someone who is broken but wants to be healed.
I think this works because of how Ben is portrayed in Spidergeddon: he's clearly not evil, or he wouldn't want to be "fixed" in the first place. Instead, he's willing to die a hero in the hopes that he can be brought back in such a way that the trauma he incurred will no longer affect him, which is what happens. But it's almost like he was already "fixed" before it happened within the context of the plot of that story.
In the end, PAD's series was certainly a dud. But it did give us the Scarlet - Slingers team-up I've always wanted, and I do think PAD did some positive work in the advancement of Ben and Kaine's relationship as brothers (esp. under my reading of the final issue).
-Pav, who appreciates the conversation being had...