AMAZING #75 Review and Spoilers: To Benfinity and Beyond!!!

[Blanks]

Just got my 2 copies of 75 today. Really enjoyed the explanation on how Beyond Corp got the trademark to the Spider-Man name. Glad to see that Otto’s reign as Superior and the fall of Parker Industries still has has impact on Pete’s life, in the long term. Publication wise, Parker Industries has been out of the books for what? 4 years now?

Really, really loved the banter back and forth between the two “brothers” as they teamed up. Honestly, it shouldn’t have taken Marvel this long, close to two decades to bring Ben back. This is what I have been wanting and missing in my Spidy books. This dynamic. In one issue, it took me back to the days when I was buying floppies from the gas station reading about Ben and Peter. Even though I have relived those stories in the trades I’ve bought the past few years, I have missed this dynamic.

So much untapped potential of untold Ben stories we have seen from that preview page at the very end for Ben Reilly Spider-Man issue 1. Honestly, Janurary 2022 can not get here fast enough in that regards. This is what my collection has been demanding for the past decade-plus.

[TinkerSpider]

To those complaining about Ben being a model of white privilege… then don’t read it. Why does every comic now need a diversity mission statement? Are blonde characters not allowed anymore? Someone tell Johnny Storm. If you want diversity in comics, you have Miles, Silk and plenty of others. This is why people complain about comics being too woke… everything is so politically correct nowadays. Representation is great and I like that people can relate to characters that weren’t available before… but stop complaining about established characters that also have a fan base, especially based on something as petty as a hair color or a storyline where the character gets corporate sponsorship. Sorry, rant over.

EDIT: “appropriate… superhero culture.” Now I’ve heard everything.

It was sarcasm using buzz words, because Ben as a symbol of disadvantaged peoples is highly, unbelievably risible, but thanks for playing!

[The Negative Zone]

If Peter sees Ben as a full-fledged human and his brother than yeah he should be able to use the Spider-Man name. Simple as that really.

[Blanks]

Also another thought on the issue; since Peter got crazy sick from the radiation, it makes me wonder if Ben will get Beyond to front the hospital bill for Peter/Spider-Man being hospitalized. It’ll be obvious that Ben rushes Peter to get aid, and from future covers we know Peter is in the hospital. I wonder if this will also help make Beyond appear more dubious towards Ben, if they will try to exploit the knowledge (that is) if they discover that Peter is Spider-Man as well (if they don’t already know that is).

[Frontier]

If Peter sees Ben as a full-fledged human and his brother than yeah he should be able to use the Spider-Man name. Simple as that really.

I mean, it would be unfair of him to be okay with Miles and then just give Ben grief about it.

Granted I also believe that in the context of ASM it should only really be about one Spider-Man at the end of the day.

[TinkerSpider]

being blonde and white doesn't preclude someone from being in a minority group.

in-universe? clones could make the case as a minority. robots and aliens too. if alex summers can be considered an MU minority, i don't see why ben reilly can't.

analogies aren't 1:1s

Alex Summers is hated and feared by general society for a trait he was born with and cannot change - y’know, kinda how the LGBTQ+ community is treated - which is part of the US basis for determining who belongs to a protected class. Ben is neither hated nor feared by general society just on the basis of who he is.

depends on the context. the context i'm putting forward is that minorities are now pushing to center themselves in advertising, marketing, business, politics, entertainment etc. in response, many corporations are taking advantage of representation for their own gains.

The Beyond Corporation is putting Ben behind a mask. They just want the Spider-Man name, and in fact would be peachy keen if the general population thought it was Peter behind the mask. They are not saying, “hey, look, we’re so progressive we’re hiring a clone!!!1!!1!” They would probably - and will probably - bury that fact. To use your analogy and to continue the LGBTQ+ example, it’s as if a corporation hired a lesbian as CEO but required her to be married to a man and appear as if she’s in a heterosexual relationship in public.

hmm, i agree that would be a stretch of the analogy for anyone to make.

Glad to see we agree.

but if a blonde white american man can't be a stand-in member of a disadvantaged group, then surely a brunette white american man can't be a stand in for a dispossessed native population?

A) Peter is often coded as Jewish, although he is also coded as Christian.
B) Didn’t say he was. I said Ben’s actions were that of a colonizer who comes in and tells the person already occupying the space to get out/be subservient. Also, historical dispossessed native populations include Celts and Picts - as well as the Scottish and Irish until well into the 20th century.

in the context of the story and backstory, we have a character who has laregly been denied structural or systemic power finally coming into agency (after a few failed attempts). the "territory already occupied" is by a character who already benefits from existing structural privilege now making space (again).

Ben hasn’t been denied structural or systemic power at all. He’s a white American man in the 20th/21st centuries.

the coloniser/race stuff seems to be a limiting definition of minority group in context of my original point but i get that it's (apparently) your particular reading with a colonialism focus.

No, it was me making fun.

personally, i'd put otto and superior into the coloniser role, but even that's a stretch for me

It’s a stretch because Otto is a murderer (he thought he killed Peter and certainly intended to do so) as well as an identity thief, which makes him, alas, just a garden variety sociopathic murderer/crook.

but absolutely, each to their own.

Absolutely.

[Spiderfan001]

I like my Spider-Men just a little jaded and world-weary while still firmly on the optimistic side.

Ben doesn't come off as a jerk but he looks pretty naive and genre blind for a guy with the cumulative knowledge of early Spider-Man life, several years spent as a clone tormented by men in the shadows and then being a big corp villain himself just months ago in book time.

I agree w/ this.Shows to me that while Ben has Peter's memories he necessarily doesn't learn from all of them.The diff. b/w reading vs memorizing a book is an analogy that comes to mind.
You can get the gist of the book by reading a.k.a. Ben as in the big stuff like Ben and great power/responsibility but there is a lot you only keep and use when you memorize.

This is exactly it. Let him have his own identity.

Edit...just throwing this out there....Did Beyond hire the U-Foes for 'reasons'?

I think so.

1)They have the money to do so
2)The U-foes attacked and then dipped w/out taking anything else
3)Beyond knew that they would deal w/ radiation and buffed his suits radiation shielding beforehand
4)They have motive.Aside from them being blatantly evil they also own the Spider-man trademark and if Miles solicits are remotely accurate they want him to be the only one
5)Not as concrete but I hope they reveal it was a specific radiation attack that Peter would be harmed by, not to mention using an AOE attack is smart against someone as fast/agile + Spider-sense as Peter.Still they could have moved but it's a small detail

Also another thought on the issue; since Peter got crazy sick from the radiation, it makes me wonder if Ben will get Beyond to front the hospital bill for Peter/Spider-Man being hospitalized. It’ll be obvious that Ben rushes Peter to get aid, and from future covers we know Peter is in the hospital. I wonder if this will also help make Beyond appear more dubious towards Ben, if they will try to exploit the knowledge (that is) if they discover that Peter is Spider-Man as well (if they don’t already know that is).

Still don't get why horizon or so many science superhero's/sorcerer's won't heal him.
Will have to see about identity, hopefully they don't know and don't find out.

I mean, it would be unfair of him to be okay with Miles and then just give Ben grief about it.

Granted I also believe that in the context of ASM it should only really be about one Spider-Man at the end of the day.

I think it's more Ben's been a bit unstable and the corporation thing w/ the trademark that has him questioning it.He didn't even say no, he just said it was a lot to take in.

Yeah, I'm hoping they have Ben(and Janine) walk out of Spider-man, ASM and even NYC to get a new start.A simpler start, w/ Scarlet Spider still helping people ofc.His/Peter's core beliefs and Ben's own distinct growth together to create a hero solo we'd love to read.

[TinkerSpider]

If Peter sees Ben as a full-fledged human and his brother than yeah he should be able to use the Spider-Man name. Simple as that really.

I don’t think Peter would have a problem with the concept per se. He’s fine with Miles. He does think of Ben as a brother.

What he does have a problem with:

A) Ben makes it clear he’s going to appear as THE Spider-Man - in other words, he’s not becoming his own version of Spider-Man, like Miles did, but taking over as Peter’s version of Spider-Man, since Beyond Corporation has the trademark to Peter’s Spider-Man.

B) Ben told him as an already done fact. He took away Peter’s agency and even asked him to stand down as Spider-Man.

C) Ben will be serving a big conglomerate and acting on their values, not acting on his own “with great power must also come great responsibility” even though he quotes it at Peter. Big conglomerates have only caused Peter grief.

So IMO, Peter has every right to be wary.

[ZeroBG82]

B) Ben told him as an already done fact. He took away Peter’s agency and even asked him to stand down as Spider-Man.

No, this straight up didn't happen and you're reading your own bias into a scene that said no such thing.

What Ben did do, was point out that in terms of formative memories (and thus personality), they are the same. Then he asked Pete a simple question: Could you stay on the sidelines? He wasn't asking Peter to stand down, or suggesting he should. He was making a point. Peter can't NOT be Spider-Man. When he sees people in trouble he HAS to help, it's a compulsion. Ben is exactly the same. Ben MUST do something to help because it's the core of who he is.

Ben never asked or implied that Peter should stand down. He just let Peter know that he, Ben Reilly, is also incapable of sitting on the sidelines and not acting when he sees people in trouble. As long as there is a Peter Parker AND a Ben Reilly, there are ALREADY two Spider-Men. Ben isn't taking away any agency from Peter, he's merely asserting his own. Which he has every right to do. He didn't ask to be created, he had no say in who or what he is. But he is every bit as valid a person as Peter. And that means being true to himself just as we'd expect Peter to be.

[Chris0013]

No, this straight up didn't happen and you're reading your own bias into a scene that said no such thing.

What Ben did do, was point out that in terms of formative memories (and thus personality), they are the same. Then he asked Pete a simple question: Could you stay on the sidelines? He wasn't asking Peter to stand down, or suggesting he should. He was making a point. Peter can't NOT be Spider-Man. When he sees people in trouble he HAS to help, it's a compulsion. Ben is exactly the same. Ben MUST do something to help because it's the core of who he is.

Ben never asked or implied that Peter should stand down. He just let Peter know that he, Ben Reilly, is also incapable of sitting on the sidelines and not acting when he sees people in trouble. As long as there is a Peter Parker AND a Ben Reilly, there are ALREADY two Spider-Men. Ben isn't taking away any agency from Peter, he's merely asserting his own. Which he has every right to do. He didn't ask to be created, he had no say in who or what he is. But he is every bit as valid a person as Peter. And that means being true to himself just as we'd expect Peter to be.

All of that doesn't mean he has to do it as Spider-Man. He can choose a different identity.

[ZeroBG82]

All of that doesn't mean he has to do it as Spider-Man. He can choose a different identity.

But why should he have to? You are arguing that Ben is invalid as a person, whether you realize it or not. He is Spider-Man. He always has been, from the moment of his creation. Even Peter recognized this during the Clone Saga, though obviously under conditions that murk the waters a fair bit.

What you are saying is that Ben is lesser and should have to accept being lesser merely by the byproduct of how he was born. Separate but equal. That's simply not the case, at all.

[JustLuke]

All of that doesn't mean he has to do it as Spider-Man. He can choose a different identity.

But Ben THINKS he has to be Spider-Man to do it, is the thing. I think a big part of this is going to be him realizing he doesn't need to be Spider-Man to help others in need.
Also, as Ben mentions in the book, if he didn't agree to it, Beyond would've just gotten someone else to be their Spider-Man, and that could easily have disastrous consequences. The Spider-Man mantle is better off with Ben who has Uncle Ben and Aunt May's lessons in the back of his head as well instead of potentially someone else who doesn't, someone who has all the power yet none of the responsibility, no? Either way, Ben is likely going to do things he doesn't fundamentally agree with, and I'm personally very interested to see how he's going to react to it.

[rward777]

Also another thought on the issue; since Peter got crazy sick from the radiation, it makes me wonder if Ben will get Beyond to front the hospital bill for Peter/Spider-Man being hospitalized. It’ll be obvious that Ben rushes Peter to get aid, and from future covers we know Peter is in the hospital. I wonder if this will also help make Beyond appear more dubious towards Ben, if they will try to exploit the knowledge (that is) if they discover that Peter is Spider-Man as well (if they don’t already know that is).

That radiation could cause Peter to lose his powers

[David Walton]

I mean, it would be unfair of him to be okay with Miles and then just give Ben grief about it.

Granted I also believe that in the context of ASM it should only really be about one Spider-Man at the end of the day.

With Peter, his reaction is always about what he's currently going through.

Given Harry's recent death, Peter needed to blow off steam--and seeing a mysterious guy in Spidey threads hit his last nerve.

I really love how things played out. Peter understood where Ben was coming from quickly, even if he's not sold on the concept. And man, will he ever be pissed when it becomes clear the Beyond Corp is responsible for his recent predicament!

[David Walton]

That radiation could cause Peter to lose his powers

Portland Oregon, here the Parkers come!

Well okay probably not. But that scenario would have echoes of THE FINAL ADVENTURE...(a great comic, incidentally)

There's also the possibility--and it's admittedly a longshot--that Peter's reaction to the radiation and further testing could lead to the question of who is really the clone being revisited...