AMAZING #77 Review and Spoilers: The Benaissance Continues

[Captain Craig]

I too wonder what larger role Misty and Colleen have with Beyond. Did Beyond just scoop up heroes after Iron Man's team returned from space? What other heroes might be on the payroll?

The Felecia cameo was nice

Due to Previews we all know who May is going to be calling.

I wonder if Beyond has done something to Morbius? This appearance does not sync with how we've last seen him in the truncated series he had that was cancelled mostly due to Covid pandemic starting. This Mobius was way to animalistic for me.

[Rob London]

I wish Morbius was a REAL vampire instead of some guy with an illness who needs to drink fresh plasma to alleviate symptoms, or whatever VINO (Vampire In Name Only) he’s supposed to be. That’s always bothered me about the character. Comic Code has been dead for decades. Time for Marvel to retcon him as a real vampiric being.

I don't see the point of that. Marvel has a zillion vampire villains, but what sets Morbius apart is that he's the living vampire. If he's just another vampire, then he's just Blade fodder.

[Pav]

So. Between the leverage Beyond is putting together on Ben (Janine, whatever he's saying in his sessions with Kafka), and now the suggestion that something might be happening to Ben's memories (though also potentially Peter's, so it's not clear what exactly is going on yet) it sure looks like they are setting Ben up for a heel turn at some point here. Either blackmailed, mentally reprogrammed or some combination of both. Throw in the upcoming stuff with Miles, which sure looks like Beyond isolating Ben from any potential allies/distractions. And now the latest solicits which suggest Ben suffering a big loss to Ock. A loss which could prime Ben to actively make a choice that we won't like. Like, for example, upgrading himself via Beyond and opening the door to even more shenanigans.

I begin to worry.

It then occurs to me that Peter's dream from ASM75 could be a metaphor for clone Ben's corruption by Beyond, as opposed to anything relating to Uncle Ben. All that man in the mirror setup.

And I worry.

This isn't going to end well for our boy. I'm getting Knightfall vibes, where Peter is going to have to defeat Ben to save everyone from whatever monster Beyond has turned him into. I hope there's a swerve coming somewhere.

- Arc literally starts telling us how important the memories of Uncle Ben are to Peter's character.
- Ben is losing said memories.
Yep, I'm worried for Ben's future.

I'll remain hopeful for a positive ending for Ben. I'm sure it's going to get rockier for Ben as the story progresses, but that doesn't automatically mean Ben is going to be turned into a villain (again), killed, etc. Like I've said before, I'm hopeful that they've learned from the BR:SS debacle.

-Pav, who is a teacher so he knows not everyone learns just because you want them to do so...

I don't see the point of that. Marvel has a zillion vampire villains, but what sets Morbius apart is that he's the living vampire. If he's just another vampire, then he's just Blade fodder.

EDIT: Agreed. Morbius is fun because he's both a vampire and not really a vampire -- kind of like how Ben IS and IS NOT Peter. The ambiguity and complexity is where the interest lies, for me anyway.

[Obsidian Spider]

In this day and age, they can’t actually be considering fridging Janine. I’d be very disappointed.

I wish I didn’t look at future solicits and follow the artists on Instagram. I love Arthur Adam’s process work but I’m seeing covers into the mid 80s now. Oh well, No one’s forcing me to look, I guess. Haha.

My hope is that Ben has a big loss that is partially his fault for trying to prove himself the real Spider-Man and Peter comes to stop him from going too far and Ben fights back saying “I am Spider-Man. This is MY life” and they do that thing where Peter just takes it while Ben punches him through tears and then breaks down and Peter holds a broken Ben.

Then Peter helps him get better and they’re bros for life and they live happily ever after!

[Spiderfan001]

In this day and age, they can’t actually be considering fridging Janine. I’d be very disappointed.

I wish I didn’t look at future solicits and follow the artists on Instagram. I love Arthur Adam’s process work but I’m seeing covers into the mid 80s now. Oh well, No one’s forcing me to look, I guess. Haha.

My hope is that Ben has a big loss that is partially his fault for trying to prove himself the real Spider-Man and Peter comes to stop him from going too far and Ben fights back saying “I am Spider-Man. This is MY life” and they do that thing where Peter just takes it while Ben punches him through tears and then breaks down and Peter holds a broken Ben.

Then Peter helps him get better and they’re bros for life and they live happily ever after!

I hope so too, she seems nice.

Ngl your pitch would be amazing, near perfect even.

[Chris0013]

May still fixin' to take someone to the woodshed.

[Huntsman Spider]

In this day and age, they can’t actually be considering fridging Janine. I’d be very disappointed.

I wish I didn’t look at future solicits and follow the artists on Instagram. I love Arthur Adam’s process work but I’m seeing covers into the mid 80s now. Oh well, No one’s forcing me to look, I guess. Haha.

My hope is that Ben has a big loss that is partially his fault for trying to prove himself the real Spider-Man and Peter comes to stop him from going too far and Ben fights back saying “I am Spider-Man. This is MY life” and they do that thing where Peter just takes it while Ben punches him through tears and then breaks down and Peter holds a broken Ben.

Then Peter helps him get better and they’re bros for life and they live happily ever after!

I hope so too, she seems nice.

Ngl your pitch would be amazing, near perfect even.

Agreed. Given the massive loss foreshadowed for Ben by the more recent solicits, I could see a similar scenario happening.

May still fixin' to take someone to the woodshed.

Understandable, under these circumstances. At least the writers are trying to show that she's not (completely) helpless and frail just because she's old.

[boots]

As for the memories: Ben needs his own identity so getting rid of Peter’s memories could be a good thing. To be successful he needs to be be more then the clone of Peter.

i see that, and marvel deffo agreed at one point which is why we got slott and pad's attempts to separate ben from his 90s depiction and peter.

you could argue that the intention was right, but the execution was off. i'm more of the mind that ben's charm for his readership is that he's a sliding doors peter, and if you move too far away from that you end up with kaine or something.

[Kurolegacy]

As for the memories: Ben needs his own identity so getting rid of Peter’s memories could be a good thing. To be successful he needs to be be more then the clone of Peter.

I’d argue that that wouldn’t be a necessary or a good thing. Ben has Peter’s memories but only up until a certain point. Beyond that, he has his own memories of the life that he’s lived as himself. Peter’s memories are what give him his heroic core and his life experience is what shaped him into the man that he is. He’s always going to be Peter’s clone but they don’t have all of the same experiences that make their differences.

[Sr. Bungle]

That's part of Ben's appeal he s a canon "What if" Peter

[Somecrazyaussie]

In this day and age, they can’t actually be considering fridging Janine. I’d be very disappointed.

I wish I didn’t look at future solicits and follow the artists on Instagram. I love Arthur Adam’s process work but I’m seeing covers into the mid 80s now. Oh well, No one’s forcing me to look, I guess. Haha.

My hope is that Ben has a big loss that is partially his fault for trying to prove himself the real Spider-Man and Peter comes to stop him from going too far and Ben fights back saying “I am Spider-Man. This is MY life” and they do that thing where Peter just takes it while Ben punches him through tears and then breaks down and Peter holds a broken Ben.

Then Peter helps him get better and they’re bros for life and they live happily ever after!

You aren't truly spider-man (Or one of them) unless you have a major loss. So something big will have to happen and it is kind of foreshadowed when Ben got Janine out of prison. She might not get killed, but something might happen to her. You need it for Ben to either go one of two ways: 1. All in with Beyond to the point he does something that requires Peter to step in or 2. Incite Ben to turn on Beyond to the point he oversteps some boundaries and Peter helps stops him before he goes too far.

[Spiderfan001]

That's part of Ben's appeal he s a canon "What if" Peter

That runs out quick, he needs more substance than that if he's staying.He should keep this ofc, but if that's his main/major appeal then it's concerning IMO.

You aren't truly spider-man (Or one of them) unless you have a major loss. So something big will have to happen and it is kind of foreshadowed when Ben got Janine out of prison. She might not get killed, but something might happen to her. You need it for Ben to either go one of two ways: 1. All in with Beyond to the point he does something that requires Peter to step in or 2. Incite Ben to turn on Beyond to the point he oversteps some boundaries and Peter helps stops him before he goes too far.

It also could be the NYC tragedy, like in Civil was.A huge number of people are going to die, it will(hopefully) tie into Doc Ock and the whole Devil's Reign stuff as well.I don't think Janine will go this soon because she's the one person whose suspecting/is cautious of Beyond.Beyond won't kill her because she's their insurance.

[HypnoHustler]

That's part of Ben's appeal he s a canon "What if" Peter

Ben Reilly is a great walking/talking example of the nature vs nurture argument; how much of him is still Peter, and how much has been affected by his external experiences? He’s also more damaged due to his identity issues, and more impulsive and free spirited due to his time adrift and lost on the road. There’s a ton that can be explored about Ben’s unique psyche, especially the subtle ways it differs from Peter. What makes Ben interesting isn’t how he’s similar to Peter, but rather the small ways in which he’s different.

[PeterParked]

I wish Morbius was a REAL vampire instead of some guy with an illness who needs to drink fresh plasma to alleviate symptoms, or whatever VINO (Vampire In Name Only) he’s supposed to be. That’s always bothered me about the character. Comic Code has been dead for decades. Time for Marvel to retcon him as a real vampiric being.

I think Dracula, Morbius, Blade are all from the same years, so it's not about the comic code. Morbius isn't a vampire, it's a jekyll/hide kind of character, if you remove his origins he is just one among thousands of vampires.

[Pav]

That runs out quick, he needs more substance than that if he's staying.He should keep this ofc, but if that's his main/major appeal then it's concerning IMO.

I respectfully disagree. Ben's contradictory nature as "Peter but not Peter" is what has locked him in as my favorite character in all of Literature for the past twenty-five years, despite even the lengthy amount of time he was excluded from Spidey comics. I would argue that his status as "the perfect Spider-Clone" is incredibly substantive and is what intrigued so many of his fans from the start -- and to this day. In fact, I'd argue moving too far away from that status is what killed Clone Conspiracy and especially BR:SS.

Some argue that being too similar to Peter makes him superfluous -- but that's kind of the whole point of his character! What is he supposed to do with himself if he can't live the life he believes is his? This existential plight is at the heart of the character; remove it, and the magic of the character is lost.

-Pav, who does think Ben and Kaine have become too similar and work best with their original positions as "perfect clone" and "flawed clone" in place...