Ben Reilly Spider-man 1 Preview

[Batman Begins 2005]

Uh-huh. This is more like it.

This. Thank you, JM DeMatteis and getting David Baldeon who did Kaine Parker's Scarlet Spider ongoing.

[Reilly]

Can't wait! JM DeMatteis and Ben Reilly - the best of the best.

[MisterC]

I liked this a lot. It's wild how dense this is compared to your standard two-parter of beyond. I feel like we got more time inside Ben's head in this issue then we have throughout the entire Beyond run. In this issue Ben fights a villain, interacts with different supporting cast members and lives his life a little. It's all this little stuff that lets the story breathe that imbues the characters with life and personality and it's really lacking in a lot of modern books.

Ben has been given a lot more of an edge than he has in his original appearances and I have mixed feelings about it. Ben was never, at the time, potrayed as a darker and more brutal Spidey. Several character mention it. Seems forced to me but it is what it is.

[Lukmendes]

I don't really care about Ben in general, but a fucking preview to a comic made me far more interested in him than the 11 issues he's been in Beyond (Although, the first two issues were alright for him) lol.

Also really easy to recognize DeMatteis' style, guy likes his struggling villains trope, wonder if we'll get a reference to Kraven's Last Hunt too .

Oh well, this could be cool.

[Rzerox21xx]

I love how Mary Jane pregnancy during the Clone Saga with May was mentioned, OMD BND retcon be damn.

[xpyred]

My only gripe with the issue is a small thing; Ben mentions that Kaine and Janine are in jail. Problem with that is this takes place shortly after Peter and Mj left for Portland. Ben Is bleach blonde and has his Spider-Man outfit. That puts this after “The Return of Spider-Man” story and Spectacular Spider-Man 232 when Peter and MJ returned to NY. . At this point Kaine just returned from his death in Maximum Clonage and is on the run. As far as Ben knows, Janine was still “dead” at this point because Kaine faked her death. She wouldn’t return until Redemption which was toward the end of the Clone Saga. Unless Redemption was squeezed in between The Return of Kaine and Web of Carnage which would still be weird because at the time Ben was dating Jessica and not once is Janine mentioned between the Lost Years and Redemption.

[IamnotJudasTraveller]

My only gripe with the issue is a small thing; Ben mentions that Kaine and Janine are in jail. Problem with that is this takes place shortly after Peter and Mj left for Portland. Ben Is bleach blonde and has his Spider-Man outfit. That puts this after “The Return of Spider-Man” story and Spectacular Spider-Man 232 when Peter and MJ returned to NY. . At this point Kaine just returned from his death in Maximum Clonage and is on the run. As far as Ben knows, Janine was still “dead” at this point because Kaine faked her death. She wouldn’t return until Redemption which was toward the end of the Clone Saga. Unless Redemption was squeezed in between The Return of Kaine and Web of Carnage which would still be weird because at the time Ben was dating Jessica and not once is Janine mentioned between the Lost Years and Redemption.

It doesn't fit, because in Redemption itself Kaine says Aunt May's house is where "Peter and MJ are currently living, but they're not home right now."

[nnelg]

I liked the issue. Too bad we don't have more writers like DeMatteis in comics anymore.

[HypnoHustler]

I liked the issue, but it was good and not perfect. The continuity error bothered me a bit too, but it’s only a couple lines of dialogue.
spoilers:

Hope the Scorpion appearance at the end doesn’t lead to more messy continuity, since Ben fights him later on in some Unlimited or Team-Up issue during the Clone Saga. Anyway, here’s what I wrote in another thread. I liked it. It has great art, excellent dialogue, an engaging mystery. Best of all, we saw the return of the 'Daily Grind' and Shirley!!! No Buzz, Desiree or Jessica unfortunately. This new character John Diaz seems either an obvious suspect or obvious red herring for the dating murders unfolding. (It’s also a bit weird hearing about online dating in a comic supposed to take place in 1996, but it’s okay) There were some things I wasn't thrilled about. Ben has an edge, yes, but here he seems a bit TOO edgy. I know JM DeMatteis usually portrays Peter and Ben best when they're in psychological torment, but I thought he went a bit overboard with how angry Ben seems in this issue. Could be chalked up to absorbing Carrion's bad energy, I guess. The other minor thing, is it doesn't quite fit well in continuity. Peter and MJ are still in Portland (we even get a baby reference!), but this mini takes place after Kaine and Janine go to jail in 'Spider-Man: Revelations.' That's hard to square as Peter's return to New York coincides with the ending of 'Return of Kaine', which takes place at an earlier point with the character. And 'Redemption' also makes reference to Peter and MJ being back in New York. Not a big deal, just a nerdy nitpick. Also... when did Peter reveal his identity to Kafka in the 90s? I must've forgotten that issue. Anyway, nice write-ups in the letters columns too. Wow, the artist David Baldeon is a total Ben-head. Read what he says in the back of the issue. You can't fake that kind of love for a character.

end of spoilers

Tl;dr: Good, not great. Some minor characterization and continuity issues. Still very much recommend.

[nnelg]

Those types of errors bother me as well.

[MisterC]

I hand wave all the continuity errors away myself as a result of Franklin Richards rebuilding the Multiverse after Secret Wars.

Doesn't excuse it but it helps keep me from focusing on it and being annoyed lol.

Not begrudging anyone their pet peeves of course. It would be nice if editors checked this stuff

[HypnoHustler]

I hand wave all the continuity errors away myself as a result of Franklin Richards rebuilding the Multiverse after Secret Wars.

Doesn't excuse it but it helps keep me from focusing on it and being annoyed lol.

Not begrudging anyone their pet peeves of course. It would be nice if editors checked this stuff

It’s a small mistake and only affects 1 or 2 lines of dialogue (for now, we’ll see if it’s brought up again in the other issues) so I just pretend he thought something else like “Janine and Kaine are dead” (they were both believed deceased at the time) instead of “in prison.”

[Spiderfan001]

Another error is here it seems that Ben knows Kafka knows he's a clone and ye's shocked about it in the recent issue of ASM

[Huntsman Spider]

Another error is here it seems that Ben knows Kafka knows he's a clone and ye's shocked about it in the recent issue of ASM

spoilers:

Only because Beyond f***ed with his memories.

end of spoilers

[Spiderfan001]

spoilers:

Only because Beyond f***ed with his memories.

end of spoilers

My bad

It def. tracks