Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider/Spider-Man Appreciation 2024.

[Sr. Bungle]

Sounds like speculation.

Different topic, are people sure Land is off the book? It’s not unheard of for an artist to do two books in the same month, and I haven’t seen a new artist announced.

Speculation too, but I guess Land will be occupied. We don't even have the premise for the book. We only know that Ben and Kaine are on a collision course and that it'll be published on summer 2024

[Sr. Bungle]

I'm just gonna cope and pretend he's not on it for the sake of my sanity. Just like how I'm refusing to entertain the concept that this is a stealth Rek-Rap book

I thonk mercwithmouth is just having fun with us

[CaptainUniverse]

I don't know if anyone even cares but Marvel's solicitations for April spoils what happens to Ben in Web of Spider-Man #1

spoilers:

He escapes Limbo, reunites with Hallow's Eve and battles Spider-Man in ASM #47-48

end of spoilers

[Frontier]

I don't know if anyone even cares but Marvel's solicitations for April spoils what happens to Ben in Web of Spider-Man #1

spoilers:

He escapes Limbo, reunites with Hallow's Eve and battles Spider-Man in ASM #47-48

end of spoilers

At least that means no more Maddie.

[Garlador]

I don't know if anyone even cares but Marvel's solicitations for April spoils what happens to Ben in Web of Spider-Man #1

spoilers:

He escapes Limbo, reunites with Hallow's Eve and battles Spider-Man in ASM #47-48

end of spoilers

Well... I hope for the best.

That's all I can do.

[JustLuke]

I'm simply gonna wait for Curse of Kaine in summer tbh. I just don't really care about Ben in ASM anymore

[Huntsman Spider]

I'm simply gonna wait for Curse of Kaine in summer tbh. I just don't really care about Ben in ASM anymore

It's coming in the summer? Thanks for the heads-up or reminder there.

[Coop]

Wells has imo long proven He's not a writer I find particularly good. So not much to look forward to with those solicits.

[Sr. Bungle]

What kind of contrived reason Wells will find for Peter not sharing his memories with Ben this time?

[Refrax5]

What kind of contrived reason Wells will find for Peter not sharing his memories with Ben this time?

Honestly, I'm not sure it would work. Beyond made it a point to say that the memory implants of Jackal's clones like Ben or Kafka don't work the same way as a regular person's do, hence why tampering with them caused such severe damage to Ben's psyche. It's hard to know exactly whether Peter giving Ben his memories would even work.

[Coop]

All they have to do is have it work though, its not like consistency has been something wells and Lowe have excelled at. Why start now. Though I am sure some weak contrivance like that will be introduced keep Ben as Chasm and course correct what a jackass everyone comes across as for not even trying to help Ben.

And the fact that Curse of Chasm comes after this means Wells won't be fixing Ben. Chasm will be staying. So for me there's not much to care about. Whatever happens in this story, looks likely that Chasm and not Ben comes out of this.

Also, I know some people like the Chasm look. But JRJR does a worse and worse job drawing it every time he steps up to the plate.

[boots]

I just feel like if you're going to let some bad stories ruin the character for you, it's probably hard to like many characters at all, including Peter Parker and most of the main Marvel characters.

Most likely why I'm more or less outside of mainstream comics these days, because you're not wrong: it's only really in soap opera that a character can go through that many heel-turns and 180s without turning off (some) of their audience.

And it's perfectly ok for someone to no longer enjoy that kinda storytelling. There's so much content out there, so much good stuff to invest ourselves in.

Mileage varies. People vary.

I care less about "the brand" and more just about reading good stories with characters I like.

They're one and the same in this context. I no longer like "the brand/the character". At least not like I did. In an active sense.

I would've also liked to read good stories with that character, but that hasn't been offered up in the last decade since Ben's reappearance.

Sticking around for a hypothetical "good story" that might never come feels a bit "sunk cost fallacy", to me at least.

It just seems like kind of a dramatic reaction to something that's pretty much a comic book cliché at this point.

Value judgements aside, it's seems perfectly reasonable and common.

Nobody is expected to watch beyond the first episode of a series if it doesn't hook them. If series 7 of GoT disappointed someone, sunk cost probably won't get them to enjoy series 8 any more (as evidently played out for many). Likewise for comic books or novels or music.

I've worked on projects where we lost audience but I don't think I would call them "dramatic" for tuning into another show or streaming service. Maybe if they camped outside my house and cut the power to my utilities or something. Stole my dog. That would be rather dramatic.

And as you say, it's a cliche. While some people shrug them off, cliches usually aren't reasons to stick around.

And, yeah, if they give the fans what they were asking for and they don't support it, it kinda IS on the fans in that case.

I hope that you get what you want out of the good fight.

But I think almost 30 years, and 3 poor stories/series for a character I felt some nostalgia for is perfectly reasonable and more than most people would give. My post history on this board is probably still there, I spent ages defending each new attempt and giving it the benefit of the doubt.

I can't force myself to care more than I do for a cause that no longer means a lot to me. Someone can't be guilted or lectured into caring more than they do about something.

I'm not a sprightly young spider-monkey anymore. The nostalgia has dried up.

[The Black Death]

I'm simply gonna wait for Curse of Kaine in summer tbh. I just don't really care about Ben in ASM anymore

I've seen a more detailed synopsis of ASM #47-48, from someone who leaked some early Marvel solicitations, it seems that this time it won't be Ben looking for Peter to take revenge for putting in that Limbo prison, but it will be Peter himself looking for and finding Ben, I assume to obviously see Peter trying to put Ben in a Limbo prison or whatever again, at least this time we can blame Peter if something goes wrong with Ben.

Oh, also some people with hidden privileged information say that it will be mandatory to see the stories that will happen in Web of Spider-Man #1 and ASM #47-48 if you want to fully understand everything that will happen in Chasm: Curse of Kaine, and basically not miss anything. So whether we like it or not we will have to see Ben again in the ASM, I don't like this idea too much because I was expecting a reunion between Ben and Janine in a better comic and besides the writer is still Wells, but look on the bright side at least don't refer to Ben as a "villain" which is something.

Looks like the "rumors" that Wells was no longer going to use Ben Reilly/Chasm didn't turn out to be so true in the end .

[Sr. Bungle]

, at least this time we can blame Peter if something goes wrong with Ben.

I was already doing that

[Malachi]

But I think almost 30 years, and 3 poor stories/series for a character I felt some nostalgia for is perfectly reasonable and more than most people would give. My post history on this board is probably still there, I spent ages defending each new attempt and giving it the benefit of the doubt.

I can't force myself to care more than I do for a cause that no longer means a lot to me. Someone can't be guilted or lectured into caring more than they do about something.

I'm not a sprightly young spider-monkey anymore. The nostalgia has dried up.

I would love for me to say that it was me that changed but it was comics. I no longer recognize most characters. Not in the legacy/swap way but in how they act. Ben doesn’t read like Ben, even early Beyond I was not feeling it. Except JDM’s mini I haven’t really felt it was him since he died. He’s a new character who uses nostalgia to entice buyers. Especially as Chasm.

I think Foxe will do a good job with him because my experience with him is that he cares. But his hands are tied and whatever he does will be built on something that isn’t Ben. Not in the meaningful ways.

I am also getting tired and worn down by this. Comics are dying and that used to make me sad, now I’m just thinking about when to jump ship.