I take my fantasies about writing Marvel comics pretty seriously
to the point that my ideas about what I would do with
Slingers incorporates as many possible "suggestions" from editorial as I can think of. For example, it's possible that Marvel would want all the main characters to be actual Spider-themed heroes, and I can roll with that. Can I use Venom then? No? Okay. Etc.
But, if given free reign, yeah - I'd have the team made up mostly of, as you said, "allies that debuted within the [Spidey] comics" - characters like the original Slingers, SHOC, Phil Urich, Morbius, Anya, and super obscure ones like Robin Vega and Akasha, the Living Pharaoh. I'd also try to bring in some characters that don't really have a stable "home" at Marvel: characters like Darkhawk and Sleepwalker. (Although, to be fair, I'd probably try to fit Sleepwalker into any comic I was writing.) Basically, under my watch,
Slingers would essentially serve as a "Spider-Man Universe" title that fleshes out a lot of these characters who don't always get a lot of time in the spotlight, with the main lead of the comic being Ben Reilly.
I think it would be a blast, especially because characters like Ben Reilly, Kaine, Phil Urich, and even the Slingers allow for the opportunity to analyze Peter Parker without needing Peter there at all!
Yeah, I'm pretty obsessed with the idea of "Scarlet Carnage." I still have, from childhood, my Scarlet Spider action figure with attached Carnage symbiote ax. The Spider-Carnage outfit is arguably one of the coolest looks we've ever had in the Spidey titles, and I'd love to see it modified to incorporate Ben's Scarlet costume, which is my personal favorite.
The original
Slingers series gave readers, in my eyes, a good view of what young people with powers would do in real life: maybe try to be heroic, but not successfully; probably do some unheroic things; mostly, just try to stay alive and figure life out along the way. So I've always thought I'd make Ben less "traditionally heroic" than we saw in the past when he was still essentially trying to be Peter Parker, even straying into the role of anti-villain at times. Maybe that's why Slott's take on Ben doesn't bother me.
Anyway, as far as Ben and Kaine co-leading a
Scarlet Spiders title: I think we'll see it eventually. That's my guess. I mean, at the end of CC we have Ben and Kaine in an interesting position: Kaine has tried being a hero in the memory of his fallen brother and is degenerating; Ben is now seen as a villain and is degenerating. Kaine may see Ben as an imposter and a disgrace to the name of his brother. Yet Ben is the lead and Kaine isn't, which means (in my mind) that PAD is going to play around A LOT with comparing these two "Peter Parkers" in order to make some philosophical observations. Yet, eventually, I've gotta imagine Ben and Kaine will find common ground and we'll see the title add an -s to the end of it (probably when it needs to be rebooted/renumbered).
I doubt we'll see Sinister's Scarlet clones brought up, but with PAD you never know what minutiae of continuity he'll use!
-Pav, who also still has his Spider-man Maximum Clonage Special Collector's Set action figures...