Preview: Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider #1

[Miles To Go]

Hey guys, apparently the lettered preview of this issue leaked online sometime yesterday, I took a peek at it and quite enjoyed it, Peter David doesn't let us forget what Ben did, and continues to do, but has some fun with it.

spoilers:

We learn that the costume Ben uses for the early issues was stolen from a cosplayer he left tied up and naked in a motel room...Ben rambles on for a few thought boxes about the sort of things you should'nt see on a Friday night and wishes the guy had worn a dance belt when he was undressing him. Then his Jimminy Cricket, the Ben with the old Scarlet Spider outfit, springs up and tells him his plans fell to bits because he forgot about the passage in the bible "no other Gods before me", and described what happened in Clone Conspiracy as angels being dispatched to strike him down. Ben hears someone in trouble and springs into action, while classic Ben conjures up a jet pack to follow him, saying he can do whatever he wants because he's imaginary

end of spoilers

[Nomads1]

PAD is really an underappreciated genius. Recently finished the three TPB of his latest X-Factor. It was amazing. I can't believe Marvel doesn't put him in charge of it's greatest proprieties.

Peace

[blackspidey2099]

He really shouldn't be.
He had the same moral compass as Peter, except he was a bit hardened by living on the road, and had a hard time belonging anywhere.
Then he came back wrong and was basically turned into Deadpool-lite.

Well, he was boright back from death and tortured, and then killed 27 more times in various ways, each increasing in pain. So it is quite understandable that he has gone a little bit loony from that.

[Miles To Go]

Finally, it's up

[Huntsman Spider]

Ah, this seems promising. No, seriously. I love the exchange between Ben and Jiminy Scarlet. "What did you expect was going to happen when you started f***ing with life and death?"

[SuperiorIronman]

Not like Ben tried killing everyone and rehashing a 90's plot by the Jackal, no no, it's because he tried to bring people back to life.

Regardless I'm going to pick this one up. So long as Scarlet Ben will give Ben27 grief over Clone conspiracy I'm in.

[Timmyb52]

I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far and I have a lot of faith in PADs skill as a top notch writer to pull this off and make a very enjoyable comic.

[rckstr1253]

I'm kind of liking the new suit. I just hope he fixes the damage to his body as he was degrading a bit before getting the cellware.

[Fearless Heart]

This looks great!

[Webhead]

Okay I'll admit that was fun.

[Huntsman Spider]

Not like Ben tried killing everyone and rehashing a 90's plot by the Jackal, no no, it's because he tried to bring people back to life.

Regardless I'm going to pick this one up. So long as Scarlet Ben will give Ben27 grief over Clone conspiracy I'm in.

That was what he was trying to do, and then he went nuts and decided he was going to kill and "reanimate" everyone, which he thought would be totally fine because then everybody would get to live in a whole new world outside the reach of death. Somewhat better-intentioned than Warren just wanting to kill everyone and replace them with clones, or maybe Ben was just even more deluded than Warren. In any case, I'm pretty sure Jiminy Scarlet will continue giving him grief over that for a good while to come.

[Aioros22]

Nobody quite writes dialogue like PAD does. With just a few strokes he:

. Aknowledges what fans thought about his characterization in CC

. Aknowledges his past (it`s there! Not forgotten, rewritten or thrown under the bus. It`s there).

. Aknowledges the premise at heart of identity themes, except this time two-fold. One, by having to come in terms with himself to know what he`s going to be and (not in the preview, but I`m sure its how he`ll use him) the now recurrent Kaine/Ben dicotomy. Kaine was bred a monster to stalked another that he found wasn`t what he believed him to be. This time, Ben really is the monster being haunted.

[Vworp Vworp]

Nobody quite writes dialogue like PAD does. With just a few strokes he:

. Aknowledges his past (it`s there! Not forgotten, rewritten or thrown under the bus. It`s there).

Maybe not a bus, but possibly a Honda Civic. Not-Ben acknowledges what he did (although it's not like the book could avoid that), but he doesn't really take responsibility. He's still going with a "I was being nice" angle, rather than "I tried to murder millions of people for their own good". And even his 'good angel's response doesn't call him out on on the whole attempted genocide thing and focuses more on the abuse of power in general.

Still feels like sugar-coating to me, albeit in this particular scene. That's not to say Not-Ben won't have to genuinely acknowledge and deal with his actions further down the road.

[Vworp Vworp]

That was what he was trying to do, and then he went nuts and decided he was going to kill and "reanimate" everyone...

Not everyone. I think that's an important aspect of Not-Ben's villainy that takes the edge off of his already extremely fuzzy 'good intentions'

[Aioros22]

Maybe not a bus, but possibly a Honda Civic. Not-Ben acknowledges what he did (although it's not like the book could avoid that), but he doesn't really take responsibility. He's still going with a "I was being nice" angle, rather than "I tried to murder millions of people for their own good". And even his 'good angel's response doesn't call him out on on the whole attempted genocide thing and focuses more on the abuse of power in general.

Still feels like sugar-coating to me, albeit in this particular scene. That's not to say Not-Ben won't have to genuinely acknowledge and deal with his actions further down the road.

That`s what the culmination of an arc can lead to, not a single scene. To me, PAD going with Ben dealing with his past and current tendencies and actions in the form of two different selves is already a good indication to start with.