Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider #1 (Review/SPOILERS)

[Prof. Warren]

There's been discussion about this issue already in the preview thread but I really think this merits its own thread.

PAD and Bagley take on Ben Reilly and the results are a very intriguing comic.

***SPOILERS***



We open with Ben in the New York, New York Hotel and Casino in Vegas. He's dressed in a spider-themed costume he took from a cosplayer.

He's engaged in a discussion with his former Scarlet Spider self, a kind of Jiminy Cricket conscience figure. When Ben is ruminating about the sad state of his life, his conscience reminds him that Ben's plans as Jackal failed because he was the bad guy.

Before they can discuss further, Ben has to interrupt a mugging. He saves the woman being attacked but then asks for money in return for his efforts. She doesn't have everything Ben asked for but says she'll get it to him. He agrees but warns her not to back out of their deal.

In the meantime, in San Francisco, a man in a Jackal mask confronts Rita, Ben's scientific associate who helped him at New U. Rita believes it's Ben come back and hugs him. But then the figure reveals himself as Kaine, who just wanted to trick Rita into revealing that Ben was still alive. He threatens her to find out Ben's whereabouts and we switch to...

Vegas again, where Ben is having another conversation with a figure in his own head - this time his villainous incarnation as The Jackal. We see that Ben is trying to put the Jackal behind him. He puts on a hoodie and shades and goes onto the floor of the Mercury Rising Casino.

While there, an attempted robbery erupts. Ben grabs one of the robber's guns and smashes it but hesitates to get involved further, not wanting Peter to be tipped off to his presence by reports of a Spider-type figure saving the day.

Just then, casino owner Cassandra Mercury's head of security intervenes. He takes on some bullets but is unaffected but them and is super strong, ripping a table from the floor and hurling it at the robbers.

Ben's actions get him called in front of Cassandra Mercury. In her office, she recognizes Ben's voice as that of The Jackal. We find out that her daughter was one of the clones that he made and that disintegrated at the conclusion of the Clone Conspiracy.

She says she's been waiting for the chance to kill the man who inflicted that torture on her daughter and she points a gun at Ben.

To Be Continued!!





****END SPOILERS****




First off, I have to say I'm not a Ben Reilly buff. The '90s drove me away from Spider-Man for a number of years so this wasn't scratching a nostalgic itch for me. But the draw of PAD and Bagley and curiosity as to how Ben's post-CC status would be handled drove me to give this a shot. And I have to say I really dug it. It's a very atypical superhero book. If anything it's clearly an anti-hero book and I love how PAD handles Ben's character. He's unstable, he's not a "good guy" by standard definition but he's a completely compelling character in that it's going to be hard to anticipate how he'll deal with any given situation. He's a true wild card and that's something you don't see much of in superhero comics. We'll see as the series goes on just how unpredictable Ben will be but I believe PAD will keep finding ways for Ben to surprise readers.

And I really like that Kaine is on his heels and is depicted as being a ruthless character, as his scene with Rita illustrates. When these two meet, it should be quite an encounter.

And I also like that Ben is confronted with someone that he harmed during the Clone Conspiracy. We'll have to see what Cassandra Mercury uses her wealth and influence for in regards to Ben. I'm guessing it won't be anything altruistic.

Anyhow, I really liked this. It may be off-putting to some with Ben not being of totally sound mind but that's what I liked most about it. I hope people give this title a chance as I expect PAD will take it to some interesting places.

[Proteus]

I really enjoyed it as well. I hope people decide to give it a chance. I know many want the Ben they remember back. But I found the comic very intriguing.

[Webhead]

Like I said over at the other thread, I think it's a very well-written, anti-hero book... that doesn't read like a Ben Reilly book at all.

Ben-27 himself is as erratic and deluded as the more cartoonish depictions of Deadpool, and unlike DP when he's written with depth, Reilly seems completely unaware of just how screwed up he is. His lunacy takes wild leaps from "wacky stuff" to "comedic sociopathy" with no stops.

I'll be rooting for Kaine for the time being.

[boots]

Like I said over at the other thread, I think it's a very well-written, anti-hero book... that doesn't read like a Ben Reilly book at all.

Ben-27 himself is as erratic and deluded as the more cartoonish depictions of Deadpool, and unlike DP when he's written with depth, Reilly seems completely unaware of just how screwed up he is. His lunacy takes wild leaps from "wacky stuff" to "comedic sociopathy" with no stops.

I'll be rooting for Kaine for the time being.

i think the big difference between ben and deadpool is that riley is haunted by the ghost of the hero he once was. it will catch up with him in some way. from what i've seen of deadpool, he's far more accepting of his own comedic sociopathy.

and i didn't really feel the deadpool comparison myself. still on the fence after reading the first issue, but i'm willing to keep going. i was never bored.

[Prof. Warren]

i think the big difference between ben and deadpool is that riley is haunted by the ghost of the hero he once was. it will catch up with him in some way. from what i've seen of deadpool, he's far more accepting of his own comedic sociopathy.

and i didn't really feel the deadpool comparison myself. still on the fence after reading the first issue, but i'm willing to keep going. i was never bored.

Yeah, I feel that Ben and Wade are substantially different. Wade is deliberately humorous, a wisecracker, whereas Ben's humor so far seems to come out of his inappropriate responses to situations rather actual jokes. He's also much more at war with himself than Wade.

[boots]

Yeah, I feel that Ben and Wade are substantially different. Wade is deliberately humorous, a wisecracker, whereas Ben's humor so far seems to come out of his inappropriate responses to situations rather actual jokes. He's also much more at war with himself than Wade.

and i'm also wary of denigrating comparisons (peter as ceo = tony stark etc) because they remove all nuance to make for an easy target.

because at the end of the day you're damned if you do damned if you don't. if ben is a humorous anti-hero...he's a deadpool clone. if ben is a humorous hero...he's a peter parker clone. if ben is a humorous villain...he's a jackal clone.

wait, those last two are pretty legit.

[Webhead]

Yeah, I feel that Ben and Wade are substantially different. Wade is deliberately humorous, a wisecracker, whereas Ben's humor so far seems to come out of his inappropriate responses to situations rather actual jokes. He's also much more at war with himself than Wade.

Disagreed, most post-Daniel Way depictions of Deadpool seem more conflicted and self-aware than this Ben.

and i'm also wary of denigrating comparisons (peter as ceo = tony stark etc) because they remove all nuance to make for an easy target.

because at the end of the day you're damned if you do damned if you don't. if ben is a humorous anti-hero...he's a deadpool clone. if ben is a humorous hero...he's a peter parker clone. if ben is a humorous villain...he's a jackal clone.

wait, those last two are pretty legit.

But I wasn't denying the nuances in this depiction of Ben -I do believe they make a poor argument for an "unstable Spider-Man" archetype though and I would prefer the Peter archetype with nuances applied to it.

[boots]

Disagreed, most post-Daniel Way depictions of Deadpool seem more conflicted and self-aware than this Ben.


But I wasn't denying the nuances in this depiction of Ben -I do believe they make a poor argument for an "unstable Spider-Man" archetype though and I would prefer the Peter archetype with nuances applied to it.

not saying you were denying nuance as such, just that the comparison itself lacks nuance. i've seen other people here make it too.

my reply to prof warren was a tangent and no longer a direct response to what you wrote.

[Webhead]

not saying you were denying nuance as such, just that the comparison itself lacks nuance. i've seen other people here make it too.

my reply to prof warren was a tangent and no longer a direct response to what you wrote.

Fair enough.
It's a knee-jerk comment, but one's gotta take into account that the prelude to this issue had Ben sporting a Deadpool t-shirt, just like how the global PI opening arc had a journalist making the Tony Stark comparison in-universe. Regardless of what came first (fan commentary vs author commentary), if the text says it, it gives credence and/or impulse to the analysis, whether it means to or not. It's not like the "Is Cap a Nazi because he's Hydra" debacle which Marvel seems to be actively trying to defuse in and out of text.

[boots]

Fair enough.
It's a knee-jerk comment, but one's gotta take into account that the prelude to this issue had Ben sporting a Deadpool t-shirt, just like how the global PI opening arc had a journalist making the Tony Stark comparison in-universe. Regardless of what came first (fan commentary vs author commentary), if the text says it, it gives credence and/or impulse to the analysis, whether it means to or not. It's not like the "Is Cap a Nazi because he's Hydra" debacle which Marvel seems to be actively trying to defuse in and out of text.

that's a decent point, and i agree that marvel are inviting that discussion with small references like that. the problem is when it goes from being an element of the discussion to become the whole discussion.

and even if we agree that both ben and wade now occupy wise cracking sociopath territory, it shouldn't be without noting the differences are greater than the similarities.

i get that some characters occupy a space so powerfully that they become an immediate point of reference for any character with some overlap, but i don't think it does any good to assign a monopoly on a trait to any single character. similar traits can still be distinct to each individual. hulk and wolverine are both beserkers but in different ways for example.

[Timmyb52]

I really,really enjoyed this issue and look forward with much anticipation to issue # 2.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Like I said over at the other thread, I think it's a very well-written, anti-hero book... that doesn't read like a Ben Reilly book at all.

Ben-27 himself is as erratic and deluded as the more cartoonish depictions of Deadpool, and unlike DP when he's written with depth, Reilly seems completely unaware of just how screwed up he is. His lunacy takes wild leaps from "wacky stuff" to "comedic sociopathy" with no stops.

I'll be rooting for Kaine for the time being.

This is my thoughts as well. The creative teams is great and the book is very well-written. I can understand the fact Ben is this way due to what the Jackal did to him. However he comes across here as Deadpool-lite. Which is great, if it was a Deadpool book. It isn't, though.

I guess they are restricted to a very thin tightrope. Peter has the lighthearted area covered. Kaine has the rough, edgy anti-hero act down pat. So it is very hard to differentiate Ben in the current marketplace.

[ishikabe]

I really liked this issue.

Ben Reilly felt like if Hunter S. Thompson was drunk and bit by a radioactive spider. The creativity of Ben's interactions with people and situations will be fun to read in the future.

[protege]

I like the costume, but i'm not really sure what the purpose of this book is, or why we need two scarfaced peters chasing each other all over the place.

[Aioros22]

Part of the point will likely to remind readers that these aren`t just two scarfaced Peters.

I can see the kee-jerked comment about Wade and Ben but they just aren`t alike. Wade is the Bugs Bunny lite of the Marvel Universe. That doesn`t scream what Pad is intending with his Ben. Ben is more in a Christmas Carol sort of situation in his head.