Thoughts about how Ben Reilly's return was handled?

[rckstr1253]

Just wanted to thank Dan Slott for another lack luster story, that not only dumped all over the hero I grew up with, but also made me come to terms with the fact that Marvel need to clean house and hire YOUNG blood to tell better stories than what they are currently putting out. At this point, I wish they'd just sell the rights of the scarlet spider to DC as DC has been putting out good stories to read, and this is coming from a long time Marvel fan. I hope Marvel see's a decline in sales and correct the sinking ship by hiring new writers soon before its too late and wind up bankrupt again.

[Aioros22]

I don`t want no decline with PAD at the helm. Let him handle it.

[Pav]

Ben Reilly is my favorite fictional character, and I'm glad he's being used again!

Thanks, Dan!

-Pav, who enjoys reading stories...

[WeirdSpider]

It's not really "The" Ben Reilly. It's Ben27.

In other words it's a clone of a clone.

[George Ndebele]

I never grew up with Ben but I love what I've read of him and I don't think Slott has done damage to the character.............yet

[theoneandonly]

well in a certain way the sweet caring picture of Ben had been ruined but maybe like dark cyclops he will rise from the ashes to declare clones don't die no matter how many times you assassinate them in different ways if you get my meaning.

[SuperiorIronman]

I'll argue that Slott did indeed damage the character with this story. However I'd also argue that this Ben is indeed just a version of the character that has a very clear line drawn between the classic and Maximum Clonage in a funny hat. It's still salvageable but this is probably going to be Ben's OMD so long as this is what they are running with.

I wouldn't say that Ben is ruined but it's up there with the bad ideas Marvel has put out over the decades like Doom wearing the skin of of his love, One More day, Tony Stark Agent of Kang, and Ben Reilly the genocidal maniac.

[Spiderfang]

Honestly Clone Conspiracy just brought Ben Reilly back to the basics, people who have been complaining that Ben is "out of character" seriously need to go back and read the 1970's Clone Story and the Clone Journals -- Ben was a surly jerkass, and not the friendly happy-go lucky nice guy that we knew and loved at the end of the 90's clone saga.

[WebLurker]

Honestly Clone Conspiracy just brought Ben Reilly back to the basics, people who have been complaining that Ben is "out of character" seriously need to go back and read the 1970's Clone Story and the Clone Journals -- Ben was a surly jerkass, and not the friendly happy-go lucky nice guy that we knew and loved at the end of the 90's clone saga.

There is a difference between being a jerk and a supervillain.

[Spiderfang]

There is a difference between being a jerk and a supervillain.

His current attitude and demeanor are exactly the same before Ben became the Scarlet Spider/Spider-Man, the only difference is how he's chosen to apply it.

[Miles To Go]

Honestly Clone Conspiracy just brought Ben Reilly back to the basics, people who have been complaining that Ben is "out of character" seriously need to go back and read the 1970's Clone Story and the Clone Journals -- Ben was a surly jerkass, and not the friendly happy-go lucky nice guy that we knew and loved at the end of the 90's clone saga.

...Because nothing defines this era more than taking characters who have long grown past their factory settings and reverting them back to that.

[Vworp Vworp]

His current attitude and demeanor are exactly the same before Ben became the Scarlet Spider/Spider-Man, the only difference is how he's chosen to apply it.

He tried to apply it by committing worldwide genocide. Even taking into account his under-developed personality before he returned in the Clone Saga, that is a galaxy size chasm away from the character that took his name in Clone Conspiracy.

[xpyred]

I wonder how many people would change their tune if they were killed and brought back to life multiple times because of a lunatic. How many of you would retain your attitude and self awareness and how many would probably become crazy too.

[Prof. Warren]

I wonder how many people would change their tune if they were killed and brought back to life multiple times because of a lunatic. How many of you would retain your attitude and self awareness and how many would probably become crazy too.

Yeah, exactly.

The Ben we have now is not the Ben from before. This is a Ben who has been transformed by unbelievable trauma. And that's what makes him interesting. His treatment at the hands of The Jackal is definitely the makings of a supervillain origin - someone molded by pain and abuse. But because there's that core element of Peter Parker in him, that soul of a hero, even undergoing enough torture to drive someone mad has kept him from becoming a full-on villain.

His cause was enough to win over heroes and other well-intentioned people in CC. Without mind control, without force - just by revealing to them what he was up to. He was out to spare people from grief and loss and had what some could describe as ultimately noble intentions. His methods eventually crossed the line and his fanatical belief in his own rightness was a fatal flaw but he never became a sterotypical 'bad guy'.

Where the character will go from here, who knows? But CC was just a springboard - not the be-all, end-all of his new journey. I'm definitely curious to see where PAD is going to take Ben next. It may not be a instantly heroic path but I bet it'll be an interesting one.

[SuperiorIronman]

I wonder how many people would change their tune if they were killed and brought back to life multiple times because of a lunatic. How many of you would retain your attitude and self awareness and how many would probably become crazy too.

Nobody is saying Ben should be fine, Ben should be a little damaged and maybe carrying around some baggage from that. However there is a huge difference between taking revenge against a psychotic scientist and going along with genocide and murder. Insanity is a cop-out in this story because there is some form of logic that goes along with the decision making. It's logic is heavily flawed and Ben just does it without warning or build up. He just ignites an apocalypse for no reason other than to make clones. How could 27 deaths make Ben;
Use an Egyptian theme
Resort to emotional blackmail
Murder
Attempted murder
Grave robbing
Forcing people to work for him against there will for pills to keep them alive
Reviving someone who got the death penalty
Reviving Massacre
Bringing back known terrorists from the dead
Releasing inmates from prison
Willingness to let someone murder his brother over a disagreement
Resorting to genocide for NO REASON
Identity theft

If we had seen the build up to this I may be more accepting but we only know Ben 27 in the context of Clone Conspiracy. Last we saw Ben he was a hero and all around nice guy, now we know he would do everything I listed and we lack context for this beyond him being a little unhinged after getting resurrected so many times. Insanity can't be an all around cop-out in story telling. That's how we get things like 90's Jackal.