Three-Month-Old Comics: The June 15 Edition - Part One (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Ben Reilly:  Spider-Man #5:  I liked this series, but this ending is awful.  

It's supposed to serve as Spidercide's redemption, as he sacrifices himself to save Ben before the convicts kill him.  (Of course, Spidercide released the convicts in the first place, so...)  But Spidercide saves Ben through the same endlessly new powers that he exhibited throughout this series.  In addition to producing his "duplicides" and activating Whelan's "dormant DNA" to turn him into Vermin, Spidercide saves Ben by his ability to fill him with his "life force" (heh).  Moreover, this change of heart comes at a particularly convenient time, drama-wise, given he dismissed Dr. Kafka's previous effort to get him to see his hatred of Ben as the other side of love.  

The only positive thing I have to say about Spidercide is that his new suit is awesome, but he's dead now so I guess it doesn't matter.  

I might have liked this issue more had it appeared before "Amazing Spider-Man" #93, when we still had hope that Ben Reilly was back for good.  Given Ben's conversion into Chasm, though, the hope that this issue is selling falls flat.

Captain America:  Sentinel of Liberty #1:  Kelly and Lanzing take us down the shadowy conspiracy route once again.  We've gone down that road plenty of times with Captain America, though they make a good show of it so far.

Steve is offended when someone dressed as Destroyer - previously, the identity of a former war buddy - plans on attacking New York's Fourth of July parade.  Steve and Bucky manage to defeat him, and his mysterious benefactor kills him remotely to punish him for his failure.  Before he dies, "Destroyer" tells Cap that the shield belongs to "them."  Feeling the truth behind the kid's words, Cap is intent on exploring his legacy.  

Meanwhile, Bucky takes the glowing crystal that he and Cap found in "Destroyer's" mask and announces that he has four enemies left.  I'm assuming that it has to do with "Devil's Reign:  Winter Solider" #1, where Bucky starts hunting down the men who used him outside the Winter Soldier program.  To this end, in the epilogue, a shadowy figure informs similarly shadowy figures that he's put Captain America on the board again for the "century game."  Declaring the last century a draw, the figure makes it clear that he plans on winning this "game."

Kelly and Lanzing make it clear that a central theme of this story will revolve around Cap needing to get past his age.  For example, he's taking art classes at a local community college and befriends some youngsters who make fun of his lack of tech savviness.  In addition, he finds out the Destroyer is going to attack the parade by following a series of numbers that he hears will chatting with his former war buddies over a two-way radio.  (They call themselves Radio Company.)  The Destroyer himself is a young man who derides him as a neofascist, which Cap hardly seems to understand.  

Cap has been due for this reckoning for some time, so I'm intrigued to see where the authors go with it.  So far, they've made the "century game" a believable villain to bring out this change, even with only a few panels dedicated to them.  They seem to exist outside ideology, which makes it more believable that they've been able to manipulate people with ideology behind the scenes.  A post-ideology villain seems very 21st century.

Hulkling & Wiccan #1:  If I have one complaint about this story, it's that everyone is too emotionally actualized.  Eidolon and Goebig exist only as perfect reflections of Billy and Teddy, making it no small wonder they both suspect something is wrong from the minute Billy unconsciously summons them.   

Although it wasn't like I was expecting Trujillo to undermine Billy and Teddy's relationship in a one-shot, the stakes might have felt more real if Eidolon and Goebig themselves felt more real.  

That said, Trujillo could do great stuff with Billy  characters if given a chance.  I think he made the right decision to frame their relationship in the sort of transitional phase that comes with marriage.  It extracts them from the"will they/won't they" cliché that these characters are well past.  But it doesn't mean that the road isn't going to have bumps (and not just sexy purple alien ones).  With less pressure to wrap up the story as neatly, I'd be intrigued where that discussion goes.

Also, it's always fun to see a handsome, shirtless Teddy.  Nishijima might go a little bit too kawaii at times for my liking, but I'm not complaining. 

Moon Knight:  Black, White & Blood #2:  I'm not really sure why I'm still reading this series, after I disliked the first issue so much.  This issue is only marginally better.  The last story is the best one, as Marc tracks down a mercenary who betrayed him years earlier.  It forces Marc not only to address his past amorality taking advantage of African civil wars for profit but also his present white-savior complex when his impulse is to stay in Africa to "help."  The first story is visually interesting though yet another story about whether Marc's mental illness or Khonshu's influence is driving the narrative.  Moreover, it seems to exist outside continuity, which is fine, I guess, but the low stakes makes an already clichéd story all the less interesting.  The middle story is the type of story that makes you roll your eyes at the abuse the hero suffers.  In other words, I'm still a pass on this one, even though I am still reading it.

Two-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero March 23 and 30 (2022) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Ben Reilly:  Spider-Man #3 (March 23):  OMG, talk about a deep cut!  Spidercide!  I mean, he was the worst, but I'm totally game to see where DeMatteis goes with him.  I also have to complement DeMatteis on not dragging out Ben's mysterious nemesis for too long.  It was clear that it was Díaz from the beginning, and a lot of authors would've burned through a few issues to hold the reveal until the end.  Now, I feel like we're going to get some real tension as we see if Ben can handle yet another angry clone brother coming after him.

X Deaths of Wolverine #5 (March 23):  Enh.  This issue isn't terrible and does what it's supposed to do, namely bring back Moira for her eleventh life as a cyborg.  I'm down with that, though, again, I feel like the ten-issue "X Lives and Deaths of Wolverine" saga probably could've been a three-issue mini-series.  

The most interesting part of this event, for me, was Beast admitting to Sage that they only succeed - Krakoa only succeeds - because Wolverine is a savage killer willing to get his hands dirty.  For all the diplomacy of the Quiet Council, it's Wolverine who preserves mutantkind.  It's a rough pill for Beast to swallow, but it's also the closest that I've seen any long-term X-Men come to acknowledging their debt to him, even if it comes with disdain, as it does with Beast here.

Amazing Spider-Man #93 (March 30):  Holy fuck balls, you guys.

For the fact that this issue ends the "Beyond" saga, it doesn't really wrap up any loose ends.  In fact, it leaves us with more questions than it answers.  How future authors answer those questions will determine what "Beyond's" long-term legacy is.  It's short-term legacy is a much-needed shot in the arm for the Spider-Man franchise.

First things first, Maxine's escape plan largely drives the story.  Ben makes quick work of the Slingers and reaches her office only for her to give him a device that'll allegedly transfer Peter's memories - the ones that Ben is missing - to him.  Although Wells never fully addresses whether Maxine is lying or not, her gambit works:  Ben leaves her to go after Peter.  She then orders a kill team to take out Marcus, telling him that she's given him a respectable death story in recognition of his service.  Janine manages to save Marcus (with the "Infantalizer," which turns the kill team into babies), and Ben finds Peter.

Wells excels in scripting this fight, as Ben's rage is so abundantly clear.  Peter can't reason with him, failing to convince him that maybe - just maybe - Maxine wasn't really telling the truth about the device that she gave him.  Speaking of Maxine, the Beyond Board authorizes the liquidation of the building's lower levels and attempts to assassinate her, only to discover that she's using a holographic decoy.  (The Board is outraged that she uses something that the Board reserves the right to use.)  I have to say that the only good news to this issue is that the Board somehow didn't promote Maxine.

Peter manages to destroy the device, which breaks Ben.  As Maxine's "quantum-shifting polymers in a psycho-reactive medium" begin to rewrite the matter in the lower floors, Ben falls into the goo.  Gleason is spectacular here.  Peter's face so clearly conveys the anguish that he feels as he watches the goo consume Ben, and Ben's face is angelically resigned to his defeat when he tells Peter:  "You have it all, Peter.  All the parts I'm missing.  I just wanted them back."  Marcus manages to save Peter as Beyond HQ becomes several floors shorter.

In the epilogue, Janine traipses through the goo to find Ben; she's started when his arm - full with some sort of psychic-energy tentacle - emerges from the rubble.  Weeks later, Mary Jane asks Peter to move into her apartment with her, only for a glowing mysterious figure to appear at the window, saying "A road of blood led to you...come with me."  Months later, Ben continues to see his face as that familiar void in the mirror.  Janine hears a crash from the other room and enters the bathroom to find him gone.  In the most spectacular splash page I've ever seen, Ben appears in a purple costume with a green psychic-energy aura exuding from him, announcing, "There is only a Chasm."  

Seriously, people, I got chills.

In terms of the overall "Beyond" saga, I have to say that I'm thrilled.  After Nick Spencer's ridiculously prolonged Kindred story, it was awesome to have such a compelling and detailed story presented in just 19 issues.  

On one hand, I'm devastated to see Ben end up this way.  I've been pulling for him for so long.  But, the Beyond Board honestly made a compelling argument that Ben was inevitably going to become Peter's archenemy:  he's gone through too much, been broken too many times, had his dreams ruined too frequently.  It's Spider-Man, so redemption is clearly on the table for him, when he has people like Janine, Marcus, and Peter all willing to help.  But, his appearance in the final page is so terrifying that it's hard to see how someone could redeem him.  He just seems too far gone.

As they say, I guess we'll have to tune in next month.

Immortal X-Men #1 (March 30):  Meh.  This issue is fine, I guess, though Gillen's use of Mr. Sinister as our narrator means that it's way too obtuse.  As always, he has schemes.

Two of said schemes are relevant here.  First, in 1919, Destiny told him...something, and he expects it to manifest at the Quiet Council meeting where Magneto announces his retirement.  That said, he doesn't think that Destiny knows that he knows, so maybe I'm wrong about that?  After all, didn't she tell him the "something?"  Second, he appears to have cloned Moira, and I'm not sure if we're supposed to believe that he's been willy-nilly resetting the timeline with her?  

I like the idea of this series in theory, of Gillen walking us through all the Council members' various schemes.  But, this issue shows how hard it is to do that in practice in a way that doesn't seem tedious.  It doesn't help that the main players are all incredibly unlikeable.  We'll see where we go, I guess.

Also Read:  Marauders Annual #1 (January 26); Devil's Reign:  X-Men #3 (March 23); Dark Ages #6 (March 30); Star Wars:  Bounty Hunters #21 (March 30)

Four-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero January 19 (2022) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #86 (January 19):  Holy fucking shit.  This issue is beyond (heh) intense, and I totally didn't see it coming.  

I mean, I should've seen it coming.  The blond hair, the old girlfriend:  it felt like the Beyond Board was ret-conning away the events of "The Clone Conspiracy" and "Scarlet Spider" to give us a "Clone Saga" era Ben.  

But, no, it turns out Beyond scrubbed away those memories at Ben's request, because he wanted a fresh start.  Dr. Kafka reveals that she's been helping him recover those memories against Maxine's orders given how dangerous she felt the "memo-surgery" was.  Of course, Maxine lied to Kafka about not monitoring their sessions, so she interrupts when Ben tells Dr. Kafka about the drive.  However, the memo-surgery to remove his memories of the drive goes badly; instead of just cutting away the memories that Maxine doesn't want Ben to have, Ben's entire mind collapses.  

Meanwhile, Janine uses her prison skills to take Marcus hostage and leave Beyond with the drive.  How does she have the drive?  It turns out Ben didn't lie to her last issue.  Instead, when he slipped her the mask to clean (itself a weird moment), he also slipped her the drive and told her that Beyond was lying to them.

As I said, it was fucking intense.  I honestly have no idea where we go from here.

Ben Reilly:  Spider-Man #1 (January 19):  For anyone who didn't read the Clone Saga, this series is a pretty essential companion piece to the Beyond story in "Amazing Spider-Man" as it really underlines the differences between Ben and Peter.  The edge that Ben occasionally displays in "Amazing Spider-Man" is on full display here given Ben only just returned from his "wilderness" years.  I had been feeling like the Beyond Board was overplaying that angst in the main title, but, after reading this issue, I realized that they're not.  Moreover, Ben's time as Spider-Man was pretty limited in reality, so it's fun to see him in action again.  Without all the Clone Saga baggage, it's a great read.

Devil's Reign:  X-Men #1 (January 19):  Oof, I do not like where we're gong here, and I mean that in the best possible way.  

Duggan wrote this issue, so it seamlessly fits with the ongoing "X-Men" title.  It focuses on the days when Elektra and Emma were, as Emma puts it, Kingpin's bad and good witches.  (I believe that "Marauders" #22 is the first time that we see Emma working for him, when she tries to convince him to develop a new identity for Lourdes Chantel.)  

Whereas Emma uses her powers to get people to do what Kingpin wants, Elektra obviously assassinates his enemies.  In the opening sequence, a young girl in her room spots Elektra crawling onto a balcony after killing someone.  In the present, Kingpin is enraged when Emma gets the United Nations to recognize Krakoa as a consulate, so he has Wesley tell the NYPD to open a cold murder case...of the young girl.

Kingpin seems set to pin the murder on Emma, and I do not imagine that Emma will let this provocation go without a fight.  As tie-in series go, this one is top-flight.

Moon Knight #7 (January 19):  First, I love Ben Grimm sending Marc Spector a Hanukkah card every year.  Moving onto the plot, holy shit, y'all.

Moon Knight is on a single-minded crusade to take out Zodiac, but Zodiac is one step ahead of Marc (so far) every time.  Eight-Ball sends Marc to Manslaughter Marsdale who won't snitch on Zodiac because he apparently saved his life.  (I'd love to hear that story.)  Before Moon Knight can shake down Clown, Zodiac cuts off his head, which he brings to Dr. Sterman's office.  (I'm not sure how Moon Knight made his way to Clown, but I'm just going to go with Eight-Ball squealing on him, too.)  Marc isn't going to take that well.  

Meanwhile, it turns out Tigra is watching Moon Knight for Black Panther, who's worried that he's too unstable to be left alone.  To Tigra's mind, she's clearly there to protect Marc from himself, though I'm not sure that Marc is going to see it that way.

Spider-Man: The Lost Years (1996) #0-#3 and Spider-Man: Redemption (1996) #1-#4

Oh, the Clone Saga.  I lived it in real time.  It wasn't pleasant.  That said, Ben Reilly and Kaine eventually became two of my favorite characters, so I guess I can't complain too much.  

But, OMFG, it was such a fucking mess.  If you're interested, I highly recommend the "Life of Reilly" blog that I've linked in my blog roll.  It's an essential reading companion for "The Clone Saga," as it frequently confirms that, no, you're not crazy, the editors really didn't have any idea what they were doing at various points.

As I mentioned in my last post, I read these two mini-series due to "Free Comic Book Day:  Spider-Man/Venom (2021)" #1 bringing back Janine Godbe.  I admit that they were surprisingly more enjoyable than I thought that they would be.  After seeing how much Ben and Janine loved each other - and what they endured - I'm thrilled that Marvel decided to reunited them.  

At this point, I couldn't be more excited about Ben returning to the main title, particularly given that it seems like we're getting the Ben that I know and love and not the post-"Clone Conspiracy" one.  For now, onto the past!

Spider-Man:  The Lost Years #0-#3:  As a Ben Reilly fan, I'm surprised that I hadn't read this mini-series sooner, though I was so scarred from "The Clone Saga" that I understand my hesitation.  But, it's a shame that I didn't, because it's pretty great.

Rather than trying to cover all of Ben's "lost years," DeMatteis focuses on one specific era, namely Ben's time in Salt Lake City.  By the time he arrives there, Ben's been all over the world, using Steward Trainer's recommendations to get teaching-assistant gigs under false identities.  He stays in each position for a month or so until he has enough money to hit the road again.  Ben alludes to the fact that he starts to lose his shit when he stays in one place too long, remembering what he had when he lived a more grounded life as Peter Parker.  Kaine also arrives in Salt Lake City as we're in the era where Kaine is pursuing Ben relentlessly.

But, two things happen in Salt Lake City that draw Ben into something approaching a normal life.  First, he meets Janine while she's waitressing at a diner and finds himself instantly drawn to her.  Second, on his way to his first date with Janine, his Spider-Sense leads him to save the life of a woman and her son after a bomb blows up their house.  It turns out they're the family of Detective Jacob Raven, who put local mob-boss Vincent Tannen behind bars.  Ben's intervention pulls him into Tannen's war against Raven, forcing him to use his powers on several occasions to save Raven and his family.  

It isn't until issue #2 - where Scheele really plays up Janine's red hair -  that I realized Janine is essentially Mary Jane, explaining why Ben feels such a connection to her.  Of course, since Ben can't be happy, Janine ends things in that issue, for reasons at which DeMatteis only hints.  ("Secrets!")  Since Kaine really can't be happy, he's dating Raven's partner, Louise Kennedy, who approached him at a bar after she was impressed when he took out a prostitute's abusive pimp. 

While having sex with Louise, Kaine's cellular degeneration suddenly accelerates, and he flees in horror.  Looking for an outlet for his rage, Kaine hunts down Ben, who himself is venting his rage over Janine ending their relationship on some of Tannen's thugs.  It's important to note that we're in the era where Kaine "knows" that Ben is "really" (though not) Peter.  Instead of killing Ben as they fight, Kaine decides to torment him, furious at "Peter" for the life that he gets to live and that he (Kaine) is denied.

Kaine's cellular degeneration flares again, and he flees.  However, he watches through the warehouse's skylight as Tannen's twin brother Paul orders Kennedy, who's working for Vince, to kill Ben.  [Vince has called Paul into town to kill Raven's son so that Raven knows that it was him - Vince (though really Paul) - who did it.]  An appalled Kaine saves Ben, reminding us that Kaine can never quite embrace his darkness as much as he wants.  In another example of that, he's later crushed when Louise tells him that the darkness always wins.  

Eventually, Janine admits to Ben that she murdered her father who molested her every day of her life, and Ben admits that he's a clone of Spider-Man.  Knowing that they love each other despite their secrets, they prepare to leave town.  Needless to say, Kaine isn't thrilled.  

It all comes to a head outside Salt Lake City as Kaine attacks Ben and Janine as they flee.  In issue #1, Janine was wary about Raven, given her fear that he might ID her, and she's proven correct.  Following a hunch, he discovers that she's really Elizabeth Tyne.  Louise accompanies Raven to take in Janine, but she's startled when she recognizes Ben as the man whom she almost killed.  Before she can kill Ben, Kaine kills her, as dramatic an underscoring of his tragedy as possible.  In order to punish Ben for his happy ending with Janine, Kaine leaves the scene before Raven arrives.  As such, Raven thinks that Ben and Janine killed Kennedy.  Ben knocks Raven unconscious, noting as he does that he would've killed him if they had really killed Louise.  He and Janine then ride into the sunset. 

Honestly, this mini-series is so strong that I'm really surprised that they didn't turn it into a regular series.  I re-read the "Life of Reilly" blog posts about it, and it turns out they planned to do so, but the decision to reinstate Peter got in the way.  Of course it did.

Spider-Man:  Redemption #1-#4:  After how great "Spider-Man:  The Lost Years" was, I'm sad to say that this series didn't quite hit those heights.

We start issue #1 with Ben as Spider-Man after "Spectacular Spider-Man" #226 established that he, and not "Peter," was the "real" Peter Parker.  (Of course, Marvel later ret-conned that ret-con, but I promised myself that I wouldn't dwell too much on my "Clone Saga" era rage here.)  

Oddly, the issue makes no mention of this change in Ben's understanding of his identity since "Spider-Man:  The Lost Years;" I only realized where we were in the story through context clues.  I acknowledge that I'm reading this series 25+ years after its publication, so I probably wouldn't have needed an editor's note to flag that change for me at the time.  But, given how each issue of this series gives us panel upon panel of Kaine walking us through every details his cellular-degeneration disease, I was surprised that this "resolution" didn't merit a mention.

That said, I was glad to see DeMatteis spend some time walking us through Ben mourning everything that he lost as a result of Jackal forcing him to believe that he wasn't the real Peter, including a chance to mourn Harry Osborn.  It sets up how lonely Ben is at this stage despite the fact that he's allegedly "won" back his life.  It helps us understand his desperation when Janine appears in his apartment alive and later his willingness to leave behind his life in New York.

My biggest problem with the first two issues, though, is that we don't understand why Ben thought Janine was dead in the first place.  She arrives in New York after Kaine, posing as Ben, sent her a letter (and Ben's apartment keys) in which "Ben" asks her to return to him in New York.  In issue #1 she seems surprised that Ben thought that she was dead, even though she clearly knew that he did after some incident in Santa Cruz.  (Re-reading that sentences made my head hurt.)  After we eventually find out what happened in Santa Cruz in issue #3, her confusion in this issue makes even less sense.  I don't think DMatteis even explains how Janine thought that "Ben" (i.e., Kaine) eventually found her.

At any rate, issue #1 ends with Kaine attacking Ben and seemingly killing Janine, which sets Ben on a rampage against the cops investigating the disturbance that Ben and Kaine's fight caused.  Eventually, Ben realizes that it was a trick; Ben found Janine's "body" in a room full of mannequins and, in his grief, confused the mannequin that Kaine dressed as Janine with Janine herself.  The only reason that I'll give this ridiculousness a pass is that we know Kaine is intentionally fucking with Ben.  As Ben realizes that he's grief-spooning a mannequin, he discovers a message from Kaine to meet him "at the womb," so Ben heads to Jackal's laboratory, where Kaine is holding the non-mannequin Janine.

Issue #2 devolves into both Ben and Kaine engaging in bad psychoanalysis as they struggle with the fact that they're both surprised that their instincts are to help each other.  Kaine is surprised at the guilt that he feels for torturing Ben, and, at some point, you start to wonder why he just doesn't stop.  For example, Kaine injects Ben with some sort of formula that makes Ben feel the pain that he feels every day and then takes him to Aunt May's house to torment him further.  But, once there, the room's mementos of Aunt May and Uncle Ben make Kaine realize how much Jackal took from Ben when he sent him on the road.  Instead of deciding that their shared pain bonds them, though, Kaine knocks Ben unconscious, delivers him the antidote, and leaves him and Janine in Ben's apartment.  (You have to wonder why this antidote doesn't work on Kaine if it worked on Ben...)  

But, Ben and Janine's happy reunion is interrupted when the cops arrive to arrest Janine, possibly because they recognized her at the start of the issue, which seems a stretch.  ("Hey, that mannequin looks like an escaped murderer from Salt Lake City...")  Issue #3 starts with a disguised Ben kidnapping Janine from the police van returning her to jail from her arraignment.  Ben threatens to kill Janine in front of the cops and other convicts to make it look like Janine was kidnapped, not rescued.  With Janine's presumed death, Ben figures that they can now easily go on the run.  

Before they leave New York, they go to a diner (which seems a profoundly bad idea for two people on the run) to make plans.  There, Janine confesses that Kaine came to her in Santa Cruz while Ben was at work and made her fake her own death in exchange for promising that he'd leave Ben alone.  She's ecstatic when Ben forgives her, but Kaine arrives and, in his ensuing fight with Ben, the diner explodes.

It turns out Kaine planted a bomb in the diner.  After saving the innocent customers, Kaine returns to the diner to die with Ben and Janine.  But, they both beg him to save the other one, and their love for each other finally (finally!) moves Kaine.  He rescues them and asks them to live a happy life together...and to kill him.  Ben refuses, telling him that he has to hold him for the cops to arrest him.  

The cops arrive (you know, given the explosion), and one of the cops recognizes Kaine from the "Parker trial," where Ben/Peter was tried for Louise's murder in "Spider-Man:  The Lost Years" #3.  I had to do some Googling because I forgot the details, but Kaine appears at the trial in "Spectacular Spider-Man" #226 and tells the court that his hatred of Peter led him to have his fingerprints altered to implicate him in murders.

Furious at Ben for not killing him, Kaine grabs a cop in the hope of committing suicide-by-cop.  But, Ben refuses to let Kaine die and saves him.  Inspired by Ben insisting that the truth will set Kaine free, both Janine and Kaine decide to surrender so that they can be charged with their crimes.

Final Thoughts:  I'm honestly stunned that we haven't seen Janine since "Spider-Man:  Resurrection" #4.  On some level, it makes sense since Ben dies in "Spider-Man" #75, which Marvel published the same day as "Spider-Man:  Resurrection" #4.  As such, Ben wasn't there to free or visit her.  But, I don't recall Ben ever mentioning Janine in "Ben Reilly:  Scarlet Spider."  I guess that it isn't too much of a surprise, given that he was insane during that period of time.  But, reading these issues, I'm really thrilled that they've now been reunited because they're a great couple.  I can't wait to see where we go from here.