Thursday, October 1, 2009

CLONE WARS

Nope, I'm not talking about George Lucas, I'm talking about Peter Parker.  Over at Comic Book Resources, there's an interview with yours truly, discussing the infamous Spider-Man Clone Saga and my upcoming story—bringing back the classic CS character, Kaine—in Web of Spider-Man #1.  If you're a Spideyphile—especially one who came of age reading 90's comics—I suspect you'll enjoy it. 

27 comments:

  1. I never did read the original Clone Saga so I'm a little lost here.

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  2. I'm hoping Marvel will collect the best of the Clone Saga material in a series of trades one of these days, Nicholas.

    The good news is that the Kaine story in Web of Spider-Man is a stand-alone that can, I hope!, be read without knowing the character's back story.

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  3. I'll have to check it out. My comic shop here in SLC has a great back issue selection. I bet I can pick 'em up.

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  4. If you're looking for Clone Saga back issues that can be read as stand-alones, I'd suggest two mini-series that I wrote: Spider-Man: The Lost Years and Spider-Man: Redemption. Both deal with Ben Reilly and Kaine and they're great lead-ins to the Web of Spider-Man story.

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  5. If you do read LOST YEARS and REDEMPTION, let me know what you think.

    Yesterday, someone sent me a link to Amazon.com in Canada, where they're listing a 400+ page Clone Saga Collected Edition. (Came as a big surprise to me!) Looks like the Clone Comeback will be continuing in 2010.

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  6. "Echoes" is a great story that rises to the level of "The Lost Years" and "Redemption."

    I think Kaine is one of the few Spider-Man protagonists that stands toe-to-toe with the Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita inventions.

    It's such a beautiful, tragic merger--the twisted mirror image of Peter Parker who isn't sure what he wants and will do anything to get it. -----David

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  7. Very glad you enjoyed "Echoes," David. It was an interesting (and strange) experience revisiting the Kaine character after so many years. I can't wait to see what the current Spider-team does with him when they bring him back into the books.

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  8. According to Diamond's latest figures, ASM broke the top 10 with Kaine's return (ASM 609).

    Web of Spider-Man #1 also did very well, weighing in at #20.

    This is all very promising news for fans of your work with Kaine, so perhaps it's not too premature to wish you well on your next Kaine story...

    David

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  9. That great news, David. Makes me even more excited about writing the ten page Ben Reilly story I've got scheduled for an upcoming issue of WEB. Remember: you heard it here first!

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  10. Oh, wow. This is incredible news!

    Can we flood the internet with this yet, or is there an official announcement on the way?

    I would love to be the "breaking news from JMD's Blog" guy right now.

    David

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  11. I don't know about "flooding the internet," but I don't think it's Top Secret, either.

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  12. All I have to add at this point is that after a decade without Ben Reilly stories, it's about darned time!

    Best,

    David

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  13. It's just going to be a short one, David: ten pages. But it'll be nice to get reacquainted with Ben. And, with luck, there'll be more to come.

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  14. It's amazing that you are back. I love that you are writing about Kaine and Ben. You are my favorite writer, and I hope we will see you in more projects.

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  15. Thanks so much, Matthew. It's an odd and interesting feeling revisiting these characters after all these years. I'm really looking forward to writing Ben Reilly again. He remains one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe.

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  16. There's a "Who Would You Resurrect?" thread in the Spider-Man forums on CBR that has Ben Reilly in the lead so far:

    http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=294948

    Not scientific by any means, but a nice indicator that momentum continues to build for Ben.

    Sorry, Kraven!

    David

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  17. Well, Kraven SHOULDN'T be resurrected. Let sleeping hunters lie. But Ben? Absolutely!

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  18. Ah, Kraven, the only man with the audacity to believe an unlimited line of credit at the sporting goods outlet put him on equal terms with Doc Ock and Green Goblin!

    RIP, old friend.

    David

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  19. I'm actually stunned, and pleased, that Kraven has never come back. That's a real rarity in comics.

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  20. I never gave Kraven much thought before KLH. Didn't love or hate him. (Interestingly, my dad's first ASM comic was Kraven's first appearance!) Now I love Kraven but I feel like his story is complete.

    Ben Reilly, on the other hand, still has more to say alive than dead. In fact, I feel like he has the potential to take readers through as many twists and turns as Peter Parker if given the opportunity. The man who both is and isn't Peter Parker is such a fantastic concept.

    I'm proud to say I was on the ground floor for Ben Reilly.

    David

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  21. As noted, David, my new story is just a ten page vignette -- but here's hoping that, whether I'm writing him or not, Ben makes a major comeback in the Marvel U.

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  22. I've got to say, I'm pretty excited. I started reading Spider-man during the Clone Saga, so for me, Spider-man was and always will be Ben Reilly. Your work on the character was probably the main reason for that. I love, love, love The Lost Years and Spider-man: Redemption. The first issue of Redemption is probably my favorite single comic issue I've read. Revelations may have been the official climax to the Clone Saga, but I think Redemption was the real important one. After Ben died, I dropped Spider-man pretty soon after. I was incredibly happy to see him back in last year's X-men/ Spider-man 3, and the year just kept getting better and better after that. Echoes was great. I was glad to see that follow-up to Redemption, but I still think something is missing. We know what happened to Ben after the story, sadly. We now know what happened to Kaine. However, the third leg of the stool is still missing. I know I'm probably in the minority even among Ben fans, but my money is primed and ready to be spent on a Janine Godbe/ Elizabeth Tyne follow-up. I really enjoyed her character and was always curious of what became of her. What do you think? Do you think she's out of jail by now? If Ben does end up coming back in main stream continuity, do you think she should come back as a major supporting character? Wouldn't that be something, if now that Peter is the regrettably single Spider-man, Ben comes back as the married one? Seeing the nod to her in DeFalco and Mackie's Clone Saga 4 was delightful and much appreciated. I'm really looking forward to your upcoming Lost Years story in Web of Spider-man. I like DeFalco's Spider-girl, but just the shortened issues of that are not enough to get me to purchase Web consistently. However, if your Lost Years work becomes an ongoing feature alongside that, Web of Spider-man would definitely become a must buy for me. Thanks fo rthe wonderful stories.

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  23. I'd love nothing more than to do an ongoing Ben Reilly feature, Colin. I don't see it happening, but if it ever comes up, you can bet I'll jump at the chance.

    I do have a Ben ten pager coming up soon in WEB OF SPIDER-MAN amd I'm just getting started on another one very soon. I'm just happy to be writing the character again.

    I've also got a new Kaine-related story in the works -- and it's a pretty exciting one -- but I can't say anything about it. Yet.

    Thanks so much for the kind words. They're profoundly appreciated!

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  24. Wow! Even more incredible breaking news from JMD's blog! I'm certainly looking forward to it.

    I've been eyeing those JLI trades in stores and I'm planning on picking them up soon.

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  25. I'm working away on the new Ben Reilly ten pager right now. It's Ben, very early in his wanderings. He's left America for Europe and...

    I can say no more!

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  26. I await with baited breath.

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