When it comes to Spider-Man, death is a savage constant in that universe. Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man and his amazing friends are a magnet for the big chill, with plenty of his supporting cast having been bumped off over the years. The latest big SPider-Man epic however, has been promising a resurrection. Dead No More was the name of this series, as a number of rebirths for allies and enemies alike was teased for several months.
But that wasn’t the official title of this Spider-Man summer event. Say hello, to The Clone Conspiracy. No, clone. Not clown. Spider-Man isn’t a horror comic…unless Marvel decides to finally hire me.
ANYWAY! The Clone Conspiracy will be a five issue series, featuring regular webhead writer Dan Slott and artist Jim Cheung. Amazing Spider-Man issues 16-18 sets the tone for the story, as Slott teased that “some big, primal things happen that will have a long-standing effect.” As usual, you can expect a few tie-ins, with Amazing Spider-Man #19-23 linking to the Clone Conspiracy.
And yes, the Jackal is back. If that name sends a shiver down your spine, it’s probably because you remember Spider-Man: The Clone Saga, a massive comic book epic that is generally regarded as the Freddy Got Fingered of comic book stories, only without any comedy that was clearly years ahead of its time. Or Tom Green jerking off a horse, although a few panels of that would have been better than reading that Clone Saga crap again.
Don’t expect the Jackal to recycle his cloning plot again however. Editor Nick Lowe teased that the villain will be seeking to conquer death itself. “I think more than any character in the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man is about heart,” writer Dan Slott said to EW.
And ever since ‘Amazing Fantasy’ #15, for him it’s also been about loss. ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ He learns that lesson at the life of Uncle Ben. And then, years later, Captain Stacy dies in front of him, and it’s almost the exact opposite. He did everything he possibly could! He did try to live up to his responsibility and use his power, and still he lost someone very dear to him.
So loss surrounds Spider-Man. We live in a day and age of comics where you’re always seeing another important death. ‘Here’s someone who dies!’ We’re subverting all of that. Here’s people coming back.
Sounds like some heavy stuff, that only a handful of fans will understand.But Slott said that there’ll be enough content available so that new readers aren’t left in the dark. “As much as there’s all these touchstones for people who have been reading the book for a long time, there’ll also be great jumping-on points for people who have been Spider-Man fans their whole lives who want to come back and see what we’re doing,” Slott said.
When you jump in to the prelude issues, or the series proper, it will take you by the hand and lead you into this fresh hell.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Ben Reilly back if I’m being honest. His Spider-Man run was actually sensational.
Last Updated: June 20, 2016
Admiral Chief Maximum Effort
June 21, 2016 at 08:22
[mssc]
TheCurzonian
June 21, 2016 at 22:12
Clone saga wasn’t as bad as you paint it out to be. Granted the near end (maximum clonage), was pretty bad, but i enjoyed most of it quite a bit, with Ben and Kaine and then Spidercide shows up, and then wtf? Who’s the real Peter god dammit, was it the Spider man skeleton they found in that building? Great stuff. Though it did drag on quite a bit.
Cole Millar
June 22, 2016 at 00:06
I am pretty excited for this, though I am a bit sad that they changed the name (Clone Conspiracy sounds cool, but Dead No More sounded much more sinister) and I was hoping that this storyline would take place within the core Amazing Spider-Man series, not a separate miniseries. But this does look like it will be very good nonetheless.