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kingsuperman (kingsuperman) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-11-05 00:32:00

Entry tags:

char: kaine, char: raptor/damon ryder, char: scarlet spider/ben reilly, creator: luke ross, creator: marc guggenheim, title: amazing spider-man

Amazing Spider-Man #610

Continuing from the first look left off...

In the past, Ben is battling Kaine. He pushes Kaine into the fireplace, and the house starts to go up into flames.

"Might be interesting to let you both live--for now--see how that progresses." Kaine walks off, adding "Or you could just leave him here, unconscious. Let him burn to death with the wife and kiddies. Either way, I'm gonna enjoy watching whatever happens next."

In the present, Peter helps Harry and May's relatives escape, before changing into Spider-Man. He battles Raptor, stating that Reilly and Parker are two different people. Raptor accuses him of lying again, but Kaine says he's telling the truth. He pulls off Spider-Man's mask and tells Raptor that Peter is a clone of Reilly, but that getting his revenge against him would be the next best thing since "whatever Reilly's capable of, this guy is too" and that Peter might as well have been the same person.

Peter attacks Raptor and knocks him down, saying that he knows Ben isn't a killer because he isn't a killer. He starts to web him up when the police arrive. During the commotion Raptor and Kaine escape, and Peter is forced to flee as well.

Later, we see Kaine confronting Raptor, who reveals that he lied to Kaine about being able to help him. "You seemed so eager to kill 'Peter Parker,' if I hadn't tempted you, it would've been a waste of a perfectly good rage." The issue ends with Kaine strangling him.

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	manofbats 2009-11-05 06:06 am UTC (link)
	Wait... so Peter is the clone again? (Reply to this) (Thread)

kingsuperman
2009-11-05 06:09 am UTC (link)

No, Kaine just thinks Peter is the clone and Ben is the real deal.

Before the Spider-Man clone later known as Ben Reilly, there was the enigmatic Kaine. Kaine was the Jackal's first temporary success at cloning Peter Parker, but the cloning process was flawed.

Over time, Kaine degenerated, leaving scars across most of his face. The Jackal tried to kill the clone, but instead, Kaine grew stronger, eventually surpassing the strength of Spider-Man. When the Jackal used the perfect clone against Spider-Man, the ensuing battle left the clone and the Jackal for dead. Behind the scenes, Norman Osborn managed to have the files switched, so the Jackal would think Peter was the clone and Ben was the real deal. Consulting the Jackal's files, Kaine also believed the same, so he followed Ben Reilly through his "exile", and has framed Ben for murder, hoping to give who he thought was the clone, Peter, the life Kaine could never have. Kaine was responsible for the apparent death of Elizabeth Tyne, the love of Ben Reilly's life, and tried to kill him countless times.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foxhack 2009-11-05 06:20 am UTC (link)
	What? I thought Kaine was fully aware that BEN WAS THE CLONE! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kingsuperman 2009-11-05 06:31 am UTC (link)
	When did he find out? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foxhack 2009-11-05 06:35 am UTC (link)
	Well I figured he would've known this by now, I dunno! :P (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-11-05 06:38 am UTC (link)
	Peter only found out after Ben disintegrated. If Peter didn't tell Kaine that, I don't know how Kaine would know. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stratosfyr
2009-11-06 12:14 am UTC (link)

That's true, eh?

I kind of took for granted that he'd figured it out at some point. After Ben died, Kaine went after the Scriers and them.

My problem with this issue here is that Kaine decided to make his peace with Ben and atone for his past a long time ago. And back when he thought Peter was a clone (which I guess is still the case), he was very protective of him, thinking of him as kind of a little brother who'd made good. He seems unaccountably hostile here.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ashtoreth
2009-11-09 05:14 am UTC (link)

Kaine is aware at this point (according to Web of Spiderman 1) that he completely wasted his time for years persecuting Ben and protecting Peter. He probably despises Peter now just as he once despised Ben. Ben was the one who accepted Kaine, remember, but he died. The bit about Peter being a clone? Kaine knew Raptor would never accept that Ben wasn't the real mccoy, so he made a small fib. In the process, jabbing at Peter's sense of self and his bond with Ben and also his bond with Kaine. Peter prefers not to think too long on it, but if Ben IS Peter, then Kaine is ALSO Peter, and every atrocity Kaine commits is equally within Peter, and if you stretch it, Peter is at fault for those atrocities.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	sherkahn 2009-11-05 06:33 am UTC (link)
	One more thing BND seems to have f'ed. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kingsuperman 2009-11-05 06:40 am UTC (link)
	A big part of Kaine's motivation is that he thought Ben was the real one and Peter was the clone. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sherkahn 2009-11-05 06:36 am UTC (link)
	Horrible art. It's like he's copying from a host of others. it looks pretty, or attempts to, but it still feels "phoned in", like the Marvel Comics Presents stuff from the 90s. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	wizardru 2009-11-05 01:02 pm UTC (link)
	Individual line work isn't bad, but there is no flow. The artwork doesn't tell a story all that well, IMHO. The panels don't seem all that connected and some of the perspectives seem...off, to me. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	newnumber6 2009-11-05 12:11 pm UTC (link)
	What's with the blank narration panels? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kingsuperman 2009-11-05 12:44 pm UTC (link)
	The text was from the present scenes, so I cut them out. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	newnumber6 2009-11-05 01:02 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, okay. I thought it was some bizarre 'clones don't really think, they're just empty inside' metaphor. (Reply to this) (Parent)

daningram
2009-11-05 08:39 pm UTC (link)

So...what was the point of this arc?

It started as a tease that Ben might be a murderer and ended rather predictably. As best I can tell, Peter didn't spend much time reflecting on his relationship with Ben, at no time was the mystery made convincing and Kaine is just...there.

I can't imagine that Marvel is so hard up for money that they have to milk the clone saga, of all things.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	xdoop 2009-11-05 09:05 pm UTC (link)
	Maybe this and that Clone Saga mini is testing the waters for Ben's return? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	autolychus2 2009-11-06 04:01 am UTC (link)
	I think you hit it on the head. I wasn't a big fan of the Clone Saga at the end, but I remember looking forward to it when I first heard about it. It's just one of those things that was handled so badly -- but it had lots of potential. (Reply to this) (Parent)