Last Week In Comics:
A fresh take on 5 day-old comics.

Disclaimer: I will ramble on for a while about the “Clone Saga.” If at any time you get confused, or want to get confused, please go and read about it at Wikipedia.

Amazing Spider-Man #610

Back in the 90′s the “Clone Saga” scared me away from Marvel Comics and I have been a DC fanboy ever since. When the Spider-Continuity was rebooted with “One More Day” I decided to read the Webslinger’s comic again.

With a newfound love for everything Spider-Man again, including this summer’s annual focusing on the return of the major players in the Clone Saga, I decided to go back and reread about Ben Reilly, Kain, and the rest of the cast of the “Clone Saga.” Without emotional ties and my current finances being spent on on the Clone Saga, I have to admit if you can excuse the “1990′s” influence it was a fun read. Notice that I said “fun” not “epic” as it was supposed to feel when originally published, it was fun and I enjoyed it more reading it as part of Spidey’s past. Speaking of Spidey’s past, lets use that as a segue to the present, the “Clone Saga” has reared its confusing head into the monthly comics.

So there is this crazy half-dinosaur half-doctor dude who wants to kill Ben Reilly (the now deceased clone) and has mistaken Peter for Ben. Through flashbacks we learned that before Ben participated in the events of the “Clone Saga,” he was this dino-doctor’s lab assistant. The doctor was trying to prove Darwin’s theory of evolution wrong that man had evolved from dinosaurs not apes. To prove this the doctor injected himself with dino DNA. After the injection supposedly Ben Reilly killed the dino-doctor’s family and now in the present he wants revenge and has Peter’s friends and family held hostage.

Not only does Ben Reilly pop back into Pete’s life so does the first ever spider-clone Kain. Kain had always believed that Peter was the clone and Ben Reilly was the original Webslinger (see the Clone Saga for more detail on that,) so Kain who was an imperfect clone wanted Ben to die and Peter live out the life as a “real” person not a clone. Well it seems that not only is Kain still alive, he still thinks that Peter Parker is the clone… and now wants him to die too… LWIC (Last Week In Comics):

• Dr. Ryder and Kain ambush Peter at his aunt’s house.
• Peter almost reviles his secret identity to save his family and friends, but ScrewBall (a youtube villain, don’t ask just accept that she showed up per Spidey’s request) shows up to the party giving Spidey the chance to change his cloths.
• A flashback reviles that Kain was also present when Dr. Ryder and Ben Reilly threw down hoping to kill two birds with one stone: Ryder could cure his cellular degeneration and kill Ben Reilly.
• During the flashback fight, Ryder gets ticked off and filled with rage and in that fit of rage killed his family without realizing it. Once the dino-doc snapped back into reality he didn’t believe that he killed his family and blames Reilly… and Kain encourages this belief.
• In the present, Peter tries once again to convince Ryder that Reilly is dead and he is not the same person.
• Kain tell Reilly that Peter and Ben are the same person so even though Ben died at the end of the “Clone Saga” Peter has the same DNA and could easily become a killer too.
• Peter puts a super-spider powered whoopin on the dino-doctor and saves the day.
• Kain and the Dr. escape.
• The Dr. Ryder, all ticked off about his defeat to Spider-Man, tells Kain that he can’t and never intended to cure him.
• Kain snaps Ryder’s neck.

So it looks as if Ben Reilly, who sacrificed himself at the the end of the “Clone Saga” is still dead – good. With the revolving door of death in comic books I was afraid that Ben Reilly would be back in the Marvel Universe and there would be two Spider-Men again, instead we just have the return of Kain. I’m good with the return of the “imperfect” clone with slightly different powers – he makes a good villain opposite to Spider-Man. I look forward to seeing what’s next for Kain since his role in this story arc was minimal and seemed more of a set up for future conflicts.

Superman: New World of Krypton #9

Since Superman had joined his people on New Krypton I have had mixed feelings about the storylines featured. At first I liked seeing Superman’s non-super powered qualities help him rise above to be a hero to the Kryptonians, but since then the story has gone a little stale. Even with Superman on Krypton the politicians ruling the planet still act like they own the solar system by moving moons from other planets for their own personal use. Last month the Thangarians were upset with the Kryptonians for their arrogance and Superman using his heroic personality, not super strength, handled the problem peacefully. LWIC:

• Jemm, from Saturn, approaches the Kryptonain counsel to protest the moving of moons.
• The Kryptonains see a ticked off alien and flex their super-powered muscles.
• Jemm, eventually super-powered, states that he is not intimidated and fights back.
• Superman, once again, using his political prowess defuses the situation.
• Since Superman is currently in charge of the Kryptonian army and Jemm trusts him he leaves New Krypton only after informing them that he will not stand for similar acts in the future.
• Superman visits General Zod who asks him if he is ready for war.
• Before Superman can answer there is a commotion and Adam Strange is standing before the Kryptonians.

I’m still not sure how I feel about this series. At first the Thangarian attack immediately followed the people of Saturn attacking seemed random and pointless, but the scene with Zod asking Kal if he has the army prepared for war gave me the feeling that these are all setups for something bigger. I know that for next year’s “big event” DC is going to revolve around Kryptonians, the scene with Zod makes me feel that we may not have to wait for next summer… something might happen before then.