How big is your pile? 3 3

[Ken Aldred]

On 9/30/2021 at 7:10 AM, Larryw7 said:

I recently read the Clone Saga Omnibus's because I liked the old Gwen Stacy clone storline. The Clone Saga isn't all bad. There were some good stories buried in there, and I liked Ben Reilly. But when the powers that be at Marvel decreed that Peter Parker had to remain as the real Spidey, the writers dug themselves out of a hole in the most unimaginable way,by bringing back Norman Osborn and making him a mastermind so clever that he could even fake Aunt May's death. He was behind every jot and tittile(tee hee) of the plan to destroy Parker. And bringing back Norman, whose death was one of the most impactful in comics history, just for a cheap stunt sucked. I'm glad I dropped Spidey in the early nineties. 

For people who love the Silver Bronze and Copper eras, it isn't recognizable as the same character or book anymore.

It started out okay, but after a while it began to feel as if the writers were winging it, just making it up as they were going along, and a bit of a rambling, drawn-out bore in the end. 
 

Reading it in monthlies over a very long period can feel a bit different to reading a long Saga in its entirety, integrated in a collected format, such as the aforementioned omnibus.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[RickSp]

On 9/30/2021 at 12:10 PM, Ken Aldred said:

It started out okay, but after a while it began to feel as if the writers were winging it, just making it up as they were going along, and a bit of a rambling, drawn-out bore in the end. 
 

Reading it in monthlies over a very long period can feel a bit different to reading a long Saga in its entirety, integrated in a collected format, such as the aforementioned omnibus.

There's a brilliant article online called 'The Life of Reilly,' a full history of how the story to came to be and what happened along the way between all the creators involved. Must of been a fun/crazy time to work in the spider office department back then.

[universal soldier]

On 9/30/2021 at 2:10 AM, Larryw7 said:

I recently read the Clone Saga Omnibus's because I liked the old Gwen Stacy clone storline. The Clone Saga isn't all bad. There were some good stories buried in there, and I liked Ben Reilly. But when the powers that be at Marvel decreed that Peter Parker had to remain as the real Spidey, the writers dug themselves out of a hole in the most unimaginable way,by bringing back Norman Osborn and making him a mastermind so clever that he could even fake Aunt May's death. He was behind every jot and tittile(tee hee) of the plan to destroy Parker. And bringing back Norman, whose death was one of the most impactful in comics history, just for a cheap stunt sucked. I'm glad I dropped Spidey in the early nineties. 

For people who love the Silver Bronze and Copper eras, it isn't recognizable as the same character or book anymore.

I got back into comics in the mid 90's right at the start of the clone saga and thought it was okay. I agree the resolution was lame at  the end. For me Sins Past (Norman is Gwen's baby daddy) made me want to drop the book.

See below on that if you haven't been reading the latest run.

Spoiler

Thankfully they just retconned that last month in ASM #73.

Quote

The Harry AI reveals that the death of his actual body was genuine, and what's more, he never actually returned from the dead. Further still, the AI confesses that the events of the controversial, much-maligned story Spider-Man: Sins Past are all a hoax perpetrated by the AI and Harry's still-living accomplices Mysterio and Mendel Stromm, effectively undoing one of the most hated Spider-Man stories of all time. 

 

It seems that they are bringing back Ben in the upcoming issues so we'll see how this plays out 

[universal soldier]

On 9/30/2021 at 8:22 AM, RickSp said:

There's a brilliant article online called 'The Life of Reilly,' a full history of how the story to came to be and what happened along the way between all the creators involved. Must of been a fun/crazy time to work in the spider office department back then.

If you have it, please share. I'll google it to see what I can find.

 

Edit: http://benreillytribute.x10host.com/LifeofReilly1.html maybe this?

Edited September 30, 2021 by universal soldier
Google is your friend

[Larryw7]

On 9/30/2021 at 1:04 PM, universal soldier said:

I got back into comics in the mid 90's right at the start of the clone saga and thought it was okay. I agree the resolution was lame at  the end. For me Sins Past (Norman is Gwen's baby daddy) made me want to drop the book.

See below on that if you haven't been reading the latest run.

  Reveal hidden contents

Thankfully they just retconned that last month in ASM #73.

 

It seems that they are bringing back Ben in the upcoming issues so we'll see how this plays out 

More retcons? I guess I'm going to have to read this story.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by Larryw7

[brownies8701]

So I have Batman issues #200 to 713 and started reading them back in July.  I am now on issue #291

only 422 more to go! 

[universal soldier]

On 9/30/2021 at 2:10 AM, Larryw7 said:

 And bringing back Norman, whose death was one of the most impactful in comics history, just for a cheap stunt sucked.

Circling back to this, I 1000% agree with that statement. If you can't tell by my avatar, that story is really why I'm a collector today. The impact that had on me as a young collector/reader was immense. It truly cemented me to this hobby when I read that arc back in the day. I can see the need to bring Norman back as his arch nemesis to an extent as the Spider-man mythos needs the original Green Goblin around.  Thankfully they have never tried to bring Gwen back through magic or any other retcons. I can live with clones and multiverse versions of Spider-Gwens but that is sacred ground IMO.

[RickSp]

On 9/30/2021 at 6:06 PM, universal soldier said:

If you have it, please share. I'll google it to see what I can find.

 

Edit: http://benreillytribute.x10host.com/LifeofReilly1.html maybe this?

Yep that's the one, it's a long read and goes into detail on the storyline but the tidbits along the way from the guys involved are great if you're a fan of that era of Spidey.

Particularly when it gets further in and they openly admit that no one could see a way out of the storyline!