Although it’s been covered in more detail elsewhere, The Clone Saga is one of those storylines in comics history that is renowned for showing everything wrong with the era of comics from which it originated. But the mid-90’s are where I came in to comics, and I for one had a fond memory for some of the stories told back in those days. So, for better or worse, I have taken it upon myself to look back at the Clone Saga, one story arc at a time, and remember it for its good and bad. Expect this looks to pop up sporadically on the blog, as I check back in with all the back issues of the story.
The saga opened with “Power & Responsibility”, a our part crossover between all the Spider-books at the time. Aunt May is in the hospital again, Peter is on edge, Mary Jane is getting sick an awful lot, and Ravencroft Sanitarium is under attack by Judas Traveller and his minions. I remember being drawn in to the story of the Clone Saga less because of the clone than to Mr. Traveller himself. Judas seemed like a truly unique character in the Spider-Man stories; a character who carried the potential to be Spidey’s personal Dr. Doom. He was knowledgeable, cunning, manipulative, and absorbed with his own mysterious goals. What a great character that Marvel would eventually throw under the bus as the Clone Saga continued.
Behind its shiny foil covers “Power & Responsibility” really gave us little more than a standard superhero fight of the time period, albeit with the new twist of a second Spidey running around. But it was clear that the clone wasn’t just going to walk away again... and he would have a whole lot more story in the next couple years.
The back-ups by J.M. DeMatteis and Lima Sharp give us a bit of insight in to the mind of the clone (or is he the clone at all...) as we look at the events of Amazing Spider-Man 149 from his perspective. This serves as the real set-up for a lot of the upcoming storylines of the next six to eight months.
All in all, nothing to cry about so far. Good superhero fare with a whole heck of a lot of potential to open Spider-Man to go in interesting new directions. Too bad it would all just fall apart....
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