The Clone Saga: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

''The Clone Saga'' (or ''Spider-Clone Saga'') is the name of two [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]] story arcs, one from the 1970s and another running from 1994 to 1996, both involving Spider-Man and [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|clones]]. The second story, which is pretty much a sequel for all intents and purposes, is better remembered due to being considered to be one of the more controversial Spider-Man stories. Intended to wrap up in less than a year, the comics sold well enough that the writers were encouraged to prolong the series as long as possible. This led to some changes to the storyline that ultimately proved very unpopular.

''The Clone Saga'' (or ''Spider-Clone Saga'') is the name of two [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]] story arcs, one from the 1970s and another running from 1994 to 1996, both involving Spider-Man and [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|clones]]. The second story, which is pretty much a sequel for all intents and purposes, is better remembered due to being considered to be one of the more controversial Spider-Man stories. Intended to wrap up in less than a year, the comics sold well enough that the writers were encouraged to prolong the series as long as possible. This led to some changes to the storyline that ultimately proved very unpopular.

The first 1970s Clone Saga was primarily written by Gerry Conway. The second Clone Saga is most commonly associated with Terry Kavanagh, though many other writers were involved in the project, among them: Joey Cavalieri, Todd Dezago, J. M. Dematteis, and Tom Defalco.

The original 1970s Clone Saga follows up on the death of [[The Gwen Stacy|Gwen Stacy]], and is summarized with panels [http://www.asitecalledfred.com/comics101/69.html here]. It begins with the introduction of a new villain, the Jackal, and what seems to be Gwen Stacy, [[Back From the Dead]]. [[Captain Obvious|As you might guess]], [[Cloning Blues|she's a clone]]. Eventually, the Jackal [[The Reveal|reveals himself]] to be Miles Warren, Peter Parker's biology professor, who blames him for Gwen Stacy's death. In the climax of the story, a clone of Spider-Man is created, and the two of them have to fight it out to see who is the real Spider-Man, as only the real Spider-Man can defuse a bomb. In the end, the Jackal undergoes a [[Heel Realization]] and [[Redemption Equals Death|stops the bomb himself at the cost of his own life]]. Additionally, one of the Spider-Men clones are killed. The surviving one gets tested to see if he's the original or not, but decides he has to be the original and doesn't read the results. [[It Seemed Like a Good Idea At ~~The~~ Time|This comes back to bite him]].

The original 1970s Clone Saga follows up on the death of [[The Gwen Stacy|Gwen Stacy]], and is summarized with panels [http://www.asitecalledfred.com/comics101/69.html here]. It begins with the introduction of a new villain, the Jackal, and what seems to be Gwen Stacy, [[Back From the Dead]]. [[Captain Obvious|As you might guess]], [[Cloning Blues|she's a clone]]. Eventually, the Jackal [[The Reveal|reveals himself]] to be Miles Warren, Peter Parker's biology professor, who blames him for Gwen Stacy's death. In the climax of the story, a clone of Spider-Man is created, and the two of them have to fight it out to see who is the real Spider-Man, as only the real Spider-Man can defuse a bomb. In the end, the Jackal undergoes a [[Heel Realization]] and [[Redemption Equals Death|stops the bomb himself at the cost of his own life]]. Additionally, one of the Spider-Men clones are killed. The surviving one gets tested to see if he's the original or not, but decides he has to be the original and doesn't read the results. [[It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time|This comes back to bite him]].

The second Clone Saga follows the reappearance of the Spider-Man clone who was apparently [[Not Quite Dead]] during the original Clone Saga and has taken up the name Ben Reilly. It's also [[Arc Fatigue|pretty long]]. The details of this story, including behind the scenes information can be found in the site ''[http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/2008/03/introduction-and-update.html The Life of Reilly]'', which may be a book someday.

Line 33:

* [[Revenge]]: The Jackal's motivation; he blames Spidey for not saving Gwen Stacy. Nevermind that it was the Green Goblin's fault...

* [[The Un-Reveal]]: At the very end, Spider-Man isn't sure if he's the clone or not and gets tested. However, he finds that his [[The Power of Love|feelings for Mary Jane]] couldn't have been had by the clone, and so he decides to throw the test results away without reading it. [[What an Idiot!|This proves to be a bad decision]].

* [[What Happened to ~~The~~ Mouse?]]: Clone Gwen Stacy survives the story, appears for the "genetic virus" retcon, and then vanishes. Probably for the best.

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: Clone Gwen Stacy survives the story, appears for the "genetic virus" retcon, and then vanishes. Probably for the best.

=== Tropes associated with the Second Clone Saga ===

Line 39:

* [[Affectionate Parody]]: ''Spider Man: 101 Ways To End The Clone Saga'', a comic about Marvel writers and editors trying to find a way to pull off an [[Author's Saving Throw]] in increasingly humorous ways...[[Take That Me|and it's written by Marvel's writers and editors]].

* [[The Atoner]]: It was this era of Spider-Man's career that introduced Phil Urich, who attempted to re-purpose the Green Goblin costume and alias for justice.

* [[Back for ~~The~~ Dead]]: Mendel Stromm, the [[Robot Master]].

* [[Back for the Dead]]: Mendel Stromm, the [[Robot Master]].

* [[Breakout Character]]: Averted at first but eventually played straight. The Clone Saga was filled with attempts to create [[Breakout Character|Breakout Characters]]. None of them took off. On the other hand, a ''[[What If]]'' story released regarding the Clone Saga gave us [[Spider-Girl]].

* [[Broken Bird]]/[[The Woobie]]: [[That Man Is Dead|Janine Godbe/Elizabeth Tyne]] from Lost Years and Redemption minis. [[Parental Incest|Big]] [[Self-Made Orphan|time]]. [[First Girl Wins|At least she won]] and [[Someone to Remember Him By|had a "keepsake"]] in [[Spider Girl]]! ([[Missing Mom|Sort of]]).

Line 53:

* [[Creator Backlash]]/[[Writer Revolt]]: A lot of people involved weren't happy with how the story was going and this resulted in quite a few changes in direction.

** Fan-favorite writer Tom DeFalco was often said to be particularly displeased with killing off Doc Ock, and he unfortunately wound up being required to write that issue. First chance he got after the saga, however, he brought Ock back.

* [[Cursed ~~With~~ Awesome]]: According to [[Word of God]], Kaine's [[Clone Degeneration]] gives him his precognition - amplifying his [[Spider Sense]].

* [[Cursed with Awesome]]: According to [[Word of God]], Kaine's [[Clone Degeneration]] gives him his precognition - amplifying his [[Spider Sense]].

** The Mark of Kaine was also said to be an amplified wall-crawling trait.

*** Specifically, using his wall-crawling/clinging powers to stick his hand to someone, and then rip it off, leaving a perfect hand-shaped mark. Of course, Peter Parker's "stick-em" powers are powerful enough to do the same, but most of his opponents only have their face exposed, so the results could be ''very'' gruesome.

Line 60:

* [[Discriminate and Switch]]/[[Mistaken for Racist]]: Ben Reilly as Spider-Man gets accused of being racist by an African-American man who turned out to be an undercover police detective, but the real reason Ben was suspicious of the man was because Ben's boss at the coffee bar he works at is the cop's ex-wife, merely said he was bad news and undependable, and was worried about their son being near him.

* [[Does Not Like Women]] / [[Politically-Incorrect Villain]]: One of the guests who stands up to Norman is his daughter-in-law Liz Allan. It earns her a ''hard'' backhand and a "Silence, cow!", along with a rant about how she [[Never My Fault|ruined his son's life and made him a weakling.]]

* [[Dropped a Bridge On Him]]: Quite a few examples.

* [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]: Quite a few examples.

** Dr. Octopus was killed early on in order to make way for a new Dr. Octopus ([[Comic Book Death|it obviously didn't last long]]).

** When the saga was reaching one of its intended wrap-up points, both the Jackal and Kaine, two major figures, were quickly killed off unceremoniously. Kaine got better, though, very quickly afterwards.

Line 75:

* [[Follow the Leader]]: The Clone Saga follows the wave of "replace-the-hero" comics started by ''[[The Death of Superman]]''. On a more market-related note, the "Maximum Clonage: Alpha and Omega" one-shots and the ''Scarlet Spider'' titles were inspired by similar gimmicks in ''[[Age of Apocalypse]]''.

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Spider-Man suffered two. The first one he's already in the middle of when the storyline opens because of his Aunt being in the hospital and his "parents" being revealed to be robots. The second is after Seward Trainer [[Blatant Lies|"reveals"]] that Ben in the real Peter and he's the clone.

* [[Hijacked By Ganon|Hijacked By Norman Osborn]]

* [[Hijacked by Ganon|Hijacked By Norman Osborn]]

* [[Kudzu Plot]]: A lot of it was because [[Writing By the Seat of Your Pants|even the writers weren't sure where they were going with this]].

* [[Kudzu Plot]]: A lot of it was because [[Writing by the Seat of Your Pants|even the writers weren't sure where they were going with this]].

** The most obvious example of this was the climax of the saga which featured an evil army of Spider-Man clones. This part of the story was written aross different titles by different writers. One issue introduced the army in a [[Cliff Hanger]] panel. Another comic followed that up by having Kaine appear to help out, but being told [[Thou Shall Not Kill|not to kill any of the clones]]. The followup issue by yet another creative team depicted Kaine slaughtering several clones with no one objecting. The writer also didn't seem to know what to do with the army so he just had them randomly dissolve into dust with a brief line of dialogue about them being "unstable". In the end, the clone army had no real importance to the plot despite much hype to the contrary.

* [[Legacy Character]]: The people in charge were indecisive if Ben Reilly would become this or not. Ultimately he didn't.

** A few were introduced for Kraven (The Grim Hunter), Doctor Octopus ([[Distaff Counterpart|Lady Octopus]]), and the Rose. The Grim Hunter got killed by Kaine, Lady Octopus only lasted a few years before the classic Doc Ock returned, and The new Rose only lasted shortly longer than Lady Octopus. Also Phil Urich as the Green Goblin, but [[Redeeming Replacement|he was trying to be a hero]].

* [[Milestone Celebration]]: The saga was [[What Could Have Been|originally]] planned to end at ''Amazing Spider-Man #400'', with Peter [[Put On a Bus]] and Ben becoming the new Spider-Man. Thanks to [[Executive Meddling]], however...

* [[Milestone Celebration]]: The saga was [[What Could Have Been|originally]] planned to end at ''Amazing Spider-Man #400'', with Peter [[Put on a Bus]] and Ben becoming the new Spider-Man. Thanks to [[Executive Meddling]], however...

* [[Mirror Match]]: Yup.

* [[Motive Rant]]: The final issue of the saga has Osborn giving a series of these. [[Kudzu Plot|He had a lot to explain, after all.]]

* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Peter's reaction immediately after smacking a very pregnant Mary Jane into a wall.

* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: Punisher ended up suffering one from Spidey moments after showing up in ''Maximum Clonage'' and was [[What Happened to ~~The~~ Mouse?|forgotten about for the rest of the story.]]

* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: Punisher ended up suffering one from Spidey moments after showing up in ''Maximum Clonage'' and was [[What Happened to the Mouse?|forgotten about for the rest of the story.]]

* [[Old Shame]]: Quite a few people involved aren't fond of the saga themselves.

* [[Outside Context Villain]]: Judas Traveller and Scrier. Apparently no-one really knew what was going on with them, and while [[What Could Have Been|ideas were proposed]], such as Traveller being a [[Fallen Angel]] and Scrier being Mephisto, ultimately Traveller was a [[Master of Illusion]] who was convinced he was a [[Reality Warper]], and Scrier [[Collective Identity|was really a group of individuals in a cult that Norman took over]] (thus subverted with the lead Scrier, who was Norman himself).

Line 90:

* [[Post-Mortem Comeback]]: After the Jackal died, a post-mortem compulsion activates within Spider-Man's brain, causing him to try to kill whoever he loves most under temporary conscious mind control.

* [[Pulling Themselves Together]]: Spidercide.

* [[Put On a Bus]]: Many of Spidey's old foes and supporting cast retired or otherwise let the titles to make way for Ben Reilly's foes and supporting characters, including Peter Parker himself. When Parker came back, [[The Bus Came Back|so did everyone else]]. Meanwhile, Reilly's side characters vanished in a similar manner.

* [[Put on a Bus]]: Many of Spidey's old foes and supporting cast retired or otherwise let the titles to make way for Ben Reilly's foes and supporting characters, including Peter Parker himself. When Parker came back, [[The Bus Came Back|so did everyone else]]. Meanwhile, Reilly's side characters vanished in a similar manner.

* [[Reset Button]]: And many fans view it as an outright [[Ass Pull]].

* [[Scenery Censor]]: Both Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane at different points.

* [[Shout-Out]]: When the Saga returned in the 90's, the Punisher was brought in for the ''Maximum Clonage'' tie-in miniseries as a Shout Out to his first appearance (Maximum Clonage itself being a shot out to the ''Maximum Carnage'' arc from a few year previous).

* [[Status Quo Is God]]: The ultimate result, more or less.

** The key exception is [[Norman Osborn]], who got promoted to [[The Chessmaster]] and [[Villain ~~With~~ Good Publicity]] (as opposed to a mere [[Ax Crazy]] [[Mad Bomber]]), as well as cementing his place as '''the''' [[Arch Enemy]] of [[Spider Man]]. Over the next decade or so his threat hangs over Peter and his supporting cast and he ends up ruining many of their lives, or doing his damnest to at least.

** The key exception is [[Norman Osborn]], who got promoted to [[The Chessmaster]] and [[Villain with Good Publicity]] (as opposed to a mere [[Ax Crazy]] [[Mad Bomber]]), as well as cementing his place as '''the''' [[Arch Enemy]] of [[Spider-Man]]. Over the next decade or so his threat hangs over Peter and his supporting cast and he ends up ruining many of their lives, or doing his damnest to at least.

* [[Step Three: Profit]]: [http://www.toplessrobot.com/2008/11/the_13_dumbest_spiderman_storiesjust_from_the_clon.php?page=3 From Topless Robot]:

{{quote| At this point in the Clone Saga the reborn Jackal is still alive and hatching his fucking incoherent plan to somehow turn every person in the world into a Peter Parker clone, so… uh… profit?}}

* [[Super Prototype]]: Sort of. Kane was the first Spider-Man clone made, but quickly suffered clone degeneration. However, [[Cursed ~~With~~ Awesome|this increased his spider-sense to the point where it gives him precognition]].

* [[Super Prototype]]: Sort of. Kane was the first Spider-Man clone made, but quickly suffered clone degeneration. However, [[Cursed with Awesome|this increased his spider-sense to the point where it gives him precognition]].

* [[The Reveal]]: Norman Osborn is behind everything. Again, some consider it an [[Ass Pull]], especially since even the writers didn't know who the mastermind would be, or even if there was a mastermind at first.

* [[Seers]]: Kaine was one; according to [[Word of God]], this ability was an amped-up version of Spider-Man's Spider-Sense.

Line 113:

* [[The Worf Effect]]: Doctor Octopus got killed by Kaine to enforce the idea of Kaine being a [[Badass]]. [[Death Is Cheap|Death in comics being what it is]], Doctor Octopus recovers.

** Earlier Venom was beaten by Ben to establish Ben as a superhero in his own right. (In fairness to Ben, it look him considerable more effort to take down Venom than the few moments it took Kaine to snap the neck of a captive Doc Ock.)

* [[Writing By the Seat of Your Pants]]: Looking behind-the-scenes, it becomes clear that no-one really knew what was going to happen with the story. Or that someone did, but didn't let the others know; a "too many cooks spoiled the soup" argument is easy to make.

* [[Writing by the Seat of Your Pants]]: Looking behind-the-scenes, it becomes clear that no-one really knew what was going to happen with the story. Or that someone did, but didn't let the others know; a "too many cooks spoiled the soup" argument is easy to make.

=== Tropes associated with the [[Ultimate Spider-Man|Ultimate Clone Saga]] ===

Line 146:

* [[Cloning Blues]]: Notice a theme here?

* [[Compressed Adaptation]]: To the point where it feels rushed. Yes, the original version was supposed to last six months, but it was also going to span ''four titles''.

* [[Death By Adaptation]]: {{spoiler|Norman Osborn is still dead in this version.}}

* [[Death by Adaptation]]: {{spoiler|Norman Osborn is still dead in this version.}}

* [[Evil Knockoff]]: {{spoiler|Guess.}}

* [[Faking the Dead]]: {{spoiler|Harry before the story.}}

Line 152:

* [[Heel Realization]]: {{spoiler|Kaine realizes what Harry wants is wrong and delivers the baby back to MJ. Though probably defective, the Norman clone realizes Harry's mad and decided to end the feud and encourages Kaine's returning the baby.}}

* [[Lying Creator]]: Some fans think so; it's hard to write a story as "originally intended" when you had a bunch of separate people having different intentions.

* [[Spared By the Adaptation]]: {{spoiler|Ben Reilly and baby May survive the story. Granted, Doctor Octopus did come [[Back From the Dead]] and Aunt May was retconned into having been replaced and never having actually died, but they could count, too, since their returns were after "The Clone Saga" ended.}}

* [[Spared by the Adaptation]]: {{spoiler|Ben Reilly and baby May survive the story. Granted, Doctor Octopus did come [[Back From the Dead]] and Aunt May was retconned into having been replaced and never having actually died, but they could count, too, since their returns were after "The Clone Saga" ended.}}

* [[Take That]]: The Trade Paperback of the mini-series is called "The REAL Clone Saga"

* [[What Could Have Been]]: Uses a few of the second story in this version.