''Scarlet Spider'' is the title of two

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

about two

clones Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to: Places * Clones, County Fermanagh * Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland Biology * Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

while they functioned as the then-current version of the

Scarlet Spider The Scarlet Spider is an alias used by several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, both of whom are genetic replicates of the superhero Spider-Man. Both the ...

. The first volume lasted only two issues as a brief temporary replacement of the ''

'' series and was published in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. The second volume started publishing in January

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and ended in December

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

with issue 25 after a total of 26 issues, because there was a special Marvel Point One issue published between issues 12 and 13.

Volume 1

The first volume starred

Ben Reilly Benjamin "Ben" Reilly (), also known as the Scarlet Spider, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Grown in a lab by the Miles Warren / Jackal, he is a clone of Peter Parker / Spider-Man tasked ...

as the Scarlet Spider. It was published for two issues in November and December

in between ''Spider-Man'' issues 63 and 64. During this time, the four primary Spider-Man series and his quarterly series and were paused and briefly replaced by Scarlet Spider counterparts; the others being ''

Web of Scarlet Spider ''Web of Scarlet Spider'' is a short-lived comic book series starring Ben Reilly as the Scarlet Spider. The series was published by Marvel Comics for four issues between November 1995 and February 1996, following ''Web of Spider-Man'' issue 129. ...

'', ''

The Amazing Scarlet Spider ''The Amazing Scarlet Spider'' is a short-lived comic book series starring Ben Reilly as the Scarlet Spider. The series was published by Marvel Comics for four issues in November and December 1995 in between ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #406 and #407 ...

'', ''

The Spectacular Scarlet Spider ''The Spectacular Scarlet Spider'' is a short-lived comic book series starring Ben Reilly as the Scarlet Spider. The series was published by Marvel Comics for four issues in November and December 1995 in between ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' issue ...

'', and '' Scarlet Spider Unlimited''. The five series were instituted as part of the

Clone Saga The "Clone Saga" is an extended comic-book storyline published by Marvel Comics, revolving around the superhero Spider-Man and clones of him, as well as of other characters. The second and best-known story arc of this name ran from October 1994 to ...

after when Peter Parker gave up being

to retire with his pregnant wife Mary Jane, and the Scarlet Spider took on his duties. ''Spider-Man'' (along with ''Amazing'', ''Spectacular'' and ''Unlimited'') returned to its old name and numbering when Ben Reilly left the Scarlet Spider identity behind and took on the Spider-Man name for himself. The Scarlet Spider books were direct continuations, in terms of creative teams and story lines, of the their Spider-Man counterparts. They were effectively temporary renamings of their counterparts, other than not being incorporated into their issue numbering. The writer of the two issues was

Howard Mackie Howard Mackie (born January 22, 1958) is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics and is best known as the co-creator of the Danny Ketch version of the Ghost Rider character. Early life Macki ...

and the

penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

s were

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day versio ...

and

John Romita Jr. John Salvatore Romita (; born August 17, 1956), known professionally as John Romita Jr., is an American comics artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2010s. He is the son of artist John Romita Sr. Early ...

Volume 2

On July 22, 2011, during the San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel released an image to the audience depicting a burnt sweater of the original

. This led many readers to assume that

would be returning and taking on the mantle of Scarlet Spider once again. However, through introduction of the Marvel Now event, Marvel Point One showed readers that Kaine Parker would be the main character in the new Scarlet Spider series.

Ryan Stegman Ryan Stegman is a comic book artist, writer, and podcaster best known for his work on Marvel Comics characters including '' She-Hulk'', ''X-23'', '' Spider-Man'' and ''Venom''. Career His first comic work was titled ''Magician Apprentice'', based ...

, the series' penciller states that volume 2 is set to be of a darker tone than ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

'' series. Stegman also states that the new Scarlet Spider is meant to be a grittier and scarier version of the original

. The writer of the series,

Christopher Yost Christopher Lee Yost (born February 21, 1973) is an American film, television, animation, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe with '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) and '' Thor: Ragnarok'' ( ...

, states that Kaine would be moved to

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

due to characters in New York knowing that he was a villain in his former life, and that Kaine needed a fresh start. Yost also states that due to the brand new location of Houston in a Spider-Man comic book, several new villains would be introduced in the Marvel world as well as a brand new supporting cast. Yost stated that the Scarlet Spider series would be a story about a former super-villain who is finding himself and is on the pursuit of a journey of self-discovery. The second volume stars

Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the S ...

's first genetic clone, Kaine as the Scarlet Spider. After helping to stop

Spider-Island "Spider-Island" is a 2011 comic book storyline starting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and crossing over into other comic books published by Marvel Comics, most of which were limited series or one-shots specifically for this storyline. The main ...

, Kaine has been cured of his clonal degeneration. While fleeing to Mexico he stops in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

to steal money from criminals, but ends up becoming the superhero, Scarlet Spider. The first issue sold over 50,000 copies, but sales dropped to an average of about 22,000 copies being sold per issue by July 2013. The series introduces several new characters in the Marvel world, such as Aracely Penalba (the demigod superhero known as Hummingbird), Dr. Donald Meland and his husband Wally Layton.''Scarlet Spider'' vol. 2 #1 (Jan. 2012) The character Annabelle Adams is also introduced in the Marvel world as a love interest for Kaine. The characters play pivotal roles in the growth of Kaine as a superhero. On July 6, 2012 Marvel teased readers with the submission of an article displaying a logo titled Minimum Carnage, and that more information would be released soon. The 2012 San Diego Comic-Con revealed that the Scarlet Spider series along with the

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

series, would be collaborating for the Marvel event, Minimum Carnage. On May 10, 2013, Christopher Yost revealed his plans of

and the

Superior Spider-Man Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

meeting for the first time in ''

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up ''Superior Spider-Man Team-Up'' was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in July 2013. The series is written by Christopher Yost with artwork by a rotating team of artists including David Lopez, Paolo Rivera, and ...

'' issue #2, in a Marvel arc titled 'Sibling Rivalry'. Scarlet Spider's and Superior Spider-Man's meeting is said to collaborate with the Scarlet Spider and Superior Spider-Man Team Up series'.

Volume Three

Following the events of the 2016 Spider-Man event The Clone Conspiracy, Ben Reilly was brought back after a twenty year absence, and a new Scarlet Spider title written by

Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...

was launched. The title ran for 25 issues before folding in late 2018.

Collected editions

References

External links

The Marvel Chronology ProjectThe Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
{{Spider-Man publications Comics by Christopher Yost Comics by Peter David Spider-Man titles 1995 comics debuts 2012 comics debuts