''The Amazing Scarlet Spider'' is a short-lived
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 starring
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
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 series was 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 ...
for four issues in November and December
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 ...
in between ''
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 ...
'' #406 and #407. During this time, all four primary Spider-Man series and his quarterly series 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. ...
'', ''
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 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 t ...
after when Peter Parker gave up being
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 ...
to retire with his pregnant wife
Mary Jane, and the Scarlet Spider took on his duties. ''Amazing'' (along with ''Spider-Man'', ''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
Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco (born June 26, 1950) is an American comic book writer and editor well known for his association with Marvel Comics, with long runs on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Thor'', and ''Fantastic Four''.
Career
While in college, DeFalco "wrote fo ...
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 ...
was
Mark Bagley
Mark Bagley (; born August 7, 1957) is an American comics artist. He has worked for Marvel Comics on such titles as ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', '' Thunderbolts'', ''New Warriors'', ''Venom'' and ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' and for DC Comics on ''Justic ...
.
Both issues are collected in ''Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic Book 1''.
External links
The Marvel Chronology ProjectThe Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
Spider-Man titles
1995 comics debuts
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