''Web of 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 between November

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 ...

and February 1996, following ''

Web of Spider-Man ''Web of Spider-Man'' is the name of two different monthly comic book series starring Spider-Man that have been published by Marvel Comics since 1985, the first volume of which ran for 129 issues between 1985 and 1995, and the second of which ran f ...

'' issue 129. 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 ''

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 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. ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' (along with ''Amazing'', ''Spider-Man'' 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. Creators who contributed to the title include writers

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 ...

Todd DeZago Todd Dezago (born 1961) is an American comic book writer best known for his collaborations with artist Mike Wieringo on ''The Sensational Spider-Man'' and their creator-owned fantasy series '' Tellos''. Early life Todd Dezago was raised in Rhineb ...

, and

Evan Skolnick Evan Skolnick is an American writer, editor and producer who has created content in a wide variety of media including newspapers, magazines, comic books, books, websites, CD-ROMs, computer games and video games. He is currently an instructor in the ...

and

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 Paris Karounos and Tom Morgan. The first two months of ''Scarlet Spider'' titles saw a holographic Scarlet Spider imposter destroy the real Spider's reputation. As a result,

(the real Spider) decided to abandon the Scarlet Spider guise in favor of a new Spider-Man costume in ''Spectacular Scarlet Spider'' #2. ''Web'' continued for two more issues, following Joe Wade in a three-part crossover that included ''

New Warriors The New Warriors is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They traditionally consisted of teenage and young adult heroes, and were often seen to serve as a junior counterpart to Avengers (comics), ...

'' vol. 1 #67. Wade was an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

agent who became possessed by

nanotech Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

s in

Lady Octopus Lady Octopus (Carolyn Trainer), also known as Doctor Octopus II, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily as an enemy to the superheroes Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider. The character is the protégé ...

' lab explosion, giving him Scarlet Spider's appearance and powers. The first two issues are collected in ''Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic Book 1''. Issues three and four, along with ''New Warrior'' #67, were collected in ''Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic Book 2''.

External links

The Grand Comics DatabaseThe Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
Spider-Man titles 1995 comics debuts {{Marvel-title-stub