Scarlet Spider

Scarlet Spider is a fictional character who appeared in Marvel Comics series starring Spider-Man. Scarlet Spider's costume was designed by Tom Lyle and the first appearance of the hero is in Web of Spider-Man #118. The identity of the Scarlet Spider has been used by several characters: Ben Reilly, Peter Parker (while Ben posed as him in prison), Joe Wade (a villain), a group of three Michael Van Patrick clones working with the Initiative, and Kaine.

Ben Reilly

Ben Reilly was the first Scarlet Spider and was a clone of Spider-Man created by the Jackal (Miles Warren). The Jackal created the clone to fight and defeat the original Spider-Man, but since the clone and Peter both shared the same memories, they confused themselves in the battle. The original Peter Parker emerged victorious and the clone was left for dead and dumped into a smoke stack of a factory. The clone managed to escape and assumed the alias Ben Reilly, a combination of his Uncle's first name and his Aunt's maiden name. He wandered around aimlessly for five years before returning to New York City, and found himself once again wanting to be a hero. He fashioned his own costume, and became the Scarlet Spider. He fought alongside his "brother" Spider-Man and proved himself to be such a great hero that Spider-Man asked him to watch over the city while he and his wife Mary Jane tried to start a family. When his name was smeared by a second, evil Scarlet Spider, he assumed the identity of Spider-Man, until his death at the hands of Norman Osborn. His body subsequently disintegrated, proving once and for all that he was the clone.

Scarlet Spider (comic book)

Scarlet Spider is the title of two comic book series published by Marvel Comics about two clones of Spider-Man while they functioned as the current version of the Scarlet Spider. The first volume lasted two issues and was published in 1995. The second volume started publishing in January 2012 and ended in December 2013 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 as the Scarlet Spider. It was published for two issues in November and December 1995. The book was a direct continuation, in terms of creative teams and story lines, of the Spider-Man series which the title temporarily replaced for two months between issues 63 and 64.

It was one of four briefly published books which featured the character. The others were The Amazing Scarlet Spider, The Spectacular Scarlet Spider, and Web of Scarlet Spider.

The series began when Peter Parker gave up being Spider-Man to retire with his pregnant wife Mary Jane, and the Scarlet Spider took on his duties. The title returned to its old name and numbering when Ben Reilly took on the Spider-Man name.

Ben Reilly

Benjamin 'Ben' Reilly, also known as the Scarlet Spider, Spider-Man, and Spider-Carnage, is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by Marvel Comics. He is a clone and ally of Peter Parker, and is prominent in the "Clone Saga" story arc. He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man issue 149 (October 1975).

Publication history

Ben Reilly was first featured as Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man #149. The issue was later revisited in What If #30. The character returned to the comics during the "Clone Saga", which ran from October 1994 to December 1996 through all five of the concurrent Spider-Man titles — The Amazing Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, and The Spectacular Spider-Man. Between November and December 1995, Scarlet Spider replaced Spider-Man in all five of the comics' titles, which became The Amazing Scarlet Spider, Web of Scarlet Spider, Scarlet Spider, Scarlet-Spider Unlimited, and The Spectacular Scarlet Spider. Reilly was also featured prominently in the supplemental material provided for the storyline, including Spider-Man: The Lost Years and Spider-Man: Clone Journals. The storyline was later revisited in What If vol. 2 #86. Reilly was passed the mantle of Spider-Man and was featured throughout the Spider-Man titles The Amazing Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, and The Sensational Spider-Man, which replaced Web of Spider-Man as an ongoing monthly title. Reilly remained as the featured Spider-Man between January and December 1996. During this period, the character was also featured in two intercompany crossovers DC vs. Marvel with DC Comics and Backlash/Spider-Man with Image Comics.