In reality, the '90s were the last boom time for the comic industry. Sure, superheroes are more popular than ever because of the movies, but that success hasn't translated to the print medium of comics. The '90s were the last time that comics were a big deal and one of the things that made them such a big deal was the huge stories of the time.
The Big Two were both trying to breathe new life into characters that had been around for decades and they took some chances. Sometimes, it worked, but other times, it didn't, like the "The Clone Saga". However, was "The Clone Saga" all that bad? This list is going to look at reasons it isn't that bad and also reasons why it is.
10 Not Too Bad: It Introduced A Lot Of Characters And Concepts
One of the checks in the plus column for "The Clone Saga" is that it introduced a lot of very interesting characters and such into the Spider-Man mythos. The '90s were a different time when it came to character creation- nowadays, creators try not to create anything new for the Big Two because they won't own it but back then, creators did it all the time.
There was a lot of creativity involved in "The Clone Saga" and reading it, it's hard to deny that.
9 Is Bad: The Pay-Offs
So, yeah, there was a lot of very cool stuff introduced in "The Clone Saga". However, let's look at a character like, say, Judas Traveller. He appeared out of nowhere and seemed to have vast powers, was super mysterious, and had access to all kinds of information that was sure to be amazing, right? Right?
Yeah, no. When his whole backstory was revealed, it was pretty underwhelming, actually. This is something that runs through so much of the good stuff from "The Clone Saga"- a lot of the pay-offs are just plain bad.
8 Not Too Bad: It Was Pretty Action Packed
One of the best things one can say about "The Clone Saga" is that it was never boring. This was back in the day of four Spider-Man titles, so there was an issue every week and the creators had to fill those issues. Story arcs would move through each book.
Nowadays, that would probably mean that there was a lot of set-up ending in a big blowout, but back then, every issue was pretty well balanced with exposition and action. "The Clone Saga" is a lot of things, but it's not boring.
7 Is Bad: Things Did Get Stretched Pretty Thin
While the stories were rarely boring, as time went on, it was getting obvious that the Spider-Man team was stretching things out. The answers fans thought they were going to get from any given story were never there and put off for the next story and the next one and the next one.
This infuriated fans at the time as the stories would be writing checks that they had no intention whatsoever of cashing. All of that action was covering up plots that were stretched paper-thin in order to keep things going.
6 Is Not Too Bad: Kaine
Kaine appeared early on in "The Clone Saga" as a mysterious man following Ben Reilly, the Spider Clone (comics in the '90s were full of mysterious types). Fans could tell that there was something going on between the two of them and when it was revealed, they wouldn't be disappointed.
The reveal about Kaine and Ben Reilly's past is easily one of the best parts of "The Clone Saga". The book that revealed it, Spider-Man: The Lost Years (by J.M. DeMatteis and John Romita Jr), was unequivocally great and the pay-off was one of the few that stuck the landing.
5 Is Bad: The Return Of The Jackal
The Jackal was the villain responsible for the first appearance of the Spider-Clone way back in Amazing Spider-Man #149, so when the clone returned it was only a matter of time before he came back and he did and.. oh boy, it was pretty bad.
The best way to describe the Jackal to someone who hasn't read the story is that they combined the Joker with a mad scientist and he was just awful. Full of histrionics and bad puns, the Jackal wasn't needed at all except for narrative symmetry.
4 Not Too Bad: The Return Of Green Goblin
So, it was eventually revealed that Green Goblin was alive and behind the whole thing, which as far as bait and switches go is pretty crazy and not foreshadowed at all in the story. On the surface, it looks like this should be a bad choice, but it's not.
Getting Green Goblin back was awesome. Green Goblin is easily Spider-Man's greatest foe and for a lot of young readers in the '90s, who couldn't afford any of the old comics he was in (reprints were barely a thing back then, especially at Marvel), it was great to get to read new stories involving a villain they had never experienced first hand.
3 Is Bad: Went On Way Too Long
Read any interview with creators from that time and they'll all tell you the same thing- the story wasn't meant to go on nearly as long as it did. They didn't really expect the whole thing to get as big as it did and hadn't planned on it last for years.
Unfortunately, the bean counters at Marvel saw how well the comics were selling and the creatives were given a mandate to keep this going as along as possible. It didn't matter how bad things got- the issues were selling and that was all that was important.
2 Not Too Bad: Getting To See A New Spider-Man
At one point, it was "revealed" that Ben Reilly was actually the real Spider-Man and after a while he took up the mantle of Spider-Man. He tweaked the costume just enough to make it his own and... was actually pretty cool as Spider-Man.
While Ben as Spider-Man was still very similar to Peter as Spider-Man, it was just interesting and fun to see a whole new person as the Web-Slinger and get a whole new supporting cast.
1 Is Bad: Peter As The "Clone"
As cool as it was to see a new person in the Spider suit, it also was kind of slap in the face to think that for all of those years of stories, fans were reading about a clone. People loved Peter Parker and to be told he was "fake" angered a lot of fans.
It would all be made better, of course, but it left a bad taste in fan's mouths that would affect the sales of the Spider-Man books going forward.