Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #1 revisits the Scarlet Spider's past, diving deep into Ben Reilly's state of mind as he starts out as Spider-Man. If you've been enjoying the Beyond Saga or you are a fan of Ben Reilly as a character, this should definitely be on your pull list. Read Full Review

David Baldeons art continues to delight and impress me with its beautiful attention to detail and unique, engaging style. I love the way the art captures character emotion along with awesome action. Read Full Review

Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #1 is a solid issue. It feels a bit like Ben Reilly has had some redemption since his debut so many decades ago and this is a prime example of how well the character can be used. There's a lot to mine and this series feels like it might be the final bit of vindication that his creation so long ago might have been a hell of a thing after all. Read Full Review

If you can see past all the crossovers and big events that will try and catch your eye, this book looks like being a hidden gem. Read Full Review

With Ben Reilly being Spider-Man over in Amazing, now is the perfect time to give the fans more Reilly, especially given as how far removed we are from the dreaded Clone Saga. Of course Peter will be back soon, but this series could end up giving Reilly his own set of Rogues which could lead to a full run down the line. Read Full Review

'Ben Reilly: Spider-Man' gets into the Amazing Spider-Clone's head in interesting ways. But most of all, this book reminds people that Ben Reilly has always been worthy of the name Spider-Man. Read Full Review

Ben Reilly Spider-Man #1 is a slow start to a 5-part story. It gives brief insights into Ben's current situation, introduces a mystery and sets up a conflict with another villain for next issue, which hopefully will expand the story to make it more epic than it appears here. Read Full Review

DeMatteis, as always, crafts a really fascinating script but somehow the combination of a Balden's new style and the over-produced colors really brings the visuals down for me. Read Full Review

It is cool to see callbacks to current themes like the Ravencroft Institute and forgotten villains like Carrion and Vermin, so for readers looking for an different Spider-Man story, they should be in luck. Read Full Review

"Spider-Man: Ben Reilly" #1 is the definition of mediocre Read Full Review

This is my favorite spider-man issue in a long time. It feels like classic spidey with a touch of 90s clone saga. I wish the main ongoing was written more like this tone. J.M. Dematies is killing it!

The Clone Saga -comics are one of the oldest Spidey comics I own. And one of the firsts I read. So Ben's tenure as Spider-Man in the late 90s is very familiar to me. And I always enjoyed those parts and I enjoyed Ben as a character back then.

So reading this? It felt like putting back old, but warm and comfortable sweater. It's good. I don't know how good it is to new readers, but to me it was wonderful.

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Afre - Jan 22, 2022

Good to know that even newer fans can enjoy this series as much as we oldies. But I do recommend reading Ben's tenure as Spidey, if you haven't already. It's really good, even if Clone saga was messy.

Afre - Jan 22, 2022

I have no idea what those issues are though, as here in Finland they were released chronologically in one title. JMD was one the best writers Spidey had in the 90's although I can't recall reading his titles after that.

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I really enjoyed this one. It is very wordy, like DeMatteis tends to be, but he actually makes Ben an interesting character, so it's not a slog to get through. If you have any nostalgia for 90s Spidey, this will be a fun read for you.

Far form perfect, a lot of it felt a bit aged to me. But this was an emotional story nonetheless, with an interesting characterisation of ben reilly. Great to see J.M. DeMatteis make a return as well.

I like the fact that Ben Reilly is given this much attention these days and while this was indeed wordy, most of the narration had purpose. I totally dislike the art, though, it's just not my cup of tea at all. I cringed a little at the "supervillain is an offensive and toxic term" but that's a minor complaint. I'm curios to see what comes next but that artwork really kills a lot of the joy for me.

I'm very curious about the next issues. These projects always intrigue me! Good script, good art (but I find it completely out of place for a story set in the '90s, during the Clone Saga). There won't be huge twists (we're talking about a flashback story after all), but I'll keep going for sure.

I get that this is a treat for readers who grew up with Ben Reilly as "their" Spider-Man, and I see that includes a lot of the users here.

But that's not me.

I appreciate that this issue gives me a thorough rundown on the Clone Saga mess and how it's affecting Ben at this moment. That background does slow the pace, though.

I'm usually all for clarity in comics but this issue shows you can have too much of a good thing. I also like thematic links -- places where the author shows you how different story elements are related. There's a lot of that going on here, but not done with any subtlety.

The graveyard scene, for example, feels like Mr. DeMatteis is screaming "Ben! And! Carrion! Have! Very! Similar! Feelings! Right! Now!" while punctuating each word with a face-punch.

Aside from the pace, the prose is pretty good. As is the art. The tone is relentlessly broody and hardboiled, though -- a (subjectively) unwelcome throwback to one of 90s comics' subtler problems. It's got loads of dark style, but not a lot of thoughtful substance, which is a poor recipe for "mature" storytelling. more