The Clone Saga was a major story arc in Marvel Comics involving many clones of Spider-Man. The extremely convoluted storyline is considered by many comic book fans to be a textbook example of a storyline which spun out of the control of the writers.

It was in the Clone Saga that Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, was reintroduced after a brief, nameless appearance as a Peter Parker clone in Amazing Spider-Man #149. Supervillains in the Clone Saga included Kaine, Judas Traveller , Scrier , Spider-Cide , and the Jackal. The Green Goblin proved to be the mastermind behind the entire Clone Saga.

At one point in the Clone Saga, it was declared that Peter Parker was not really the original Peter Parker, but rather a clone, and that Ben Reilly was the actual original Peter Parker and thus the true Spider-Man. According to the writers and editors of Marvel, the purpose of the storyline was to allow an in-continuty way for Spider-Man to be restored to the more classic version, as some felt that the character as currently written was moving further away from its roots.

Initially, sales on Spider-Man were boosted by this. However, coordinating the efforts between different writers, numerous editorial shake-ups during the saga, and having the marketing and sales department expand storylines longer than intended, the clone saga became drawn out and more complex than originally intended. This, along with the general controversy of who was the "real" Spider-Man, resulted in a fan backlash which weakened the Spider-Man titles.

Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal (February 1997) explains the entire storyline.

Recognizing the chaos of the storyline, Marvel eventually parodied it in Spider-Man: 101 Ways to End the Clone Saga (January 1997).

External Links

• Life of Reilly - A very detailed 35-part article covering this storyline, including behind-the-scenes information from Glenn Greenberg, who was part of the editorial team during this time, and interviews with other writers.