Comics

Welcome to the premiere issue of RazorFine Presents Comic Spotlight as we take a look at comic heroes, villians, and everything in between.  We begin with one of the most controversial characters in Marvel Comics history, The Scarlet Spider.  Sure, we could have started out with Batman, Superman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, the X-Men, or Spidey himself, but we enjoy a little controversy from time to time, and there are few recent comic characters and controversial as this one.  With that, I give you, The Scarlet Spider!

The Scarlet Spider

Name: Ben Reilly/Peter Parker

1st Appearance: Web of Spider-Man #118

Final Appearance: Spider-Man #75 (Death)

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A little more than a decade ago the folks a Marvel Comics decided to reintroduce a character long thought dead.  In the 1970’s Peter Parker was cloned by The Jackal for vengeance at his responsibility in the death of Gwen Stacy.  Spider-Man defeated the clone who he believed had died.  Twenty-years later Marvel would resurrect the character as Ben Reilly and return him to New York as a new kind of web-slinger, The Scarlet Spider.

The Scarlet Spider

After living for years on the road Ben Reilly returned to New York City aware of the May Parker’s stroke and deteriorating health.  Unable to let his powers be wasted he would take up a new persona as The Scarlet Spider.  At first at odds and then with the help of Spider-Man the Scarlet Spider became a hero in his own right including a short stint as a member of the New Warriors.  Then, as comic book publishers do from time to time, Marvel decided to get too cute.  They revealed Peter, not Ben, was the clone and rightly deserving of the mantle of Spider-Man which he took over for a time before sacrificing himself to save Peter Parker’s life in Spider-Man issue #75.  The rapid disintegration of his body after his death proved that Peter was truly the real Spider-Man who returned to his duty once more.

Powers and Abilities – The Scarlet Spider had the same abilities and powers of Spider-Man including the ability to cling and climb walls, enhanced strength, a spider-sense, and increased balance and agility.  Along with his web-shooters, Ben Reilly also added stingers, hardened webbing needles, and impact webbing, pellets of exploding webbing, to The Scarlet Spider’s arsenal.  As a clone Reilly also had Peter’s early knowledge of science, specifically Chemistry and Physics.

Marvel managed to bungle an intriguing Clone Saga and in the end kill off the poor Mr. Reilly.  The Scarlet Spider for however short of a time provided an interesting and different Spidey-like hero.  It’s too bad Marvel couldn’t find a way to keep Reilly around, whether clone or real, as the Marvel Universe should be big enough for both Spidey and The Scarlet Spider.

• Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Omnibus #1
• Comic Vine: link

“Into each generation a slayer is born…”

This new definitive comic collection of Buffy Summers’ adventures begins at, where else, the beginning.  In “Buffy: The Origin” Joss Whedon’s original screenplay is used as the template to tell the tale of how Buffy Summers became a vampire slayer.  Re-imagined as the Gellar Buffy, the story has a more serious tone than the over-the-top campiness of the film.

“Viva Las Buffy” follows Buffy and Pike’s trip to a Las Vegas casino which contains more than a few secrets (and vampires).  The plot involves a side-story of Angel along with the “first” appearance of Rupert Giles.  We also see the end of Buffy and Pike’s relationship.

The last of the three main stories,  “Slayer, Interrupted,” focuses on Buffy’s incarceration in a mental institution after Dawn finds Buffy’s diary about her slaying and shares it with her parents.  It’s a nice look back at events that were suggested in the Season Six episode “Normal Again” as Buffy contemplates the absurdity of her life.

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