How cool is it that I hold in my hands, in 2012, a comic called Scarlet Spider? I know my brother and I aren’t the only fans of the Clone Saga out there in comic book land. It’s just a thrilling feeling to have characters and concepts that I’ve loved since my earliest days of comic collecting get some love. And it’s a pretty good first issue too! Granted, it’s not about Ben Reilly wearing his classic Scarlet Spider costume, but one simply has to accept that this is a modern update to characters of the past.

Scarlet Spider #1

Basically this series can be summed up as: Anti-Hero Spider-Man.

Comic rating: 4/5: Good!

Scarlet Spider #1 starts the ongoing story of Kaine, a clone of the original Spider-Man. I’ll get into his somewhat confusing backstory in a bit. Kaine, a former villain, has a new lease on life with all of the spider-powers to boot. Now he has to decide what he wants to do with his life, and if he wants to be a superhero. This issue is a fine introduction to Kaine as a character, his powers, and his goals in life. For some reason his journey has taken him to Houston, Texas. Writer Christopher Yost has a nice handle on the character, and he starts building the cast and the setting. The tagline for this comic is ‘All of the power, none of the responsibility’, and that’s definitely showcased in this character-driven issue.

Joining Yost is artist Ryan Stegman, who draws clean, concise and nicely animated characters. The action is easy to follow and engaging, and the characters stand out as unique individuals. Unfortunately – spoiler – we don’t see the Scarlet Spider in costume in this issue.

Maybe next issue. Join me after the jump for spoilers and synopsis!

As I said before, it is pretty darn neat to be reading a comic book called ‘Scarlet Spider’ and starring Kaine. These are both characters from my comic book-reading youth, back when my brother and I first started buying and reading comic books at the store in the early to mid-90s. Unfortunately, these characters and concepts were part of the infamous Spider-Man Clone Saga, which is so hated by fans, that any mention of the Saga was stricken from the books for years! Marvel just started to pretend it had never happened, and I guess everybody else was happy with that.

So goody-goody gum-drops that someone out there is thinking of me. And based on a blurb towards the back of this book, writer Chris Yost is in the same boat. He’s also a big fan of the Clone Saga, so he’s pleased as punch to be writing this title.

And he doesn’t a pretty darn good job. Scarlet Spider #1 is a solid introduction to our protagonist, giving us a look into his mindset, a glimpse of his new status quo and setting up a diabolical conflict that’s going to need some superheroing. This is a nicely straight forward superhero comic. The hook that’s going to keep people reading is that we’re essentially dealing with a rogue Spider-Man. Kaine has all of Peter Parker’s memories, feelings and a lot of his spider-powers. But Kaine is a much darker person, capable of killing and breaking the law. Like I said, this is Anti-Hero Spider-Man.

I think this has a lot of potential.

Onesies are the height in superhero fashion

First, let me provide a little background to get you all up to speed on Kaine and what this series is going to be about, along with why the name ‘Scarlet Spider’ is so important. It starts in the 70s, when a mad scientist made a clone of Spider-Man, complete with all of Spidey’s memories and super-powers. The two fought until the mad scientist killed the clone – or so everybody thought.

Flash forward to the mid-90s, when the clone returns! Calling himself Ben Reilly, the clone came back to New York City and back into the life of Peter Parker. He still had all of the spider-powers, so he made a new costume and named himself the Scarlet Spider! I absolutely love the costume. My brother and I started reading Spider-Man comics just as the Scarlet Spider was emerging as a popular hero, and we were hooked. He’s still one of our all-time favorite characters.

Sweatshirts were the old style

During the Clone Saga, we were also introduced to the mysterious Kaine, a new villain who fought against the Scarlet Spider. It was later revealed that Kaine was an earlier clone of Peter Parker, but he was a failed clone. Kaine was covered in scars, was dying and had weird, twisted versions of Spider-Man’s powers. But deep down, he was still Peter Parker, and he joined the good guys by the end of the Clone Saga.

He's definitely 'abel' to pull off that look

What people don’t like about the Clone Saga is that it just went on and on and on without any end in sight, throwing in twists and tricks and all manner of insanity. The writers and editors behind the story kept getting replaced, and the new guys didn’t know how to end it, so the story just kept going. The entire purpose of the Clone Saga was to reveal that the 1970s story had gotten it wrong: that Ben Reilly was the real, original Spider-Man and that Peter Parker had been the clone all along. Marvel wanted to retire Peter and have Ben take over as a new, younger Spider-Man.

But readers didn’t like being told that the Spider-Man they’d been reading about since the 1970s had been a clone.

So in the end, it was reversed and revealed that Ben had definitely been the clone. Then Ben was killed. Peter Parker was Spider-Man again and Marvel put the Clone Saga to rest, never to talk about it ever again. Which was too bad for Kaine, because he had survived the Clone Saga and was technically still around. But Marvel let Kaine slip into obscurity, never to be seen again.

Until a few years ago.

Perhaps they didn't have haircuts where he went

The new writers on Amazing Spider-Man decided to bring Kaine back and re-add him to Spider-Man’s Rogues Gallery. So Kaine has been kicking around comics for a few years now, and had a big role in last year’s fantastic Spider-Island story. He was a villain for most of that story, but in the end he joined Spider-Man and helped him to save the day. Along the way, Kaine was cured of all his scars and other imperfect clone problems. He’s also no longer dying.

Which brings us to Scarlet Spider #1. Kaine is a new man. He’s no longer dying or scarred, and he’s got a new set of spider-powers. He doesn’t want to cause a hassle for Peter Parker, so he leaves New York City, intent on fleeing to Mexico where he can start a new life. He’s got money and he’s got a new-fangled Spider-Man costume, just in case. Kaine hasn’t yet taken up the name ‘Scarlet Spider’ yet, but clearly it’s a tribute to the deceased Ben Reilly.

Hopefully all of that backstory wasn’t too confusing to you poor readers. Really, Kaine is a pretty cool guy and definitely a fun concept.

Check out his introduction in Scarlet Spider #1, when he interrupts some no-good criminals down at the docks in Houston.

Well hello to you too, Sunshine

On his trip to Mexico, Kaine overheard a sleazy guy in a rattlesnake jacket talking about this shipment at the docks. Feeling the need to kick some ass, Kaine shows up and gets straight to kicking ass. He’s got spider-agility, webs and doesn’t hold back from making these men bleed. Kaine is a killer…though he holds off on going that far for now. All of these men are criminals, and he really lets them have it.

Eat webbing and boat, fools!

After kicking all manner of ass, Kaine steals the duffelbags full of money starts to leave the docks. But a sudden smell draws his attention. He opens the shipping crate that the criminals were haggling over, and it’s filled with dead men and women who were likely going to be sold into sex slavery or labor. Why would any criminals want to buy a crate of dead and rotting corpses?

One woman is still alive, and Kaine quickly digs through the bodies to pull her out. He rushes her to the hospital, where his angry attitude gets him in trouble with a local cop. This officer, Wally, might be a reoccurring character, considering the little scene he gets joking around with a doctor and a criminal getting stitched up. So far Officer Wally comes off as trigger-happy, and he points his gun at Kaine.

Not a good idea.

Mayberry this ain't

Kaine leaves the girl with the doctors and alerts the police about the bodies down on the docks, then he takes off. He’s still on the run, claiming that he’s running from the FBI, the police, the Avengers and whoever else. I don’t buy that. I think he’s deluding himself. I doubt anybody is chasing after Kaine. He just wants to get to Mexico to start a new life. That sounds simple enough for me, and that explains why he has to pass through Houston. But I still don’t understand why Houston is going to remain his hometown. Is Yost from Houston? There’s nothing particularly Texasy about this story.

Anyway, Kaine rides on a semi-truck down the highway until he eventually finds a Four Seasons hotel. He pays $2,000 cash for a fancy suite and bribes the kitchen staff to wake up and make him the entire room service menu. Kaine showers, eats himself full and just relaxes in the hotel room, taking a moment to enjoy himself rather than worry about being on the run. He’s free and healthy for the first time in his life.

It’s here that we get a little flashback explaining his backstory and how he’s still haunted from his time as the villainous Kaine.

The 90s are reborn!

Since I explained it already to everybody, we’ll skip past. Basically Kaine has some demons, and he’s doing his best to get over them and enjoy his new life. To help, he shaves off his beard and long hair to give himself a new look. One problem I have with this is that he simply doesn’t look like Peter Parker. He’s a clone and is supposed to look exactly like Peter. Oh well, minor gripe.

In the morning, a shirtless Kaine, goes out to enjoy his spider-powers. They are a bit different from Spider-Man’s. He doesn’t have an early-warning Spider-Sense, but he’s able to walk on walls. Kaine also has some talons that extend out of his wrists. Or at least he did the last time we saw him. Kaine also seems to have organic web-shooters.

All of us wish we were Kaine right now

Kaine has a blast with his powers, swinging around the city of Houston and enjoying the bright sunny day. Now who wouldn’t love something like that? If we had spider-powers, we would all go out and just enjoy ourselves with some big tall buildings. I know I would. Every time I go to New York City, I find myself looking up at the buildings in downtown Manhattan and trying to picture Spider-Man swinging through.

There’s a brief interlude in which the police check out the bodies on the dock. They’re then interrupted by the issue’s super-villain, some guy with fire-powers and a salamander painted on his face. So until we get a better name, I’m just going to call him ‘Salamander.’ Is that alright with everybody?

At least he's colorful

But it’s only a brief cutaway. Gotta have conflict in a story, right?

We cut back to Kaine hanging out on top of skyscrapers. He’s sweating buckets, and chalks it up to the Houston heat. Still, he’s looking forward to heat. He wants to go to Mexico and buy a beach to spend the rest of his life relaxing. But then his attention is drawn by a speeding car heading straight for a little old lady! For a moment, Kaine figures there’s nothing he can do to help.

And then…

Well he could always do that

But rather than being nice to the old lady, Kaine gives her an earful for being so reckless and stupid!

Our hero

Then the gawkers point out that the driver of that vehicle didn’t fare so well thanks to Kaine’s smashing save. The driver went flying through the window and crashed to the pavement, a bloody mess covered in broken glass and pain. Kaine hears sirens coming and he takes off. Though he’s a little confused by all of the onlookers, who seem more concerned with the man’s well-being than with yelling at him. That’s very unlike New York City’s usual reaction to Spider-Man.

Kaine swings off and finds both a bar and a cute bartender. She tries to flirt, but Kaine’s having none of it. Instead he asks her to turn up the TV to a news report. But what Kaine thinks is going to be the recovery of the bodies is instead a report on Salamander burning all those cops.

Kaine heads back to his hotel and does a tiny bit of soul-searching. His decision is quite simple.

Perhaps he thinks red looks bad on him

Which is too bad for the city of Houston, because Salamander isn’t finished. Cut to the hospital, where the woman Kaine rescued from the cargo container is just waking up. She speaks Spanish, so I guess that’s another cultural milestone for the Texas area. She isn’t awake long before Salamander shows up at the hospital, with no fear in showing up in broad daylight ready to burn the building to the ground.

So did this guy have total free reign of Houston before this?

He’s definitely a scary looking super-villain. And he’s come for the girl – whose name is Aracely. She could definitely use some help right now. Some superhero help, maybe?

Too bad for Aracely and the hospital because there aren’t any superheroes around.

No superheroes here

Twist ending! Kaine is a jackass who isn’t going to be a superhero and save everybody. While I would have preferred a fully-costumed Scarlet Spider to show up at the hospital and save the day, I’ve got to say that I respect Yost’s ending. Kaine isn’t a typical superhero, and this isn’t a typical first issue. We’re not talking some hopeful new hero ready to prove himself. This is a bad guy who doesn’t necessarily wish ill on anybody, unless they’re criminals.

So it makes perfect sense that the Scarlet Spider wasn’t there in the end to save the day. Granted, this may be a fake out and he’ll show up in costume at the start of the next issue. But that remains to be seen.

I’m cool with this. Kaine is an anti-hero. He’s not out to be Spider-Man. He’s got lessons to learn about being a hero. That’s the point of a series, to have the character grow. I doubt the girl is going to get killed, she’s gotten enough focus to make me think she’s supporting cast material.

I liked this issue. It’s drawn quite well with a very expressive lead and cast of characters. He’s badass and not afraid to swear a blue streak. So we’re definitely dealing with an off-kilter protagonist here.

I read a different review online that pointed out that the Kaine in this issue isn’t necessarily anything like the Kaine of old. He’s been through so many transformations, and it’s been so long since the Clone Saga, that there’s nothing particularly solid or established about his personality. I’m fine with that. He feels like Kaine enough for me. I’m definitely excited for this new series.

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What do you guys and girls think? Did you like or hate the new issue? Do you like or hate the Clone Saga? Let me know in the comments!