[Galactus]

Originally Posted by WebLurker

Huh, I got the impression that Secret Wars 2015 was generally well liked.

It is now and I know the first and especially the last issue got a lot of praise but at the time the fan response outside of Hickman's fanbase ranged from "meh" to "this is horrible" with heavy dollops of "nothing is happening, where's all the action?"

I'm not a Ben fan (personally, if you're even considering having a non-Peter Parker Spider-Man, that's my cue to walk away), but if I was, I would not be be very happy with him (or more accurately, his clone) becoming Jackal II and being a dark character that Marvel has warped him into; that's not what the character is about, any more that Spider-Man is about Peter Parker being a Tony Stark ripoff.

Again, I point out that most actual fan fiction revolving around Ben coming back usually has the character go down a dark. It's hard to say why since Ben wasn't really a dark character but then the concept of Mary Jane having powers and being a hero is not what the character was ever supposed to be but it's long seemed like a popular concept to the point that Renew Your Vows which is largely sold on reviving a more classic Spider-Man status quo has her as a fully fledged super hero. In addition he's not really that villainous. The latest issue of The Clone Conspiracy has him doing his villainous act yet and to be honest it's similar-ish to what Peter himself did in the original clone saga (it may even be an intentional call back). A cover of an upcoming Amazing Spider-Man issue has an unconscious Peter being fought over by Jackal and Ben-Jackal so unless Miles Warren takes a heroic turn I guessing Ben will end the story doing the right thing.

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

But we already have/had that with Kaine, even back when Ben was alive, and Kaine's redeeming journey had much fan acclaim when they brought him back. It seems an awful lot like they're just rehashing. People may be more invested in what Kaine's going to be doing in this book than Ben.

Also, what exactly is it about Clone Conspiracy that makes it such a compelling read to you? The Spider-Verse elements are the only really interesting thing about it, everything else is the typical "Plot makes an ineffective idiot out of Peter Parker" story that Slott has become renowned for

I don't care for the heavy Spider-Verse elements for a few reasons. The big part is that a big selling point of this story is having Gwen Stacy back. It kinda dilutes it to have Spider-Gwen swinging around especially the way they played it with her impersonating the "real" Gwen, heck it's taken eight issues to get a proper conversation between Peter and Gwen.

Also I'm not overly keen on the whole Carrion virus going global aspect of the story. I get that Slott wants to show the high stakes involved, heck most of his run is Spidey going big but with so many familiar faces back it might have been better to keep this story a bit more personal in it's presentation. To be clear I don't object to these elements but it might have been better to just have Kaine back and maybe bring out Spider-Gwen in say the latest issue of Clone Conspiracy.

As for what I like about it? Well it's an interesting premise, I'd prefer something more than psychic imprint as an explanation of why these aren't just clones but the idea of exploring what if Peter could bring the people killed by his actions and in-actions back from the dead is worth exploring. It's steeped in Spider-Man history and frankly while I do agree with some fan complaints that Peter is an "inaffective idiot" under Slott's pen I don't really see anything in the story to support that. Perhaps you can enlighten me on why you think this?