So I guess they’re really going through with it.
Due out today in your friendly neighborhood funnybook store:
“SPIDER-MAN CLONE SAGA #1 (of 6) – You’ve been asking for it…and now it’s here: THE CLONE SAGA!!! Marvel’s most controversial event of all time returns with a vengeance, presenting the Clone Saga as it was originally intended to be told! From the minds behind the crossover that changed comics forever and the artist that introduced Spider-Man to President Obama, it’s six issues of twists and turns that will shock fans old and new alike! Be here as Peter Parker’s worst nightmare begins again…now with an ending you have to see to believe!”
1. Who’s been asking for it?
2. “Most controversial” – Actually, it sold really well at the time…at first. I think it was when the storyline entered its, what, third consecutive decade that it began to wear on the fans’ patience a tad. Plus, the “big reveal” which undermined years of stories didn’t go over too well.
And, as overplayed as this was way back when, kids today who weren’t even alive when this original happened seem to have a weird sort of interest in it. I’m sure trying to piece together all the crossovers and one-shots and various storylines that tied into the Clone Sage this long after the fact is like going on an archeological dig, but some kids are really into it. (The whole Venom/Carnage thing is like that, too.)
3. “…As it was originally intended to be told!” – My memory of it was that the story was only going to run a few months, but did so well saleswise that, in a move I realize is totally uncharacteristic of Marvel, it was decided to do a LOT more of it. …Well, okay, I was was wondering whether to include this bit, but it looks like the Wikipedia entry seems to concur. That entry has a pretty good overview of the behind-the-scenes hoohar that made the Clone Saga that tangled knot in Spider-Man’s continuity.
4. When I first skimmed the solicit, I thought for a moment they said that Obama was going to be in the story. Actually, I still expect Marvel to find a way to get him in there somehow.
5. “…Now with an ending you have to see to believe!” – I smell a retcon! Turns out Mary Jane is a young clone of Aunt May.
Anyway, I really am curious as to how this will sell. Well, sure, it’s a Spider-Man title…we should move some copies. I suppose some folks might be drawn in wondering just what the changes implied by the statement “originally intended to be told” will be. Or some people might want to have a more concise version of the storyline. Or there’s the nostalgia factor. Or there are fans of artist Todd Nauck. Or just buy everything that has Spider-Man in it.
That they were brave enough to title it “CLONE SAGA” is pretty amazing, given the mostly negative connotations that phrase has for a certain type and/or age of fan. But you have to admit…when they say “Clone Saga,” you know exactly what they’re selling, don’t you? They really couldn’t have titled this anything else.
Should also note that BOOM! Studios’ first “classic” Disney comic is due out this week: Mickey Mouse and Friends #296. No clones involved in this comic, I’m mostly certain.