Who was Ben Reilly?

There was lots of thing happening in the world of comics in the 90s and Ben Reilly was right in the thick of it.

Superman died, he got better reasonably quickly though.

Batman had his back broken and chose a psycho to replace him while he recovered.  That’s how tough Bruce is; man gets his back broken and only needs a short break before he’s back on the scene.

Green Lantern went mad and killed the entire Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians.

Green Arrow got himself blown up by terrorists. He didn’t get better. Well not right away at least.

Wolverine had the adamantium bonded to his skeleton ripped out by Magneto.

Professor Xavier had enough and mind wiped Magneto. Didn’t work out well for him though, Magneto’s influence on his mind turned him into Onslaught.

Dr Bruce Banner was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder and the Hulk revealed to be one of these multiple personalities. A new Hulk emerged after intense psychotherapy that had the mind of Dr Banner and the body of the Hulk.

Iron man turned out to be a bad guy and killed a fair few of the Avengers before he was replaced by a younger version of himself.

The Fantastic Four got traumatised first by the death of Reed Richards (he got better) then by the kidnap of Franklin Richards by his Grandfather who then returned him as a fully grown adult. Oh and Wolverine ripped half of the Thing’s face off.

It was an exciting time of change in the world of comics and it looked as if most of the changes were going to stick. The thing that has always bothered me about comics is the constant reversion to the status quo which puts a serious limitation on the change and development that can occur. Stagnation usually develops. But the comic Universe in the 90s was full of change and it tempted me back into collecting again. It was touch and go for a while, but in the end one man drew me back in.

Ben Reilly.

Ben was the clone of Peter Parker. Well, no, not really. That’s how he was first introduced to the comic reading public, the truth would prove to be more problematic than that. Nothing about Ben Reilly was simple.

Even his introduction into the Marvel Universe wasn’t straight forward. The clone of Spider-Man first appeared in 1975 after one of Peter’s College Professor cloned Peter and his girlfriend, but was discarded at the end of the story.

Part of what drew me into Ben Reilly’s story was the fact that it had spun out of “The Death of Gwen Stacey” in 1971. I must have been about 10 when my parents bought me a Spider-Man annual to read as we clocked up plenty of hours house hunting. I’ll never forget it as, despite my parent assuming it was child friendly, it opened with Peter’s friend Harry having a bad LSD trip. This caused Harry’s Dad to have a mental breakdown, which wasn’t a good thing as he was also the Green Goblin. The long and the short of it is that Harry’s Dad blamed Peter for the trip and got his revenge by killing Gwen Stacey.

That’s right. He murdered Spider-man’s girl friend because his son had a bad LSD trip. Try taking that in when you’re only 10.

Anyway, in the next chapter Peter proceeds to beat the living day lights out of Harry’s Dad and barely stops himself from killing him. However Norman (Harry’s Dad and current all round bad guy in the Marvel Universe) ends up dead anyway as he falls foul of a killing blow aimed at Peter.

So, how does this connect into the clone saga I hear you ask? Well a few years after this story it was revealed that one of Peter and Gwen’s college professors was secretly in love with Gwen and was devastated when she was murdered. So he cloned her. And hell, why not, he cloned Peter as well.

At this point we fast forward 20 odd years to Ben Reilly appearing for the first time all over again.

What drew me back into comics, aside from the fact that the clone saga was so tightly connected with my rather brutal introduction to comics, was that Marvel actually decided to replace Peter with Ben. They’d decided that Peter Parker had gone as far as he could as Spider-man and that he should be retired off. Ben Reilly would be introduced, first as Peter’s clone, then as the Scarlet Spider and eventually as the original Spider-man. This meant that the Peter we had been reading about since 1975 (3 years before I was born) was in actual fact a clone.

I loved this idea. I saw the potential for serious character development and a rebooting of the character with messing with everything that had gone before. We’ll cut a seriously long story short and just say that I was in a minority. After a while Marvel bowed to fan pressure and brought Peter back as Spider-man and disposed of poor Ben Reilly.

Most Spider-fans will tell you that the Clone Saga was a dark and hated time in Spidey’s life. But after recent reboots have been pulled off less successfully and wiped out years of continuity while doing so the Clone Saga is being remembered in slightly more favourable terms. A band wagon that myself and other Ben Reilly fans have been on for some time.

Ben never truly vanished from the Marvel Universe. The Uncancelable Spider-Girl wears her Uncle Ben's costume while web swinging, as well having Ben's brother and son appear on and off in her title. Ben also appeared recently in a flashback story, although I have to admit I was left a little cold by it. The Scarlet Spider has also managed to keep cropping up, first as Black Cat Jr playing Spider-Girl's sidekick and then in one of the multiple Avengers titles of recent years. Although I didn't catch those Avengers issues myself I smiled a little when I found out that the 3 Scarlet Spiders were clones of another character. Nice to see the motif being kept alive. The Scarlet Spider costume keeps cropping up as an alternative costume choice in various console games, I especially got a big kick out of playing Ben Reilly in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

Which brings us to The Complete Clone Saga Volume 1.

I only recently got round to getting a copy of this. I’m glad I did though, it serves as a nice reminder of the slow introduction of Ben into the Spider titles of the time and finishes up with Ben’s first outing as the Scarlet Spider. And while I was pleased to see the preludes that were printed as back up stories reprinted here, I’m not convinced that they work best at the start of the volume. They’re fine if you know the full story, they contain minor spoilers if you haven’t experienced the Clone Saga before. The same goes for “The Lost Years” which is also reprinted. Having said that I have no idea where you would re-publish them otherwise.

I’m looking forward to reading the following volumes, the only problem being that this series does seem to be determined to reprint every single connected issue and not every issue was done well. In fact some were downright awful. Most of the issues reprinted in volume pass muster though, the only real exception being the issue for Spider-Man Unlimited that first featured the Scarlet Spider. Future volumes could live or die depending on the filler content. Depending on what else is in the same volume as “Planet of the Symbiotes” I may have to skip that one altogether.

Still, nice to see a new generation get a chance to meet my favourite webslinger. Who knows, maybe this'll be a precursor to him arriving back in the Marvel Universe proper.

Open letter to George Lucas

Dear Mr Lucas,

Let me begin this letter by telling you how much I loved your original Star Wars trilogy,the Lightsaber fight scene at the end of The Phantom Menace and the deleted scenes from Revenge of the Sith.

However, I have found aside from a select few moments I just haven't enjoyed your more recent work. There could be many reasons for this; maybe Star Wars just wasn't designed for CGI characters and locations, maybe we should never have discovered that Vader used to be "Ani" or maybe you just don't have people working for you any more that will tell you when you've wondered off track.

Thankfully there is a way to redeem yourself in the eyes of your fans. You need to issue a Special Edition of The Phantom Menace and you need to edit Sir Christopher Lee into it. The reasons for this are two fold.

1. What film wouldn't be improved by additional Christopher Lee?
2. This would make the Star Wars Prequels Sir Christopher's third trilogy after the Musketeer trilogy and Lord of the Rings. Providing once and for all an answer to the age old question: Which actor has appeared in all 3 parts of 3 trilogies?

Yours sincerely,

Al.

Waitress

No special effects, no big action stunts, no convoluted plot or potential for any sequels or prequels.

So, just what does this film have to offer? Solid plot development, well written characters and Nathan Fillion. And honestly, it doesn't need anything else.

If I'm being honest I recorded this purely because of Mr Fillion, the man has just never let me down. But while he gives a good performance he is far from the highlight. It is an absolute delight to watch the film unfold at it's own pace and slowly discover the characters that inhabit the diner and the hospital. Any attempt I could make to explain any of the well placed moments within this film would just rob you of the chance to see them for yourself.

Is it a chick flick? Yes, probably.

Should you watch it anyway? Yes. You should. This is how films used to be made and more should be done like this. I remember reading at the time of the films writer/director/co-star being found dead and thinking briefly about how sad that was. I find it even sadder now knowing that she won't be able to bring us any more films.

Adrienne Shelly knew how to make films the old fashioned way. If only more people did.

The Man in the Iron Mask

There are several versions of this film out there. I one I've seen most recently is the 1998 version starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

I know. And I'm not sorry.

DiCaprio can get a hard time as an actor, most people just can't see past his encounters with Shakespeare and the giant boat. These people haven't seen What's eating Gilbert Grape, where he holds his own opposite Johnny Depp, or Marvin's room where he does much the same against Robert DeNiro. I refuse to view DiCaprio as a reason not to view a film these days, especially in light of The Departed, Shutter Island and Inception.

Sadly it was the DeCaprio that was in the boat film that turned up for this film. A real shame since the supporting cast is especially strong. Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gabriel Bryne and Gepardieu as the older Musketeers convince you right from the off that they have real histories and relationships. So much so in fact that I'm always saddened this isn't a sequel and there isn't an earlier film with these four as the Four Musketeers. Which makes DiCaprio's performance all the more painful. We know he can do better and given the quality of actor he's working with here the bar should have been so much higher.

The one moment that nearly kills the film for me every time is "Once a Musketeer always a Musketeer, huh?".

Seriously? That was the best they could do? No-one caught this line before filming? Off the top of my head I can think of several better ways of phrasing that.

"Once a Musketeer...."
"Once a Musketeer always a Musketeer, Aramis?"
"You never really left the Musketeers did you, Rene?"

And this one encapsulates the biggest problem with this film; it has one leg firmly entrenched in the present. I know that there is a certain amount of adjustment to be made. Obviously you couldn't have the whole cast speaking in French. Although it is a nice touch having Depardieu bringing his native accent to the film, it almost makes up for the lack of effort that Malkovich put into his accent.

Having said that I always enjoy Malkovichs's portrayal of Athos, of the various relationships shown in this film the ones between Athos and the other cast members are the ones that carry the most weight emotionally. "You are not my priest, Aramis. You would not be even if I chose to have one." This line combined with the delivery tells us much about this version of Athos.

Of course it helps that the other Musketeers are given strong portrayals as well. Depardieu actually let me enjoy Porthos, who I've always seen as "the other guy" in any other Musketeer film I've ever seen. He's obviously having fun. Irons is good and solid as Aramis, who was always my favourite Musketeer, and manages to deliver lines with the potential for cheese with suitable gravitas. Sad that he ended up in Eragon. Byrne's performance however sums up perfectly the mix of good and bad that makes up this film. I appreciated his performance more this time now that I'm a father myself. He pain he exudes in everything he doesn't say regarding is incredibly touching. "I would have worn the mask." That line carries a larger emotional punch if you've had children. Sadly he also has some of the clunkier lines in the film, the worst of which is "Anne, to love you is treason against France. But not to love you is treason against my heart.". 


Do I really need to say anymore?


So, this film is a mixture of class and cheese. With just enough nice touches to keep me coming back to it. I've always been a sucker for Musketeer films, I just wish it had sharper dialogue and that the Musketeers would draw their swords a bit more. I also mean to lift a copy of the soundtrack each time I watch this, it matches the film perfectly. It's uplifting and swashbuckling and every so often delivers that little bit of gravitas. Maybe this time I'll actually pick up a copy. Hell I might even pick up a copy of the DVD, it's a pain having the hook up the video each time I want to enjoy this guilty pleasure.

So what's this one about?

Another day, another blog.

I got some advice the other day regarding writing. Write every day.
Which I'm not always doing. I can usually get some editing in at the end of most days, but it's just not the same as actually writing.

So I'm starting up this blog. The plan at this point is to post a minimum of 3 times a week.

A reasonable commitment. So I had to spend a little time thinking about what to write about. Then it hit me. I'd write about the things I enjoy; what I'm reading, listening to, watching.

I can usually listen to a couple of Doctor Who audio plays a week while walking to the station. I can read a chapter or two of a book while waiting for a train. I can catch a film over a week while doing general house work. So no real shortage of potential material.

In the past week I've listened to The Harvest and The One Doctor. I've read Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Volume 1, started About Time 63-66 I've read quarter of The Gypsy Morph. I've also watched the Man in the Iron Mask (1998 version), the first 3 series of Coupling and the first couple of episodes of Ultraviolet.

So, no real shortage of things to have opinions about.

So, where to start? That's where you guys come in. I'll try and do my first review later on this evening. Out of the above list what do you want to hear about?