Its infamous reputation notwithstanding, the Clone Saga comics are the Spider-Man stories I grew up with, and reading them gives me one heck of a nostalgia trip to my tweener years. They're also why Ben Reilly is my favorite non-Peter Spidey.
It shares a lot of DNA with the Death of Superman which also triggered people to hell. But when a character is decades old how do you keep people interested but by doing radical stuff like this. After it was all said and done both were balanced in the end, Superman came back to life and Peter wasn’t a clone after all so how can anyone b*tch about it now.
After the last 15+ years of character assassination of Spidey that Marvel has been doing, Clone Saga doesn't feel that bad! I personally enjoy most of CS. It's the era I got into comics so I have fun memories of it!
I'm not really knowledgeable on spider lore or anything - what would you consider character assassination (I know it isn't just you btw as I can see this is a common theme in the comments)
@@Dan-ui5bm well for example The whole Dan Slott run Peter was written like an unresponsible man child. Something that is very much in conflict with the core of the character. Current run has Peter working with a mass murderer and instead of asking help from his closest friends he steals from them and beats them up. Just a few examples but there are plenty more
@@juuso7792 I haven’t kept up with comics in years but I was horrified when I read what they did to Punisher, turning him into some radical right-winger Maga guy to be mocked and making his family despise and kill him, just weird bizarre stuff. I’m conflicted because I’m starting to get nostalgic about wanting to collect these omnis and want these runs of classic comics to continue yet also hate giving my money to Disney at the same time.
Yes, I love this whole period in Spider-Man life. 🎉 It is better that what Marvel did after OMD with Peter life (except for Superior time that was great) in my opinion. 😎
@@RockjesuI loved the wave of antihero stuff of the 90s personally. Whether it was in comics or wrestling with NWO and Steve Austin or Beavis & Butthead on MTV. It was just a rebellious attitude then, today’s pop culture is the opposite.
As I estimate: ASM 419-441, SenSM 12-33, SM 76-98, SpecSM 242-263, SMUnlimited 15-24, SM Hobgoblin Lives 1-3, SM: The [Real] Clone Saga 1-6. Likely two omnis worth.
I read all these books recently except for the funeral of doc Oct issues. Are those worth it? FYI - this story is very good. I don’t know why it got much hate it’s really good.
The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus Vol.1, containing all of the original Ditko run, is the definitive saga of the character. Some of what came after may have had some affinity with the original concept and had some entertainment value, but it seems to amount to a history of people trying to figure out what to do with him. The killing off of Gwen Stacy was clearly an attempt to restore some sense of tragedy to his life, although he was being consoled by MJ by the end. But the origin of the story in this book, when Gerry Conway responded to the fans reaction to the death by revealing that Professor Warren had cloned Gwen (his secret crush) in order to shock Peter (and the audience) with her "return" and then extending the "plot" with the revelation that he'd also cloned Peter, her boyfriend, for some insane reason was, for me, the series absolute nadir of creative desperation. But the real crime is not that the story was done, rather it's that later writers, thrashing around for ideas, decided to return to it with a "what if Parker's clone hadn't died and was in fact the character you've been reading about ever since and the real Peter returns and now there are two Spider-Men blah blah blah?" And then when the dust settled, return to it YET AGAIN in a further attempt to get mileage out of the character's hopelessly mangled and contrived history. I grew up with and loved the original Spider-Man, one of the most intriguing and unique characters in the history of comics. It's a shame that uniqueness was lost decades ago....
I think it was a story just ahead of its time frankly. Post-9/11 and the increasingly dystopian world, the rise of the internet with bots, fake news, and narratives, I can more relate to the storyline idea of “what if I’m not who I think I am and the whole world around me is one big lie”. It deserves a re-reading with modern lens IMO. I can see too why Boomers who grew up in a more optimistic era of the 1960s would’ve been appalled at the time, my dad was one of them, spidey was his childhood and while he didn’t read comics anymore he took notice of my stuff I was reading and just saw it as almost blasphemous lol.
I loved the clone saga. It kicked off just as I returned to buying the titles again after a break of a few years. I was gripped from the start, right through to the end of Ben’s story. It was a bit of a sh--y time in my own life, so I relished having each new issue to look forward to. It can never have the impact it did on me back then, but I’m excited to re-read it!
I don't care, I'm getting the Epic Collection of the clone saga along with every Epic Collection of Amazing Spider-Man. I just got the Kraven's Last Hunt Epic Collection two weeks ago.
Good choice. Epics are awesome especially ASM ones. I'm keeping my complete collections of the Clone Saga but all in for Ben Reilly which will hopefully be vol 32.
This was coming out back when I was getting out of comics way back when. Was on the fence about these when the omni's came out the first time and then they went oop and then I had my great "sell off" so I'm glad to finally.......finally get the chance to experience this for myself. Is "glad" the right term? lol eh, it doesn't matter I always find something I like in most anything :)
I honestly can’t believe I’m alive to see the Clone Saga and Ben Reilley’s Omni’s reprinted. Like 2 years ago 2 of them were going over $200 and I prefer the DM cover much more. Now.. will I be alive to see a Deadpool and X Force & Cable and X Force omnibus.. time will tell
Omar, great video (as always). Thank you for this review. I had my first printing and I have books 1 to 4 from the "Complete Collection " and I am thinking about buying the "EPIC" to ("maybe") substitute the original books. Just to clarify, the cover of the new book is not Mark Bagley, is Steven Butler and is the cover of Web Spider-Man #122. Best Regards.
I've never read this before, I will give it a try and get my copy. I am only a bit dissapointed about the covers, personally do not like any of them. However, 2nd volume has a great cover, so probably get standard to match the standard from 2nd vol. Does it even matter to go 2x standard or 2x variant, if sth has 2 volumes? Or it will match on the shelve anyway?
I adore the Clone Saga, despite the flaws and confusion throughout some of the stories. Ben Reilly as a character was fresh and written with so much love in this era. You could tell the people working on these books really cared for him and his story! I will also say at 3:50 , this piece is actually the cover to Web of Spider-Man #122 by Steven Butler and not Mark Bagley.
I really enjoyed what happens with doc Oct. the way his character turns and the depth that’s added to his character is amazing. Also the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane is very dramatic and kept me on edge. I wanted to skip the fight scenes and find out what’s going to happen to Peter and Mary’s relationship.
Exciting but ultimately not very good. Still, i will buy this (dont have it all in floppies). Damn this collecting that makes me purchase things i know i dont like that much. 😂
Marvel publishing a Spider-man by Peter David omnibus or a Spider-man by J.M.DeMatteis : Nope Marvel publishing again one of the worst Spider-man storylines ever: Hell yeah
Preordered, can't wait to revisit the run that was happening when I was a kid and actually read the whole thing! Also, "Judas Traveller" is one of the worst names ever conceived by a Marvel writer.
Its infamous reputation notwithstanding, the Clone Saga comics are the Spider-Man stories I grew up with, and reading them gives me one heck of a nostalgia trip to my tweener years. They're also why Ben Reilly is my favorite non-Peter Spidey.
And dat costume
Couldn't have said it better myself!
It shares a lot of DNA with the Death of Superman which also triggered people to hell. But when a character is decades old how do you keep people interested but by doing radical stuff like this. After it was all said and done both were balanced in the end, Superman came back to life and Peter wasn’t a clone after all so how can anyone b*tch about it now.
After the last 15+ years of character assassination of Spidey that Marvel has been doing, Clone Saga doesn't feel that bad!
I personally enjoy most of CS. It's the era I got into comics so I have fun memories of it!
Yeah!! even I want to read the Clone Saga myself because they just released the Epic Collection of the Clone Saga last week.
I'm not really knowledgeable on spider lore or anything - what would you consider character assassination (I know it isn't just you btw as I can see this is a common theme in the comments)
@@Dan-ui5bm well for example The whole Dan Slott run Peter was written like an unresponsible man child. Something that is very much in conflict with the core of the character. Current run has Peter working with a mass murderer and instead of asking help from his closest friends he steals from them and beats them up. Just a few examples but there are plenty more
@@juuso7792 I haven’t kept up with comics in years but I was horrified when I read what they did to Punisher, turning him into some radical right-winger Maga guy to be mocked and making his family despise and kill him, just weird bizarre stuff. I’m conflicted because I’m starting to get nostalgic about wanting to collect these omnis and want these runs of classic comics to continue yet also hate giving my money to Disney at the same time.
People hate on Clone Saga but I’d take this a thousand times over what they’ve done to Spidey in modern day comics.
Ppl hate on it but the omnis sell out soooo....plenty of collectors make this a must have
@@jamesperry8101nostalgia and curiosity I’d say. I don’t see many people actually praising the story.
Yes😊
@@alexnever3680art and scarl3t spider. Also spider carnage
Yes, I love this whole period in Spider-Man life. 🎉
It is better that what Marvel did after OMD with Peter life (except for Superior time that was great) in my opinion. 😎
Man this was my favorite Spider-Man story as a kid next to the Maximum Carnage series.
Wow, those are two TERRIBLE sagas.
@@Rockjesu Apple’s to oranges my brother.
@@TheMoheaddinbodyno bro your not allowed to have an opinion bro
@@RockjesuI loved the wave of antihero stuff of the 90s personally. Whether it was in comics or wrestling with NWO and Steve Austin or Beavis & Butthead on MTV. It was just a rebellious attitude then, today’s pop culture is the opposite.
I hope we get an omnibus after the SM Ben Reilly Omni Vol 2. That content gap needs to be filled!
What all is between that and the next omni? What IS the next omni that’s been printed?
@@MoreLikeYewTube next one is the John Byrne Omnibus. There is quite a lot of material between Ben Reilly 2 and Byrne, the end of first ASM volume
As I estimate: ASM 419-441, SenSM 12-33, SM 76-98, SpecSM 242-263, SMUnlimited 15-24, SM Hobgoblin Lives 1-3, SM: The [Real] Clone Saga 1-6. Likely two omnis worth.
@@JohnDeFoorWow! I didn’t realize it was that much, but I’d like to see that collected too. Thanks for the information! 👍🏼
@@vincentimbesi3947 Hopefully if we express an interest on these Clone Related releases, a Marvel employee will notice.
The art of the wrap around cover under the dust jacket for the direct market edition is actually by Steven Butler. Amazing review though!
I thought it was, but inside it’s credited to Bagley. I’m glad to hear it is indeed Butler.
Thanks for confirming the reading order!
I read all these books recently except for the funeral of doc Oct issues. Are those worth it?
FYI - this story is very good. I don’t know why it got much hate it’s really good.
The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus Vol.1, containing all of the original Ditko run, is the definitive saga of the character. Some of what came after may have had some affinity with the original concept and had some entertainment value, but it seems to amount to a history of people trying to figure out what to do with him. The killing off of Gwen Stacy was clearly an attempt to restore some sense of tragedy to his life, although he was being consoled by MJ by the end.
But the origin of the story in this book, when Gerry Conway responded to the fans reaction to the death by revealing that Professor Warren had cloned Gwen (his secret crush) in order to shock Peter (and the audience) with her "return" and then extending the "plot" with the revelation that he'd also cloned Peter, her boyfriend, for some insane reason was, for me, the series absolute nadir of creative desperation.
But the real crime is not that the story was done, rather it's that later writers, thrashing around for ideas, decided to return to it with a "what if Parker's clone hadn't died and was in fact the character you've been reading about ever since and the real Peter returns and now there are two Spider-Men blah blah blah?"
And then when the dust settled, return to it YET AGAIN in a further attempt to get mileage out of the character's hopelessly mangled and contrived history.
I grew up with and loved the original Spider-Man, one of the most intriguing and unique characters in the history of comics. It's a shame that uniqueness was lost decades ago....
I think it was a story just ahead of its time frankly. Post-9/11 and the increasingly dystopian world, the rise of the internet with bots, fake news, and narratives, I can more relate to the storyline idea of “what if I’m not who I think I am and the whole world around me is one big lie”. It deserves a re-reading with modern lens IMO. I can see too why Boomers who grew up in a more optimistic era of the 1960s would’ve been appalled at the time, my dad was one of them, spidey was his childhood and while he didn’t read comics anymore he took notice of my stuff I was reading and just saw it as almost blasphemous lol.
I have missed this one so of course it's on pre-oder. Same with Clone Saga Vol 2 and Ben Reilly Vol 2.
Ready for that Vol. 2!
An amazing story great art work
I'm glad they're reprinting more books more frequently. Hoping for an ultimate spiderman and stan lee line omnibus run reprint soon.
I loved the clone saga. It kicked off just as I returned to buying the titles again after a break of a few years. I was gripped from the start, right through to the end of Ben’s story. It was a bit of a sh--y time in my own life, so I relished having each new issue to look forward to. It can never have the impact it did on me back then, but I’m excited to re-read it!
Was waiting for this video!
I don't care, I'm getting the Epic Collection of the clone saga along with every Epic Collection of Amazing Spider-Man.
I just got the Kraven's Last Hunt Epic Collection two weeks ago.
Good choice. Epics are awesome especially ASM ones. I'm keeping my complete collections of the Clone Saga but all in for Ben Reilly which will hopefully be vol 32.
@@stephentheshywarrior2759 Nice!!! I have 17 volumes of Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis.
Love that cover on the new printing
I hope marvel releases a agent Venom omnibus one day. That way I won't have to be buying the complete collection edition version.
This was coming out back when I was getting out of comics way back when. Was on the fence about these when the omni's came out the first time and then they went oop and then I had my great "sell off" so I'm glad to finally.......finally get the chance to experience this for myself. Is "glad" the right term? lol eh, it doesn't matter I always find something I like in most anything :)
Awesome review Omar 👍🏻
I honestly can’t believe I’m alive to see the Clone Saga and Ben Reilley’s Omni’s reprinted. Like 2 years ago 2 of them were going over $200 and I prefer the DM cover much more. Now.. will I be alive to see a Deadpool and X Force & Cable and X Force omnibus.. time will tell
I’ve never read the clone saga and I’m looking forward t reading it myself. Does anyone know if the Ben Reilly Omnibus vol 1 will be restocked soon?
😮 Can you read this without the Ben Reiley Omnibus woulld you still get a full story.
The Clone Saga was my initial stopping point collecting the Epics. I think I will not change my mind... but thanks for the great review!
Cool video Omar.
I’m interested in buying this 😍 can’t wait. Also, does anyone know if there is going to be another Venomnibus? Been waiting for ages now.
Omar, great video (as always). Thank you for this review. I had my first printing and I have books 1 to 4 from the "Complete Collection " and I am thinking about buying the "EPIC" to ("maybe") substitute the original books. Just to clarify, the cover of the new book is not Mark Bagley, is Steven Butler and is the cover of Web Spider-Man #122. Best Regards.
I've never read this before, I will give it a try and get my copy. I am only a bit dissapointed about the covers, personally do not like any of them. However, 2nd volume has a great cover, so probably get standard to match the standard from 2nd vol.
Does it even matter to go 2x standard or 2x variant, if sth has 2 volumes? Or it will match on the shelve anyway?
Thx so much dude
I’m tryna collect all amazing Spider-Man
Does anyone know How many volumes to complete The whole clone saga? It's only those 2 volumes ?
Clone saga 1 & 2 and then Ben Reilly 1 & 2
I adore the Clone Saga, despite the flaws and confusion throughout some of the stories. Ben Reilly as a character was fresh and written with so much love in this era. You could tell the people working on these books really cared for him and his story!
I will also say at 3:50 , this piece is actually the cover to Web of Spider-Man #122 by Steven Butler and not Mark Bagley.
I really enjoyed what happens with doc Oct. the way his character turns and the depth that’s added to his character is amazing.
Also the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane is very dramatic and kept me on edge.
I wanted to skip the fight scenes and find out what’s going to happen to Peter and Mary’s relationship.
Awesome collection. No so awesome comics though.
I was hoping the omnibus would have an index, too bad... I'd like to read it on marvel unlimited, but without knowing the correct reading order...
Wow I have most of the books.
Exciting but ultimately not very good. Still, i will buy this (dont have it all in floppies). Damn this collecting that makes me purchase things i know i dont like that much. 😂
I wish Marvel would make movies like DC, there's lots of content, even like a 10 episodes anime would be good, so much potential ...
Marvel publishing a Spider-man by Peter David omnibus or a Spider-man by J.M.DeMatteis : Nope
Marvel publishing again one of the worst Spider-man storylines ever: Hell yeah
Does one need to read the 2 ben reilly omnibi? Or do the first provide some completion to the story?
Preordered, can't wait to revisit the run that was happening when I was a kid and actually read the whole thing! Also, "Judas Traveller" is one of the worst names ever conceived by a Marvel writer.
Is this worst than Onslaught?
Wow😮
Total pass for me
I'll be skipping this one.
Clown saga!