Comics

Geoff Johns does it again!  I’m not sure what exactly Johns has to take a slumping hero and return him to glory, but Johns seems to have an unlimited ability here.  First the JSA, then Hal Jordan, and now Booster Gold gets some of the Johns magic as “The Greatest Hero the world has never known” gets his own monthly title!  For a look into issue #1 check out the Full Diagnosis.

The All-New Booster Gold #1
Custom Rating

From the very beginning you know this is going to be fun.  At the bottom of the title page our writer, Geoff Johns, offers special thanks to Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid, “but definately not Keith Giffen!”  Well, we know Booster Gold is in good hands.

For those of you who don’t know Booster Gold, and there are many, Johns opens with an issue to highlight the hero’s sketchy past and point him in a new direction after his involvement in last year’s 52.  Booster fights the Royal Flush Gang, tries to earn a spot on the Justice League of America, and reminisces about the good times with his pal the Blue Beetle.  Everything changes however as Rip Hunter shows up and offers Booster the greatest and hardest assignment of his career – to save the Multiuniverse.  Of course there’s a catch, in order to be able to perform this necessary assignment Booster must play the fool to the world and let no one know what he’s up to.

It’s nice to see Booster Gold earn his own series and take a look at how the hero has grown up enough to accept an assignment which will earn him no glory and no friends.  The set-up allows the character to play the jerk to the rest of the DCU while still allowing some strong adventures and character development which we the readers are alone privy to.

Once again Johns is up to the challenge and jump starts a series with a bang.  Johns plays on those early Giffen days, but also rounds out the character who has grown up since then.  I look forward to see where the character, and the series, goes from here.

Welcome to the premiere issue of RazorFine Presents Comic Spotlight as we take a look at comic heroes, villians, and everything in between.  We begin with one of the most controversial characters in Marvel Comics history, The Scarlet Spider.  Sure, we could have started out with Batman, Superman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, the X-Men, or Spidey himself, but we enjoy a little controversy from time to time, and there are few recent comic characters and controversial as this one.  With that, I give you, The Scarlet Spider!

The Scarlet Spider

Name: Ben Reilly/Peter Parker

1st Appearance: Web of Spider-Man #118

Final Appearance: Spider-Man #75 (Death)

N/A

A little more than a decade ago the folks a Marvel Comics decided to reintroduce a character long thought dead.  In the 1970’s Peter Parker was cloned by The Jackal for vengeance at his responsibility in the death of Gwen Stacy.  Spider-Man defeated the clone who he believed had died.  Twenty-years later Marvel would resurrect the character as Ben Reilly and return him to New York as a new kind of web-slinger, The Scarlet Spider.

The Scarlet Spider

After living for years on the road Ben Reilly returned to New York City aware of the May Parker’s stroke and deteriorating health.  Unable to let his powers be wasted he would take up a new persona as The Scarlet Spider.  At first at odds and then with the help of Spider-Man the Scarlet Spider became a hero in his own right including a short stint as a member of the New Warriors.  Then, as comic book publishers do from time to time, Marvel decided to get too cute.  They revealed Peter, not Ben, was the clone and rightly deserving of the mantle of Spider-Man which he took over for a time before sacrificing himself to save Peter Parker’s life in Spider-Man issue #75.  The rapid disintegration of his body after his death proved that Peter was truly the real Spider-Man who returned to his duty once more.

Powers and Abilities – The Scarlet Spider had the same abilities and powers of Spider-Man including the ability to cling and climb walls, enhanced strength, a spider-sense, and increased balance and agility.  Along with his web-shooters, Ben Reilly also added stingers, hardened webbing needles, and impact webbing, pellets of exploding webbing, to The Scarlet Spider’s arsenal.  As a clone Reilly also had Peter’s early knowledge of science, specifically Chemistry and Physics.

Marvel managed to bungle an intriguing Clone Saga and in the end kill off the poor Mr. Reilly.  The Scarlet Spider for however short of a time provided an interesting and different Spidey-like hero.  It’s too bad Marvel couldn’t find a way to keep Reilly around, whether clone or real, as the Marvel Universe should be big enough for both Spidey and The Scarlet Spider.