"Spider-Man: The Clone Saga" / "Miles Morales: The Clone Saga" Comparison

            The following piece is a comparison piece of the Marvel Comics Events “Spider-Man: The Clone Saga” and “Miles Morales: The Clone Saga.”

            Hey, guys, welcome to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! My name just happens to be Tim Cubbin, and I just happen to be the writer of this blog. I might actually let someone else write for this blog, but for today, I’m your host!

            So, we have some fun planned for us right here, right now. To those of you who don’t know, I am a major Marvel Comic Books fan. I’ve been reading regularly since 2001, so by now that’s twenty years (I know, I’m so old). Over the past year, I’ve been doing this blog, posting reviews of Marvel prose and graphic novels. I have done several comparison pieces on graphic and prose novel with the same title and adaptations. This, however, is a first. I’m going to compare two COMIC book stories with similar titles. On July 25, 2021, I did a review of the Marvel Comics event “Spider-Man: The Clone Saga” and a few hours ago on November 16, 2021, I posted a review of the Marvel Comics event “Miles Morales: The Clone Saga.” For those who don’t know, Miles Morales is the new Spider-Man. So these two reviews are the Clone Sagas of two different Spider-Men. If you haven’t read my reviews of the two events yet, I totally have to tell you to break now, then read the reviews by themselves (I gave you the dates posted for this express purpose), then come back and enjoy reading this comparison post. If you do this big favor for me, you are THE BEST!

            Okay, obviously I need to give you a little background on the Clone Sagas I previously wrote, for the purpose of differentiating the two Clone Sagas and preparing my comparison purposes.

            Let’s talk about the two Spider-Men to start this up. We’ll begin with the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Peter was a high school nerd, bullied and ignored by the other kids in his school. He went to a demonstration on radioactivity. While there, a spider got in the way of radioactive rays and became irradiated and bit Peter Parker and Cindy Moon before it died (Cindy Moon is the super hero Silk but has nothing to do with these stories, so she will not be mentioned in this review again). Afterwards, Peter Parker discovered he had spider-related powers. He has adhesive fingertips and toes; the proportional speed, strength and agility of a spider; and a precognitive awareness of personal danger he calls “spider-sense.” He was orphaned as a boy and was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. At first he tried to use his powers for personal gain. One day, he let a burglar run by when Peter could have stopped him. This burglar broke into Peter’s home and shot and killed his Uncle Ben. Peter stopped the burglar, and decided to use his powers to help others. He truly became Spider-Man and lived by the mantra that with great power there must also come great responsibility.

            Miles Morales was a high school student. His Uncle Aaron was a criminal called the Prowler. One day, Aaron stole from Oscorp, and accidentally grabbed a genetically altered spider. While hanging out with his Uncle Aaron, the spider bit Miles. He discovered he had spider-related powers. . He has adhesive fingertips and toes; the proportional speed, strength and agility of a spider; the ability to direct a mild electrical charge he calls “venom blasts;” the ability to turn invisibility; and a precognitive awareness of personal danger he calls “spider-sense.” He decided to use his powers to help others who needed help, like his hero Spider-Man and became the new Spider-Man himself.

            Okay, those are the origins of the two Spider-Men. Let’s talk about the storylines leading up to both Peter and Miles’ Clone Sagas.

            In college, Peter Parker fell in love with fellow student Gwen Stacy. Secretly, their professor Miles Warren also fell in love with Gwen. Gwen was killed by Peter’s super villain enemy the Green Goblin. Warren was a geneticist and became the super villain the Jackal. The Jackal cloned Gwen and Peter. Both clones were presumed dead. Peter’s clone, however, did not die and left New York to live a life of his own as Ben Reilly. The Jackal was able to create more viable clones of Peter and Gwen. When Aunt May had a stroke, Ben returned to New York, and he and Peter originally fought, but were eventually able to live in coexistence.

            As for Miles Morales, Miles was abducted by the Assessor, who studied Miles to the point of torture and created a clone of Miles. Miles faced the clone, but the clone turned out to be inviable and fell apart. However, the Assessor managed to create three semi-viable clones. Miles was lured by his clones who began to commit crimes in his name, including a scientist to create a cure that would stabilize the clones, but not knowing this, Miles destroyed the cure, incurring the wrath of the clones Selim, Mindspinner and Switch.

            For more details of the actual events of the two Clone Sagas, read my reviews of both events (if you haven’t done so already). Okay, now I’ve got to compare the two Clone Sagas. I must say, however, there were almost no similarities between Peter and Miles’ Clone Sagas. Both had clones, and both had clones that were inviable and tried to stabilize themselves. Both had clones that tried to ruin their reputations. Peter’s clone Kaine committed murder and Peter was put on trial after a fingerprint match implicated Peter. Miles’ clone Selim stole equipment and kidnapped a scientist, who Selim went on to murder. And that’s about as far as similarities come.

            Okay, now you’re probably wondering which Clone Saga I preferred. If you read my reviews, you know I score my reviews on a scale of one to ten, one being totally awful, ten being totally awesome. You will also know at the time of writing the reviews, I gave Peter Parker’s Clone Saga a five, while I scored Miles Morales’s Clone Saga at a six. Please note I sometimes have a change of heart after writing my posts. But you may have read that I thought Peter Parker’s Clone Saga was too long, whereas Miles Morales’s Clone Saga was too short. There was just an imbalance on the length of the stories. Peter Parker and Ben Reilly both had solo stories and connecting stories. I felt that Miles Morales’s clone Selim just did not have enough time to be thoroughly established. Granted Selim was an evil clone, I thought more development of Selim, Mindspinner and Switch would have actually been more interesting if each clone actually had a story rather than just being deteriorating. So, yes, my promised preference. This is actually a very tough decision to make. Both had flaws. Both had good points. I have to say that, though being lower scored, Peter Parker’s Clone Saga was my preference, owing to each clone actually having a developed storyline rather than just eight issues solely focusing on Miles. It could have had much potential.

            Now I’ll revisit my accessibility statements in order to give recommendations. If you were to actually read these events, I felt that Peter Parker’s Clone Saga required a good deal of Spidey knowledge for optimal enjoyment, while I said that Miles Morales’s Clone Saga actually felt self-contained. I still, all these months later, stand by both statements. If you’re new to the Spider-Men and want to start a Clone Saga, I’d have to tell you Miles Morales’s is easier to pick up and read. At the same time, I’m not telling you to just read Miles’ Clone Saga as Peter’s was actually rather better developed. I just have to tell you if you either prefer Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider to Miles Morales/Spider-Man, go with whoever you like. Now, let’s get serious about something. I am NOT making your decisions for you. What I may like in comics are things that you have no interest in, or even dislike and hate, while you may like things that I don’t. That is ENTIRELY up to you. If you want to read either, both, or neither of them based on what I write, that’s on you, and I can’t force feed this on you. You make your own decisions. This is From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin, after all, not “From the Mind of One (Insert Your Name Here).” My opinions are my own, I can’t expect you to always agree with me. That’s the magic of free will.

            So if you either have read or go on to read either Clone Sagas, feel free to tell me what YOU think. I’d love to hear it. You can leave a comment on my blog page, message me on Facebook, leave a Tweet on this Twitter page, I’d LOVE to hear your opinions. And feel free to Retweet or Share with your followers and friends, that’d be awesome and you are totally THE BEST! I love the support, this blog is what keeps me going from day-to-day. I’m a certified journalist unable to get a job, which is why I do this. I’m semi-professional with this blog, and I do this just so I can share my opinions and encourage you to read and connect with me. You can also check out more of my blog posts if you enjoyed this. I do plenty more than just reviews and comparison pieces, I do essays about mental health (I happen to have bipolar disorder and am a mental health advocate), editorials about stupid things that bother me, short stories, poetry, and more. I post pretty frequently, so always expect more content, and I’ll say goodbye to you, and, as always, Tim Cubbin… out! 

B'ings: Peter Parker/Spider-Man

 

            Hey, all, welcome to another B’ing. My name is Tim Cubbin, obviously, or this blog would make no sense being called “From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin.” Okay, maybe there is a way, like I’m WRITING about One Tim Cubbin and I’m not Tim Cubbin myself, but yes, I am One Tim Cubbin.

            Anyway, for those of you who don’t know what a B’ing is and you’re just reading this because this is about Peter Parker/Spider-Man, this is, essentially, my complaint department. Oh, you think you get “B’ing” now. If not, well, it’s okay, just keep reading, anyway.

            Okay, now, I am a HUGE Spider-Man fan, have loved him since I was five years old. Every Saturday morning, my dad and I would get up and watch his cartoon. That said, I’m not telling you WHICH Spider-Man cartoon as I don’t wish to give away my age in B’ings, and there have been, like, ten Spider-Man cartoons or so, but use your imagination, I am be old or REALLY old, your guess. Anyone who knows me personally (and I know some of you do) knows that I am a MAJOR Marvel fan. I read LITERALLY every current comic series and always go to the movies opening day and watch the shows the first day they air. But there’s always been something that bothers me about Spidey: how does no one know his secret identity? And I mean the comics, NOT “Far From Home” (kind of a spoiler there). Work with me here. Now, if anyone has read “The Amazing Spider-Man” from 1963 issue #2 (again, am I old or REALLY old) may recall that when Peter sold his first Spidey photos to J. Jonah Jameson he made the deal that Jameson must never ask HOW Peter got such good photos of Spider-Man. Um, right there, that’s kind of a red flag. I mean, he got close up pictures of the Vulture. In 1963, they didn’t have the awesome photo capabilities we enjoy today. He’d LITERALLY have to be in the Vulture’s face to get that shot, and the Vulture CLEARLY did NOT notice a photographer in his face. Oh, and that leads to ANOTHER stupid observation. HOW THE HECK DOES PETER GET THESE SHOTS? I mean, yeah there was a timer mechanism, but HOW did he get the camera to FOLLOW the action? Riddle me that. Okay, though, that is not the point I meant to focus on, though. The point I’m here to make today is how he hid his secret identity, so let’s get back to that. Let’s go back to “Amazing Fantasy” #15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man). Peter is described to be a scrawny bookworm. Then, all of a sudden, he has muscles? HOW did this happen? How do you explain THAT? Steroids? Sure as heck NOT! A gym? When would he have the time? Okay, now we get to the biggest and most obvious observation which any Spidey consumer knows. Peter Parker and Spider-Man very rarely show up at the same time! (I say rarely because there have been many instances that they’re both there at the same time, but that’s because of an imposter, a robot, or a clone). And when Peter goes to be Spider-Man, he always has a lame excuse that he suddenly remembered a dentist’s appointment, something he forgot he had to get or a place he had to go to, or he needed to do something for Aunt May. These lame excuses should be OBVIOUS for anyone with a brain to put together (even Flash Thompson should be able to figure THAT out). And there have been many instances where Peter has been publicly unmasked, and his excuse is he was going to a party or some other lame reason he had to wear the costume (usually the explanation to the consumer is Peter was sick or not at full strength and that’s why this happened). And, come on, Aunt May isn’t stupid, she’s just old. She should KNOW Peter was sneaking out of her place like that. Although, I have to say, in the movies “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” I always had the suspicion that Sally Field’s Aunt May portrayal knew Peter was Spider-Man and didn’t say anything. But again, I’m talking about the main comics here. And yes, in 2001, Aunt May did discover he was Spider-Man, but she should have known WAY before then. And in “Civil War” in 2006 he unmasked to the world on camera, but made a deal to make everyone forget he was Spider-Man, which I always thought was REALLY LAME! There are many instances and circumstances where his secret identity should be just plain obvious. But again, I am a HUGE, lifelong Spidey fan, but this has ALWAYS bothered me (and I was a five year old when I first became a fan, and this bothered A FIVE YEAR OLD?).

            And with that, I’m wrapping up this edition of B’ings! Hope you enjoyed my complaints and seriously consider this (even though this is kind of a joke), and keep checking out for more B’ings. Until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!