Art by Patrick Gleason
Editor Nick Lowe said, “Ben Reilly is back and, with Aunt May and Uncle Ben’s lessons in the back of HIS mind as well, he’s here to step in where Peter Parker failed. Can he accomplish things the original Spider-Man never could? These questions are what sold me on this story. When Zeb Wells started building this story it became apparent that it needed a narrative velocity and a team of the best of the best to make it happen. So we gathered some of the greatest writers and artists in comics to join us and the story got even better and bigger and more surprising.”
Wells previously penned “Amazing Spider-Man” during its last thrice-monthly period, before Dan Slott took over full-time in 2010, while Saladin Ahmed has been writing Miles Morales’s adventures in his title. “Captain Marvel” and “Black Widow” scribe Kelly Thompson contributed to 2019’s one-shot “Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle,” and Cody Ziglar (Disney+’s She-Hulk, Rick and Morty) wrote a story for “Miles Morales: Spider-Man” #25. This will be writer/artist Patrick Gleason’s first script credit for Marvel, and Lowe vowed his debut will “be the shot heard round the comics world.”
Ben Reilly, who is most commonly known as the Scarlet Spider, first appeared in 1975’s “Amazing Spider-Man” #149. He controversially took over from Peter during the ’90s ‘Clone Saga,’ when it was “revealed” he was the original and Peter was the clone. The character died at the end of the arc, but was resurrected, and took on the mantle of his evil creator the Jackal in Slott and Jim Cheung’s 2016 arc ‘Clone Conspiracy.’ The character soon found redemption, but has not appeared in Spencer’s “Amazing Spider-Man” run.
Fans will get a sneak peek of the ‘Beyond’ era in this year’s “Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom” issue, out August 14. The arc starts in full in “Amazing Spider-Man” #75 in October.
