The brand new Spider-man crossover event starts here and going off the teasers we’ve been given by Marvel, the dead are returning. No character, ally or foe, is safe from the undeadening as Dan Slott aims to bring back one or more of Spider-Man’s dearly departed to the comic books. With not one, but two stories presented to us, “The Clone Conspiracy” is a hearty book with a proven team behind it. Here we look to see if it has all come together or if it is just another pointless event.
Major spoilers are to follow.
Written by Dan Slott
Illustrated by Jim Cheung & Ron Frenz
“DEAD NO MORE”: The Jackal is back and has conquered death. The Amazing Spider-Man is outmatched by his classic enemy’s army. Does the wall-crawler stand a chance? SHOULD he stand in The Jackal’s way if he’s found the key to eternal life?
I think Dan Slott and the editorial team behind the Spider-Man books have a lot to teach Marvel when it comes to doing the big crossover events. Looking back at the track record, I think it is safe to say Slott and Co. have had more successes while limiting their events to one every two years or so. I’m thinking of the fun and bombastic “Spider-Island” or the last event “Spider-Verse”, which gave us a rollicking trip across the multiverse as well as introducing the now fan favourite: Spider-Gwen. Of course there was the unfortunate “Brand New Day”, but even Marvel have gone out of their way to try and cover-up that disaster. It may be down to the fact they are less frequent, but I think I get more excited now when there is a new Spider-Man event than a company line one (to this day I still haven’t read an issue of Civil War II). Slott creates show stopper stories that usually sees Spider-Man and his allies facing insurmountable odds, where in the end good always triumphs over evil. Even if there always has to be an obligatory death. “Dead No More” seems to want to buck that trend however, as Slott is aiming to bring the dead back to life. Or maybe not, this is one of those clone things after all.
“The Clone Conspiracy” is just one part of the overall crossover, over the next coming five months “Dead No More” will spill out into the pages of “Amazing Spider-Man”, “Silk” and “Prowler.” At this stage, I’m unsure on whether the clone story line will carry on over to the different books or will be contained to each month’s issue of “The Clone Conspiracy”. Having previous experience of clone stories, especially when Spider-Man is involved, I would say it would be in everybody’s best interest if it was limited to just the one book. Looking at this issue specifically, I would say it does a very good job in what it needs to do. Slott starts the event a little more low key than we’re used to, this is a smart move as it doesn’t set the bar to early. We have a long way to go, so it feels right that the story should be allowed to grow and expand naturally. That is not to say this issue is without any action and it certainly has its shocking moments. As I mentioned earlier, going into this crossover I was expecting the return of previously deceased characters, but Slott wastes no time by bringing back Rhino and, more controversially, Gwen Stacy. This is absolutely going to be the defining moment for, not only this issue, but “Dead No More” as a whole and you better believe we’re going to be hearing a lot about Gwen’s return in the weeks to come. But, this being “The Clone Conspiracy”, and having read the back up story, Slott has been quite ambiguous whether this is the real Gwen and he’s allowed him a whole lot of room to take it in any direction. I know Gwen Stacy is one of the untouchables when it comes to characters being brought back to life, but after Bucky, it has been proven that it can be done right and I don’t really have any problem with it. For me, it suggests that “Dead No More” is going to be worth reading.
Continued belowThis being a crossover at Marvel, it is pretty much law now that Jim Cheung must draw the opener. And to be honest, I have absolutely no problem with that. Cheung’s art is like watching a film, everything is so smooth and drawn with dramatic clarity. I think the reason Cheung is always given art duties is because he can ramp up the tension and set the tone, reading “The Clone Conspiracy” you can tell that this crossover is going to be massive with lots of important developments, just by the way Cheung expertly reveals each element. And while we do get his dynamic and consistent action scenes, similar to Slott’s writing, he has toned things done a bit. In addition to Justin Posner’s solid colouring, the art in this issue suggests that “Dead No More” is going to be more about uncovering secrets and espionage work than it is punching villains in the face. I’ve not seen this level of collaboration from Cheung since his time on”Young Avengers.”
The issue ends with a back up story by Slott, but drawn by Ron Frenz. It aims to tell Gwen Stacy’s point of view from the moment she died up to her being brought back by The Jackal. This tale is slightly more contentious than her resurrection for me, as it aims to reveal how much contempt Gwen held for Spider-Man and Peter just before she died. It’s attempt to fill in the gaps for us is a little redundant, with the main story doing such a good job at building the conspiracy and revealing things at the right time, I feel like this back up tale undoes a lot of that work. Ron Frenz’s art however is perfectly suited to what is happening. His work is reminiscent to the artwork of Steve Ditko and John Romita. In the end I found that “The Clone Conspiracy” did a excellent job in setting the tone and pace for “Dead No More.” It is filled with intriguing moments and hints at an even greater event for Spider-Man.
Final Verdict: 7.9 – If you love traditional and effective superhero tales, then you should really pick up this comic.
