About Heroes

This review was submitted by Spider-ben
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Cover: Mark Bagley and Richard Isanove

Things just keep going from bad to worse for Peter Parker. After learning over the last few issues, Peter has to deal with finding out there is a Scorpion clone of himself, Gwen Stacy returns and morphs into Carnage, Peter’s father Richard has been alive and well all this time, Aunt May is suffering from a heart attack, Mary Jane is missing, and now Nick Fury arrives with an army of Spider-Slayer robots to arrest Peter! Whew! One would think things would only get better for Peter, but they don’t.

Reed Richards and Johnny Storm plead with Nick Fury to help Peter out and not arrest him. It isn’t Peter’s fault that there are psychotic clones of himself making things worse for everyone, and Peter finally gives up and lets Fury take him into custody.Suddenly, Spider-Woman appears and takes Peter away to safety. Spider-Woman breaks Peter’s shackles and reveals her identity: She is a female clone of Peter! At this point in the book I really feel creeped out.

Spider-Woman is HOT! I really want to play “find the web-shooter” with her, but it’s also creepy because that means I want to have sex with Peter Parker as well! Like I said, this is creepy and icky, and I feel really confused, but I still say that Spider-Woman is a hottie. OK, back to the story. Spider-Woman reveals her new name as Jessica Drew, and she tells Peter that she was cloned in a lab by a scientist named Ben Reilly. Ben reveals she is Peter Parker, memories and all, only in female form. Ben is working with a bunch of top secret government scientists to make up for his involvement in the “Carnage” arc some time back.

Jessica is the first in a new army of Spider-Powered soldiers. Suddenly, Gwen breaks free and turns into Carnage, escaping the so called “Clone Zoo.” When she does this, the other clones escape and try to find MJ.Ultimate Kaine is determined to find MJ, while Spider-Werewolf clone and Jessica realize this is a mistake. Scorpion escapes as well, and all the clones are free.

Now Jessica tells Peter that MJ is in trouble. They decide to work together and head towards the old Oscorp lab that blew up back in issue 4 of the series. They arrive and see MJ as the mutated Sasquatch creature. Peter knocks Kaine out, and Jessica saves Spider-Werewolf clone. Peter talks to MJ and calms her down, and she reverts to human form. Suddenly, a cadre of government soldiers surround all the clones. Peter and Jessica demand more answers, and Kaine says that they have cracked the OZ formula so MJ is going to be OK. Peter demands where he got the OZ from, and Dr. Otto Octavius comes in and tells them he got the OZ from their father.

Thoughts/Comments:
WOW! Wow, wow, wow wow wow! This is a totally rocking story arc. I never imagined I would enjoy a clone saga story ever again, but Bendis and Bagley proved me wrong. The artwork was great, there were no annoying ads interrupting the flow of the story, and like I stated before, I totally dig Jessica Drew, even if she is a sex changed Peter Parker. (Still kind of creeped out, but it’s a great twist) I’m glad Peter totally slugged Kaine, and I hope MJ will be alright when this arc is over. Still curious about how Doc Ock fits in, but I’d say we will find out soon. Great job team. This book is smoking! Solid A+