Smoke and Mirrors Part One - The Call
Credits: J. M. DeMatteis (plot), Todd Dezago (script), Steven Butler (breakdowns), Randy Emberlin (finishes), Steve Dutro (letterer), Kevin Tinsley (colorist)
The Plot: Peter Parker and Ben Reilly are suddenly assaulted with visions of the past. A subconscious prompt sends Ben to the mountains. There, he encounters Jack, a diminutive clone of the Jackal. Another deformed Peter Parker clone attacks him, leaving Ben for dead in the snow. Meanwhile, Peter tries to fight off his hallucinations, until he has a vision of Ben’s lifeless body. He declares that he won’t turn his back on Ben.
The Subplots: Kaine watches Ben’s battle with the clone from a distance. In New York, MJ and Anna Watson keep vigil over Aunt May. MJ’s adamant that May will live to see her baby, but Anna prepares her for the worst.
Web of Continuity: Peter has visions of awakening in the Jackal’s lab, causing him to question for the first time if he is in fact the clone.
*See _________ For Details: MJ announced her pregnancy in Spectacular Spider-Man #220. The next chapter of “Smoke and Mirrors” is Amazing Spider-Man #399.
Miscellaneous Note: The Statement of Ownership lists average sales for the year as 199,708 copies with the most recent issue selling 152,500.
Review: And now begins the clone saga phase that has every ridiculous idea from the original storyline exhumed and hauled into modern times. I can understand why the creators would want to revive the Jackal in a storyline about the original clone, but I consider it one of those ideas that is so obvious it's not really worth doing. The Jackal already did everything he needed to do for this storyline back in the ‘70s. He created the clone. And as Gerry Conway revealed while he went out of the way to make his silly old story a bit more respectable, the Jackal wasn’t even capable of cloning in the first place.
Hardly anyone even remembered the Jackal at this point -- his true claim to fame was hiring the Punisher for his first appearance -- so what exactly was served by bringing him back? Apparently, someone thought it was a good idea to give him a tiny clone, a drastically altered “funny” personality, and a ridiculous new motivation that changed his desires from “hot blonde co-ed” to “world domination.” He’s the Jackal in name only, and yet he’s just as pathetic a villain now as ever. I can’t imagine the people invested in this story, the ones who were dying to know about Ben’s past and whether or not Peter was a clone, cared anything about the Jackal, his annoying clone, or his stupid genetic time bombs. He’s just a distraction that unnecessarily stretches the story out for a few more months. Unfortunately, he won’t be the only one.
As much as I enjoyed the Clone Saga, the return of the Jackal didn't do much for me, for the reasons you state -- I had only ever read one comic featuring him, the first appearance of the Punisher. I barely knew who he was! And the "revamped" Jackal seemed kind of like a Joker rip-off to me -- he certainly looked the part, and the new personality added to it. I probably would've been more interested in the character if they'd kept him in his original look and personality.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I recall really enjoying "Smoke and Mirrors" when I first read it. This was the real start of the aimless maze of plot twists that the clone saga eventually became, and I ate it up!
I don't get why Conway felt the need to apologize for the clone saga in the 80's... I love his Spectacular/Web run, but that story seemed totally unnecessary. I believe he's said that he learned cloning wasn't possible in real life, so he retconned the original clone story to reflect that. Why? Clones have always existed in comics! Whether they're possible in the real world should have no bearing on their appearance in a comic book, even one relatively realistic, like Spider-Man.
I completely forgot about Jack. Ugh. I do remember that these clones of Miles Warren were fully The Jackal in that he cloned himself to be green and furry and big eared because...? And then he wears skin tight black pants, no shirt and a black trenchcoat because THE '90s!
ReplyDeleteI also remember the issues with the happy domestic clones of Warren and Gwen that die as soon as one of the Spider-Men visit them. If those come up in Web you might discover they are touching done in one issues about humanity in the midst of this craziness, but I remember reading them and thinking they weren't crazy enough at the time. There were too many mysteries and new characters to deal with to spend an issue mucking about in the suburbs! I needed Spidercide!
I didn't even mind all the Jackal/Spidercide stuff so much as all that nonsense with Judas Traveler and the Scriers.
ReplyDeleteReading these reviews (really churning them out lately, Kendall) just makes me more impatient for the "Life of Reilly" book they've been working on forever.
A lot of people seem to say that when the Jackal was brought back in the Clone Sage is when the book really went off the rails.
ReplyDeletePersonally, though, while I can't say the complaints aren't accurate in many ways, I was actually a fan of the Jackal character.
I collected the Marvel Tales series when I was a kid (my first Spider-title), and I really liked the Jackal.
I think the opposition to the Jackal creating clones is that he's a mere college professor, and not a world-class intellect like Reed Richards or Dr.Doom. I also remember people ridiculing the idea that he could create instantaneous adult human clones, complete with memories of their original bodies.
ReplyDeleteWasn't there a ret-con, at some point, that Miles Warren actually got his knowledge from the High Evolutionary? I seem to remember that.
ReplyDeleteYes, we learned in an issue of Spider-Man Unlimited that Miles Warren was a protege of the High Evolutionary... part of editor Glenn Greenberg's "damage control" campaign, I believe, to explain various plot twists and discrepancies from throughout the Clone Saga.
ReplyDeleteI think another major reason for the "Jackal's-clones-weren't-clones" retcon was to eliminate the irritating fact that Gwen Stacy was still alive and out there somewhere (albeit in clone form). Boom! She's not Gwen anymore! Problem solved...
ReplyDeleteI will say this for the Jackal - Dan Slott made him an entertaining character in the Spicer-Island cross-over. Actually more so than who turned out to be the main villain. The trick with writing the Jackal is mixing the right amount of silly zaniness, sketchy comicbook mad science and creepy homicidal tendencies. So basically the Joker with a lab.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any Clone Saga, so I can't comment on the Jackal there, but I have the original Clone Saga (ASM #140-odd - #151). I quite liked him there, particularly in the way that he seemed much more calculating than other villains; willing to work from the sidelines rather than just throwing himself at Spidey. I also like that his motivations were so...creepy... yet so realistic in some ways. And as Matt said, he was pretty badass in Spider-Island.
ReplyDelete