Scarlet Spiders #1
The Widow
Spider-Verse continues from Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #10…
Jessica Drew (Black WIdow), Kaine (Scarlet Spider) and Ben Reilly (Spider-Man), all clones of Peter Parker, have come to one of the Inheritor’s worlds on a suicide mission.[1] Appearing in some kind of hospital they exit a supply tunnel fearing the worst, but are surprised when this world appears to be some kind of utopian society, albeit one ruled by the Inheritors who seek to destroy every spider-totem in the multiverse.
The Black Widow yanks Spider-Man back inside and reminds him that although they have devices that shield their presence from the Inheritors, they need to keep a low profile. That’s when the Scarlet Spider produces hospital gowns for them to wear as disguises. Kaine doesn’t require a disguise because his costume has a camouflage mode that makes him invisible to the naked eye.[2]
Once they are out and walking about they see that there are massive holographic projections of the Inheritor known as Jennix who keeps repeating the same statements of loyalty over and over. That’s when they see a group of people walking down the hall. Following them they notice they are all are clones and they are all wearing helmets that appear to be brainwashing them. Jessica figures that this world is one where the Inheritors clone ordinary people. As they search the computers for clues, they are confronted by this world’s version of Max Modell who demands to know what they are doing. The Scarlet Spider drops his cover to web him up but their cover is already blown.
Changing back into their costumes the trio face off against armored security forces until this world’s verison of Iron Man arrives and demands to know what’s going on. He is confused, thinking that this is a test created by the Inheritors. when Spider-Man asks Tony to bring them to Jennix, he is blasted by the Iron Man armor’s uni-beam. By this time, the Scarlet Spider has gone back into stealth mode and manages to get close enough to Iron Man to knock him out.
As the trio of clones run for cover, Jennix is sitting in his head office musing over current developments. Never before have the spiders travelled between dimensions in such numbers and he looks forward to future developments and the feast that will follow. Once they have gotten to a safe location, Ben apologizes to Jessica and Kaine for letting his guard down, admitting that he was just happy to see a familiar face that wasn’t another version of Spider-Man. While he was out, Jessica managed to strip off Iron Man’s armor and now that Ben is awake they can start questioning their prisoner. They discover that this Tony Stark is totally loyal to Jennix, the only Inheritor who rules in this dimension. He proudly boasts how he built three of Jennix’s city and that his master shares his genius with him. Tony freely tells them that Jennix’s headquarters is in the Baxter Building, saying that he will be rewarded for delivering three spiders to his master.
However, Ben doesn’t think they’ll fail and tries to get Jessica and Kaine to help him brainstorm on a plan before they are discovered. The Black Widow comes up with a quick plan suggesting that one of them disguise themselves as Iron Man, which will allow them entry into the Baxter Building. It takes an hour to get the armor onto Ben, but the gambit pays off as they are allowed into the Baxter Building without an opposition. Once they are inside, Black Widow breaks free from her handcuffs and creates a distraction in the hopes that Ben can sneak past security with Kaine. However, “Iron Man” is stopped when this world’s Johnny Storm “recognizes” Kaine as “Peter Parker” and demands to know what’s going on.
…Spider-Verse continues in Spider-Woman (vol. 5) #1.
Recurring Characters
Scarlet Spider, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Jennix, Human Torch
Continuity Notes
All three main characters in this story are clones of Peter Parker in their native reality. They are:
Kaine of Earth-616, was the first clone of Peter Parker ever created. First seen in Web of Spider-Man #119.
Ben Reilly cames from Earth-94 is a clone of his world’s Peter Parker. He is analogous to the Earth-616 Ben Reilly who first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #149. However, whereas the Ben Reilly of Earth-616 died in Spider-Man #75, this one survived and carried on being Spider-Man.
Lastly, we have Jessica Drew, from Earth-1610. She is a female clone of Peter Parker first seen in Ultimate Spider-Man #98. The narrative of this story states that she had joined the Ultimates, her world’s version of the Avengers. That happened in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #3.
This suit was created by Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #650. Kaine took it as his own in Amazing Spider-Man #673.
