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I won't tell you anything, as that would spoil the fun, but Ultimate Spider-Man: Clone Saga is full of action, drama and much more! A must-read!
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The worst part about this story was that it took years to put together. The Venom story, the Carnage story, it all ties together in a master stroke of comic-book writing.
Brian Michael Bendis truly frightened fandom by calling this one "The Clone Saga," invoking the most talked about (mostly jeers) Spidey story in 30 years. Rest assured, this isn't your daddy's Clone Saga.
This collection is action packed, filled with Mark Bagley's beautiful artwork (one of the few artists out there born to draw Spider-Man) and BMB's fanstastic pacing, plotting and dialogue. The climax is heart stopping, seat-of-your-pants reading that left me weeping and cheering, just pages apart.
And this story IS important, it DOES count. Sweeping changes come by the end of this, including and especially changes in all of Peter's relationships.
"The Clone Saga" is exactly the kind of story every Spider-Man Fan looks for in their lifetime.
Rating:  -
There is nothing more reviled, nothing more revolting, to a comic fan's ears then the term "Clone Saga." The storyline that ran through the mainstream Spider-man's comcis during the mid to late 90s (never read the original clone saga, but I'm led to believe that it is not vomit-inducing like the 90s one) was such a mess. It was confusing, aggravating, and completely silly. The plot just seemed to go from outlandish to mind-numbing. Indeed, the Cone Saga is widely regarded as one of the worst storylines in comic history. So much so that even Spider-man himself makes fun of the Clone Saga (don't have any issue numbers, but Spidey fans know I speak the truth).
Which brings me to the Ultimate Clone Saga. Bendis, as always, delivers and makes even asinine sotrylines completely enthralling. While not exactly his best work, it is certainly not among his worst. Plenty of laughs, great dialogue, and surprising revelations make this a must-read for Spider-man fans.
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The original Spider-Man Clone Saga was one of the most fan-hated story arcs in the history of Spider-Man. So attempting to do an Ultimate version of this would be tricky at best. But they pull it off wonderfully. This was a spectacular story arc, filled with twists.
I don't want to go into the story too much, because the element of surprise is this collection's greatest strength.
Suffice it to say, if you enjoy Ultimate Spider-Man, this is definately something you want to buy.
Rating:  -
Patience, fanboys! Just because this is a $30 hardcover doesn't mean it's the one people are needing to continue their collection. For one thing it is unnumbered. For another it is 1/2 inch shorter and 1/2 inch less wide and 50 to 100 pages thinner than the other USM hardcovers! In my opinion, this was pushed out to stores so it would be on the shelves once Spider-Man 3 hit theatres. Which it is, and it's selling.
BUT WAIT ... I am pretty sure that this is one of the releases that are often referred to as a "Marvel Premiere" Hardcover, which is an early-bird edition of an upcoming trade, in this case the Vol. 17 Clone Saga trade.
In my opinion, the Volume 9 oversized hardcover will come out, late summer or fall, and will of course contain these issues as well as the final Mark Bagley issues, of which there will only be 5 1/2 more (he will leave after pencilling part of #111). In this way the first 9 oversized hardcovers, or the first 18 TPBs, will give collectors the complete Brian Bendis / Mark Bagley run on Ultimate Spider-Man! But you have to wait another few months!
Buy this if you really need to immediately read a Bendis version of the storyline that almost ruined Marvel a decade ago. But it is not "Volume 9" folks, or they'd have slapped a 9 on the dust jacket somewhere.
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