Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #61

Story 'Heading Toward Omega'

Ben is battling off all the Spidey clones. MJ arrives home and Kaine is waiting for her. Meanwhile, Jackal sends Peter off to find the Gwen clone. Peter and Gwen are the only two clones who didn't disintegrate and Jackal wants to run tests to master his procedure.

Kaine explains to MJ that he cares for Peter because he's got what he wanted himself. That's why he hounded Ben all the years. He wants to know why Peter's going to throw it all away and smashes the table in the Parkers' front room. He tells MJ she's no longer important to him now that Peter has gone and is working with The Jackal.

Spidey finds the Gwen clone in no time at all (how?) She says she has unfinished business with Warren (Jackal) and they swing off together. MJ persuades Kaine not to hurt her by saying that if there's anything left of Peter inside him then he'll do the right thing and stop the Jackal from killing anyone. Kaine goes off, while MJ says she's going to do her best to see Peter.

Ben is still fighting the clones but it has spilled outside to the smoke stack. Ben is shocked at where it all was - though I don't get how considering he managed to find the lair in the first place. Kaine shows up, Ben stops him actually killing the clones and the two stand together.

General Comments

There are plenty of inconsistencies here - how did Ben not realize where The Jackal's lair was when he was the one who'd tracked Peter there? Why wasn't MJ alarmed when Kaine turned up at her apartment when the last time she'd seen him, he'd torn apart a courtroom and before that dragged her into a sewer? It just seems certain writers don't read other issues - even recent ones - before they launch into their stories.

The issue didn't realyl advance thing with Ben at all. How long can this continue for?

Overall Rating

It's getting a bit silly now.