Kraven’s Last Hunt writer J.M. DeMatteis will return to Marvel and the world of Ben Reilly in a new series that explores the untold stories of the infamous Spider-Man clone.
J.M. DeMatteis will be joined by artist David Baldeón for the new Ben Reilly: Spider-Man series, which follows a similar pattern to Peter David and Greg Land’s Symbiote Spider-Man and X-Men Legends, allowing creators to expand on the past, while at the same time fitting the stories into the complex (and cherished) continuity of the Marvel Universe.
DeMatteis describes his fascination with Reilly as centering around the fact that he is “…Peter Parker—and yet he’s not. Life has taken Ben on a strange, twisted path and altered him, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse; but, like Peter, he’s a man who’s constantly striving to do the right thing, even if he doesn’t always succeed. Ben is wonderfully, painfully human, immensely relatable—and our new Ben Reilly: Spider-Man series allows me to dive even deeper into Ben’s psyche, to explore him in new and, I hope, interesting ways.”
The writer is also excited to work with Baldeón on the series, as “Having David Baldeón bringing this story to visual life has been the icing on the cake. David’s work is incredibly dynamic. Fluid and powerful. He nails the big moments—we’ve got some major antagonists going up against Ben—but he always holds tight to the characters’ humanity, so that even the smallest, quietest moments shine and have resonance.”
Look for Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #1 at your local comic shop on January 19 and check out the cover by Steve Skroce and Dave Stewart below.
