ithinkitwasyou

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Clones, the good bad and ugly

I just feel like ranting about this topic - clones.

They are strangely enough, hated by most comic book fans. People refer to spider man: the clone saga as one of the worst story arcs by our favorite wall crawler, and let me just say I couldn't disagree more. Not that the clone saga was an amazing story line, but it was riveting with potential. Spidey is just one of several characters who have been cloned, copied, etc etc. I am going to list some of my favorite, and least favorite clone characters, and explain why, as well as which ones really work well and why I think that is.

First and foremost for me is Madelyne Pryor-

I'll start with the bad...frankly she was too good. She was Jean grey without powers, and that just put people to sleep.

The Good though - when her character was further developed, she was the ultimate good girl gone bad / woman scorned, and in spite of her very brief stint as the Goblin Queen she managed to turn NYC into hell on earth. I love when a girl is good at being bad.

Next we have Ben Reilly -

The good...his look. I liked how initially he looked like a rugged peter parker, with the 5 O'Clock shadow, and the long hair. He had a very "Wolverine-esque" feel to him that was great. His scarlet spider costume reflected that he really didn't have the time, or recources to stitch a bunch of webbing into his outfit. Even when his look changed and he was blonde I loved it, because clone or not he had his own identity.

The bad- He never should have taken on the role of spider-Man. Honestly marvel had to have known that was like signing his death certificate. The original spidey fans weren't going to take that lying down. The demand for peter's return would lead to Ben falling into the void of obscurity unless he was eliminated. What most certainly would have saved Ben's life, had he joined a team like the avengers, full time, and never relinquished the scarlet spider Identity. The ultimate mistake with clone characters....when they are exactly like the characters they are cloned from, which leads me to our next clone.

Kaine:

The good - His attitude. Not that he has a sunny disposition or anything like that but the fact that he thought of himself as a failed clone meant he felt no need to live up to the "great power great responsibility." adage which in my opinion saved him from the same fate as his "brother" ben. I also loved the savagery with which he was depicted. The fact that no only did he kills his victims, but he would disfigure them with the "Mark of Kain" also the here and there "Woe is me" was just enough to make him seem like he was human, leaving room for plenty of growth, which they are currently exploring (Yay!)

The bad - His look was terrible, even though he was supposed to be a ugly, his costume was lame. His MO "I'm dying, from clone degenation" was getting old considering he outlived ALL his "brothers" and the fact that he never went after the Jackal himself made me mad.

SuperBoy

The Good - He was great in the 90's because corny as he was judging by today's standards, he was pretty much perfect for the timing. His powers were cool, and gave him a great distinction from superman. His character evolution was nice. Unlike superman, change and growth was easy for him so he was the "superman" of today's generation, and not so pigeonholed in what the original superman had established in the dark ages.lol

the bad - including lex luther in his DNA in my opinion was a horrible idea. I hate that it happened. Those sun glasses he use to wear were just plain terrible.

worst clones hmmmm

Bizarro for obvious reasons

All of the Marauders

I hate to admit this, cause I actually liked him but...Joseph (The magneto clone)

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eatmore_payless

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Edited By eatmore_payless

for me the worst clone would be the Starwars clone troopers

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danhimself

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I think the decision to add Lex Luthor's dna to the Superboy mix was one of the best things that they could have done with the character....it gave him some inner turmoil which added a great deal of depth to the character

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SpidermanWins

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Edited By SpidermanWins

@eatmore_payless said:

for me the worst clone would be the Starwars clone troopers

probably true in some areas

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EugeneSaxe

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Edited By EugeneSaxe

Bizarro is the only clone in comics worth his existence, and he's sadly under-used.

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lykopis

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X-23. And she's awesome.

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PikminMania

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@EugeneSaxe said:

Bizarro is the only clone in comics worth his existence, and he's sadly under-used.

THIS

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ithinkitwasyou

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Edited By ithinkitwasyou

@EugeneSaxe said:

Bizarro is the only clone in comics worth his existence, and he's sadly under-used.

bizzarro is a one trick pony, hardly worth more attention than he has already been given.

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ithinkitwasyou

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Edited By ithinkitwasyou

@lykopis said:

X-23. And she's awesome.

Yes, she definitely is awesome. I just have a hard time counting her as a clone. she's more like a genetically engineered sister.

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TheWitchingHour

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Edited By TheWitchingHour

@ithinkitwasyou said:

@EugeneSaxe said:

Bizarro is the only clone in comics worth his existence, and he's sadly under-used.

bizzarro is a one trick pony, hardly worth more attention than he has already been given.

I totally disagree, Bizarro has a lot of potential and like EugenSaxe said he is sadly underused. You could go any number of directions with Bizarro. Play him off as more of a Frankenstein's monster, or you could show how Bizarro develops as he begins to become more than a dumb brute and actually learn. Bizarro is a fantastic clone. But I do agree that it seems weird that comic fans hate clones. I like them as long as they're properly written.

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EugeneSaxe

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Edited By EugeneSaxe

@ithinkitwasyou: That's just it. He isn't a one-trick pony. He can be anything from total comic relief to absolute bastard, and be effective.

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ithinkitwasyou

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Edited By ithinkitwasyou

@TheWitchingHour: Hasn't he already plaid the Frankenstein role? And wouldn't him learning, kind of defeat the purpose and make him into Ultra man?

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TheWitchingHour

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Edited By TheWitchingHour

@ithinkitwasyou: You're assuming he has to remain the villain.

And he has played the dumb brute before. But Frankenstein's monster carries much more subtlety and nuance to it than what Bizarro has previously displayed. Questions of morality, life, loss, love, and a creator are all imbued in Frankenstein's monster character cannon (cannon used loosely in this case)

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lykopis

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Edited By lykopis

@ithinkitwasyou said:

@lykopis said:

X-23. And she's awesome.

Yes, she definitely is awesome. I just have a hard time counting her as a clone. she's more like a genetically engineered sister.

They present her as a clone and yet - I have to agree with you. They reached a little with her origins, lol.

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ithinkitwasyou

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Edited By ithinkitwasyou

@lykopis: that they did, but I have to admit, I like her a lot more than any other female incarnation of wolverine that I have ever seen. I like her more than I like wolverine actually.