Peter
Parker (the original Spider-Man) once dated a girl named Gwen Stacey while
he was in college. She was the first girl that he really fell for. There
relationship was tough. Gwen's father was a police captain who was killed
while saving a child during one of Spider-Man's battles with Dr. Octopus.
Gwen blamed Spider-Man for his death. Peter could not reveal his alter ego
to her. Months later Gwen was killed by Norman Osborn aka The Green
Goblin.
Peter did not know it at the time, but
his professor, Miles Warren, was secretly in love with Gwen. Warren blamed
Peter and Spider-Man for Gwen's death. He obtained genetic material from
Gwen and made a clone of her. He also made a clone of Peter. The first
clone was Kaine, but he was rejected by Warren. The second clone was Ben
Reilly. Warren engineered a fight between Parker and his clone. Peter won
and thought his clone was dead. He through the body of his clone into a
smokestack. However, the clone did not die.
The clone survived the battle and set
out on the road for 5 years. He did not want to interfere with Peter's
life. He did not consider himself a real human, and wished he had what
Peter had. The clone adopted the name Ben Reilly ( Ben after his Uncle
Ben, and Reilly after Aunt May ). He was befriended by a scientist named
Seward Trainer, whom he met in Rutland, Vermont. Trainer saw something
special in Ben and gave him a job as his assistant. He learned how special
Ben was when he ripped open a sealed door with his bare hands to get a
vital computer disk. It was at this time Ben told Seward his whole story.
Ben continued to travel the country and kept in contact with Seward. He
also met Kaine during his 5 year exile. When Ben had learned that May had
a stroke and was in a coma, he returned to New York City.
Ben returned to help Peter who was going
through his "I Am the Spider" phase. He eventually created a new
costume and was dubbed the Scarlet Spider by Ken Ellis of the Daily Bugle.
He proved to be just as great a hero as Peter. Then Peter and Ben got
shocking news by Seward Trainer. They discovered that Peter was the clone.
Peter was so distraught that he joined up with Miles Warren. However, Ben
helped Peter to realize that he was just as much of a man as Ben was.
Peter moved to Oregon with Mary Jane and Ben stayed in New York.
Ben was eventually framed by the second
Dr. Octopus ( who just happened to be Seward Trainer's daughter, Carolyn).
He had to give up his Scarlet Spider identity and assume his role of
Spider-Man. Ben brought back the old style humor in his role as
Spider-Man. He did not have the problems Peter experienced. However, Ben
was eventually killed by Norman Osborn. Osborn revealed to Peter that he
manipulated Seward. Peter was the real Peter Parker. Ben's life was
short-lived, but he proved to be as much of a hero as Peter Parker.
