FBs in ASM 608

[Paul Bourcier]

Does anyone have an idea where the flashbacks in this week's ASM 608 go in Ben Reilly's chronology? In the first FB, Ben interviews to be Dr. Damon Ryder's lab assistant on a recommendation from Professor Epstein. In the second flashback, Ben and Damon work together in the lab and Damon takes Ben to his home for dinner. The dinner conversation suggests that Ben has been Damon's assistant for a while. In this flashback, Ben thinks to himself, "I'm just the clone of a guy with spider-powers who's now living in exile under an assumed name." I think this last statement is the key to placement. These flashbacks appear to occur shortly before Ben's death somewhere among books published in 1996. I couldn't quite tell from Index #10 because not all Spidey books are noted, and I hesitate to start pouring through my Clone-era Spidey books. Oh, and Ben's hair is brown (not dyed blond) in both flashbacks.

[Michael]

In this flashback, Ben thinks to himself, "I'm just the clone of a guy with spider-powers who's now living in exile under an assumed name." I think this last statement is the key to placement. These flashbacks appear to occur shortly before Ben's death somewhere among books published in 1996.

Note that Ben thinks of himself as a clone- that means this has to happen sometime before Spectacular Spider-Man 226, not shortly before Ben's death. He also refers to HIMSELF as living in exile, which means this has to take place before Ben returns to New York at the start of the Clone Saga. I suggest that we should wait until next issue. Kaine might be appearing in flashbacks next issue and we might be able to tell whether or not this takes place after the Lost Years based on Kaine's degeneration,for example.

[Somebody]

Definitely between SpecSM 223/2 (r. as part of SM:LY 0) and WOSM 114, and highly probably between S-M 62-FB and WOSM 114. Can't place any more specifically than that based on what you say (in particular, whether it's before SM:LY 1-3 or after the SM:R FBs - which bound Ben and Janine's relationship... and which don't seem to be in Ben's chronology, actually... - is impossible to tell).

[Paul Bourcier]

Michael wrote:

He also refers to HIMSELF as living in exile

I interpreted that to statement to mean that Peter was in exile, during the period in which M.J. was pregnant. But I suppose that doesn't match up to other clues.

Michael wrote:

I suggest that we should wait until next issue. Kaine might be appearing in flashbacks next issue and we might be able to tell whether or not this takes place after the Lost Years based on Kaine's degeneration,for example.

Okay. Let's pick this up in two weeks. Thanks, Michael and Somebody.

[Spider-Man]

Kaine's degeneration isn't much of an indicator: In the flashbacks, he looks exactly the same way he looked throughout The Lost Years, but that's also how he's been portrayed in the present day scenes. (His degeneration looked much worse in the flashback story in Web of Spider-Man, set during his time in prison, but he was on the verge of death there and the story implied that he would recover to some degree.) The theory some people had that it might've actually been Kaine and not Ben Reilly who fought Ryder in the latest ASM Annual's flashback scenes is no longer applicable.