#Kaine is resigned to pessimism (violently so)

[scarletspider2the2ndpower]

“If Death be My Destiny!” Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1/1976), #227.

Writer: Tom DeFalco; Penciler: Sal Buscema; Inker: Bill Sienkiewicz; Colorist: John Kalisz; Letterer: Clem Robins

#Marvel #Marvel comics #Marvel 616 #Spectacular Spider-Man #Kaine #Kaine Parker #Scarlet Spider #Ben Reilly #Kaine /please/ #never before have I seen a bowling ball filled with such nihilistic bitterness #but beyond the ethical differences this also is a pretty good showcase of the differences between their characters #Kaine is resigned to pessimism (violently so) #while Ben endlessly holds onto hope (even if the end result is ultimately hopeless) #furthermore I feel like their characters as displayed here exemplifies how much they were products of their time #Kaine obviously has a lot of the signposts of the archetypal 90’s dark anti-hero #but Ben doesn’t escape the nihilism that plagued 90’s comics either #he may technically have been introduced in the 70’s but you could definitely argue that “Scarlet Spider” is a purely 90’s invention #and it shows #Peter (a Silver Age hero) may have his struggles but he for the most part holds onto his optimism and gets the occasional win #Ben in contrast holds onto his optimism for the most part but in all honestly I’ve yet to see him have any sort of “win” that lasts #but anyway don’t mind my rambling in the tags hahaha