(I originally read these comics in mid July 2016)
Post 'Spider-Island', which I haven't read yet, the surviving Peter Parker clone, Kaine, is cured of the degenerative condition that previously ravaged his body and is heading towards Mexico to escape the attentions of the FBI, Avengers, etc. However, he only gets as far as Houston before reluctantly getting involved in thwarting a people-trafficking operation. He becomes guardian of the one survivor, a teen girl who may be psychic, and establishes his base in a luxury hotel with money looted from the traffickers. He's repeatedly drawn into situations where he has to choose whether or not to act for the good and eventually decides this may be his opportunity to atone for the killer's life he's led so far.
The figures behind the human trafficking operation are revealed as the Lobo cartel, a Mexican crime family who are also werewolves. This is their first appearance since Gerry Conway's awesome late '80s Spider-Man runs, so that was cool.
Kaine is not Peter Parker; while not killing his enemies he displays no hesitation in seriously maiming them, and he's forever fighting the 'monster' within. Writer Chris Yost seems to think Kaine stopping short of killing criminals who want to kill him is 'heroic'; I beg to differ. He incurs the wrath of the Assassin's Guild (best known from their association with Gambit) and this plot comes back to haunt him when he's pressed into killing Wolverine. He also has a run-in with the Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus, inhabiting Peter Parker's body) that follows up his killing of Ock during the Clone Saga, fifteen years previously. Unfortunately, this could have been better.
A long foreshadowed plot featuring the revived Kraven the Hunter (yuck) comes to fruition towards the end of the run and takes the series to its bittersweet conclusion.
This is a good series and I'm sorry it didn't last longer. Kaine is a bad guy trying to make good but knowing that in the end it's fruitless. He is what he is. Maybe it'd have played out differently had the comic not been cancelled but I'm glad in a way it didn't go that far. It's a refreshingly honest conclusion in a genre in which characters are permitted to hop between being hero and villain with amoral regularity. The supporting cast, including a gay doctor/cop married couple (rolleyes) are engaging. Artists vary but Ryan Stegman is the first and best.
I missed out issues 10 and 11 this time because I read those as part of the 'Minimum Carnage' crossover (reviewed here) and it's far too soon for a re-read.
Point One (2011) # 1 and Scarlet Spider (2012) # 1-6 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
Scarlet Spider (2012) # 7-9/12.1-15 are collected in:
Softcover:
Scarlet Spider (2012) # 10-12 are collected in:
Softcover:
Scarlet Spider (2012) # 16-20 and Superior Spider-Man Team-Up are collected in:
Softcover:
Scarlet Spider (2012) # 20 and Superior Spider-Man Team-Up (2013) # 2 are collected in:
Softcover:
Scarlet Spider (2012) # 21-25 are collected in:
Softcover:
