Clones Are Dead No More In Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy

Clones are coming back to haunt Spider-Man once again. Marvel announced Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy, a new five issue event series by Dan Slott and Jim Cheung. The Clone Conspiracy ties into recent "Dead No More" teasers released by Marvel and will feature the return of the Jackal, a recurring Spider-Man villain known best for his role in the 1990s "Clone Saga" storyline.

As the title suggests, the Jackal is bringing back his clones to haunt Spider-Man and his allies once again. While the original Clone Saga focused on Peter Parker dealing with clones of himself, the new Clone Conspiracy deals with a larger cast of formerly dead characters. The Jackal has cloned a host of dead Spider-Man characters, ranging from the Rhino's wife to Gwen Stacy (who the Jackal has cloned several times before). "The Jackal has always seemed to be obsessed with cloning Spider Man and Gwen. He's had a very narrow focus," Slott said in an interview to Entertainment Weekly. "That's led to very interesting stories in the past, but you have to stop and think, if you're The Jackal and you take science to the next level, what's more important to you than just cloning Gwens and Peters? What does this character want, and what's he going to do with this awesome science?"

In addition to the standalone event miniseries, Amazing Spider-Man will provide a lead into the event and will run concurrent side stories co-written by Slott and Christos Gage. There will also be several unannounced tie-ins.

Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy begins this October.

(via EW)