Matters were further confused by the interventions of the mysterious and seemingly all-powerful Judas Traveller, a psychiatrist and Scrier, later revealed to be a cabal.

Left to fight Miles alone, Selim creates a massive Venom Blast that kills him, as well as Mindspinner, leaving Shift as the only surviving clone.

Spider-Man editor Mark Bernardo said "Marching orders we were given by upper management to come up with something similar in scope to DC's "Death of Superman" storyline, which at the time was breaking sales records left and right.

[12] In the following issues, the writers established the clone's backstory as a frightened, homeless outcast; and introduced the character Judas Traveller.

Tom DeFalco came up with the idea of making Spider-Man's wife Mary Jane pregnant, feeling it would be a dramatic event that would help set up the saga's ultimate resolution.

To prove that he was dangerous, the writers had him killing classic Spider-Man foes, including Doctor Octopus, with his corpse shown to rule out any possibility that he would return.

Going into the planning stages for what would turn out to be 'Maximum Clonage', the intent was indeed to finish up the clone story line once and for all and quickly get Ben started as Spider-Man.

[19] But impressed by the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover of sister Marvel Comics title X-Men, in which huge sales were achieved by long, spread-out story lines, Bob Budiansky ordered to duplicate this recipe for the "Maximum Clonage" project.

Following the end of "Maximum Clonage", the creative staff launched revamps of established villains (such as a new female Doctor Octopus), without much success.

"[21] Though Budiansky and the rest of the editorial staff wanted the retitling to be a one-off for each series, the Scarlet Spider was popular enough for Marvel's sales and marketing to insist on four issues of each title.

[23] The task of actually re-establishing Parker as the true Spider-Man without it seeming like a cop-out was daunting enough that Budiansky invited the whole of Marvel's staff to offer ideas.

It got a little out of hand, to put it mildly... the memos really started coming in at this point, fast and furious... and I've still got every single one of them, in one big, thick, hernia-inducing file.

Forced to wear an environmental suit to maintain his life functions, he would eventually be restored to health by Seward, and at that point, we would reveal his identity.

"[24] However, in July 1995 Tom Brevoort proposed a story in which Ben Reilly is sent five years back in time (to the end of the original Clone Saga) by the Scrier, as part of a contest between himself and Judas Traveller.

The Scrier would be revealed as Mephisto, who would appear at the end of the "time loop" to give Ben the option of saving Peter's life in place of his own.

[24] While the "Time Loop" idea had won the approval of the editorial staff, the writers unanimously refused to adopt it, with the minimal role of Spider-Man himself in the storyline being the most troubling issue.

"[25] Finally, Jurgens wrote a memo proposing that the saga end with Ben being revealed as a clone and dying in a climactic act of heroism, while Mary Jane has a miscarriage and separates from Peter.

[26] Harras replaced Budiansky with Ralph Macchio as editor, who declared that Norman Osborn would be the master planner of the cloning.

Harras felt that there was only one person who could have had the money, the resources, the connections, the knowledge, and the motivation to orchestrate the Clone Saga and disrupt Peter Parker's life to such a profound extent.

[20] The issue revealed the details of the Clone Saga from Norman Osborn's perspective, and resolves many plot points, including the skeleton in the smokestack.

Series co-creator Howard Mackie described how this project was born: "Somewhere along the line I discovered a notebook which contained the original notes from the very first meeting at which the clone story was discussed.

In addition, they decided that Jackal and Kaine had to be included in the story to cater to fan expectations, even though neither character is mentioned in Mackie's notes.

Ben, Peter, and Kaine reach the lair of the shadowy figure responsible for infecting Aunt May and Mary Jane with a genetic virus.

Kaine kills the Jackal, Ben and Peter escape with the cure and save Aunt May and Mary Jane, who is revealed to be pregnant.

The decision to replace Peter with Ben as the regular, true Spider-Man met with a massive outcry from many readers and was also unpopular with many of the creative staff of the day.

Spider-Girl #44–50 and 52 focus on loose ends of the Clone Saga, such as Alison Mongraine planning to kill Normie Osborn, believing he could pose a threat to the child who was placed in her care.

The creature itself being created from a combination of Peter Parker and Curt Conner's DNA with traces of the Venom suit's genetic material as well.

Upon waking to find that she has been injected with OZ, MJ is enraged, and her anger triggers a transformation into a large, red monster called the Demogoblin.

As of issue 103, the masterminds behind the clones seem to be Doctor Octopus and Ben Reilly (who stole a sample of Spider-Man's blood shortly after the death of Gwen Stacy).

As of the end of the Ultimate Clone Saga, the clone posing as Richard died from his rapid aging, Jessica Drew fled after helping Peter defeat Octavius, and Dr. Franklin Storm and Reed Richards found a cure for Mary Jane's OZ-related affliction; Peter's relief at her safe condition made him realize his true feelings for her and resumed their relationship.