Spider-Man: The Jackal Files #1

History

By mid-1995 the Clone Saga had already stretched well past its originally planned conclusion, driven by strong sales that persuaded Marvel's editorial leadership to keep extending it; as the Marvel Database's Clone Saga event article notes, the marketing department specifically ordered one-shots and limited series to boost sales further even when they had little narrative weight of their own. Writer Todd DeZago — who was one of the core Clone Saga scripting voices, co-writing the storyline's starting point in Spectacular Spider-Man #216 alongside Tom DeFalco — was assigned to write the issue, and editors Tom Brevoort, Glenn Greenberg, and group editor Danny Fingeroth oversaw it under editor-in-chief Bob Budiansky. Rather than assigning a single interior artist, Marvel assembled an unusually large roster of pencilers — including George Pérez, Mark Buckingham, Patrick Zircher, Liam Sharp, Pat Olliffe, and Roger Robinson among others — each rendering individual character profiles, giving the pin-up format a deliberate anthology quality that reflected the multi-title, multi-creator nature of the saga itself.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published with a cover date of August 1995 and an on-sale date of June 27, 1995; written by Todd DeZago and edited by Tom Brevoort, Glenn Greenberg, and Danny Fingeroth under editor-in-chief Bob Budiansky.
• Structured as a one-shot handbook/pin-up book narrated in-character by the Jackal (Miles Warren), who downloads information about the Clone Saga's cast into the mind of his newly created Peter Parker clone — Spidercide — providing the framing story.
• Served as the official prologue to the Maximum Clonage crossover event (August 1995), placed in Marvel's own reading order immediately before Maximum Clonage Alpha #1.
• Features character profiles for over 20 figures including Scarlet Spider (Ben Reilly), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Kaine, Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Parker, Venom, Carnage, Doctor Octopus, Hobgoblin, the Lizard, Shriek, Carrion, Judas Traveller, the New Warriors, and others, plus equipment breakdowns covering Spider-Man's mask, web-shooters, Scarlet Spider's impact webbing, and Spider-Man's utility belt.
• Interior art was contributed by an unusually large ensemble penciling team: George Pérez, Mark Buckingham, Patrick Zircher, Liam Sharp, Pat Olliffe, Joe St. Pierre, Roger Robinson, Dan Lawlis, Michael Bair, Jordan Raskin, and others — each handling individual profile illustrations. The cover was penciled by Joe St. Pierre and inked by Jimmy Palmiotti.
• Contains several in-universe claims later contradicted by subsequent stories: the Jackal identifies Ned Leeds as the original Hobgoblin (disproven in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1–3), describes Judas Traveller as immortal (disproven in Amazing Spider-Man #416–417), and expresses uncertainty about whether the Lizard-like creature seen elsewhere is Curt Connors (later confirmed to be a separate entity in Spectacular Spider-Man #237–239).
• The issue was reprinted in Spider-Man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic Vol. 4 (Marvel, 2010) and Spider-Man: Clone Saga Omnibus Vol. 2 (Marvel, 2017), as well as in Spider-Man (Panini France, 1997 series) #1.
• Exists in two print variants: a Direct Edition and a Newsstand Edition, both with an August 1995 cover date.

Full credits

Variants (1)