History ComicBook / OneHundredAndOneWaysToEndTheCloneSaga

* BrickJoke: When Peter David shows up in Ralph's office to discuss continuity issues with the writers, he mentions S.H.I.E.L.D. in passing, and [[ClueFromEd an editor's footnote]] pops up attempting to helpfully define its acronym, only stumble and leave ("Supreme -- no, Strategic Headquarters -- no. I'll get back to you...Ralf"). Five pages later, during an irrelevant, asteriskless panel where the Master Programmer reveals himself as the mastermind behind the Clone Saga, another footnote appears, finally defining S.H.I.E.L.D. as Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, as well as appologizing for interrupting the story.

* BigDamnHeroes: Green Goblin (Phil Urich), Firestar, Black Cat and Peter! show up rather out of nowhere to help Ben (now Spider-Man) defeat Judas Traveler, Scrier, Carnage, and the Host.

* ComicalOverreacting: In response to the idea that [[CloningBlues clones don't have souls]], Bernardo goes on a rant about the ComicBook/XMen and ''their'' use of clones, from Madeline Pryor to Xavier's current body, and the fact they're not given any guff about it. And, given that the X-men had finished a similarly-infuriating storyline that ''also'' threw into doubt which one of two characters was a clone for no other reason than to create unnecessary [[StealthPun strife]], [[JerkassHasAPoint he might actually have a point here]].

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries I really, really hate clones]]", says Spider-Man? Well, guess what - So do the writing staff!]]

-->-- '''Creator/RalphMacchio''', summing up the sisyphean task our heroes face.

* ArcWelding: Two of the ideas try to connect the Clone Saga's resolution to the ongoing-at-the-time Master Programmer arc, one of which is the "Mary Jane was a hologram the whole time" world. Another attempts to tie it to the upcoming ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} arc, and yet another uses an old ''Marvel Team-Up'' story arc from 1976 to write Peter out.

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants:[[invoked]] Tom [=DeFalco=] isn't worried about any of the plot holes his idea to have Ben [[DroppedABridgeOnHim abruptly die]] from CloneDegeneration fails to address, saying they'll just make it up as they go along. [[SarcasmMode I mean, it's worked well for them so far, hasn't it]]?

* RantInducingSlight: In response to the idea that [[CloningBlues clones don't have souls]], Bernardo goes on a rant about the ComicBook/XMen and ''their'' use of clones, from Madeline Pryor to Xavier's current body, and the fact they're not given any guff about it. And, given that the X-men had finished a similarly-infuriating storyline that ''also'' threw into doubt which one of two characters was a clone for no other reason than to create unnecessary [[StealthPun strife]], [[JerkassHasAPoint he might actually have a point here]].

* ActuallyAGoodIdea: One that doubles as a FunnyAneurysmMoment: "Next thing, you tell me maybe [[ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} DEVIL]] make you do it, ''heh''?"

* StatusQuoIsGod: Most of the proposed ideas try to revert the "Peter was a clone and [[ComicBook/ScarletSpider Ben]] was the real one" RetCon, and this is what they went with in RealLife. They are also very interested in [[FunnyAneurysmMoment making Peter single again]], which Glenn Greenberg points out would infuriate Mary Jane's fans.

* ArcWelding: Two of the ideas try to connect the Clone Saga's resolution to the ongoing-at-the-time Master Programmer arc, one of which is the "Mary Jane was a hologram the whole time" world. Another attempts to tie it to the upcoming ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} arc.
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: [=DeZago=]'s idea. If Peter and Ben are the same person, Seward Trainer's tests should have picked up on it, since they would have the same mitochondrial DNA. The comic portrays him as a hack to explain this even though he was previously stated to be one of the nation's top geneticists. Granted, Peter David does [[LampshadeHanging point out the mistake]] and the writers ''are'' willing to pull anything so long as it gets the book back on track.

* BeatPanel: The staff is shocked into StunnedSilence for one panel after Creator/PeterDavid lists off all the {{Plot Hole}}s in their stories.
* BigDamnHeroes: Green Goblin (Phil Urich), Firestar, Black Cat and Peter!Spider-Man show up rather out of nowhere to help Ben (now Spider-Man) defeat Judas Traveler, Scrier and Carnage.

* ClonesArePeopleToo: Tom Lyle tries to give the Clone Peter a happy ending with Mary Jane and allows him to continue being the 'real' Peter as far as the world is concerned.

* StableTimeLoop: [[EnigmaticMinion Scrier]] sends Ben back to the ending of the original Clone Saga to complete one of these.
* CreditsGag: The opening credits state Bob Harras tolerated this story, rather than presented or approved. In-universe [[HairTriggerTemper he doesn't seem to actually tolerate it at all]].

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: For some reason Ski thinks it's a good idea to just let a [[ComicBook/XMen sentinel]] squash Ben like a bug... er, arachnid.

* EasyAmnesia: Howard Mackie makes "Peter" forget how he ended up unconscious on a beach, as well as whether he's the real Pete or not.

* FridgeLogic:[[invoked]] Peter David lists a cavalcade of these in response to all the ideas of the other writers, including that Mephisto can't actually show up because in Marvel continuity back then, he was actually dead.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold[=/=]HeroOfAnotherStory: A past version of Peter shows up, explains that Peter and Ben are his own past selves due to TimeyWimeyBall and asks for them to come with him to fix the timeline. This is an expansion of (and RetCon to) a previous time travel story Spidey engaged in, but the version we read was much shorter and Peter certainly never wound up creating duplicates of himself during it.

* ImpostorExposingTest: Seward Trainer's tests of Pete and Ben's genomes were ostensibly meant to figure out which of them was the clone, but the Marvel writers don't really care about that.

* LampshadeHanging:

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Past Pete comments on the ugly feet of his current self's outfit, and Ben is relieved at Seward Trainer's explanation wasn't something idiotic like [[ComicBook/{{Cable}} he was his time-traveling son from the future]].

* TheManBehindTheMan: Master Programmer (who was [[spoiler: revealed as Doctor Octopus in the comics]] tries to pull this on the Clone Saga, but Marvel's lawyers stop the whole thing. In the end, they use [[spoiler: The Green Goblin to do the same]].

* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: Ben Reilly uses a "Long-winded expository narrative sense" in one of the ideas. This is naturally followed by Past!Pete going on an expository InfoDump for a whole page.

* OldShame:[[invoked]] Spidey questions what he was on when he designed the Spider-Armor.

* OneTractMind: J. Jonah Jameson, as usual, attempts to find some way to blame things on Spider-Man in Tom Lyle's first idea.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Peter David finishes his initial summation of the PlotHoles in the previous stories by questioning how acclaimed geneticist Seward Trainer never seems to have a job.

* RantInducingSlight: In response to the idea that [[CloningBlues clones don't have souls]], Harras goes on a rant about the ComicBook/XMen and ''their'' use of clones, from Madeline Pryor to Xavier's current body, and the fact they're not given any guff about it. And, given that the X-men had finished a similarly-infuriating storyline that ''also'' threw into doubt which one of two characters was a clone for no other reason than to create unnecessary [[StealthPun strife]], [[JerkassHasAPoint he might actually have a point here]].
* TheReveal: Pretty much all of the ending ideas, from the outlandish to the REALLY outlandish.

* ShoutOut: Glenn Greenberg nervously recites a lyric from a slinky commercial jingle in response to Harras insisting he'll keep moving one around to relieve stress.
* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Tom Lyle's ImagineSpot is the simplest and most reasonable compared to the ones that follow, but is contested by the other writers due to the FridgeLogic of it.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Most of the proposed ideas try to revert the "Peter was a clone and [[ComicBook/ScarletSpider Ben]] was the real one" RetCon, and this is what they went with in RealLife. They are also very interested in [[FunnyAneurysmMoment making Peter single again]].

* TimeyWimeyBall: [=DeZago=]'s idea is to retcon the two Peters into being time-displaced versions of the same man, though he doesn't explain how they ended forgetting what happened. Surely there's a [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold Greatest Story Never Told]] in there.

* VariantCover: InUniverse, the guys suggest to cushion the blow of Ben's [[DroppedABridgeOnHim unceremonious death]] with a chromium cover, and then propose a "Self-Replicating" cover that [[ShapedLikeItself clones itself]] when dipped in water.

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants:[[invoked]] Tom [=DeFalco=] isn't worried about any of the plot holes his idea fails to address, saying they'll just make it up as they go along. [[SarcasmMode I mean, it's worked well for them so far, hasn't it]]?

* KudzuPlot: A lot of the ideas are this, in true Clone Saga fashion. Not even the characters have the patience to process some of the {{Shocking Swerve}}s the writers throw at them.

* FloatingHeadSyndrome: The cover portrays the Marvel staff (Ralph Macchio, Tom [=DeFalco=], and Bob Harras, to be specific) looming menacingly over several Spider-Clones.

* FloatingHeadSyndrome: The cover portrays the Marvel staff looming menacingly over several Spider-Clones.

* OneSteveLimit: There's two writers named Tom in this story, as well as Peter David who shares a first name with Peter Parker. Naturally, par for the course in RealLife.

* TemptingFate: Bernardo pleads to the One-Above-All for [[DaEditor Bob Harras]] to not ask him where Ralph is. He immediately asks him where Ralph is.

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[Recap/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeriesS05E12SpiderWarsPart1IReallyReallyHateClones I really, really hate clones]]", says Spider-Man? Well, guess what - So do the writing staff!]]

* FemaleGaze: The real Peter washes up on a beach in Creator/HowardMackie's idea, and one of the beachgoers comment on his memetically-nice butt.

--> '''Harras:''' My hands are either on the slinky or around your NECK, okay, [[Creator/GlennGreenberg Greenberg]]?

* TemptingFate: Bernardo pleads to the One-Above-All for [[TheChief Bob Harras]] to not ask him where Ralph is. He immediately asks him where Ralph is.

* VariantCover: InUniverse, the guys suggest to cushion the blow of Ben's [[DroppedABridgeOnHim uncerimonious death]] with a chromium cover, and then propose a "Self-Replicating" cover that [[ShapedLikeItself clones itself]] when dipped in water.

* AmbiguousCloneEnding: Howard Mackie proposes this, but the other writers don't go for it.

* KudzuPlot: A lot of the ideas are this, in true Clone Saga fashion. Not even the characters have the pacience to process some of the {{Shocking Swerve}}s the writers throw at them.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: We never do get to see all the 101 uses for a dead clone, but the three we do get to see are pretty funny.

* FridgeLogic: Peter David lists a cavalcade of these in response to all the ideas of the other writers, including that Mephisto can't actually show up because in Marvel continuity back then, he was actually dead.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The ''[[ComicBook/OneMoreDay Greenberg Gambit]]'': Marvel doesn't like the new status quo a story created? Use ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} to undo it! The story also shows a few clumsy attempts to remove [[LoveInterest Mary Jane]] from Spidey's cast.

* NamesTheSame: There's two writers named Tom in this story, as well as Peter David who shares a first name with Peter Parker. Naturally, par for the course in RealLife.

* OldShame: Spidey questions what he was on when he designed the Spider-Armor.

* ShockingSwerve: One of the ideas tries to RetCon Mary Jane into being a hologram, of all things.

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Tom [=DeFalco=] isn't worried about any of the plot holes his idea fails to address, saying they'll just make it up as they go along. [[SarcasmMode I mean, it's worked well for them so far, hasn't it]]?

--> '''Peter David:''' And then there's the matter of the ''[[LegacyCharacter second]]'' [[CListFodder Carrion]]...

* BigWhat: In response to the TimeyWimeyBall presented by their past version, both Peter and Ben go "What!" in a big speech bubble, while Seward Trained massages his temples in frustration.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Peter David finishes his initial summation of the PlotHoles in the previous stories by questioning how acclaimed geneticist Seward Trained never seems to have a job.

* ImagineSpot: The story is a series of {{Imagine Spot}}s of potencial solutions to the Clone Saga.

* TheReveal: Every one of the ending ideas, from the outlandish to the REALLY outlandish.

* VillainExitStageLeft: After claiming Spider-Man was ''definitely'' gonna die this time, Electro skedaddles at the first opportunity when Spidey (Ben Reilly, that is) starts getting memory flashes of events that happened to Peter

* AmbiguousSituation: What happened to make Peter wash on New York' shores in Howard Mackie's take on the ending is never explained.

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[Recap/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeriesS05E12SpiderWarsPart1IReallyReallyHateClones I really, really, really hate clones]]", says Spider-Man? Well, guess what - So do the writing staff!]]

* PaintingTheMedium: When Peter David mentions the ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} helicarrier, a note pops up trying to explain the acronym, but Ralf can't remember what it actually stood for, and promises to come back once he does. Much later a new narration bubble shows up with zero prompting in a panel with no mention of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the complete acronym.

** Spider-Man and his clones also engage in this, natch. Peter at one point remarks that he finds the premise of ''Film/{{Multiplicity}}'' [[{{Irony}} hard to swallow]].

* AsYouKnow: Tom Lyle recaps the events that had been going on in the comics at that time (up to the point before the last few stories were published).

* PaintingTheMedium: When Peter David mentions the ComicBook/SHIELD helicarrier, a note pops up trying to explain the acronym, but Ralf can't remember what it actually stood for, and promises to come back once he does. Much later a new narration bubble shows up with zero prompting in a panel with no mention of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the complete acronym.

* ArcWelding: Two of the ideas try to connect the Clone Saga's resolution to the ongoing-at-the-time Master Programmer arc, one of which is the "Mary Jane was a hologram the whole time" world. Another attempts to tie it to the upcoming ComicBook/Onslaught arc.

* ArcWelding: Two of the ideas try to connect the Clone Saga's resolution to the ongoing-at-the-time Master Programmer arc, one of which is the "Mary Jane was a hologram the whole time" world. Another attempts to tie it to the upcoming ComicBook/OnslaughtArc.