It had its moments, but overall the mainstream Marvel "Clone Saga" was a trainwreck for Spider-Man. For many devoted readers, it's a long and intricately woven chapter in Spider-Man's life that is best forgotten.

Not so in Ultimate Spider-Man, however. Brian Michael Bendis, one of the top writing talents in comics today, certainly knows from clones.

This new take on the story is not only more compact, but it makes more sense, too. Much of Spider-Man's story in the Ultimate line has to do with the OZ formula developed by the villainous Norman Osborn. In its pure form, it mutated Osborn into the Green Goblin. Mixed with a spider's venom, it created Spider-Man. And, in the explosion that wrecked Osborn's lab, it transformed Otto Octavius into Doc Octopus.

The work continues, however. Octavius has been drafted by an arm of the FBI to continue his experiments -- in large part to counter the superheroic arm of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, led by Nick Fury. And Octavius, who knows Spider-Man's true identity, uses a blood sample stolen from young Peter Parker to toy around with genetics and cloning.

The results of his work are mixed: one clone has multiple arms, for instance, while another is born female. All of them are artificially aged to resemble Peter -- with one exception, but that would be telling. And one clone is made from the genetic remains of the late Gwen Stacy. Of course, all of them break free from the lab and make a beeline either for Peter or his former girlfriend, Mary Jane.

Chaos ensues. Shocks are in store for Peter, MJ and poor Aunt May. And things just get more fun once the Fantastic Four gets involved.

I've sung the praises of Bendis before, but he reaches a whole new level when he's able to take the mess of Spider-Man's clone saga and make something as well-plotted and executed as this. I swear, I groaned when I first saw what was coming, but I truly enjoyed watching it play out. The action comes fast and furious, with some personality conflicts and revelations that just dance to the tune of a masterful scripter.

Artist Mark Bagley is, of course, the perfect pairing for Bendis. His work is dynamic, deep and downright beautiful to see.

So don't let the threat of clones scare you off. Bendis and Bagley know what they're doing.