Editing Uncle Ben (section)

==Publication history==
After first appearing in ''[[Strange Tales]]'' #97 (January 1962)—caring for his niece (a [[mermaid]] named Linda Brown) with his wife [[Aunt May|May]]—Uncle Ben returned in ''[[Amazing Fantasy]]'' #15 (August 1962)—caring for his nephew ([[Spider-Man|Peter Parker / Spider-Man]]) with May—and was killed in the same issue. Although his history as a supporting character was very brief, Uncle Ben is an overshadowing figure in Spider-Man's life, often appearing in [[Flashback (literary technique)|flashbacks]].

===Notability of death===
The murder of Uncle Ben is possibly the most notable in comic book history. He is also one of the few [[comic book death]]s that has never been reversed in [[Continuity (fiction)|official continuity]]. He was a member of the "Big Three", alongside [[Jason Todd]] (an associate of [[Batman]]) and [[Bucky Barnes|Bucky]] (an associate of [[Captain America]]) whose notable deaths, along with Ben's, gave rise to the phrase: "No one in comics stays dead except for Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben". Later, the revivals of both Bucky and Jason in 2005 led to the amendment, "No one in comics stays dead except Uncle Ben". The violent killing of Uncle Ben, done by [[Burglar (character)|a common street criminal]], also shares multiple similarities to the death of [[Thomas Wayne|Thomas]] and [[Martha Wayne]], the parents of [[Batman]], which sometimes is included in the saying.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Philip |editor-last=Tallon |last1=Sanford |first1=Jonathan J. |last2=Irwin |first2=William |title=Spider-Man and Philosophy: The Web of Inquiry |date=15 May 2012 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |page=86 |isbn=9780470575604 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oEHbCwcV-NEC&pg=PA86 |chapter=With Great Power Comes Great Culpability}}</ref>

There have been examples of Uncle Ben remaining alive in [[Multiverse (Marvel Comics)|alternative timelines]], including stories featured in Marvel's ''[[What If (comics)|What If]]'' (one of which he forces Peter to unmask in front of [[J. Jonah Jameson]]), and a storyline of the 1994 ''Spider-Man'' animated series featured a universe where Uncle Ben had never died, and Peter Parker became a successful industrialist, having never really bothered to use his powers responsibly as everything always seemed to work out for him. This fact is used to defeat the rampaging [[Carnage (comics)|Spider-Carnage]] by exposing him to the one person he will trust and listen to: the Uncle Ben of that reality.<ref>{{Cite episode |title="Chapter II: Farewell, Spider-Man" |episode-link= |url= |access-date= |series=[[Spider-Man (1994 TV series)|''Spider-Man'']] |series-link= |first= Bob|last= Richardson|network=[[Fox Kids]] |station= |date=January 31, 1998 |season=5 |series-no= |number=13 |minutes= |time= |transcript= |transcript-url= |quote= |language=}}</ref>

A story-line in the official series ''[[Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man]]'' seemingly suggested that Ben may be alive. This Ben, however, was actually from a [[parallel universe (fiction)|parallel universe]] where [[Aunt May]] died in a random accident, leaving him to raise Peter. This alternate Ben came to the planet Earth of regular ''Marvel'' comics (the [[Earth-616|616 reality]]) as part of an evil plan devised by the [[Hobgoblin (comics)#Hobgoblin 2211|Hobgoblin of 2211]] to defeat the Spider-Men of different eras.<ref>''Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'' #7-10. Marvel Comics.</ref>

During the ''[[Clone Conspiracy]]'' storyline, when Peter's clone [[Ben Reilly]] (who had taken Uncle Ben's first name, along with Aunt May's last, to differentiate himself from Peter) used the [[Jackal (Marvel Comics character)|Jackal]]'s technology to revive several of Peter's old enemies and allies, he offered to bring Uncle Ben back to life while trying to win Peter to his point of view.<ref name="The Clone Conspiracy">{{Cite comic |writer=[[Dan Slott]] |penciller=[[Jim Cheung]] |title=The Clone Conspiracy |issue= #3 |date=7 December 2016 |publisher=[[Marvel Comics]] |id=61715 |url=http://marvel.com/comics/issue/61715/the_clone_conspiracy_2016_3}}</ref> Although tempted at the offer, Peter concluded that the reason Reilly had not brought Uncle Ben back on his own was that he knew that Uncle Ben would disapprove of Reilly's actions, as his plan would see everyone on Earth granted immortality, while dependent on him to supply the medication needed to stabilize their cloned bodies.<ref name="marvel.com">{{Cite comic |writer=[[Dan Slott]] |penciller=[[Jim Cheung]] |title=The Clone Conspiracy |issue= #4 |date=18 January 2017 |publisher=[[Marvel Comics]] |id=61716 |url=http://marvel.com/comics/issue/61716/the_clone_conspiracy_2016_4}}</ref>