Sensational Spider-Man 0: Maybe a higher priority should be a decent job and a flat?

Credits: Written and pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by Klaus Janson and edited by Bob Budiansky with costume design by Mark Bagley.

Plot: Ben Reilly has decided to take on the mantle of Spider-Man. He’s full of doubt and processes this in front of an as yet unnamed grave. As he looks to leave, he sees someone robbing a florist stall and goes after him, he tries to web him from a distance, but has run out of web-fluid and so has to tackle him. He delivers the stolen money back to the flower vendor, who recommends his brother Vito’s shop, Ben turns and comes face to face with Anna Watson, one of May’s oldest friends and aunt to Mary Jane, Peter’s wife. Anna thinks Ben is Peter and asks where MJ is, Ben covers, saying that MJ is in Portland and he’s just in town to clear a few things off before he joins her. She comments on how he looks with shaggy hair and several days beard growth and Ben leaves wishing her well. He realises that this will keep happening as long as he looks exactly like Peter.

Elsewhere, a man calling himself Armada arrives at an old theatre, using a remote flying device he calls Shirley to get him inside. Within the bizarre appearance of the interior of the building appears a large green hair, made seemingly of smoke. This head speaks to Armada and lays out the job, to steel something called D.I.T. chip from a place called the Neural Port Complex by Centennial University. Armada points out how difficult this job is, but agrees to get it done.

Ben is at a local shop buying supplies to make more web-fluid, but this leaves him with less than $5 in his pocket. He goes home and mixes the formula in a makeshift lab and is pleased with the overall result. On his way to and from his tiny room, the landlord reminds him that he’s either handing over cash for his stay, or be leaving at this point tomorrow. Ben is jokey in public, but despondent alone, internally complaining that Superman (though he is not named for legal reasons) never has to deal with these problems. A funny joke considering that the writer/artist is most likely best known for his excellent work on the “guy in the blue suit’. Hungry, Ben finds himself at the Daily Grind coffee shop meeting teenager Devon and his mother Shirley, the owner of the shop. Ben orders a coffee and pasta special only to learn he is 25 cents short and the owner cuts him a break on that quarter, seeing how dishevelled and down on his luck he appears. This cuts Ben, feeling he’s become a charity case and as he is finishing, a commotion starts with a very exuberant model called Desiree who is being fawned over by an un-named Centennial University jock and a wannabe fashion designer. Hearing them talk about fashion givens Ben an idea of trying CU’s fashion department. Desiree gets all entitled about the table Ben is at, but he’s not interested now, so leaves the table. This is not un-noticed by Shirley who thanks him for his kindness.

At the nearby Neural Port Complex, Armada is breaking in using his remote devices, each one getting a name at some point in the issue. Across the road, Ben is breaking into the fashion depart of CU and rummages through the bins to find offcuts and other discarded fabric, just as he remembers doing when he was younger. He thinks about all the costume ideas, clearly a way for the artist to have fun and he starts working . Armada gets through the security and gets to Professor Ramirez’s lab where he steals the DIT (Digital Imagery Transmission) chip, which allows thought patterns to show up as images for anyone to see. Armada makes his move and across the road again, Ben (after doing something with his hair) leaves the fashion department as the brand new Spider-Man. On the street below a woman called Jessica sees him and believes this is her chance.

Ben’s Spider-sense warns him about the nearby problem and he heads into the NPC and jumps into action against Armada, who is thrilled to find an adversary worthy of him, at least until one of his drones is destroyed, in this case Diane. He flies out the nearest window carrying the chip and Dr Ramirez, the chip’s inventor. On the street below, Jessica sees Spider-Man as he follows Armada and believes this is her chance. Ben uses his webshooter (working, so third time’s the charm) to take the chip and Armada drops Ramirez and Ben has to pull out all the stops to save him. He webs up a now unconscious Armada and using most of the webbing he has, creates a web cushion and parachute combo that lands them both safely. The DIT chip however is spirited away by one of Armada’s drones, even after Armada is out and Ben promises to keep an eye out for the chip. Despite the loss of the chip, Ramirez is grateful for the save and offers Ben $100 in gratitude. Uncomfortable at the idea, Ben instead asks for two bits, so that he can pay Shirley back the quarter he owes her for dinner yesterday. Elsewhere, we see that the green smoky head that hired Armada was actually Mysterio, in a new look and revenge on his mind.

The next morning, Ben (now having shaved and sporting a new short blond haircut) goes back to the Daily Grind and pays off the quarter and a little more. This show of integrity impresses Shirley who is down members of staff through dishonesty. She offers him a job and he takes it up, happily. He gets a bit of advance and goes to Vito’s flower shop and returns to the grave from earlier. He talks about saving Ramirez and how it reinforced his need and desire to be Spider-Man and he thanks them for helping make him the man who he is. We then see that the grave(s) belong to Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker and because of them, Spider-Man is back.

Notes: After a couple of months of getting ready for this, the original premise for the Clone Saga is here, free from being married and decade and a half of continuity, we have a single Spider-Man starting out and it comes straight out of the gate working. We get a very different set of supporting characters, Shirley and Devon at the coffee shop, student Desiree, Jessica and Dr Ramirez. In one issue we have more characters to care about that the last 9 Scarlet Spider stories. More than anything recently, this feels like Spider-Man. Ben is broke, struggling to find work and a place to live, but rather than solve those problems, we see him try to be a superhero again. Beyond that, we have a new writer/artist giving it a go and Dan Jurgens hits the ground running. He can do slice of life mixed with super-heroics well, given his experience on DC’s red and blue hero. He plays with the differences between Ben and Peter, all stemming from Peter having been Spider-Man for an extra 5 years and Ben feeling unsure about the job, but he does it and realises why he should be. Yes, he failed to stop the theft, but did save a life. There’s also fun with this being another tech-theft and Ben asks why no one heists jewellery anymore. It’s a nice reminder that Ben was Peter Parker and him being funny is as intrinsic to the character as his sense of responsibility. As much as I loved the Scarlet Spider, Ben truly shines as Spider-Man, finally given a story worth reading along with an artistic team that deserves him. I didn’t know if I was going to keep going after the final Scarlet Spider story, but honestly I think I’m just getting started.

Verdict: Writing – 5 out of 5 – As close to a perfect story as can be. We get Ben’s life and its intersection with Spider-Man’s activities. We see the scientist, the nerd, the hero and the hard luck harry all thrown together in a way that lets you know this isn’t Peter, but it is Spider-Man. We get a new villain, a classic one remastered and several new characters and potential storylines that tells you this is a new start and this time, we’re doing it right.

Art: 4 out of 5. Jurgens can do pretty good superhero art in his sleep, this was some of the best of his recent work and I was just absolutely thrilled to enjoy this again, knowing that when I get up to this in my Spider-Man read-through, I get to enjoy this all over again. Why 4? Still not convinced on Klaus Janson’s inks, but that’s a small wrinkle in an otherwise flawless comic.

Overall: 9 out of 10 – This is how you do a fresh start while staying true to the character and world that it feels like the best mix of a jumping on point and the next chapter. When the third part of the clone saga starts, we start on a high.

Next Time: After the song, a quiet moment.