The Sensational Spider-Man #0 - Atop the Fourth Wall 

"The Daily Grind" is literally the name of the coffee shop on my University campus

"Basically, I'm never going to be done with the Clone Saga...DAMN IT!"

So he bought chemicals, made web-fluid out of them (which is like making a nuclear warhead out of matches), tested it, went eating, searched the university's trash, made a new suit, fought crime, made dye and dyed his hair on one night ? Does he ever sleep ?

The thing is, when Dan Jurgens came to Marvel he wasn't happy with having to write about Ben and he wanted to write about Peter....and despite that, Dan Jurgens' issues of the Ben Reilly storyline were some of the best writing for Ben's character in the ENTIRE Clone Saga! Shame that they never brought back Jessica Carradine after Sensational Spider-Man 6, we never even got her reaction to learning Ben died.

Okay I'll admit it... Years ago when I was watching Spider-Man TAS, I burst out laughing at the "Oah, I don't think I even want to hear your story!" line; and now I've repeated that laugh today. Thank you Linkara.

9 years?! Damn.

Something funny is that I got into Spiderman comics during the 90's Sensational run when Ben had taken over being Spiderman and Peter was basically a supporting character. And I loved it. I had missed all the Jackal and clone stuff and to me the idea of Peter passing the torch to someone more willing to ware the costume and him stepping back into a supporting role fit 100% with the character I'd grown to know in the animated series.

I've always loved Ben's Spider-Man costume for all the reasons you mentioned. It's a cool update while still being completely recognizable. Also, Ben as Spider-Man worked and brought something to the table. I don't even really think of this period as being part of the Clone Saga. It's more of a break from all that crap. However, saying Peter was the clone and shipping him off just because a bunch of middle aged writers want to relive their teen years, has always been a mistake. It comes form the misnomer that Peter should be stuck at a certain point in his life, which has NEVER been the case. Lee and Ditko graduated him from high school and sent him to college fairly quickly. He stopped being a unpopular nerd and developed a close circle of friends. He graduated college and started grad school. That's why marriage does make sense for the character, because he's always moved through life, albeit a bit more slowly.

Can I point out that aunt May's grave says "she taught us to love", showing her value as a human being, while uncle Ben's had "He was loved", implying his main characteristic is that people liked him and he had no feats of his own whatsoever? Then again, that's sort of true. Only thing he ever did was die anyway. And star in a terrible comic no one wants to remember. Carry on.

Ah, Ben... My Spider-Man. I'll never tire of these stories, and I'm even loving Peter David's new run in Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider.

happy 9th anniversary

Holy smokes, THAT's the entire Clone Saga? Oh man, 9 years on and we've still not reached the end of this awful arc.

Jesus... Happy Nine Years Louis.

Yeah, it sure is a shame Ben doesn't have an alter ego or a masked disuse he could wear to sneak into the lab or anything.

I miss this ben riely so much because ben riely was a great spider-man and criminally underrated in my opinion too bad marvel ruined ben riely by bringing him back to life and making him a villian for no reason

20:18 the best damn it that ive ever damn heard

Thank you so much for making the Clone Saga playlist. Finding a real list of these issues in chronological order is impossible for some reason.

11:08 I think it’s pronounced dezz-a-ray.

The Real Clone Saga mini-series is the only clone saga I need. Short, to the point and has a much better main villain than what we ended up having.

That costume was worn better by May “Mayday” Parker.

Dude, congrats on 9 years. I am a casual comic fan and have come to this show repeatedly to learn, laugh, and revel in some of the best journalism and critique on the net. I honestly believe HOPR especially belongs in a museum for its ability to seriously analyze the insanity of that show in a humorous, informative way. Congrats sir. Nice hat.

I've been watching this show for nine years. Insane. Congrats, Linkara!!

The unhappiness of Peter Parker is genetic, I guess, Ben has to suffer the same fate… he's broke, he's got no web fluid, random jerk is a jerk to him at the cafe… that's the true Spidey experience. Even more so unfortunate when the former plot threads are just thrown out, no consistent supporting cast, ONLY enemies-but hey, at least he got a new job! Still, the Daily Grind is just a Jack Manifold joint. Minecraft youtuber things, y'know? The grind. Gotta grind in the mines. ALSO WHAT THE HELL THAT'S A LOT OF CLONE SAGA-

Perfect timing. I recently went through and watched every episode from the beginning until now. This is my first episode that I'm seeing after being totally caught up on everything. Took a while but it was damn well worth it. You consistently make great content and the amount of episodes speaks for itself. Congrats, and here's to more!

Happy Anniversary!

And from this day onward linkara declare war on the clone saga

Oh goodness! Next year is 10! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Here from the beginning and falling deeper in awe. Keep it up, dude!

Happy 9th Year Anniversary, Linkara!!! I have been here for 5 of them and I couldn't be happier that you're trying to keep going. Please take breaks when you have to, don't get burnt out, and thank you for 9 years of ripping apart horrible comic books. And most of all... Thank you for introducing me to the medium of comic books. I have become a huge comic book fan because of you :)

I have finally finished watching every single past episode of AtFW and just in time for the 9th year anniversary! Thank you so much Mr. Loavhaug for this awesome show and being an awesome guy in general. Here's to 9 more awesome years!!

5:36 - Lol, Death of Superman reference. Nice one, Jurgens :P

Nine years of Lewis doing this show, and in all that time I still haven't picked up a single comic book. I seriously don't know how how I managed that.

I always found it interesting when May used this costume

That realization at the end was my favorite part.

Nice to see I'm not the only one who liked the Sensational costume. Personally, it's my favorite Spidey costume. I really like the scarlet spider outfit, but I'm hoping Ben ditches it for his Spidey outfit after a while in his new series.

It's nice to see a Spider-Man full of hope for the future and making strides to turn his life around in spite of his bad luck, even finding gratitude in the people he meets and helps. Welp, that won't last long.

Happy Nine Years Lewis! Lets keep it up and have more bro.

Woot! Happy 9th anniversary man! You are awesome. And here is to another 9 with watching how Spider-Man has one messed up life.

Very fitting to review something from the Clone Saga for the anniversary episode. Congratulations Linkara 🍾🍷

Happy 9th year, Linkara! And congrats!

9 years congrats man you are one of my fav reviewers

The apartment he was living in was Seward Trainer’s and was attached to the lab that was destroyed.

Happy Anniversary! Your videos are a nerdy dream for me.

Can't wait for the 10th anniversary :)

funny thing about the daily grind coffee shop, idk if it first appeared in this issue but it would become a staple fixture of the spiderman comics for years to come, even after the clone saga ended. It eventually got bought by Liz allen and Harry Osborn (yes after he was brought back to life) and became almost like a base of operations for peter or a friends style place the cast would all gather as their civilian identities (one of the few decently charming post OMD moments. )

Happy 9 years of AT4W, Linkara!

Happy nine years! Love your work.

Poor Linkara, cursed to endure the Clone Saga and all its variations for as long as Atop the Fourth Wall exists. Still, congrats on 9 years.

Happy anniversary, Linkara!

Nine years of the greatest reviewer on the Internet. Here's to another nine years!

Nine years! Heck of a ride, Linkara. :D And it's nice that you got a semi-decent Clone Saga story to review this time, even if it completely ditched the backstory set up before. Too bad it seems to be a very brief rise before another epic fall... Still, good to see Ben getting a little time to shine. Though WOW, that is a LOT of Clone Saga. O.o I mean, I knew it took a while, but -- woooow. Uh, at least it's only once a year? *pats*

No event should be that long. That is the kind of bulk you expect from multiple encyclopedia volumes. You could tell a beautiful intricate arc for one contained world, from first beginning to final end with that kind of length.

happy 9 linkara, we all look forward to everything that it to come.

Happy 9th Anniversary, Linkara!

After nine years of Clone Saga, It still feels fun to watch the silliness of the 90's. Happy nine years and hope the contest goes well.

The Sensational costume is my all-time favorite version for all the reasons you listed.

Why is Freddy still on the episode title?!... unless... its like a build up to something..... BEAUTIFUL!!

Wow 9 years of AT4W & the Clone Saga keeps on giving, congrats dude :D,that's a pretty dope Spidey costume, no wonder why the Amazing Spidey movie used it as a base I kinda like that Mysterio design, tone down the mini-belts & you got a solid base to work on

now now, don't despair, it's not all terrible. the ultimate clone saga was reasonably short (especially for a bendis comic) and otherwise fine, and the scarlet spider series with kaine was pretty good, too. also, congrats on the 9 year anniversary. what a trooper.

Happy 9th, Lewis. Next year, we fans are going to have to do something special for number 10.

They'll Never Stop The Clone Saga! Have no fears, we've got issues for years, like Aunt May becomes a robot, Maybe Ben gets a cell phone, has Peter ever owned a bear? Or, how 'bout a crazy wedding? Where something happens and doo doo doo doo doo...

I've been around for the past 4 anniversary episodes but I swear it only feels like I've been watching for 2.

Congratulations on your 9th anniversary! You are by far my favorite internet reviewer. 😁

Happy 9 year anniversary Lewis, hope you’re enjoying your vacation. And the return of one of my favorite running gags on the show SUPERMAN! The man of stable employment!

Yay I can't wait for linkara to review an ultimate spider-man arc! Happy 9 years linkara.

Happy nine years, Linkara!

9 years 🎊🎉 With bad comics and Power Rangers( Mystic Force and Ninja Storm are the best ) this channel has grown so much. This is such an awesome ride. This is one of the best channels on RU-vid. Great work Linkara. PS: Hopefully you do a story with Killer Moth in it 😂😁

Happy 9th anniversary, Mr. Lovhaug. Looking forward to seeing more greatness from you.

Congratulations on 9 years! I always liked the 90s Spiderman costume with the big spider on it but honestly I wish they had stuck with the Scarlet Spider Costume instead. It better reflects Ben's position and is very striking when compared to the OG Spiderman costume

Congrats on 9 years!

Happy Nine Years Lewis! Cheers!

Anyone else wich that at the end of the review, instead of yelling "DAMNIT!", lewis tarted forming and "F" sound and it cut to credits?

Superman! Man Of Stable Employment! As a Superman fan I fecking love this joke XD

Happy 9 Years Linkara!

Happy ninth anniversary dude! Here's to another 9 years of the Clone Saga torturing us all

CONGRATS ON NINE YEARS! *applause*

#9YearsOfAtopTheFourthWall #HappyAnniversayLinkara

That Stinger....top notch work Lewis

9 years! Way to go, thanks for all those times you saved the world.

Happy anniversary Linkara!

I can't believe it's been nine years. What a great ride.

Incidentally, Ben Reilly's Sensational Spider-Man outfit has always been my favorite since I was a kid. Too bad my introduction to Ben was the comic he gets melted in.

9 years huh? Yet i didn't start watching at4w until early this year. Still, at least I'm somewhat caught up

Congratulations on 9 years! Now must honor your anniversary by a linkara binge watching today. 😊

The Daily Grind was eventually bought out and renamed Central Perk.

Congrats, I feel bad for missing so many of 'em. Still, glad to see you're still doing this, and enjoying the hell out of it :D

This is the point where the clone saga started being good again. Less crossovers and writers were given the freedom to just tell Spider-Man story’s again.

17:07 Linkara to Mysterio: "Why the Hell are you wearing all those belts and straps?" I would guess they hold all the tech he carries around to perform illusions and magic tricks in order to look like he can perform magic, which is probably what he wanted the D.I.T. for.

Happy 9th Anniversary

I hope people on patreon start paying you to do more clone saga stories. At least it would lighten the load

Congrats on 9 years, dude!

I just imagine a old Linkara on his death bed, glad that he doesn't have to do the clone saga, only for him to come back as a ghost damned to forever review the clone saga. The worst part of it is their will be like 50 new clone sagas make because the comic industry likes to remake everything over and over no matter the quality.

Holy crap 9 years this has been going on for 9 years linkara I tip my hat to you good sir

Happy 9th anniversary. Here's to more bad comics and good laughs

The Reilly suit is one of my favorites. I used it all the time in the 2000 game.

"Basically, I'm never gonna be done with the clone saga." Cue perfect reaction to the impact of that realization.

Awesome episode. Very much enjoyed your review of the issue that brought about the coolest version of the spider-suit.

Ignoring the belts Mysterio does have a pretty cool design, almost got a mystical/supernatural feel to it. Then again he does look a little too similar to Dormammu, "Mysterio I've come to bargain!"

According to the Marvel Wiki, Carrie Bradley appeared in 5 comics and hasn't appeared since the Clone Saga.

You can only really get away with wings on your helmet if your hometown is Asgard.

11:15 "A raging douchebag with a cheerleading squad behind you" So that's where Gary Oak went to college.