First off, I should establish that I'm a major fan of the '90s animated Spider-Man series that was shown on FOX and story-edited by John Semper. That was the show that made me a Spidey fan, the first and to date the only TV adaptation that I felt really captured the spirit and approach that made the Spidey comics so worthwhile. When I heard about this new Spectacular Spider-Man series, I was cautiously optimistic based on some of the advance news, but I wasn't expecting it would compare to the '90s series.
But after seeing just two episodes, I'm thinking this one may be even better. It really lives up to its name. The head writer is Greg Weisman, best known as the showrunner for the superb Gargoyles animated series, and he's brought his A game to this. (By the way, there's a great Gargoyles homage in the first episode, as Spidey runs past a row of gargoyles who are virtual dead ringers for Goliath's clan. Later, one who looks just like Broadway gets smashed to rubble -- I'm a bit alarmed by that.)
Certainly it is toned down for the younger audience a bit, in that Uncle Ben's death is only alluded to. And if there is one thing that bothers me, it's that Spidey's whole motivation, his guilt at his inaction leading to Ben's death, is missing here, at least so far. But other than that, it's still got all the basics, and is certainly interesting enough for adults. The show goes back to the earliest years of the comic, focusing on Peter as a high school junior, and he's dealing with all the classic manifestations of the "Parker luck" -- worrying about Aunt May's money problems, being unpopular at school despite his cool superpowers, trying to balance crimefighting with a 10 PM curfew, worrying about the expense of fixing torn Spidey suits, the works. At the same time, the characters are drawn from the entire history of the series. Pete's high-school classmates include his friends Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy (a redesigned, more bookish version with a touch of Debra Whitman about her) as well as Flash Thompson and a Hispanic Liz Allen. They've even included Sally Avril from Kurt Busiek's Untold Tales of Spider-Man, an '80s series that filled in additional adventures between issues of the '60s comics. (Mary Jane is nowhere to be seen yet, but will show up later.)
And plenty of other characters are being introduced and set up for later appearances. Two hoods Spidey busts in the first episode are Flink Marko (the future Sandman) and Alex O'Hirn (the future Rhino). The episode also introduces us to Norman Osborn, Curt Connors, and a stocky, bespectacled OsCorp scientist who was not introduced but is presumably Otto Octavius. We even meet Eddie Brock -- here retconned into an older friend of Peter's rather than a rival. I'm not sure about that, but it might add some poignancy to the Venom storyline.
The show not only captures the comics' large family of players, but its continuity as well. There are definite arc elements from one episode to the next. It used to be that networks discouraged that in their kids' shows, preferring a more episodic approach, but I gather that this is done with an eye toward future DVD releases -- the show is being structured in 4- or 5-episode arcs and will be released with one arc per disk, much like the way comics these days are plotted in arcs for the sake of the trade paperback collections.
So what are those arc elements? Well, Peter learns about May's money problems in episode 1 and tries to get Spidey pictures for the Bugle in episode 2, without success as yet. Pete gets an internship with Doc Connors in episode 1, and Connors is injecting himself with some mysterious compound. In episode 2, with Electro as the villain, the compound is revealed to be lizard DNA, and gets supercharged in the fight with Electro. And it looks like episode 3 will feature the Lizard. Plus there are bits of foreshadowing like Osborn stealing a flight technology from Adrian Toomes (no doubt to be seen in a future Goblin glider) and the Enforcers being sicced on Spidey by a mysterious, unseen figure called the Big Man -- a real blast from the past. The Big Man was one of the first "mystery villains" in the Spidey comics, a mob boss whose identity was unknown for some time. Yet another way in which this series is calling back the classic Lee-Ditko years of the comic. (Lee and Ditko are actually given a "Created by" credit at the end of the opening titles. That's classy.)
Even with all this stuff going on at once, the show does a good job of balancing it. In the first episode, we had Vulture and the Enforcers as the villains -- acting independently -- as well as a ton of characters to introduce, but it was well-paced and didn't seem rushed or cluttered. And there was a good balance of humor and seriousness too, just right for Spidey (although lighter on the seriousness than the comics would be today). Spidey's dialogue is good and witty, and they aren't softpedalling his capacity for screwing up big time. In episode 2, Electro has been reimagined as a more tragic figure in the Batman: TAS vein, victim of a disfiguring accident who's desperate and frustrated by his inability to lead a normal life. And in their first confrontation, Spidey totally screws up, assuming he's causing trouble deliberately and coming down hard, just making him more angry and embittered and essentially pushing him down the path toward villainy (and even giving him his nom de guerre).
The voice cast is pretty good. Josh Keaton is an excellent Peter/Spidey, capturing his attitude and wit very well. The Big Man is Keith David, another Gargoyles veteran. Norman Osborn sounds like Ron Perlman, though I'm not certain it's him. Daran Norris does a J. Jonah Jameson who sounds pretty much like all the other JJJs, loud and grouchy. I still consider Ed Asner the definitive JJJ, but Norris does fine here. The rest of the cast works well too, the one exception being Deborah Strang as Aunt May -- she just has a rather bland voice, and it seems as if they're trying to make her seem younger.
I have some quibbles with the character designs, which are pretty cartoony. The way their noses are drawn is pretty strange. But aside from that, the animation is top-notch for TV, and the simplified character designs facilitate fluid, dynamic motion. The action sequences are well-done and very cleverly choreographed. Perhaps my favorite bit was when Spidey was carrying Norman Osborn as the Vulture chased them -- he was repeatedly switching Osborn back and forth from arm to arm as he fired webs from alternate wrists. I've actually often wondered how he would manage carrying someone and swinging two-handed at the same time. This was a clever and witty solution.
All in all, this is an excellent show, and I heartily recommend it to Spidey buffs and animation buffs. The future of this show is a bit uncertain, since Kids' WB is ceasing to exist this September, so only the first half of the series' 26-episode first season is going to air there and it hasn't yet been decided where the back 13 will air, or where future seasons if any will air. But I'm hoping this show has a good long run, because it deserves to.
But after seeing just two episodes, I'm thinking this one may be even better. It really lives up to its name. The head writer is Greg Weisman, best known as the showrunner for the superb Gargoyles animated series, and he's brought his A game to this. (By the way, there's a great Gargoyles homage in the first episode, as Spidey runs past a row of gargoyles who are virtual dead ringers for Goliath's clan. Later, one who looks just like Broadway gets smashed to rubble -- I'm a bit alarmed by that.)
Certainly it is toned down for the younger audience a bit, in that Uncle Ben's death is only alluded to. And if there is one thing that bothers me, it's that Spidey's whole motivation, his guilt at his inaction leading to Ben's death, is missing here, at least so far. But other than that, it's still got all the basics, and is certainly interesting enough for adults. The show goes back to the earliest years of the comic, focusing on Peter as a high school junior, and he's dealing with all the classic manifestations of the "Parker luck" -- worrying about Aunt May's money problems, being unpopular at school despite his cool superpowers, trying to balance crimefighting with a 10 PM curfew, worrying about the expense of fixing torn Spidey suits, the works. At the same time, the characters are drawn from the entire history of the series. Pete's high-school classmates include his friends Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy (a redesigned, more bookish version with a touch of Debra Whitman about her) as well as Flash Thompson and a Hispanic Liz Allen. They've even included Sally Avril from Kurt Busiek's Untold Tales of Spider-Man, an '80s series that filled in additional adventures between issues of the '60s comics. (Mary Jane is nowhere to be seen yet, but will show up later.)
And plenty of other characters are being introduced and set up for later appearances. Two hoods Spidey busts in the first episode are Flink Marko (the future Sandman) and Alex O'Hirn (the future Rhino). The episode also introduces us to Norman Osborn, Curt Connors, and a stocky, bespectacled OsCorp scientist who was not introduced but is presumably Otto Octavius. We even meet Eddie Brock -- here retconned into an older friend of Peter's rather than a rival. I'm not sure about that, but it might add some poignancy to the Venom storyline.
The show not only captures the comics' large family of players, but its continuity as well. There are definite arc elements from one episode to the next. It used to be that networks discouraged that in their kids' shows, preferring a more episodic approach, but I gather that this is done with an eye toward future DVD releases -- the show is being structured in 4- or 5-episode arcs and will be released with one arc per disk, much like the way comics these days are plotted in arcs for the sake of the trade paperback collections.
So what are those arc elements? Well, Peter learns about May's money problems in episode 1 and tries to get Spidey pictures for the Bugle in episode 2, without success as yet. Pete gets an internship with Doc Connors in episode 1, and Connors is injecting himself with some mysterious compound. In episode 2, with Electro as the villain, the compound is revealed to be lizard DNA, and gets supercharged in the fight with Electro. And it looks like episode 3 will feature the Lizard. Plus there are bits of foreshadowing like Osborn stealing a flight technology from Adrian Toomes (no doubt to be seen in a future Goblin glider) and the Enforcers being sicced on Spidey by a mysterious, unseen figure called the Big Man -- a real blast from the past. The Big Man was one of the first "mystery villains" in the Spidey comics, a mob boss whose identity was unknown for some time. Yet another way in which this series is calling back the classic Lee-Ditko years of the comic. (Lee and Ditko are actually given a "Created by" credit at the end of the opening titles. That's classy.)
Even with all this stuff going on at once, the show does a good job of balancing it. In the first episode, we had Vulture and the Enforcers as the villains -- acting independently -- as well as a ton of characters to introduce, but it was well-paced and didn't seem rushed or cluttered. And there was a good balance of humor and seriousness too, just right for Spidey (although lighter on the seriousness than the comics would be today). Spidey's dialogue is good and witty, and they aren't softpedalling his capacity for screwing up big time. In episode 2, Electro has been reimagined as a more tragic figure in the Batman: TAS vein, victim of a disfiguring accident who's desperate and frustrated by his inability to lead a normal life. And in their first confrontation, Spidey totally screws up, assuming he's causing trouble deliberately and coming down hard, just making him more angry and embittered and essentially pushing him down the path toward villainy (and even giving him his nom de guerre).
The voice cast is pretty good. Josh Keaton is an excellent Peter/Spidey, capturing his attitude and wit very well. The Big Man is Keith David, another Gargoyles veteran. Norman Osborn sounds like Ron Perlman, though I'm not certain it's him. Daran Norris does a J. Jonah Jameson who sounds pretty much like all the other JJJs, loud and grouchy. I still consider Ed Asner the definitive JJJ, but Norris does fine here. The rest of the cast works well too, the one exception being Deborah Strang as Aunt May -- she just has a rather bland voice, and it seems as if they're trying to make her seem younger.
I have some quibbles with the character designs, which are pretty cartoony. The way their noses are drawn is pretty strange. But aside from that, the animation is top-notch for TV, and the simplified character designs facilitate fluid, dynamic motion. The action sequences are well-done and very cleverly choreographed. Perhaps my favorite bit was when Spidey was carrying Norman Osborn as the Vulture chased them -- he was repeatedly switching Osborn back and forth from arm to arm as he fired webs from alternate wrists. I've actually often wondered how he would manage carrying someone and swinging two-handed at the same time. This was a clever and witty solution.
All in all, this is an excellent show, and I heartily recommend it to Spidey buffs and animation buffs. The future of this show is a bit uncertain, since Kids' WB is ceasing to exist this September, so only the first half of the series' 26-episode first season is going to air there and it hasn't yet been decided where the back 13 will air, or where future seasons if any will air. But I'm hoping this show has a good long run, because it deserves to.
