The Spectacular Spider-Man: a Webslinger for a New Generation

Note: The following is based on the first four episodes of the series, so spoilers for those episodes may appear in this article. If you don't know of any of the characters mentioned in this article, Google and Wikipedia are your friends.

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for cartoons based on comic books. It usually doesn't matter where the source material comes from--Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse--and whether or not I've read the comic. Maybe it's my way of coping with missing a lot of story for not buying the series regularly or being unaware of it. Despite all this, I have my favorites, and one of them is everyone's favorite webslinging, wisecracking superhero, Spider-Man.

Spidey's been animated a few times--I watched Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, and I loved the 1990's cartoon--so I was interested when a new cartoon, The Spectacular Spider-Man, was announced. I admit I was worried; The Batman didn't impress me when it first came out, but then, that show did improve a little (I still like Batman The Animated Series a lot better, but that's another story). I was afraid the basic concept would be dumbed down for kids (e.g. Uncle Ben simply disappeared or was swallowed by the Shadow Realm).

So far, the basic concept has been preserved. Peter Parker gets powers from radioactive spider? Check. Uncle Ben dead? Check. Spider-Man fights crime with super spider abilities and quips? Check. Peter sells photos of his alter ego to the Daily Bugle? Check. Norman Osborn a slimeball? Check.

There are a few changes from the original comic book, though. In this continuity, Peter is still in high school, which pretty much means in addition to fighting crime, he's got to deal with teen problems like bullies (Flash Thompson is once again on his case) and keeping his commitments (he forgets to help Harry Osborn with his studies to take on the Shocker). This reminded me of Ultimate Spider-Man, although I'm not getting the edgier feel of that series from this show. The character designs will strike some as toony, but I found them to be a good balance between cutesy and edgy once I watched a few episodes.

Another thing I had to get used to is no Mary Jane, although she has been mentioned in the fourth episode and will most likely show up later. Gwen Stacy is present, and she's a brainiac like Peter--she even wears glasses. I'm sure some of the comic book purists will vent over this and other items, but hey, you want to enjoy Spider-Man as it's presented in the comics, read the comics.

The first episode felt villain-stuffed to me, and I had fun pointing out who's bad and who'll go bad. The Vulture wants revenge on Norman Osborn for stealing his flight technology. The Big Man (I mistook him for the Kingpin) sics the Enforcers on Spider-Man. Flint Marko, who is Sandman, shows up as a thug working for the Big Man. Hammerhead is the Big Man's lieutenant and functions as an intermediary between his boss and his underlings and partners in crime. Dr. Curt Connors shows up along with Eddie Brock; the Lizard appears in the third episode, and Venom is scheduled to appear later. Considering that the first season is only thirteen episodes, this character stuffing makes sense. The fast pacing may turn off some, but at least the chance for fluff filler to slip through has been lessened. The fourth episode introduces a plot where Osborn will manufacture supervillains to distract Spider-Man from interfering with the Big Man's operations, so expect more of Spider-Man's rogues' gallery to show up to wreak havoc.

A big plus is that Greg Weisman is the story editor as well as a writer for the show. I loved his work on Gargoyles. In fact, I'm curious as to whether or not some of you who watched the first episode noticed the gargoyle that gets smashed as Spidey evades the Enforcers. It reminded me of Broadway from Gargoyles. Just a little something I noticed that doesn't affect the overall story, but it was cool. As for the story, I like how a problem Peter has is not resolved fully by the end of the episode. Aunt May has a lot of bills to pay, and Peter resolves to help her out by selling photos of Spider-Man to the Daily Bugle. The writers show how much Peter's superheroing interferes with his regular life. His decision to bail out of the efforts to cure the Lizard--he was actually going after him as Spider-Man--and him selling pictures of the fight result in him getting fired from his internship with Dr. Connors and strains his friendship with Gwen.

Kudos to the people who put together the voice acting cast. Josh Keaton is good as Peter/Spider-Man; he's got the wisecracking down, and he pulls off the role of a young man who's trying to balance his social life with his superhero role. Some of my favorite VAs show up. Crispin Freeman, who I know of from anime dub roles, shows up as Electro, and Keith David, a.k.a. Spawn and Gargoyles' Goliath, voices the unseen Big Man in episode one (he is voiced by another favorite VA of mine, Kevin Michael Richardson, in later episodes). A few big names many will know from on-screen appearances show up in the credits as well; Lacey Chabert voices Gwen, and Robert Englund voiced the Vulture.

I recommend The Spectacular Spider-Man for Spidey fans (not the nitpicky comic book ones), action fans, and people who love to spot and point out minutiae.

The Spectacular Spider-Man airs on Kids' WB on Saturday mornings (check your local listings).