Has anyone else heard of this cartoon that's coming to CW next year? I found some concept art and some wiki information which can be found here:
concept art (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/53457929/?q=by%3A2-cents&qh=sort%3Atime+-in%3Ascraps)
Wiki info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Spider-Man_%28animated_TV_series%29)
They've turned poor Gwen into Deb Whitman :mellow:
The top halfs of the bodies are fine, but MJ's and Spidey's legs are so wrong :ph34r:...
Hey, guys... don't fret about the concept art in Prev's post because that isn't the artist of the show.. a guy by the name of Sean "Cheeks" Galloway got the art gig instead...
check out his DeviantART page here: http://cheeks-74.deviantart.com/gallery/ (http://cheeks-74.deviantart.com/gallery/)
He has done lots of concept work for toons before including the unmade Thundercats reboot.
- CrimsonQuill
That Sean fella's stuff reminds me of the new Legion cartoon... only way better looking.
Lacey Chabert as the voice of Gwen Stacy? ... Ok, I can see (or hear) that.
I actually really like that guy's style. Got kinda a Scottie Young style going on. Spidey looks great in my opinion, Gwen truly does look like Deb Whitman, and MJ's looking pretty fine. Pete looks wrong to me though.
Voice cast is interesting, though I admit I'm not familiar with most of them. James Arnold Taylor could work as Harry. Darren Norris as Jameson? That could TOTALLY work (incidently, if any of you ever heard his version of Mysterio from the N64/Playstation/PC game, he does this kinda deranged android voice. it's a real hoot).
Janosz from Ghostbusters 2 as Dock Ock...well that would be differant. I didn't know he was the voice of Chronos in JLU, but he did a good job, but that voice wouldn't really work for Otto. I guess I'll wait and see.
I saw the trailer for this series and I don't know if it will be my cup of tea. It certainly looks better than that awful Spider-Man Unlimited, but it doesn't look nearly as good as the Spider-Man 1994 Animated Series. This one just looks too...childish, which I guess is appropriate since it's on Kids WB. Still, I miss the days where cartoons like Spidey 94 (which STILL hasn't gotten an appropriate season set release on DVD) and the original Batman cartoon, both on Fox, could be enjoyed and appreciated by both kids and adults.
I never saw the MTV series, but I really didn't like the animation on that one (was it any good?). However, Greg Weisman is writing the story of this new Spidey cartoon, so it could actually be pretty good. He is the one responsible for creating Gargoyles, which was awesome.
See, I thought Spidey '94 and X-men suffered from the same fate; they were both too rushed. One episode of either had way too much crammed into 30 minutes. In my opinion, the mtv Spidey was the best version I saw. It was kinda like their take on Ultimate Spidey.
Ahh man, don't knock the '90's X-Men now, that cartoon was AMAZINGLY good for its time. ^_^
I hated the X-men. I watched it because I was a rabid fanboy. Had to support, you know. The lines were corny, the animation was sub par and Wolverine never cut anything with his claws unless they were robotic or could regenerate. He never once cut Sabertooth. For a guy that was supposed to be the best at what he did, he sure got handled a lot. Unless he was the best at sucking. Which then, is a completely different take on his abilities. Hell, I even liked Eveloution better than the Old X-men. Designs were smoother and the animation didn't feel as rushed. IMO, Batman and Supes were the best things to come out of the 90's. Simple precise characters, that had good dialog and the action scenes you could follow. Voice actors were topnotched and both had a good grasp of whatever story they were telling.
Quote- "Energy beams, huh? Here's one from a pro!" X-men debut. Ouch.
Neat designs. My interest is definitely piqued.
Quote from: TheMarvell on August 28, 2007, 09:07:13 PM
I never saw the MTV series, but I really didn't like the animation on that one (was it any good?).
The animation was above-average for a made-for-TV 3D show, but Spidey never looked quite right to me. Always seemed too stiff from the shoulders up (seemed like his neck was always jutting out at an angle in that McFarlane pose mode).
Quote from: thanoson on August 29, 2007, 10:03:01 AMWolverine never cut anything with his claws unless they were robotic or could regenerate. He never once cut Sabertooth.
That always annoyed me on the show too, watching it as a kid. Of course we all realize that they can't really show a certain level of violence on what was a kids' cartoon in America, but I think better direction would have been able to suggest that he did use his claws effectively against enemies, without having to show inappropriately graphic content.
Quote from: thanoson on August 28, 2007, 11:47:09 PM
In my opinion, the mtv Spidey was the best version I saw. It was kinda like their take on Ultimate Spidey.
My understanding of the MTV series was that it took place in the movie universe just after Spider-man I. I thought it was better than average, too, although the character designs did seem a little awkward. And that EVERYONE had blue or green eyes (even the African Americans) really bugged me.
Found some on youtube. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJbJl26lxz0
Well...those were cartoons of the 90s...and if you recall, there was a huge stir about violence back then. More so than there is now, so I think they did what they could do...at that time. And really...there wasnt much that wasnt cheesy in the early 90s. I don't recall evolution Wolverine faring much better, but my memory is becoming hazy about that series. :P
Spectacular Spidey doesnt really grab at my interest like the mtv or 94 toon did...but I'll give it a shot before I gain an opinion about it other than "neutral/content".
Ahh, but Batman pulled it off great. The violence, that is. The fight scenes for TAS were way superior to X-men and you never saw anyone get punched in the face.
I'm going to admit this: I'm a fanboy of the 94' Spider-Man cartoon. I will defend that to the bone, lol. So naturally, if I ever get into another Spidey cartoon, I'll be comparing it to that series, which might not be entirely fair. If you want to talk about censorship of the 90's, Spider-Man had it the worst. They weren't allowed to use guns, make ANY reference to death (they used "destroy" instead), no mention of blood or killing (Morbius drank "plasma", not blood) and the Fox censors even went so far to make sure Spider-Man didn't "accidentally land on any pigeons" when jumping on rooftops. It was absurd. However, that being said, despite the intense censorship, I thought this series did a spectacular job telling it's stories, developing its characters, and still managed to have adult themes in an otherwise "kid-friendly" Saturday morning cartoon show. Batman got away with a lot more because the creators used the time period it was set in as an excuse, and even though a lot more people enjoyed that series more, Spider-Man was my favorite.
X-Men I liked too, but I never got into it as much as I did Spider-Man. Part of the reason for that is because of Fox. They loved to air the episodes out of order, so while I'm trying to watch the Phoenix Saga from part 1, I'd end up seeing part 5 or something the next weekend, and be completely lost.
When all is said and done, I really just wish they'd release both of these cartoons on DVD in season sets. I really don't understand why they haven't yet. From what I understand, Disney owns the rights and are just being assholes.
Quote from: TheMarvell on August 29, 2007, 08:11:12 PM
I'm going to admit this: I'm a fanboy of the 94' Spider-Man cartoon. I will defend that to the bone, lol. So naturally, if I ever get into another Spidey cartoon, I'll be comparing it to that series, which might not be entirely fair. If you want to talk about censorship of the 90's, Spider-Man had it the worst. They weren't allowed to use guns, make ANY reference to death (they used "destroy" instead), no mention of blood or killing (Morbius drank "plasma", not blood) and the Fox censors even went so far to make sure Spider-Man didn't "accidentally land on any pigeons" when jumping on rooftops. It was absurd. However, that being said, despite the intense censorship, I thought this series did a spectacular job telling it's stories, developing its characters, and still managed to have adult themes in an otherwise "kid-friendly" Saturday morning cartoon show. Batman got away with a lot more because the creators used the time period it was set in as an excuse, and even though a lot more people enjoyed that series more, Spider-Man was my favorite.
X-Men I liked too, but I never got into it as much as I did Spider-Man. Part of the reason for that is because of Fox. They loved to air the episodes out of order, so while I'm trying to watch the Phoenix Saga from part 1, I'd end up seeing part 5 or something the next weekend, and be completely lost.
When all is said and done, I really just wish they'd release both of these cartoons on DVD in season sets. I really don't understand why they haven't yet. From what I understand, Disney owns the rights and are just being assholes.
Dude, I love the 90's cartoon of Spidey, too! Like, high five!
But... How in the world does Disney own the rights to the show? If they don't want somebody marching to their offices and demanding for a release on DVD, then they better get workin'... like, now. And they better make it uncut, and uncensored! Just raw, awesome Spider-Man.
Quote from: thanoson on August 29, 2007, 10:50:36 AM
Ahh, but Batman pulled it off great. The violence, that is. The fight scenes for TAS were way superior to X-men and you never saw anyone get punched in the face.
Didn't Joker get punched in the face a few times?
I think towards the end he got popped a lot. It's all about the angles and that flash they put across the screen. Watched Clash again last night. There was a awesome fight scene.
Quote from: Spam on August 30, 2007, 11:21:18 AM
Dude, I love the 90's cartoon of Spidey, too! Like, high five!
But... How in the world does Disney own the rights to the show? If they don't want somebody marching to their offices and demanding for a release on DVD, then they better get workin'... like, now. And they better make it uncut, and uncensored! Just raw, awesome Spider-Man.
High five! :)
Disney owns the rights because when the cartoon was being produced, Marvel was going bankrupt. Therefore, they had to sell the rights of their current running shows, like Spider-Man and X-Men, to the highest bidder, in this case Disney. This is why these cartoons are occasionally aired on the Toon Disney channel. I know Disney has owned the rights to these cartoons for quite some time, but I'm not sure if they still do or not.
I've heard some things though, and I'm not sure how true they are. I've heard that it wasn't just Disney they sold the rights to, but multiple parties. What I mean is that it's possible a few seasons were sold to another company. But again, I'm not too sure. Also, it's been pointed out to me on the IMDB boards that Spider-Man (and possibly X-Men) no longer air on Toon Disney, possibly implying that they legally can't because they don't own the rights anymore. Again, most of this is speculation and rumor, but this has always remained fact: Disney, at least at one point and possibly still does, own the rights to the Marvel shows that aired in the 90's.
Why they won't release them on dvd is beyond me. And I'm not talking about those crappy "4 episode themed" discs that have come out (Like Spider-Man Vs. Doc Ock, Ultimate Villain Showdown, etc), I mean proper season sets, and yes, UNCENSORED. As if the show wasn't censored enough, after 9/11 Disney had to be retarded and censor anything and everything resembling an aircraft crashing (omg, a goblin glider smashing into a building? EDIT). So far Disney (under their affiliate Buena Vista) has released the complete series of the Fantastic Four cartoon on dvd, and two seasons of The Tick (not Marvel, but still a Fox show), as well as 5 of those stupid themed Spider-Man dvds, and one themed X-Men one. One of the reasons they haven't released these shows yet could be due to legal reasons. But really, I don't know what the real issue here is.
NECRO-BUMP!
This series will premiere on March 8th on Kids WB
New Spider-Man cartoon
New X-Men cartoon
New Spider-Man cartoon
New X-Men cartoon
New Spider-Man cartoon
New X-Men cartoon
New Spider-Man cartoon
New X-Men cartoon
New Spider-Man cartoon
Jeez...how about something different for a change. <_< (is there a yawning emote on this board?)
Quote from: Courtnall6 on February 02, 2008, 10:48:28 AM
New Spider-Man cartoon
New X-Men cartoon
New Spider-Man cartoon
New X-Men cartoon
New Spider-Man cartoon
New X-Men cartoon
New Spider-Man cartoon
New X-Men cartoon
New Spider-Man cartoon
Jeez...how about something different for a change. <_< (is there a yawning emote on this board?)
They totally did something different. The new fan4 cartoon that included tons of guest stars. So there!
...
Ok, it wasn't so new, but all their other cartoons didn't rock at much. I point you to the avengers cartoon. :P
Sweet! New Spider-Man cartoon.
Can't wait for a new X-Men cartoon!
QuoteJeez...how about something different for a change.
They are... It's a DIFFERENT spider-man cartoon. :huh:
Personally, I'm still waiting for an animated adaptation of American Flagg!
Quote from: Spam on August 30, 2007, 11:21:18 AM
Dude, I love the 90's cartoon of Spidey, too! Like, high five!
I wanna get in on that. Loved the 90's Spidey growing up, and still do. I disagree about the rushed writing comment, I loved all the overlapping and long-running plots and subplots in that show. The sheer number of characters I was introduced to from it...Daredevil, Punisher, Morbius, Tombstone, Prowler....it was like my Marvel gateway show. Ed Asner is still my definitive J. Jonah Jameson. (total props to J.K. Simmons though).
QuoteThat always annoyed me on the show too, watching it as a kid. Of course we all realize that they can't really show a certain level of violence on what was a kids' cartoon in America, but I think better direction would have been able to suggest that he did use his claws effectively against enemies, without having to show inappropriately graphic content.
The 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon did that a number of times, usually by doing a Samurai Jack-like approach--black background, "slicing" effect across the screen, then quick cut back to the action, where the guy who got cut falls over. Other times characters got stabbed or impaled just slightly offscreen. They didn't do it often but it worked a lot better than the way you guys decribed Wolverine's portrayal in the cartoon.
QuoteWhy they won't release them on dvd is beyond me.
Not to mention Gargoyles. If I'm not mistaken, fans are STILL waiting for pt 2 of season 2 (I know I am).
QuoteThe lines were corny
There was one line I always loved though. Wolverine attacks a Hellfire Club waiter, steals a leg of turkey and a bottle of wine, then comments nonchalantly "Lousy year."
Oh, heck with it.. *snip*
This was recently posted on Newsarama.com... For those of you that are interested...
QuoteSony Pictures Television has released the first image from an episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man, which debuts in back-to-back episodes on Saturday, March 8 at 10:00 a.m. on Kids' WB! on The CW.
The descriptions of the two debut episodes read:
In "Survival of the Fittest" (10:00 a.m. ET/PT), summer is over for Peter Parker and school's ready to start -- both literally (it's his junior year of high school), and in the real world of crime-fighting -- as Spider-Man faces his first real challenge (The Enforcers) and his first real super-villain (Vulture). Peter Parker is voiced by actor/musician Josh Keaton, and Robert Englund ("A Nightmare on Elm Street") voices Vulture. Victor Cook directed the script, which was written by Greg Weisman.
In "Interactions" (10:30 a.m. ET/PT), Peter Parker and Spider-Man both try to make connections. Nerdy Pete attempts to tutor the popular Liz Allan, while Spidey reaches out to stop a new menace: Electro. Alanna Ubach ("Legally Blonde," "Waiting") and popular video game and voiceover specialist Crispin Freeman provide the voices of Liz Allan and Electro, respectively. Troy Adomitis directed the script by Kevin Hopps.
Greg Weisman is supervising producer of The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Victor Cook is producer/supervising director. The series is produced by Culver Entertainment, a Sony Pictures Television Company.
Quote from: Silver Shocker on February 04, 2008, 02:12:52 PM
Quote from: Spam on August 30, 2007, 11:21:18 AM
Dude, I love the 90's cartoon of Spidey, too! Like, high five!
I wanna get in on that. Loved the 90's Spidey growing up, and still do. I disagree about the rushed writing comment, I loved all the overlapping and long-running plots and subplots in that show. The sheer number of characters I was introduced to from it...Daredevil, Punisher, Morbius, Tombstone, Prowler....it was like my Marvel gateway show. Ed Asner is still my definitive J. Jonah Jameson. (total props to J.K. Simmons though).
Not to mention Gargoyles. If I'm not mistaken, fans are STILL waiting for pt 2 of season 2 (I know I am).
Dude, I'm totally in the same boat as you. Spidey 90's was my gateway to almost every Marvel character too, and the overlapping plots is one of the many, many reasons why I freakin loved it.
and yes, Gargoyles Season 2 Volume 2 is still on indefinite hiatus. Season 1 sold enough copies for Disney to go ahead and make Season 2 Volume 1, but because they didn't advertise it
at all it sold pretty poorly. The last I heard, according to Greg Weisman, in order for that volume to get made is if BOTH volumes sell enough copies. It's been several years now, so Disney is most likely never going to release it. Which REALLY sucks because I didn't really get into the show UNTIL I bought the dvds.
So Disney won't release the rest of Gargoyles, or the 1990's Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons. But yet they go ahead give the green light to the complete series of the Fantastic Four cartoon. That will NEVER make any sense to me, as the FF cartoon was significantly less popular than Spidey and X-men. Hell, I'm betting half the reason why the Spider-Man and X-Men movie franchises are so popular is due to an entire generation growing up watching those cartoons.
UGH! It's aggravating to think about because it makes no sense for Disney to do this. They have terrible dvd marketing. :banghead:
Quote from: TheMarvell on February 11, 2008, 05:25:32 PM
But yet they go ahead give the green light to the complete series of the Fantastic Four cartoon. That will NEVER make any sense to me, as the FF cartoon was significantly less popular than Spidey and X-men. Hell, I'm betting half the reason why the Spider-Man and X-Men movie franchises are so popular is due to an entire generation growing up watching those cartoons.
UGH! It's aggravating to think about because it makes no sense for Disney to do this. They have terrible dvd marketing. :banghead:
If Disney does hold all the rights (which isn't 100%) I think that might actually be the reason. Since Spidey and X-men are so much more popular, they can show them on their otherwise boorish "Toon Disney" network (I don't get it anymore, but from what I saw of the lineup a year ago they had maybe three shows worth watching in lieu of decent tv) and boost their ratings, while FF will attract practically no one and thus is not worth wasting airtime on when they can put it out on DVD and be done with it.
but Disney, like any other business, is all about making money (hence why the last Gargoyles set isn't being released). Therefore, doesn't it make more sense for Disney to release the more popular cartoons like Spider-Man and X-Men on DVD to make more money? Especially when they easily could have cashed in on both franchises movie releases?
It's not 100% clear if Disney owns the rights anymore or not, or if they owned 100% of either. But if they did, they're morons for missing out on an added profit boost from the movies.
Today was the premiere of Specular Spider-Man on WBKids! at 10:00 AM... Two episodes aired: The Origin Of Vulture and The Origin Of Electro... I watched both with my wife and son. The animation was good but left me feeling that I was watching something on Nickelodeon then a state of the art superhero cartoon but the Spider-Man action scenes were animated well even with that style fighting against the high rate of movement. My son loved the show and definitly will be planning on watching more episodes while my wife was wondering what happened to the classic theme song for the opening.
I have to say that this show is definitly taking elements from all kinds of versions of Spider-Man and taking a new direction with it but still keeping him in high school struggling with social issues of being a hero at the same time. Flash makes his appearance with his jock and cheerleader friends (one of which looks like Kenny from Ultimate Spider-Man), Harry Osbourne is Peter's best friend at school, and Eddie Brock works as a lab assistant at ESU and knows Peter's family.
And the slightly new takes on Vulture and Electro are definitly amusing...
[spoiler]Vulture - Adrian Toomes is introduced an inventor who was working at Oscorp along with Norman but his plans for the flying technology he was developing were mysteriously stolen just before he is fired. Tooms of course belives that Norman was responsible for it and decides to dust off one of his prototype suits to seek revenge. (Note: A liked they kept the simple design of his comic book costume but added some armor elements including boots which had claw-like grapplers on them so he could pick up things and people with them while still keeping his arms busy guiding his wings).
Electro - Maxwell Dillon worked as an electrician and was doing maintence in Doctor Conner's lab on a new experiment using a new source of power derived from Electric Eels. Maxwell has an accident that causes him to be caught in a short circuit between the generator and a chemical bath that the Eels are stored it. He ends up in the hospital overloaded with electrical power and finds himself forced to wear a containment suit to keep the electricity his body keeps absorbing in check. Being unable to control his power enough to live a normal life again he decides that he might as well use his newly found ability and take what he is owed. (Note: I actually love his new look since his containment suit has a unique look with those tubes coming from the front of the suit into what a assume is a storage/battery unit on his back. It has a mask (no mouth and only googles which his glowing eyes can be seen thru) and gloves which he can put on to to better hide his unusual appearance.) [/spoiler]
I know that I will definitly keep watching this show for the remaining 11 episodes on KidsWB! because while the animation is more simplistic the voice acting has definitly been interesting (especially Robert "Freddy" Englund as Vulture - that man can really chew on the scenery even while doing an animated character).
- CrimsonQuill
Wow, that was just...bad (Note, that was bad,as opposed to BAD, which would've been good)
Bad designs(Vulture was just so -so, but Electro was an abomination), bad animation, bad continuity (I really, really hate the fact that a huge chunk of the bad guys origins are now tied together), bad plotting (Spidey calls Aunt May DURING a fight? Seriously? :roll:) bad dialog, bad theme song..the list goes on and on.
I mean seriously, "The Batman" is a Timm level show, compared to this.
That said I'll probably see a few more episode cause I like to have the tv on in the background, but I'm not going out of my way to tape this unless it improves 400-500%.
Quote from: bredon7777 on March 08, 2008, 11:31:53 AM
Wow, that was just...bad (Note, that was bad,as opposed to BAD, which would've been good)
Bad designs(Vulture was just so -so, but Electro was an abomination), bad animation, bad continuity (I really, really hate the fact that a huge chunk of the bad guys origins are now tied together), bad plotting (Spidey calls Aunt May DURING a fight? Seriously? :roll:) bad dialog, bad theme song..the list goes on and on.
I mean seriously, "The Batman" is a Timm level show, compared to this.
That said I'll probably see a few more episode cause I like to have the tv on in the background, but I'm not going out of my way to tape this unless it improves 400-500%.
Bad continuity? It's only been 2 episodes...it can't have bad continuity yet. That's ridiculers. Anyway, I watched the two episodes today and it was ok, for what it's worth. There are certain things I definitely don't like, but I'll give it a chance to grow on me.
Things me no likey:
1. Theme song...seriously? Even worse, I could sort of imagine it as an "Invincible Ironman" song and I dont like Ironman.
2. Not big on the animation. The heads and facial features of some characters were jarring me out of the cartoon like nobody's business.
3. They changed a few characters around and introduced quite a few of them in 2 episodes. Not really a problem, I'll just need to adjust.
4. Harry seems to have a geekier/younger voice than Peter...I thought Harry was the popular, cool kid?
5. Gwen would make a nice Deb Whitman
6. Electro's design was...not very good. He also seemed to learn control over his powers fairly fast.
---------------
Speaking of Aunt May...I think I actually remember saying she reminded me of a hippie or free spirit. I'm not sure why, but it did. The phone thing isn't really bad plotting, it fits right in with something Peter would have to deal with if cell phones were around during his teenaged years. I believe it was even done (not with aunt may) during the MTV series. *shrugs* I wouldn't even be surprised if Peter just randomly revealed he didn't always wear underwear in costume just to make a BND reference. :P
Man, I don't understand the hostile reactions. I watched both episodes this morning, although I missed parts of both, and I was thoroughly entertained. I would prefer to be watching the classic 90's Spidey, but this was far from bad. I like the Vulture's redesign, at least he's till an OLD guy, unlike the aforementioned TAS. Electro......yeah, I don't particularly care for the redesign, but for what it was, the design wasn't necessarily BAD (unlike most of The Batman's redesigns). His story was told decently well, and I like that he's somewhat sympathetic. That's how I like my villains, (and it gives them more depth) but before I really settle on what to think about him I want to see his next appearance. I REALLY liked the Vulture's origin. He's more interesting now, and I liked the angle with Pete not wanting Harry to lose his father.
I'll tell you what I LOVED though, and that's the inclusion of the Enforcers, classic Spidey villains, but I didn't care for the character-less costumes. They weren't bad, but I would have enjoyed a LITTLE more of their original look to seep through, even if it was just in a little nod in each character. Still, them showing up was a thrill for me. I cheered when the name "Fancy Dan" was uttered. Haha, so goofy, but they worked pretty well.
I could have done without the return to nerdy Harry (which is accurate to the comics somewhat) but it didn't bother me. Gwen being a student with him? Eh, I'd prefer they go ahead and play up the Betty Brant relationship instead, and use the cheerleader as what's her name from the original comics and a constant on/off gal pal of Pete's adding fuel to the fire with Flash Thompson (which they hinted at in the second episode). I thought the plotting was pretty decent, and the cell phone bit made me laugh, because that is CLASSIC Spidey bad luck, just with new technology. I thoroughly enjoyed the kid who did Spidey's voice, he did an excellent job. I found his dialog well written and snappy, just like Spidey should be.
The art was so-so. It did the job, and while I'm not terribly fond of the lackluster faces, it portrayed the action decently well. I thoroughly looking forward to this replacing The Batman.........although I'm still holding out hope for a Green Arrow, Green Lantern, or Aquaman spin-off. ^_^
Yeah, I've only seen the first episode, but it was much better than _The_ Batman, particularly than _The_ Batman's first episode, which I think classified as a hate crime. Sure, it's a new take on the Spider-man continuity, in that it's not the original comics, ultimate version or film setting, though there were elements from all three - but has any superhero cartoon been a note for note translation from the comic or film that spawned it? And nothing was actively against what Spider-man is all about. Gwen Stacy (who I was surprised they used in this way) basically got the same treatment as MJ did for Ultimate Spider-man, in that she's Peter's somewhat nerdy female friend, rather than purely a love interest.
I think some people are confusing animation with character designs. I didn't love any of the character designs, but the animation was fluid and very smooth. The person who voiced Peter was good, but some of the other dialogue & voice-acting definitely has room to improve.
So, overall I think the first episode was okay, but not great. With a little improvement it could turn into a really nice Spider-man cartoon. Here's hoping.
First impressions:
Lots and LOTS of groundwork laid for future conflicts & characters. I suspect there will be ongoing continuity, let's see how well they adhere to it.
Some nice voice casting on Vulture and the unseen character I can only asume is Kingpin, plus a pretty solid cast overall.
Character style is a bit overly simplistic for my tastes. Everything is very soft, and I wish it could have a few edges and more detail occasionally. Movement is good though - no low frame rate jitters or weirdness. Some nice directing also.
Some interesting takes on the characters. I like what they did with Vulture, though Electro didn't work for me quite as well (his motivation to start rampaging felt a little too forced) I'm not sure about Eddie Brock yet, gonna have to wait and see how they develop him. Don't like how they handled Harry and Gwen to a lesser degree.
Writing was actually pretty decent so far, which is pretty good for the start of a series (usually the writing improves as the writers get more "into the groove")
Overall, I like it. It isn't perfect, and it could use a few tweaks here and there, but I quite enjoyed it and see a lot of potential.
Glitch Girl reminded me: it was great to hear Keith David as the presumable Kingpin. That man has an awesome voice!
More character design pictures including Sandman, Shocker, Green Goblin and Venom:
Click me! (http://spiderbaz.proboards101.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=2)
Most of the other characters look down right accurate to the comics. I wonder why they changed Electro, but none of the others (besides Vulture who's change was an unadulterated improvement). Still, they all look good.
Quote from: Talavar on March 10, 2008, 10:20:08 AM
Glitch Girl reminded me: it was great to hear Keith David as the presumable Kingpin. That man has an awesome voice!
I don't think he is Kingpin. Wasn't Big Man the leader of the Enforcers?
I've only seen a couple clips of the show on YouTube. From what I saw, it seemed ok, for a kid's show that is. Spider-Man 90's TAS was technically for kids too, but there was no doubt it had some very adult themes and undertones beneath it, even from its first episode. This new one is definitely lacking that though. I like Vulture's new design as well, but I don't care for the art style. I don't understand why it seems like all the new American made cartoons these days want to look like Samurai Jack. And Electro looks like he's wearing some kind of wet suit...
like I said, looks good for kids. Maybe once it's developed its characters and stories more it'll be alot better.
I'm watching the first 2 epis. on youtube now and I think the show is cool. Yes it's a kids show but I think i'm gonna watch it. It's not bad at all. I don't like all of the character designs but it's not too distracting for me and I think the voice acting is good. I also like the fight scenes. I'm liking the way they are linking characters together. I give it a thumbs way up.
I disliked the cartoons that came out of the 90's and beyond.
I'm an 80's guy and loved the cartoons from that era.
spider-man
The Incredible Hulk
spider-man and his amazing friends
The X-men one off - Pryde of the X-men.
Plasticman
Ulysses 31
He-man and the masters of the Universe
The original Transformers
Superman (1988)
I'm sure there are those that will say they're rubbish or worse, but I have fond memories.
Ahhh the 80's :wub: Wish I was back there.
I thought the show was just sorta meh....
I liked that they highlighted the joking sorta fun-loving cockiness of Peter when fighting the villains.
However, the constant inner monologuing explaining what was going on was driving me nuts.
The character designs were pretty blah, and the eyes... they bothered me.
I can see how this would be a good cartoon for the younger set, but as been mentioned above, its not one I'm gonna go out of my way to watch. Just didn't really grab me.
Spectacular Spider-Man from the perspective of an 8 year old:
I had the pleasure of watching the premier episodes of the latest Spider-Man animated series with my son.
The theme song literally had my son wiggling his head and humming it after word. He loved the song and the visuals. He was picking out characters from the opening and guessing what they were doing.
Once the show started my son was loving every minute of it. He picked up on all the little cameos and pointed out who they were going to be later in the series.
When Spidey did his swinging though the city shtick MJB_jr thought it looked cool. When the Vulture showed himself in full costume my son was confused, he didn't understand why he wasn't green and had a lot of red in his suit. The character stayed true to the comics in actions but failed in the looks.
Next episode, my son LOVED the new Electro. Hell, he was begging for a toy featuring that look seconds after the episode ended.
All in all I think you all are looking at this series in the wrong light. You are all looking at it and judging it from your points of view. The real truth is that they rarely make a cartoon show for people in your age groups. The real people they aim for are the kids like my son. My son watched the toon and loved it. He told me that he will try his best to watch the series every Saturday morning. From my view that is a win.
-MJB
So a few more episodes have aired, and I've got to say that I'm really starting to like this show. They're building up their own little continuity, largely a mix of Ultimate & regular Spidey. I particularly liked Peter running out to fight the Lizard made him look like a jerk to his friends, and the Aunt May trying to set him up with Mrs. Watson's daughter, who has a "nice personality." The animation has remained fluid and energetic (particularly the Sandman episode), though I still don't love the character designs. I think it's shaping up to be a winner.
Quote from: Glitch Girl on March 10, 2008, 08:28:22 AM
First impressions:
Lots and LOTS of groundwork laid for future conflicts & characters. I suspect there will be ongoing continuity, let's see how well they adhere to it.
Havn't seen it yet, but with Greg Weisman involved in the making of this show, I think it will play around with continuity a lot. That was one of the really great things about Gargoyles.
Has anybody been watching this?
I've seen the first five episodes and they just keep getting better, I'd say storywise it's already leaps and bounds beyond what The Batman and Legion of Superheroes accomplished in their first seasons.
It's developed it own continuity, and has pretty much foreshadowed every event since the first episode (with a LOT more to come). It's kind of a treat seeing how the new treatments of the characters that I already know so much about.
Yeah, I've been watching and enjoying the ride thus far... as much as I had reservations about the animation style.. it's really building up a momentum and sucking me into their storyline.
[spoiler]And I soooo didn't see Tombstone coming at all.. while I understand they needed a crime boss and Kingpin being unavailable since he was licensed as a package deal with Daredevil - it was a nice surprise.[/spoiler]
- CrimsonQuill
I'm enjoying this show more and more as it progresses. The Big Man being Tombstone surprised me, but I was a little sad that Keith David, who voiced Big Man in his first appearance on the show didn't reprise the role in the more recent episode.
I find the animation style specificly cool. love doc ocs tentecles and how their all black and blue. but there are other things that are bugging me, no punn intended. The whole inter-related origins could bite them in the but later on in the plot. Other than that i think this series has a very good future. Did anyone catch the hidden goblin mask in Norman Osbornes office/study? i'm not sure wich episode it was on, but Norman is talking to somebody while walking down a staircase and once he stops at the bottom there is a wall behind him filled with trible masks, one very close to the bottom is a goblin mask. Sneaky producers, yes,I found your little easter egg! :D
I have to say I've been very impressed with it thus far. At first I wasn't too keen on the character designs, but the animation is very VERY solid and so is the writing, building up some nice framework and continity. And I gotta say I LOVE their take on Tombstone. Wow. Even the theme song is growing on me (though I have to admit, I never really minded it much in the first place)
Though having the Green Goblin have an Irish accent (at least that's how it sounded in the preview last saturday) makes me scratch my head a bit. We'll see how the handle it in a real episode.
Quote from: Silver Shocker on April 01, 2008, 03:52:51 PM
Havn't seen it yet, but with Greg Weisman involved in the making of this show, I think it will play around with continuity a lot. That was one of the really great things about Gargoyles.
Didn't know he was involved in this. I LOVED seasons 1-2 of Gargoyles, so if he puts that kind of effort into this... well, that's something to look forward to.
I would love to see them(at some point in the future) Show other marvel characters like the x-men/spider-man episodes, or the secret war episodes of the old fox kids animated series. Specificly the Fantastic Four, the designs would be so cool!
Quote from: docdelorean88 on April 24, 2008, 05:10:00 PM
I would love to see them(at some point in the future) Show other marvel characters like the x-men/spider-man episodes, or the secret war episodes of the old fox kids animated series. Specificly the Fantastic Four, the designs would be so cool!
Not really possible I'm afraid.. Fox has locked the animated rights for the characters they own which is why Kingpin was not able to be used in the series to begin with. I'm pretty sure that the X-Men (even including Iceman) and Fantastic Four will probably rarely have cameos in this version of the spiderverse. Which would really suck because an "Amazing Friends" tribute or Johnny Storm hanging around the school for a few shows would be great. The writer of the show implied in a recent interview that he had to really beg Fox for Human Torch to even be considered appearing in a one episode cameo in the second season and Columbia/Fox needed that much time to work out the shared rights.
- CrimsonQuill
Quote from: crimsonquill on April 24, 2008, 06:18:51 PM
Quote from: docdelorean88 on April 24, 2008, 05:10:00 PM
I would love to see them(at some point in the future) Show other marvel characters like the x-men/spider-man episodes, or the secret war episodes of the old fox kids animated series. Specificly the Fantastic Four, the designs would be so cool!
Not really possible I'm afraid.. Fox has locked the animated rights for the characters they own which is why Kingpin was not able to be used in the series to begin with. I'm pretty sure that the X-Men (even including Iceman) and Fantastic Four will probably rarely have cameos in this version of the spiderverse. Which would really suck because an "Amazing Friends" tribute or Johnny Storm hanging around the school for a few shows would be great. The writer of the show implied in a recent interview that he had to really beg Fox for Human Torch to even be considered appearing in a one episode cameo in the second season and Columbia/Fox needed that much time to work out the shared rights.
- CrimsonQuill
which is odd since peter parker (note: not spider-man, just peter) appeared in fantastic four (2006) as a photographer that followed Johnny around.
Quote from: Previsionary on April 24, 2008, 06:23:37 PM
which is odd since peter parker (note: not spider-man, just peter) appeared in fantastic four (2006) as a photographer that followed Johnny around.
Yeah, I can't explain the arrangement that series had since they had Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Submariner all appear as well... either it has to do with Paramount/Marvel's new production deal or they had set the character appearance rights beforehand. *shrug*
- CrimsonQuill
Well all of that legal mumbo jumbo sucks! I love crossover episodes, always have always will. Not sure why, just like the concept of interaction between frequent apearences and guest stars.
Saw the goblin episode! I am actually impressed. finally a goblin without a highpitched voice! And i love the glider!!!
Quote from: docdelorean88 on April 28, 2008, 12:02:09 PM
Saw the goblin episode! I am actually impressed. finally a goblin without a highpitched voice! And i love the gider!!!
Yeah, I second that opinion... Green Goblin finally has a pretty simple costume and glider design that isn't a power rangers knock-off or looks like he stepped out of a Lord Of The Rings novel either. However someone said earlier that he had an Irish accent.. I didn't hear it but wouldn't surprise me that a redheaded family might have some Irish buried in them somewhere that might surface if an alternate personality took over.
- CrimsonQuill
Yeah, i loved this episode too.
anyone else notice the new character Ned Lee? ;)
Quote from: detourne_me on April 28, 2008, 01:15:59 PM
anyone else notice the new character Ned Lee? ;)
Yup, I'm sure they have plans for him since Ned Lee seems awfully familar to a certain Daily Bugle reporter named "Ned Leeds" in the comics (for those of you who don't recognize the character because of them using a Korean influence on the name). Not sure if they plan to involve him in a future Hobgoblin story in Season 2 but maybe they might be using him to set up a Superhero Reporting division which gets ol' Ned caught up in his own story arc.
- CrimsonQuill
I'm going to put this in the requests as well but would anyone be interested in making the green goblin[out of The Spectacular spider-man (TV)]? It would pbobably be an easy skope. Then again i have no skoping, skinning or meshing experience, so...
I didn't see the entire preview for next weeks episode, i got Doc Oc. But did they say anything important about the plot?
Quote from: docdelorean88 on April 29, 2008, 07:04:23 PM
I didn't see the entire preview for next weeks episode, i got Doc Oc. But did they say anything important about the plot?
Nothing major about it anyway.. Goblin makes his move against Tombstone for control of the crime syndicate while Doc Ock has his accidental origin while working on a new villian for Osbourne. And they show more mysterious things going on with Norman and Harry to deepen the guesses as to who is really the Goblin.
- CrimsonQuill
Quote from: crimsonquill on April 28, 2008, 12:27:59 PM
However someone said earlier that he had an Irish accent.. I didn't hear it but wouldn't surprise me that a redheaded family might have some Irish buried in them somewhere that might surface if an alternate personality took over.
- CrimsonQuill
That was me. Didn't hear it that much in the actual episode, think it was only one line but it was the one they showed in the previews.
I too really loved the episode. Never knew I could like Tombstone this much. And I was very impressed with how they handled Goblin and managed to keep his identity somewhat murky, even for those of us who know cannon. REally like the groundwork they've laid for future stuff.
Does anyone know if this is going to be picked up when the CW is suposedly dropping their kids lineup in the future?
It's going to Nickelodeon I believe.
Quote from: Ajax on April 29, 2008, 08:38:55 PM
It's going to Nickelodeon I believe.
Yeah, I remember news that NickToons was the channel they will end up on as part of their new production deal with Paramount... rumors are that the new Iron Man, Wolverine And The X-Men, Hulk, and Fantastic Four (moving from Cartoon Network) will end up there as well. Oddly though that a Black Panther series written by the current writer of the comic book is being created just for the BET network.
- CrimsonQuill
Yes, "NickToons" is getting ironman and the new x-men show for sure. I posted links earlier (I think in this thread or maybe another, don't remember). I don't know if that means these shows will play on the original nickelodeon or just be exclusive to the digital/satellite cable variant.
I hope it'll play on original Nick. I only got basic cable, no special channels ('cause I'm cheap) but I would like to see this one as it continues.
Reggie Hudlin is the president of BET's Entertainment division, it really makes sense for marvel and BET to keep the BP cartoon there.
Will he be doubling his writing duties though, thats the question.
You know something i like about Tombstone being the big man? wasn't the original Enforcers Big Man an albino too?
This is the best spider-man Cartoon.....EVER!!!
And why shouldn't it be? It has decades of cannon to build off of.
Quote from: crimsonquill on April 30, 2008, 12:24:48 AM
Yeah, I remember news that NickToons was the channel they will end up on as part of their new production deal with Paramount... rumors are that the new Iron Man, Wolverine And The X-Men, Hulk, and Fantastic Four (moving from Cartoon Network) will end up there as well.
I find it strange that these cartoons will be seen on Nick. Cartoon Network has been the financier of the post CW Marvel cartoons.
I welcome the new Nick/Marvel partnership with open arms.
-MJB
I don't. :(
I don't get NickToons. Only Nick Basic for lack of a better term. Guess I better enjoy the series while I can.
it'll probably be online somewhere too. The new speed racer toon was on youtube like the day it came out on nicktoons. Anyway, doesn't nicktoons have a streaming service? I know nickelodeon does as they advertise it like crazy so I'm assuming their sister channel does as well. I'm probably wrong, but eh...
I have to say this cartoon is quite simply awesome. I love how much of the cast and plots they've worked in. The animation and some of the changes like Liz take a little getting used to but the plots totally make up for it. Show really surprised me.
Also Keith David is an inspired choice for Tombstone. I love Gargoyles.
Is Keith David back in the newest episode? Because in the episode where we learn who the "Big Man" was, it wasn't him doing the voice. For the guy who did it since that first episode IMDB credits Keith Michael Richardson, who can do a similar voice.
One of the best episodes in the series so far. One of the best things the writers do here (besides creating concise, updated classic Spidey plots that Bendis wishes he wrote for Ultimate Spider-Man) is writing intelligent dialogue that sounds natural coming from teens. A lot of comics and shows based on comics that feature teen protagonists suffer either from horrible inaccurate "kewl" dialogue or teens talking with all the inflections of adult speakers.
:spoiler:[spoiler]I love how the writers managed to update the classic Green Goblin story by reversing the Harry and Norman roles (for now, at least). The rivalry between Tombstone and the Green Goblin/Osbornes gives great logical grounding for why Spidey doesn't tell the authorities about Goblin's true identity (because if his ID ever became public knowledge, Tombstone would put out a hit on Harry). It's also great that the writers managed to work in the classic "Harry on LSD" non-Comics Code Authority approved story from the 1970s (a well-meaning but treacly Stan Lee project), but substituting the Green Goblin formula for LSD, of course, while doing a more authentic treatment of the pressures that lead to teens self-medicating with drugs and not getting all too preachy (trust me, nothing turns off the pre-teen kid viewer like the feeling that they're being lectured to). And while I've never been a fan of Venom or the symbiote stories (Although I do dig the black Spidey look), the way they introduced the symbiote in this episode at least grows organically from the running subplots, instead of being horribly shoehorned in like they did in the comics and in the recent movie. Also makes me wonder if the Space Shuttle incident will play into any future John Jameson as Man-Wolf appearances.[/spoiler]
I know it's still early in the show's lifespan, but at this point, I'm ready to put this up there with the best comics-based shows on TV, right behind the early Batman:TAS, on par with the second season of Justice League Unlimited, and well ahead of the early Teen Titans and X-Men: Evolution.
Quote from: Talavar on May 10, 2008, 08:35:44 AM
Is Keith David back in the newest episode? Because in the episode where we learn who the "Big Man" was, it wasn't him doing the voice. For the guy who did it since that first episode IMDB credits Keith Michael Richardson, who can do a similar voice.
It was definitely David in the first one, after that I didn't really notice a chance. That kinda depresses me if they did switch it.
Quote from: zuludelta on May 10, 2008, 11:09:12 AM
:spoiler:[spoiler]I love how the writers managed to update the classic Green Goblin story by reversing the Harry and Norman roles (for now, at least). The rivalry between Tombstone and the Green Goblin/Osbornes gives great logical grounding for why Spidey doesn't tell the authorities about Goblin's true identity (because if his ID ever became public knowledge, Tombstone would put out a hit on Harry). It's also great that the writers managed to work in the classic "Harry on LSD" non-Comics Code Authority approved story from the 1970s (a well-meaning but treacly Stan Lee project), but substituting the Green Goblin formula for LSD, of course, while doing a more authentic treatment of the pressures that lead to teens self-medicating with drugs and not getting all too preachy (trust me, nothing turns off the pre-teen kid viewer like the feeling that they're being lectured to). And while I've never been a fan of Venom or the symbiote stories (Although I do dig the black Spidey look), the way they introduced the symbiote in this episode at least grows organically from the running subplots, instead of being horribly shoehorned in like they did in the comics and in the recent movie. Also makes me wonder if the Space Shuttle incident will play into any future John Jameson as Man-Wolf appearances.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
While I wish they had managed to expand the Green Goblin story a little longer, I gotta agree with ZD on a lot of points - the drug aspect wasn't hammered too hard or too preachy, the logic behind not revealing Green Goblin's true identity as Harry made sense, and some really solid writing and action. Tombstone... gads I can't get enough of this character. His whole rapport with Hammerhead is great, even with the whole bit about the fake jump drive.
[/spoiler]
Really REALLY loved how they handled the Captain Jamison storyline in this - J Johnah Jamison gets to have more than the "blustering blowhard" aspect that we see so much, and he's getting some good motivation to dislike Spidey in the process. Obviously, they're doing the symbiote storyline soon, but it would be cool if they did the werewolf-by-night story as well. And they might - I'm amazed at how much groundwork they've laid.
Is there a place I can see these episodes on the net?
I really wish I set up a list early on to guess how many plot threads/cameos there will be...
[spoiler]now off the top of my head we saw:
symbiote storyline - maybe Eddie as Venom later
a glimpse of the Black Cat (!!!)
Ned Lee (whose arrogance is building slightly, as we just saw in this last episode)
John Jameson... maybe man-wolf...
maybe a Hobie Brown/Prowler filler episode
The inhibitor that was stolen from Oscorp [/spoiler]
I've only seen up to the Doc Ock episode, and I didn't realize it until he started doing his villain-voice, but whoever's doing Doc Ock is totally X the Eliminator from Harvey Birdman. I was just waiting for him to scream about trying to get Birdman's crest!
Well, the black symbiote costume finally makes its debut.
This is probably the point where the series will either lose me or make me a dyed-in-the-wool fan. I absolutely despise the Venom stories in the late 1980s/early 1990s Spider-Man comics. Not because I don't like the character or the concept of the organic alien costume per se (I'm actually a fan of the black costume "look"), but the introduction of Venom pretty much heralded some of the worst writing in the Spidey books, with Todd McFarlane's adjectiveless Spider-Man series being the cherry turd on top of the crappy comic sundae that was the early 1990s Spider-Man family of books.
If Greg Weisman can reinterpret those stories as well as he has the previous ones he's mined for this show, he'll have made me a satisfied viewer (the way he's introduced Eddie Brock early on as a fully-fleshed out, three-dimensional supporting character leads me to think that this will probably be the best interpretation of Venom yet in any media).
:spoiler:
[spoiler]All in all, a good episode despite my nagging doubts about whether or not Weisman can pull off a good Venom story. The romantic tension between Black Cat and Spider-Man was well-done, we get to see a pre-Mysterio Quentin Beck and pre-Tinkerer Phineas Mason as The Chameleon's henchmen (thus continuing the show's trend of introducing the characters as "people" first, superheroes/villains second, in the tradition of Stan Lee's Spider-man comics), the Lizard/Spider-man fight was chock-full of pulse-pounding action (although the direction lost me on a couple of weirdly framed scenes)... almost too much violence in that fight for a Saturday morning cartoon (but hey, I'm not complaining)... and another nod to old-school comic book fans (Spider-man with his arm in a sling fighting Lizard was a classic story in 1967's Amazing Spider-Man #45 (http://www.samruby.com/AmazingSpider-ManA/amazing_spiderman_045.htm)).[/spoiler]
Quote from: thanoson on May 12, 2008, 08:36:59 AM
Is there a place I can see these episodes on the net?
Last I checked, some episodes where up on veoh, but I don't know how long that'll last. Also, I think Kids WB! has a streaming service. Last I checked, it had the jetsons, Batman Beyond, and static shock up (IE: all the dc shows they used to air), but it was in beta mode. I don't know about now. It might also be on the CW streaming site meaning you'll have to use their blah service.
You tube has some up. Saw the black Cat/suit episode. Really good I thought.
http://www.spectacular-spider-man.info/ you can watch it there
you know, even though I still really don't like the animation style of this series (the eyes especially. Blegh), after watching a few of the episodes I've found it surprisingly entertaining. Thanks for posting that link to all the episodes so-far. I'll have to get caught up. I will say though that sometimes the episodes move incredibly fast, but it's not too bad. I will always love the 90's Spider-Man the best, but after giving this one a second chance I'm finding it to be a great follow-up. Certainly better than the short-lived Spider-Man Unlimited.
really excited about the next episode here's the descrip:
Spider-Man is in trouble when Doctor Octopus, Electro, Shocker, Vulture, Rhino, and Sandman band together to take him on as the Sinister Six. However, he has the black suit and the Black Cat to help him
when does the show air?
That episode should air on Saturday May 31st at 10:00 PM EST.. Usually they air the previous episode at 9:30 as a warm up since The Batman and Legion of Superheroes is over with.
- CrimsonQuill
This coming Saturday I believe.
what channel? :P
depends where you live, CW maybe and if its not on sat then it'll be on sunday
The Sinister 6 have arrived...
I liked the interaction between the 6 villains. Each one had a different style and while there was some head-butting over different goals, there was also some decent teamwork that didn't involve the ever popular "get spidey at any cost" motive.
spoilers to follow
[spoiler]Brock's descent is feeling a little forced to me. I know they've set him up to be angry at Peter, but he's taking an almost psychotic turn. Then again, he's wearing all black so maybe he's already infected with a little symbiote? Dunno.
The prison escape... that was cool. Nicely set up too. Nice touch with the cell safeguards when they actually were working.
The fight at the end was neat. I like how they staged that part: you could tell that Peter's body was asleep by how he moved, not just the fact he didn't speak. Compliments to the animators on that bit. Also, like I mentioned earlier, the fact that there was some decent abeit rough teamwork between the Six and still distinct tactics. [/spoiler]
So far so good on the Black Costume saga. Next week, should all come to a head.
Quote from: Glitch Girl on June 02, 2008, 09:28:12 AM
spoilers to follow
[spoiler]Brock's descent is feeling a little forced to me. I know they've set him up to be angry at Peter, but he's taking an almost psychotic turn. Then again, he's wearing all black so maybe he's already infected with a little symbiote? Dunno.[/spoiler]
Thought the personality change was a bit too drastic myself (seems like such a huge change from the previous episode). I've missed a few episodes here and there so I might have not seen some of the build-up leading to the personality change, though.
Latest episode premiered this morning and I thought it was pretty ok. A lot of things were touched upon and progressed, so I'm gonna note the things I saw/liked.
- As much as I don't care for Gwen in the comics, I think it's a pretty good deal to have her and MJ in this show and actually being civil with each other. However, I don't think Gwen and Peter socialize enough anymore to really make efficient use of her.
- This episode basically worked as an origin story and a progression story. We got to look into Peter's past, see Uncle Ben, and get a spidey/spidey-venom showdown. I expected a few things to be changed in his origin to fit the WB standards, but everything was there in a more tamed fashion.
- Eddie Brock's downward ascension continues. I was partly hoping they'd change a bit more about his downfall because I'm pretty tired of the, "you ruined my life!" angle.
- I liked how Spidey's black costume kept changing throughout all the episodes in which it was featured.
- I'm pleased they chose to show Peter's fall into darkness as a slow progression instead of an instant thing as I recall the 90s team doing. The "We" dialogue was also good and touched upon the symbiote/host relationship effectively.
- I'm actually interested in what Venom will be like in this universe as I'm not a major fan of him most of the time.
The only negative thing I can say about this show right now is that it comes on opposite of Ben 10. While Ben 10 may come on twice, I find myself flipping between channels and that's so unfair to me. :P
The one thing I noticed this episode that I didn't notice the episode where it actually happened was the really dissapointed look on Brock's face when Peter showed up at the dance with MJ. I do agree that the downward spiral is happening too fast though. I almost wish they set the black costume parts in the begining of the 2nd season to really give Brock a chance to dislike Peter.
Okay, so I decided to burn through the episodes on Youtube. Hey, I don't even have cable.
I'm getting a bit sick of the whole "Don't call me *insert name* anymore... From now on I am *insert name somebody called me*!" Holy smokes did that get played out quick. And I'm not really a big fan of the Vulture's design.
Those are pretty much my only complaints. Well, no. Honestly I wasn't as into it the first few episodes. Some motives seemed forced. Some of the writing was a bit kiddish. But it's come into its own, I think. I'm quite enjoying the series now. And as to people complaining about Electro's new look? Seriously, could anything be worse than his original costume? This is miles better than what he usually goes prancing around in. At least now the facial structure is unique. Quite honestly, I love it.
I also have to say I love this animation. Granted, I've been watching it on low quality, but it seems to flow pretty nicely. Spider-Man is suitable gymnastic during fights, and uses his webbing quite well. Artisticly even. Plus, the actual design style itself is something I'm rather fond of. The faces convey a good deal of emotion, and have a solid look to them, and I enjoy the clunkiness that seems to dominate the characters. Green Goblin's design is fantastic.
The only real flaw I find is the weird tendancy to close off muscles in the naked form. By that I mean, bare arms appear as joined pieces, say like an action figure. Same goes for shoulders. Weird to see.
Anyhow, rant rave etc. The show is better than quite a few, not as good as some, and somewhat forced overall, but I really do like the art quite a lot.
Unko, so right on that electro front. My only suggestion on the design would be to make the "pea"(as in the vegitable) green, into a more normal shade. But I too find the desgins amazing, I love the Green goblin, but i miss his hat. Actually it would probably look good if they used the helmet look from movie GG.
Doc Oc... PERFECT! a nice ballance between movie and comic. shocker, not bad, his shock gauntlets are a little big but nice design. Rhino, not much different, but i find him less anoyingly stupid(Like Bill Engvall's "Here's Your Sign"), which is nice. O.k, who am i missing? Oh, vulture, uh, he's ok, i think there design was on the right track and then the train of thought swerved and crashed. It would be better to keep the black the way it is, replace the red with green, or do the reverse, make the black green and make the red black. But either way remove that stupid headpiece!!! The man is Bald!!! Sandman is fine, as well as hammer head. I think this is becoming a very unique spider-man which is finally going to be sucessfull.
One major problem i had/have, I wasn't liking that every villain was coming out of normans lab, if anything they could have kept norman responsible by making it the green goblins falult, like for, AH, for sandman... (Enter dreamy flashback effects {~Whoo~})
Norman stands there with two men, he had hired them off the street (he had witnessed one of their failed robberies and decided they needed a serious job), for a breif period of time and realized, they just weren't cut out for the janitorail status. (I know pitiful right! which is why they would have a gridge against osborn) He led them to a small hallway where lots of pipes and tubes tunnled the walls, and as he opened the door said,
" I'm sorry this didn't work out gentlemen."
"Wait your canning us?"
"Yes and if you leave now i won't call secruity."
"On what grounds?"
"Well, for the fact that you have say $1,500 of my money in your left pocket."
"Crud," the man says stuffing it back in. "Well, thanks for giving us a chance Mr. Osborn, but, we gotta go!" and they
darted out the door.
"Thats just fine"osborn said, "Security got the warning five minutes ago."
They run and run and one falls into a large pit. Unfortunatley the other man hadn't realized it and kept running.
Suddenly in a lab inside the complex a green finger was pushing a button and when it did the pit the man was in started to spin. the sands picked up and were hit by some sort of radiation. When they stopped he could hardly pull himself together, litterally he had grains of himself everywhere.
{~Get out of flashback effects~}
And you can figure out the rest. :D
I think the cartoon is a little fast paced going into the black suit too, bit I'm guessing that it may be pressure from the people who decide what stays and what goes and not so much the writers. I would prefer a nice few episodes long story line, but.....second season may be the last season the way TV cartoons go.
I'm now up-to-date on the episodes, and I've gotta say that this has grown into quite a good series. Not perfect, but definitely one worth watching and one that's able to stand up against previous series, and that's saying something.
I don't like the animation style, and never have, but the show and the writing especially are so good that I'm either getting used to or not noticing (or both) the animation problems I have. This is a well developed series that I can see getting even better with another season. The show has honestly "made a believer" out of me, if you will, as originally I had immense doubt that it would be any good and would end up going down a typical kiddie cartoon route. But that's not the case.
But I do have some gripes, although they're fairly small. The animation is the biggest one for me, but I've gotten over that. Second gripe mainly has to do with the pacing. I've noticed a lot of episodes really don't take any breathers. The show moves particularly quickly. I don't know if that's because it's geared more towards a younger audience or what, but the Lizard episode stands out especially for me. Once Dr. Conners turns into the Lizard, it felt like action sequence after action sequence. It was entertaining, but everything just kept happening so fast. It would have been nice if there was a sequence in which Peter actually questions the morality of what he's doing, considering Dr. Conners is not only Peters teacher, but friend too. This happened in the 90's show (which I'll admit to being a fanboy of) and it really showed a level of depth that made Spider-Man truly, well, spectacular to me. It also makes Lizard a much more compelling villain. Here, so far anyways, he's only portrayed as a beast and Spider-Man is fighting him physically for nearly half the episode. The entire series itself feels very fast paced, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it also leaves little room to develop. So much so, that this past episode ("Intervention") actually takes some time to take a much needed breath.
Which leads me to my third and final complaint so far: I really wish they didn't decide to go with the movie's origin story. One of my biggest gripes about the first movie is the "15 genetically enhanced 'super spiders.'" I thought that was a really, really dumb idea, and still do. It's never really explained why they're making genetically enhanced bugs, and in theory, since there's 15 of them, you could technically have 15 different Spider-Men running around if all of them bit at least one person. Plus the whole "oh, one's missing. Must be out for testing" nonchalant excuse seems like such lazy writing to me. Really, the way the comics and 90's cartoon did it was perfect...a small spider crawls down into a wave of radiation while an experimental demo is being shown. I just think that's so much more...believable, than fifteen genetically enhanced super-spiders. Gah...
but I do like that they kept Peter realizing his powers when he's almost hit by a car. That was sorely missed in the movies, where he just looks at his hand and somehow automatically thinks to climb a brick wall...oookay.
Even with those minor gripes, the show has managed to pull me, originally a doubter, into it. It's a very good show and I hope it gets more seasons. I also hope it creates a red flag for whoever has the power to release the 90's Spidey on DVD to finally do so properly.
also, the only episode I didn't really care for was the one featuring Black Cat and Chameleon. I don't get why Spider-Man never went after Black Cat. I mean she's trying to steal the alien, and he stops her, but then after that moment it's like they become friends for some reason and I don't get why. Is it because he's a teenage boy and thinks she's hot?
also, Chameleon here was a really disappointing villain. So much so that I hardly remember what he did in the episode except pretend to be Spider-Man and having springs on his feet.
I actually rather liked the Chameleon. I enjoyed the fact that he was working with a pre-Mysterio and pre-Tinkerer to enhance his acting/disguise talents. It seemed like he just hired his "team" out on various theft jobs, but could easily be expanded to make him an espionage master. This is just a simple thing to set up his dislike of Spider-Man.
But, yeah, the plots are way too fast paced to get into real motives and such. I don't see why you wouldn't like the animation, however. It's fantastic. I guess you want a more realistic style or something? But, as I said before, from what I saw it seems to move great. It moves quickly, and I quite like how the fight scenes play out. It's at least on par with early Justice League.
the animation itself runs just fine, I just don't like the style of it. The look reminds me of something like Samurai Jack, or rather of the semi-anime influence, especially in the eyes, which I really don't like (the huge pupils, and what not). I would have preferred a more "realistic" style, yes, but I understand what the demographic for this show is, and I'm assuming this style is what that age group finds cooler, or something.
speaking of kids...and FI, the toys will be out soon. You can probably find pics over the net now. I'd link some, but they're low quality and I'd actually have to find them again.
edit: yay for being a few months off. I blame being tired. :P
I am alright with agreeing to disagree on aesthetic terms of this style. You want to see more realistic art. So, saaayy... He-Man/GI Joe/Other 80's cartoons? Just kidding. You probably want something that doesn't use animation over and over, and actually still flows well throughout. But, honestly, wouldn't that mean you're the one who wants semi-anime?
Really a good looking anime, say a Cowboy Bebop or something, would be much more realistic than this. You can see it more in body shapes (although large bossoms are prevalent), background objects, and movements. Samurai Jack, which has the Powerpuff Girls/Dexter's Lab (not surprising, seeing who created it) look to it is a much more American cartoon affair. As with something like Justice League or, say, Kim Possible even. It is also, in fact, the irises that are huge. The characters don't have pupils. Another long standing American tradition.
Sorry to be picky about that sort of thing, but I had a bit of animation background in my past. I know quite a few people who would be quite riled over this sort of mixup. Besides, debating is fun right?
PS: Here's some toy pictures (http://spiderbaz.proboards101.com/index.cgi?board=batfigs&action=display&thread=7&page=1).
They look fairly awful. Poorly sculpted mostly, not a lot of articulation, and with stupid accessories (with suction cups!). Par for the course with a lot of cartoon toys.
Those aren't very good and really are completely pointless. We have plenty of good spidey figs, we don't need bad ones. I will say that the sand parts on sandman look pretty cool though really don't fit with the style.
But I love this show from the first 6 years. The action is so awesome, Spider-Man does cool flips and web things. I like that.
I love this show from the first 6 years. The action is so awesome, Spider-Man does cool flips and web things. I like that.
[/quote]
Uh :blink: :mellow:, Pardon me, but, this is its first season on air, i think you mean the 90's one?
http://www.tvcrazy.net/tvclassics/wallpaper/fanstuff/mike/spider-man.jpg
I will humbly step aside when it comes to actual animation lingo and what-not, as I am in no way knowledgeable on the subject, but I think you know what I'm getting at. I don't like the "americanized anime-like look" of a lot of modern cartoons, and this being one of them. And what I mean by that is a mixture of japanese styles with crap like power puff girls. I prefer a more realistic look, like the X-Men cartoon from the 90's. Or I guess even the 80's cartoons like you mentioned, lol. But that's not to say that I don't think the actual animation of this show isn't good, because it is, and remarkably so. It's just the look of the characters that I don't like.
and yeah, the toys don't look that great...
just watched the Venom episode. Thought it was very cool and it reminded me of how good of a villain Venom truly can be. It also reminded me of how poorly he was done in Spider-Man 3, and wished Raimi would have taken the time to craft a great villain out of him. But I really liked this episode. Lots of action and it isn't too fast paced like some of the past episodes. The only thing I'm not sure I liked was Venom's voice, but it wasn't too bad. If this is the last episode of the season, it's a very good episode to end on, especially that last scene with you-know-who.
Quote from: docdelorean88 on June 14, 2008, 07:36:53 AM
I love this show from the first 6 years. The action is so awesome, Spider-Man does cool flips and web things. I like that.
Uh :blink: :mellow:, Pardon me, but, this is its first season on air, i think you mean the 90's one?
http://www.tvcrazy.net/tvclassics/wallpaper/fanstuff/mike/spider-man.jpg
[/quote]
I meant to say episodes. I'm stupid.