1994 Spider-Man cartoon

[Podmark]

A while back I signed up for Netflix and started watching through some shows (Breaking Bad, Sherlock, Clone Wars...) and this weekend decided to start rewatching the 90s Spider-Man cartoon. I'm in the Second Season about to start the Tablet of Time stuff. When I was a kid this was a top 3 favorite cartoon and I was curious if it still held up...and it totally does!  I love this show, it's pretty much the template for how I like my Spider-Man and how I like story telling in general. Every episode builds on the last, nothing is pointless, lots of supporting characters - all the things I love.
Actually the show is probably responsible for me reading comics today.

I think if I tallied up my favorite cartoons now it would still rate very highly. Now would be my favorite Spider-Man cartoon? I'm not too sure about that, I'd have to re-watch Spectacular Spider-Man again to be sure.

[Talavar]

I too was a big fan of the 90s Spider-man cartoon, and tried to re-watch it a few years back - and voice acting killed me.  I couldn't do it; some of the voices were just that bad.  Why is voice acting such a low priority for so many cartoons?

[BentonGrey]

I loved this show dearly, right up there with X-Men:TAS, and I even defended it as better than Spectacular Spider-Man....then I watched it again.  I'm afraid it didn't hold up for me.  I think the biggest problems were animation and the ridiculous censorship of that era.  If Spider-Man had been able to throw a punch, it would have been a much better show.  It's still how I was introduced to Spidey, though, and I'll always have a soft-spot for it.  It just isn't up there in the rarefied air of X-Men, Batman:TAS, or the like.

[Tomato]

I loved this show dearly, right up there with X-Men:TAS, and I even defended it as better than Spectacular Spider-Man....then I watched it again.  I'm afraid it didn't hold up for me.  I think the biggest problems were animation and the ridiculous censorship of that era.  If Spider-Man had been able to throw a punch, it would have been a much better show.  It's still how I was introduced to Spidey, though, and I'll always have a soft-spot for it.  It just isn't up there in the rarefied air of X-Men, Batman:TAS, or the like.

I agree with this, but I think what truly broke me was an episode where there's a bomb or something with a countdown, and the speed at which the time changes makes no logical sense within the context within the story. Like... they'd cut to it, and it'd be 3m, they'd cut to a scene of spider man doing a 30 second task, and cut back and the timer would suddenly be something like 45s or whatever. The series is full of errors like that which really pull me out of enjoying it like I do X-men or BTAS.

[Podmark]

Yeah it's certainly not the best show in terms of quality. Most noticeable for me is the reuse of animation, but most of the other issues largely fly by me. The no punching thing I'd never even think about if it hadn't been pointed out before. I just enjoy the characters and storytelling.

In terms of the voice acting, I really like Christopher Daniel Barnes as Peter, but I've noticed his actual acting is lacking at times. Still he's the voice I've always read Peter's dialogue with when reading comics. Same with Ed Asner as Jameson (although I really enjoy JK Simmons as well). I also really like Doc Ock, Kingpin, Smythe, and the Hobgoblin's voices. Funny story, I didn't watch much Batman TAS when I was kid, so when watching an episode later on I actually recognized the Joker's voice as the Hobgoblin. Blew my mind to discover that it was the same Mark Hamill from Star Wars.


I think when comparing this show with Spectacular the trick is that the 90s show feels like the Spider-Man to me, the same guy that I read in the comics. But Spectacular (and all the other shows and movies) feels like an alternate reality version of the character.

[BentonGrey]

I'll say this, the 90s show sure was more faithful to the comics than the other one.  I always thought Kingpin made a fantastic villain, and they had a perfect voice for him.  Yeah, the show definitely had its strong parts.

[bat1987]

Was a good show, very faithful to the comics. It had everything, from Venom, Kingpin to Clone Saga. Art style was also very good, a lot of the characters (if not all) looked exactly like they do in comics. Spidey himself reminded a lot of Romita SR's classic artwork. Similar to Sr's art, Peter always seemed bulkier when he puts on the suit 

Animation itself was a bit stiff, and the no punch thing was ridiculous. Even before I knew that was mandatory me and my brother noticed this while watching the show. Oh and Kingpin was always a favorite of mine when it comes to crime boss villains, and he was awesome here if not a bit overpowered.

While it doesn't follow the comics nearly as much as the 1994 show, I prefer Spectacular Spider-Man. I like the characters, the cast and the action is great. I hated Venom in Spectacular lol. He was great and menacing as a villain, just wanted to punch his face The only downside is the cancellation due to the legal bs...shame...

As for the voice I read Spidey's dialogue with in comics its either Christopher Daniel Barnes or Neil Patrick Harris  

[HarryTrotter]

I remember this from when I was a kid.I cant remember everything but I know I liked Goblin wars,Punisher and Blade.Later symbiot arc was pretty good too.

[BWPS]

 Yeah I love it!

[ShortFuse]

Unfortunately this series is not available to stream on the U.S. Netflix.     Just in Canada.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

It was a part of the 90's cartoon revolution, and thus is important.  Unfortunately, unlike with the X-Men and Batman TAS, they were severely restricted, but managed to make do with great storylines and good versions of the characters.

[Podmark]

Still watching through the show and I saw an episode where Spidey threw a punch! Twice! I think it was the Vulture episode.
It's surprising how poorly I remember the show once it gets past the Neogenic Nightmare stuff.
Kingpin is in it a lot more than I thought. He's essentially the main villain. I like how the show manages it's cast, just by the time you're like "hmm, we haven't seen Jameson for a while" he pops right up.

[bat1987]

Ya Kingpin was definitely behind most of the stuff in the show. I like him a lot, great threat to all "street level" heroes. I like him the most when he's fighting Daredevil though.