The Sun Always Shines on T.V.: The Spectacular Spider-Man

ok so I really thought this was going to be a Venting the Anger post after I saw the artwork for new Spider-Man cartoon, but surprisingly it's not that bad. In fact, it could be the beginning of a classic comic/cartoon like the DC Animated Universe.
The artwork reminded me of some kind of Fisher Price Pre-school toy...especially when I saw the goatee thing of JJ's chin. But then I saw the next set.
Two things popped out at me 1) Gwen Stacy who was all but forgotten about on the previous Spider-Man cartoon and 2) webs under the arms on Spidey's suit. Those two things told me that we were looking at a show that knew what they were doing. The other plus is seeing a super skinny Spider-Man...it just works for me.

So I am watching the first episode which introduced the Vulture and it was pretty good. More classic comic elements were added...like The Enforcers and Betty Brant. See back in the day before M.J. was Peter's lady, he was looking at Gwen Stacy and Betty Brant. In fact he didn't want to meet M.J. because he thought she would be ugly and no fun...something that is carried into the cartoon.

The writing is pretty solid. The smart-ass, wise cracking Spidey is present in this show and the delivery works better than the last Spider-Man cartoon again. I also like the inclusion of Flash Thompson as a bully at school. Oh yeah they made Peter Parker a junior in high school...which is about right. Old comic fans should love this show The Enforcers, Vulture, Sandman, Electro, Rhino, and the Lizard are the villains which are shown in the first few episodes. Nice to see a show build a little instead of jumping into Venom and Carnage right away.

I know that Venom will be introduce because Eddie Brock is a re-occuring character (different from the comic) and they show Spidey in the black suit in the opening credits.

Let's wrap it up:
Pros: good writing, starting from the beginning without losing important characters (I'm looking at you Gwen Stacy & Betty Brant), smart ass Spidey, webbed arms, classic villains.

Cons: JJ has a goatee thing, Eddie Brock is a nice guy and Peter's friend totally different from the comics, and it looks like the Black Suit isn't going to be the classic suit, but more in line with the movie version.
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