Hee! The pilot of the new Spider-Man series turns out to be very entertaining. The ep starts with Spidey swinging around and jumping on a set of gargoyles' heads (well, grotesques, but who's counting?) one of whom looks suspiciously like Hudson from producer Greg Weisman's earlier baby. Later, a big statue that looks like Broadway is smashed (at night, so it's okay) and we know the in-jokes are going to fly fast and furious.

The first episode tells the story, not of Peter's initial transformation into You Know Who, but of his first few days back at school after summer vacation. We meet the main cast: Peter, Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Eddie Brock, Liz Allan, Flash Thompson, and more. Peter may have gone through a transformation, but to the rest of the kids at school, he's the same old dork.

Out of the box, this is an interesting take on the old mythos. Peter's got the right blend of geeky and cocky, so his troubles at the hands of the Vulture and the Enforcers comes across believably. The action scenes are high-energy, and engaging for the kid set. (My five year old was thrilled.) Peter has some great quips, and his near-adoration of Aunt May comes across as very sweet. He's got her on a pedestal, to be sure, but hopefully she'll get a good chance to develop as a character along with everyone else.

The voice work was to die for here. I know I recognized half a dozen VAs in the mix. Plus, whoever's voicing Harry Osborne is really putting some effort into the role: the character comes across as very earnest and likeable, and less toony than the other teen characters, if that makes sense.

The only problem I had with the episode was the animation. Once again, we're seeing the same exaggerated style that seems to be the trademark of superhero animation these days. (see The Batman) The out of proportion designs may be eye-catching, but not in a good way. Several times, I had to pull back from the screen to figure out if particular characters were supposed to look like they had physical deformities in the fictional reality, or if that was just their "look".

Overall, great first episode, with some nice setup on what are sure to be some interesting arcs for later.

The Spectacular Spider-Man
"Survival of the Fittest"
Written by: Greg Weisman
Directed by: Victor Cook

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