Review: Spectacular Spider-Man, "Natural Selection"
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Michael Tanaka
Raised on late 80's and early 90's animation, Michael T has come to love the works of DC Comics animation. He currently owns and manages http://dcauresource.com and moderates with http://animationinsider.net. He currently watches Lost, Heroes, Stargate Atlantis and occasionally Project Runway. Michael T will soon graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Management and is often seen as a one of a kind, jack of all trades, rebel. By Michael Tanaka
Published on 03/16/2008
The Spectacular Spider-Man is definitely living up to its namesake.
March 15, 2008
The Spectacular Spider-Man series is definitely living up to
its namesake.
The nature of the storytelling techniques such as its most noticeable feature, dialog is a step up from previous Spider Man series. Every animation series has a mandate that skews to children but there are few series that have the appeal to the older demographics. This episode reminded me of the level of sophistication that culminated in the two year gone Justice League Unlimited. And to boot, the episode was written by Matt Wayne, who was brought in on the final season of the infamous Timmverse. Another aspect of this series that rings on home is how it complements the comic book version’s Silver Age origins in the 1960’s. We have that aspect of science fiction injected into the story (bitten by a spider, turns into a lizard, the list goes on) but one of the overlooked parts was the character development and personal conflicts. By close attention to continuity and foresight, the forced teenage angst and campy nature was tastefully replaced by foreshadowing. Who will go for Peter now? Liz? MJ?
Speaking of foreshadowing, I couldn’t review the episode without mentioning Eddie Brock. The writing’s on the wall but now we see how Brock’s dark side starts to develop. Anyone else notice, he’s a lot more personable and likeable in this series? It’s also good to have him in the episode if you need to throw someone into a wall. But more importantly, everyone’s reaction to Peter Parker rings home one of the ever reoccurring themes of Spider-Man, trust. Parker said he was going straight home, instead he took pictures. Would you trust this person again if you ran a laboratory with top secret projects? Would you want this person to be your friend? Do any of them know about or can even relate to the Parker’s financial problems (he’s young!!)?
The good thing about this question is the answer. No matter what, Peter is a teenager and this series more or less starts in Spider-Man’s fledgling years. He’s got more hurdles to overcome. That’s what makes an origin story so appealing to fans and writers. An average person will become one of the most loved and brilliant heroes of all time.
It was a good move to stick to the three to four episode arc. If Peter hadn’t been released from his internship, the writers would get trapped into creating villains based on Connors’ mistakes over and over. Another benefit is that Peter is mobilized and his storyline will progress to the Daily Bugle.
Another thing that I didn’t realize immediately was the fast pace of the action in this series and even the element of it; police officers with guns, Peter almost losing his head and the injury. And even the transformation into The Lizard was pretty cool. Whoever storyboarded this should get a bonus. This series’ approach was commendable as well. The Lizard is nature and a primordial beast. Don’t make it intelligent and calculating.
The third episode was the greatest so far, with some nice payoffs to the past two and some great story progression and set up.
The Spectacular Spider-Man
"Natural Selection"
Written by: Matt Wayne
Directed by: David Bullock
The nature of the storytelling techniques such as its most noticeable feature, dialog is a step up from previous Spider Man series. Every animation series has a mandate that skews to children but there are few series that have the appeal to the older demographics. This episode reminded me of the level of sophistication that culminated in the two year gone Justice League Unlimited. And to boot, the episode was written by Matt Wayne, who was brought in on the final season of the infamous Timmverse. Another aspect of this series that rings on home is how it complements the comic book version’s Silver Age origins in the 1960’s. We have that aspect of science fiction injected into the story (bitten by a spider, turns into a lizard, the list goes on) but one of the overlooked parts was the character development and personal conflicts. By close attention to continuity and foresight, the forced teenage angst and campy nature was tastefully replaced by foreshadowing. Who will go for Peter now? Liz? MJ?
Speaking of foreshadowing, I couldn’t review the episode without mentioning Eddie Brock. The writing’s on the wall but now we see how Brock’s dark side starts to develop. Anyone else notice, he’s a lot more personable and likeable in this series? It’s also good to have him in the episode if you need to throw someone into a wall. But more importantly, everyone’s reaction to Peter Parker rings home one of the ever reoccurring themes of Spider-Man, trust. Parker said he was going straight home, instead he took pictures. Would you trust this person again if you ran a laboratory with top secret projects? Would you want this person to be your friend? Do any of them know about or can even relate to the Parker’s financial problems (he’s young!!)?
The good thing about this question is the answer. No matter what, Peter is a teenager and this series more or less starts in Spider-Man’s fledgling years. He’s got more hurdles to overcome. That’s what makes an origin story so appealing to fans and writers. An average person will become one of the most loved and brilliant heroes of all time.
It was a good move to stick to the three to four episode arc. If Peter hadn’t been released from his internship, the writers would get trapped into creating villains based on Connors’ mistakes over and over. Another benefit is that Peter is mobilized and his storyline will progress to the Daily Bugle.
Another thing that I didn’t realize immediately was the fast pace of the action in this series and even the element of it; police officers with guns, Peter almost losing his head and the injury. And even the transformation into The Lizard was pretty cool. Whoever storyboarded this should get a bonus. This series’ approach was commendable as well. The Lizard is nature and a primordial beast. Don’t make it intelligent and calculating.
The third episode was the greatest so far, with some nice payoffs to the past two and some great story progression and set up.
The Spectacular Spider-Man
"Natural Selection"
Written by: Matt Wayne
Directed by: David Bullock