Who here besides me thinks this might top the 90's show?

[Green Goblin 1964]

I know it's early to tell but let's discuss it as the episodes move along. So far we've been given 2 over the top, above average episodes featuring Vulture, the enforcers, and Electro. Exceeding in both story and action while allowing some decent drama in some parts. The 90's series was good but no incredible. It had a handful of REALLY good episodes. Anyway, the question is who thinks this will or already has topped the 90's series.


Discuss.

Oh and please don't turn this into an Animation/Art of the show rant like all the other threads. Please stay on topic.

[Visionary]

Give the new toon a season or two first. Then we can compare. It's much too early.

[vinny2]

90's Spidey had a really good start, but then it started going down hill starting season two. Even if this show stays the same in terms of awesomeness, it'll beat the 90's show.

[Green Goblin 1964]

Originally Posted by Visionary

Give the new toon a season or two first. Then we can compare. It's much too early.

I know, let's discuss as we get new episodes.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Judging by the show so far, it really has a good chance of beating the 1990's show. The 1990's show had alot of comic book aspects to it and I lvoed it, but it didn't hit the nail on the spot a good amount in terms of staying true to the comics. This show has already hit the nail on the spot a very good amount, but like every other show, it can go downhill. However, this show is off to a great start and the development for the characters is unlike anything I have seen before in a Spidey animated series. The Villians from the comics have great origins and they are even using Villians that aren't that popular, which is something I love. The show is also fast paced and fluid, which I love to. I guess we will just have to wait and see for ourselfs how well the show will go.

[diespinne]

This show easily beats the 90's Spider-wuss series. This Spidey was actually able to use his powers and brains to defeat his enemies without any help from guest stars or JJJ or whoever. It nails the feel of the old Lee/Ditko comics WAY better. The stories have MUCH better pacing-- nothing feels as rushed or poorly edited like in the 90's show.

[Ratcrawler]

I like how much less gay everybody looks in this one.


What?

Also, as far as first two episodes go, it beat's The Batman's in terms of pretty much everything.

[Silver Spider]

I remember I used to love the old Spiderman cartoon in the 90s, but now it seems way to censored, due to the fact that it is. I have no doubt this show will easily outdue the other. I mean they actually made me like Vulture which I thought I would never do. And I think this Electro beats any villain from the old series barred Venom. I hated him almost as much as Vulture, but this show gave him character and just plan made him awesome.

[Ratcrawler]

I'll say this much, the 90s series got way too sappy in it's romantic drama which seems to have given cartoons today the adverse effect of far too little of the sweeter stuff. I hope they find a good balance in this series.

[Johnny Israel]

I'm giving the nod to the 90s series until further notice. I like the way this series is going, but let it get almost 70 episodes under its belt before I give this fisher-price looking rush job the nod. While I did like the first two episodes alot. I thought they threw 50 things at once at you. I don't have ADD. I thought the 90's series had very good pacing and while sometimes it had alot going on, I just felt it handled it better. Also, you can say the animation was this or that about the 90s show. I just like how it looked. Its an opinion so someone can preach about animation styles from here to eternity, it doesn't matter to me. It's my choice that to think the 90s series looks better then living McDonalds' toys.

With that bit under the rug. I will say the Electro episode was really good and made me like the character. While I'm a huge Venom fan and loved how he was done in the 90s, I'm very curious how his relationship plays out with peter and it makes me very excited to see the payoff when he does turn into Venom. I also like Dr. Connors in the series. They much like the 90s series did, show him to be a dedicated scientist, father, and husband. I will note that it's lame that they give him a robotic arm.

So its a good start for this young series, but I still cant compare it fully to the 90s series. Call me when it has more than 2 episodes under its belt.

[Blader5489]

Even if it does end up as the better show, it'll never beat the 90s cartoon for me.

Nostalgia trumps all.

[Spec Spider-Man]

Way to early to tell.

[DOG LIPS]

I also would need more time for a full decision, but I will say, Electro and Vulture are already ten times better than they were in the 90's toon. Just my opinion.

[Kamarov]

It's still to early. One has to remember season 1 of the 90s show. We had great eisodes like, night of the lizard, doc ock armed and dangerous. There were a few gems scattered through out the series too, like turning point. So far this new show is great and I'm glad they started out with Pete in high school as it allows for a longer stretch of character development. If this new show keeps it up, then it'll easily surpass all the tv shows that have come before it.

[strugler]

Originally Posted by DOG LIPS

I also would need more time for a full decision, but I will say, Electro and Vulture are already ten times better than they were in the 90's toon. Just my opinion.

Electro yes, much better than the 90's series, but vulture not so much, he had no character development at all, look at me im mad because osborn stole my tech now im the vulture, plus his HUUUGE nose and nonexisting shoulders ruined him for me even more.

[pjspider1C]

I think it's too soon to tell... but from what I think so far, both series are good in their own right. They both have their strengths & weaknesses, but overall - I enjoy them both.

[Web-Head]

This show has the potential to do it and the right people working on it. And if it keeps up the quality of the first two episodes, it will.

[diespinne]

Well, after two episodes, we know that in a fight, the Spectacular Spider-man (even though he's relatively inexperienced) would totally school Spider-wuss from the 90's TAS.

[Dread]

Comparing the 90's SPIDER-MAN, which ran for 5 seasons and 65 episodes (the second longest run of a Marvel cartoon, least if you discount the fact that the 60's Spidey show would "recycle" episodes to boost their numbers) to SS-M sometimes verges on ungrateful, especially after a mere 2 episodes. Simply by debuting in 1994 and being the second big Marvel cartoon of a generation, right after X-MEN, SPIDER-MAN: TAS has earned it's place on a Top 10 Comic Cartoons list. It was a trend-setter. Even Sam Raimi's movies took some plot & character details from that cartoon, especially in SPIDER-MAN 3. It aired for ages on cable in reruns. It earned millions in merchandise.

Of course, those who are seeking to compare the two point to the one area that SS-M is already superior in; animation. The pilot of S-M:TAS was it's animation highpoint, and even by episode #2, the animation quality was not on par. But S-M:TAS really didn't start suffering from glaringly bad animation for the time until about the middle of Season 2, and by then it was in free-fall. Part of the problem was of course Marvel being a smaller company than it is now, and the comic-bubble burst by 1993-1994; by 1995-1996 Marvel was bleeding. But the other part was the character models were too complicated; often overly muscular and all that. In contrast, while some people feel that Cheeks Galloway's character models for SS-M are "too cartoony", they are simple and animate very well. I mean, that was what made B:TAS so good to look at. The budget from Sony is probably larger, too. And animation techniques have improved since 1998, when the 90's show ended.

The 90's show is better remembered not for the animation, but for the writing quality. It embraced the notion of a storyarc better than any cartoon of the time and even better than many since. Every episode (or almost every episode) was a cog into a larger story and every element was revisited, even wonky ones like The Spot's dimensional machine or Baron Mordo & Dormammu. Despite being crippled by an oppressive censor-board, the show had thrills and chills, and some solid writing and acting. That said, while John Semper (the Timm of that show) blames all of the show's flaws on the animation, editing, censors, networks, Avi Arad, etc., and while he is over 50% correct, some ills were all on his watch. Sometimes some storyarcs dragged a bit long, and some other seasons lacked focus; Season 4 in particular. Too many episodes were wasted on Morbius. Why Rocket Racer, Big Wheel and The Spot were granted full episode status is a mystery. Dr. Octopus spend most of his time as a Kingpin flunkie, which is underwhelming. Semper's utter disgust for Hobgoblin, a rogue forced on the show by a prior writer, caused him to ruin the villain's exit despite the fact that Mark Hamill and even Semper himself managed to write him as a shrewd, cool rogue. Part of SECRET WAR simply didn't work. And the show ended on the mother of all cliffhangers and even a decade later Semper doesn't feel that Peter needed to be reunited with MJ. And by the end, the animation was choppy, the editing ridiculous and they invented the NARUTO angle of overplaying flashbacks to save animation dollars. Even without punching, many of the fights were paced poorly. You can actually storyboard a fight without one punch if you are good enough. They weren't.

SS-M also has the benefit of hindsight, just like I do in noting all those flaws. The 90's show only had the fluff of the 60's-80's to look at, which was hardly helpful.

Still, newer models can outdo old ones even if the older ones broke ground. The Mustang didn't predate the Oldsmobile but most would say the former was better. Nostalgia for the NES or Atari 2600 aside, video game systems and games have improved greatly since. And in some ways shows are the same. S-SM has a good budget, solid writers, good storyboarders, a less oppressive censor board, and the hindsight of having not one but THREE prior cartoons within the last decade to examine to see what worked and what didn't (SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED providing much of what not to do).

Could SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN evolve into a better show? If the show is capable of shifting moods; getting dark or serious if the story requires it, then I will say yes. But in way, it can thank the 90's show for being able to do so.

Admittedly, I haven't watched the 90's show in years. Part of me dreads that it was good for the time but hasn't aged well at all.

[Arkady Rossovich]

Doubt it. If this is going to top the Spider-Man:TAS we would need to do more mature themes and do everything that TAS did not. It already failed in the animation quality. This isn't Ultimate Spider-Man.

[Green Goblin 1964]

Originally Posted by Arkady Rossovich

Doubt it. If this is going to top the Spider-Man:TAS we would need to do more mature themes and do everything that TAS did not. It already failed in the animation quality. This isn't Ultimate Spider-Man.

Jesus, you already don't know what your talking about. There is a difference between ANIMATION and character DESIGNS. Thank you


And I don't really give a damn about your opinion because you've been hating on this show from the get-go so it's obvious you would hate on it more when it was released. And your right, this isn't ultimate Spider-Man it's 616

[IamProdigy]

I think, and mostly everyone, would need to watch at least the first season to get a full opinion...has the first two episodes succeeded much anticipation? Yes, I think so, imo, but we would have to see the outcomes of most of the big baddies that has been shown, but their alter-egos haven't(big baddies like Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Venom, Sandman and Lizard on this Sat.'s episode), but I do think it might be better than the 90s episode, if they have a solid story, and if they don't have season-long arc titles, which was incredibly annoying, and I would rather have it focused more with the action, then romance to which the 90s series was more like a Raimi-directed movie because it was focused with Peter and MJ. Will the villains keep their looks? Some won't, some will, but then again, new animation, new designs, of course there will be updates, but most of the character designs we've seen of the villains, they look pretty good, and with the fluid animation this series has, they work well with it.

I have hope at least.

[The Joker]

I think a better question would be will it top the first season of the 90's show? Because the 90's series as a whole was not all that great, IMO.

The first season was by far the best, and kept the usage of Kingpin to a minimum, while allowing villains like Ock, Mysterio, Scorpion, Chameleon etc to work solo, as they always should have. We didn't have the stories polluted by constant appearances from Madame Webb and Black Cat.

The Spectacular Spider-Man is off to a very promising start. I'm optimistic it will be the best.

[IamProdigy]

Originally Posted by Joker

The first season was by far the best, and kept the usage of Kingpin to a minimum, while allowing villains like Ock, Mysterio, Scorpion, Chameleon etc to work solo, as they always should have.

Exactly, the first season is what everyone mostly enjoyed with the 90s series. I think the series got way too bizarre when they decided to make him the Man-Spider and then brought in that stupid Madame Web chick.

I would've loved to see the series go on on to an extra season though, because I heard Spider-Man would've found MJ in Colonial England, so I'm guessing he would've gone back in time.

[Visionary]

Damn, I forgot all about Madame Web, I wanted to kill her, every episode that she was in, she made it so that Spider-Man wouldn't have to think for himself.