"The Spectacular Spider-Man" Appreciation Thread (possible spoilers)

[hopefuldreamer]

Originally Posted by ThDWgeek

Same here. I saw most of the 90s series through repeats on CBBC and stuff, and while it'd be stupid to deny that as a part of my childhood, and as such I'll always look at it fondly, but SSM does blow it out of the water in terms of... well, everything personally. It seems better written, better animated, has a visual style that I personally prefer, plus it's ongoing story arc didn't get as intense as the 90s show, which I view as a plus.

Same.

I remember it being on ITV when I was younger, on SMTV live and then just general morning shows. I used to wake up just for that, and then go back to sleep

But it was such a complicated plot, and I'm not convinced that they even showed the episodes in order sometimes because it was occasionally hard to follow where the hell you were in the plot.

I have been meaning to have a full marathon tho

SSM just had a much more organised structure. It still handled multiple love insterests, but in a different way (and you sort of always felt Gwen was the 'true' love anyway).

And I agree on the visual style. I never liked how 'big' Peter was in the 90s cartoon.

Also, I prefer the high school setting

Originally Posted by Spider-Aziz

Great storytelling, and those two were written the best anyone ever did

[zeptron]

Yeah, about Peter being big in 90s Spider-man, he was in fact way too musuclar. Even moreso than Spider-man. He was shown to be musuclar in flashbacks before he even got bitten. When I look at him in that cartoon, I have a hard time believing someone his size could have been pushed around by Flash Thompson.

I also find it interesting how people complained about SSM not following the comics and at the same time complain about Peter being a teen, when they're actually sticking to the source material, because he was 15 when he got his powers.

[Spider-Aziz]

How did the Goblin do that with all these water tanks? How many buildings does he own?

[Venom75]

Originally Posted by SpaceWay2009

Thought I should post this here in case anyone doesn't know why exactly TSSM was cancelled.

http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/....php?qid=14223

You know,it really does suck anymore that great shows like SSM get cancelled because of stupid legal crap like this. Idiotic.

[Spider-Aziz]

I wish we had 2 more seasons while USM animated was in the making

[Spidey220987]

Originally Posted by Spider-Aziz

I wish we had 2 more seasons while USM animated was in the making

Couldn't agree more.
I've been trying to fill the void by watching countless Superhero (animated) shows back to back in my DVD collection lol. Wasn't bad to be honest, but I've watched them all now. I'm regurgitating lol, gone back to Batman: The Brave and The Bold at the moment, due to the similarities with US-M

[Mistah K88]

Originally Posted by Spider-Aziz

How did the Goblin do that with all these water tanks? How many buildings does he own?

He probably blew the extra cash he got from Roderick Kingsley on those water towers. I love the way that the show didn't go out of its way to tell you that Norman obviously had a few screws loose. You see that military grade weaponry (those flying things in the final episode) that he wasted on a bunch of gangbangers for the sole purpose of killing Spider-Man? He's [censored]in' CRAZY.

[Spider-Aziz]

Originally Posted by Mistah K88

He probably blew the extra cash he got from Roderick Kingsley on those water towers. I love the way that the show didn't go out of its way to tell you that Norman obviously had a few screws loose. You see that military grade weaponry (those flying things in the final episode) that he wasted on a bunch of gangbangers for the sole purpose of killing Spider-Man? He's [censored]in' CRAZY.

Possible
And yeah, that's crazy

[SymbioticToxin]

Yeah, Norman was crazy...crazy like a fox.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

I saw Season 2 Volume 2 at Target for five bucks today, and since it doesn't seem like Sony will be releasing a Complete Second Season set, I bought it. Looking for the others as well.

[Thwip!]

Originally Posted by SymbioticToxin

Yeah, Norman was crazy...crazy like a fox.

[Pep]

Glad to see someone make this thread! I guess it's to be expected that USM's debut would drive up Spectacular discussion. Hopefully it holds up for a while, at least.

In case you guys hadn't seen it, I've launched a TSSM-themed tumblr called Goop In My Hair. Follow it if you have tumblr, and submit your own pics: http://goopinmyhair.tumblr.com

The Keep "The Spectacular Spider-Man" Alive Facebook group is still going strong too. Join it if you haven't: https://www.facebook.com/groups/174295922428/

[Ratcrawler]

Somewhere out there is a fair parallel Universe where SSM is going into season 5 and whatever idiots pitched the "Ultimate sPider-Man" cartoon got laughed out of the meeting.

[Lunar_Wolf]

Let's go to that universe!

[socool]

Originally Posted by Lunar_Wolf

Let's go to that universe!

CAN WE?!?!

...

Can we...?

[Mistah K88]

Originally Posted by Ratcrawler

Somewhere out there is a fair parallel Universe where SSM is going into season 5 and whatever idiots pitched the "Ultimate sPider-Man" cartoon got laughed out of the meeting.

Yeah, it's true...I'm sure parallel me has watched the [censored] out of that show...I kind of wish I could get him to send me some DVD's.

Also, we were teased by knowing that there were plans for certain characters. We all know that there were plans for Kraven (who became mutated thanks to Warren), however there were plans with John Jameson as well that were connected to Kraven...any fool can put that together and think Man-Wolf!

Greg wanted to do DTV's after the series run ended. The show was for Pete's last two years of high school. The DTV's were to cover the college years. I'm wondering if we would have finally seen the Night Gwen Stacy Died finally animated...

Originally Posted by me

Anyway, when asked about keeping Emily Osborn alive, aside from having plans for her later down the road, you also decided out of the three friends who had single parent households (Peter, Gwen, and Harry) Harry would be the one where it wasn't fundamental to his character compared to the others. One of Harry's biggest traits is his messed up relationship with his father. It was also said that Noman's disdain of Harry came from losing his wife in exchange for Harry. Would you say that in Spectacular Spider-Man that Harry's problems came from his messed up family life in general with Emily being alive? Basically Harry's issues aren't solely on Norman, but Emily as well (whether directly or indirectly).

Originally Posted by Greg

Yes

[Gale]

RIP TSSM, the best Spidey series ever! I used to watch Spidey TAS as a kid. I see many of its faults now and don't understand when people dismiss this show.

If anyone wants to watch the series, it's on YouTube. There's some users with both seasons with full episodes and in high quality called SevenWebHeads and SpiderXization. User webslingspiderman is the most popular dude with the series on YT, but he has them divided into three parts.

I'm using the website keepvid to get all the episodes. I bought the first season on iTunes, but my iTunes library got messed up and I'll have to buy them again later. When I see the season 2 volumes out I'll definitely buy them ASAP.

My favorite aspect of the show was how character-driven it was. The characters were used to the best of the writers abilities to make it as entertaining and true to Spidey as possible while adding twists that would strengthen aspects of the story.

I liked how we see Harry's mom because it adds another layer to Harry's development. I liked that Black Cat' father was Uncle Ben's killer because it would have added another layer to the Cat and Spidey's relationship when the time came for them to interact out of the suits.

The love relationships had a lot of irony considering Harry is supposed to end up with Liz and Pete would have Gwen until Norman kills her. Having Harry and Gwen together would have an interesting dynamic when Gwen would have died.

I also liked how the school crowd was dealt with. Flash's development as a non-friend of Pete's was good growth and Pete's messing of the order of things was better than the stereotypical popular vs. unpopular. The fact that Peter and his friends are more spread out, interacting with others, kind of gets rid of the intimacy of the origin three (Pete, Harry, & Gwen) and even makes for a sort of loneliness on his part.

In season 3, I feel like the fact that Peter and MJ were both love-relationshipless for one reason or another would mean that they would have gotten closer. I did wonder if this MJ knew Peter's secret and it would have been fun for that to be hinted at, but never made clear until of course they got together.

My favorite episodes of the series were:

Natural Selection: it had such a great ending and had epicness the movies never reached.

Intervention: another epic, reminded me exactly why Spidey is a hero.

First Steps: Sandman's growth was great.

Identity Crisis: I'm a sucker for when superhero identities are revealed.

Accomplices: the fighting and the plot twist.

Gangland: I'm a sucker for PeterGwen, the battle was amazing, and I liked how it was really the start of the gang war rather than the end.

Subtext: I loved how personal the story felt.

Opening Night: liked the idea of Spidey testing it out and how Norman was involved, the fighting, and the plot twist.

Sorry for the long post guys, but I just got really soaked in the nostalgia of it all. Miss this series.

[SpaceWay2009]

Well said, Gale. Appreciate the review! It makes me miss TSSM that much more.

[Spidey220987]

Since there hasn't been any release of a season 2 set, I decided to buy a 6 disc amaray case off eBay, and put the "Complete First Season" sleeve as the cover, and put the season 1 discs in, and also put the 4 discs compromising season 2 in too. It looks pretty neat lol.

I'm part of that group on Facebook called "Keep the Spectacular Spider-Man Alive" , the only thing I hate about it is the guys who constantly berate Ultimate Spider-Man on a daily basis, and always compare it to TSS-M. It's like fanboyism at its worst lol

[zeptron]

It still pisses me off that Roderick Kingsley finally makes an animated appearance and the show gets canned before he becomes Hobgoblin.

Originally Posted by Gale

RIP TSSM, the best Spidey series ever! I used to watch Spidey TAS as a kid. I see many of its faults now and don't understand when people dismiss this show.

A few reasons why people dimiss the show

- They don't like the art design for the characters. Which is understandable. I'm not too crazy about them myself, but people tend to mix them up with animation entirely too much. I'd much rather have stylized art style and awesome animation than have a "realistic" art style designs and sloppy animation.

- They spoiled themselves with the "muscular" drawings from the 90s cartoon.

- They also spoiled themselves with past adaptations having Peter older and didn't like that he was in high school. When he was 15 when he got his powers. So by making him a teen they were actually sticking to the source material(a thing haters would often accuse SSM of not doing)

- They often put the show down because "IT'S A KIDS SHOW!" and was "dumbed down" from the 90s. Funny thing is the show had some mature stuff the 90s show would never allow due to it's censorship.

[Sarcastic Fan]

Originally Posted by Spidey220987

I'm part of that group on Facebook called "Keep the Spectacular Spider-Man Alive" , the only thing I hate about it is the guys who constantly berate Ultimate Spider-Man on a daily basis, and always compare it to TSS-M. It's like fanboyism at its worst lol

Because it sucks. It's like "Family Guy," and that's a horrible way to make a Spidey toon.

[Spidey220987]

Yeah, I saw that picture today too... lol.
I mean hey, the group's called Keep the Spectacular Spider-Man Alive, I get it.
But moaning about Ultimate Spider-Man everyday isn't gonna bring it back lol.
It's like a broken record being in that group, but I like it coz sometimes they post some new tidbits.
It was better when it was a campaign group, now it's just...a hate group lol

[Gwendolyn Stacy]

Originally Posted by Sarcastic Fan

Because it sucks. It's like "Family Guy," and that's a horrible way to make a Spidey toon.

I have noticed some cutaway gags similar to the ones in Family Guy, but I like Family Guy and their cutaway gags. USM may not be a conventional Spider-Man cartoon, but that's what I like about it. Of course, TSSM will always be the best Spider-Man cartoon. Unless, of course, another cartoon comes along and blows it out the water.

[Spidey220987]

Yeah, I hate Family Guy, but the cutaways in Family Guy aren't relevant to the plot.
They're just random pop culture references, or stupid moments.
At least Ultimate Spider-Man's cutaways are relevant to dialogue,but they're mainly used to show what Peter/Spidey is thinking.

I mean, it even happened in The Spectacular Spider-Man, episode 5: Competition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2lhKVxrt_E

5 minutes in.
Nobody complained about that though lol.

And I agree with Gwendolyn Stacy, that it's not "a conventional Spider-Man cartoon, but that's what I like about it" - I'm exactly the same.

In my opinion, it's OK to try something new.
Yeah, I'm not gonna deny that the show doesn't have it's haters, but it also has it's fans.
Believe it or not, there are quite a number of fans of the show on the Toonzone forums

[Pep]

Originally Posted by zeptron

They often put the show down because "IT'S A KIDS SHOW!" and was "dumbed down" from the 90s. Funny thing is the show had some mature stuff the 90s show would never allow due to it's censorship.

The funny thing is that the censorship wasn't that much different in TSSM compared to the 90s cartoon, but they made it less noticeable. For instance, there were still many restrictions on punching in Spectacular, but the writers and storyboarders made sure that Spidey was kept out of situations where he should logically be throwing punches. The action in the 90s cartoon usually played out in a way that made it ridiculously obvious that punches were not allowed, and that's why viewers have always brought so much attention to it.

Originally Posted by Spidey220987

I'm part of that group on Facebook called "Keep the Spectacular Spider-Man Alive" , the only thing I hate about it is the guys who constantly berate Ultimate Spider-Man on a daily basis, and always compare it to TSS-M. It's like fanboyism at its worst lol

I created that group, and I'm not a fan of the constant berating either.