Dread
TMNT 1984-2009
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2001
- Messages
- 21,788
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 31
Let me tell you, after burning through about 4-5 episodes of WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN within about a week, nothing gave me more pleasure than hopping online and finding not one, but TWO episodes of SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN waiting for me. It isn't fair or even interesting to talk about another TV show while typing a review for this one, but c'mon; nearly every review is going to be a summary, a love-fest, maybe a minor nitpick and that's all. Every now and then I can break it up a little.
Honestly, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN is the T-Bone steak dinner with all the side dishes and desert to WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN's good value meal from a fast food joint. It's the Batman to W&TXM's Robin (and not even the BEST Robin). All the details, the nuances, the attention to characters and character development from episode to episode that is usually lacking in W&TXM, sacrificed for explosions, that I am told "doesn't matter" to anyone but a "biased" fan like me, that's all part and parcel of SS-M. In fact the only thing W&TXM has over SS-M at this point is better promotion and a related film coming rather soon; SPIDER-MAN 4 is in the pipeline, but 2011 is a long time off. I see W&TXM being promoted not just to kids, but to ALL X-Men fans via internet trailers and comic page ads, whereas SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN seems to be shooting for the strictly kids thing with a McDonald's Happy Meal tie-in. Honestly, I think that is a mistake. Yes, this show is intended for that perennial 8-13 year old audience, but it's of a quality where those older and even much older like me can happily enjoy it without having to shrug off something because "it's just for kids". Wiesman doesn't dummy down for kids or the network, and the best shows are made that way. More than just kids made the SPIDER-MAN franchise a multi-billion dollar one worldwide for Sony, and more than just kids should be courted, even if it is on DISNEY XD. Does anyone SERIOUSLY think those million or so viewers watching W&TXM on NickToons & Nick are ALL kids? Little kids like what the bigger kids like, and bigger kids what the teens like, and so on. I'd love to see Sony step up the promotion of Season 2 a bit here.
This episode, however, is probably the closest thing that SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, season 2 has to a "generic" episode. That isn't to say it is bad; compared with just about any episode of most shows, it blows it out of the water. It continues the storyline of the "gang war" between Silvermane, Big Man, and Dr. Octopus and provides the return of a villain absent all season, the Shocker. It just would be of about A- quality instead of the usual A or A+ that most episodes this season average. It's the 8 out of 10 instead of the 9 or 10 out of 10. As in not the best, but an essential cog and still damn good in itself.
Honestly this episode wasn't as manic or exciting as the last episode, but still pretty good; just not up to the awesome level of many others this season. It still is an essential episode in the ongoing serial storyline and was entertaining unto itself. The next episode completely blows it out of the water, though. The animation quality was pretty good, though, with some excellent swinging bits.
WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN? Who needs that? SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN still has a season to finish and things are looking brighter than ever.
Honestly, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN is the T-Bone steak dinner with all the side dishes and desert to WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN's good value meal from a fast food joint. It's the Batman to W&TXM's Robin (and not even the BEST Robin). All the details, the nuances, the attention to characters and character development from episode to episode that is usually lacking in W&TXM, sacrificed for explosions, that I am told "doesn't matter" to anyone but a "biased" fan like me, that's all part and parcel of SS-M. In fact the only thing W&TXM has over SS-M at this point is better promotion and a related film coming rather soon; SPIDER-MAN 4 is in the pipeline, but 2011 is a long time off. I see W&TXM being promoted not just to kids, but to ALL X-Men fans via internet trailers and comic page ads, whereas SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN seems to be shooting for the strictly kids thing with a McDonald's Happy Meal tie-in. Honestly, I think that is a mistake. Yes, this show is intended for that perennial 8-13 year old audience, but it's of a quality where those older and even much older like me can happily enjoy it without having to shrug off something because "it's just for kids". Wiesman doesn't dummy down for kids or the network, and the best shows are made that way. More than just kids made the SPIDER-MAN franchise a multi-billion dollar one worldwide for Sony, and more than just kids should be courted, even if it is on DISNEY XD. Does anyone SERIOUSLY think those million or so viewers watching W&TXM on NickToons & Nick are ALL kids? Little kids like what the bigger kids like, and bigger kids what the teens like, and so on. I'd love to see Sony step up the promotion of Season 2 a bit here.
This episode, however, is probably the closest thing that SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, season 2 has to a "generic" episode. That isn't to say it is bad; compared with just about any episode of most shows, it blows it out of the water. It continues the storyline of the "gang war" between Silvermane, Big Man, and Dr. Octopus and provides the return of a villain absent all season, the Shocker. It just would be of about A- quality instead of the usual A or A+ that most episodes this season average. It's the 8 out of 10 instead of the 9 or 10 out of 10. As in not the best, but an essential cog and still damn good in itself.
Some people have wondered or even complained why Shocker, who was a perennial member of the Sinister Six before and was among the first "super-thug" created by the alliance of Big Man and Osborn to occupy Spider-Man, was absent this season. Honestly I didn't mind; Shocker has been merged with Montana of the Enforcers and that means he has that Cowboy accent, which I guess makes him distinct as a voice, since he has a mask on most times, but overusing him would make him annoying. Even Johnny Numerous in TEEN TITANS who had that same schtick wasn't used that often. Fortunately, neither Shocker or his allies Fancy Dan and Ox are forgotten any longer. Jeff Bennet returns to voice the deadliest "ol' boy" who ever wore yellow checkered spandex. Learning of the strength of numbers and wanting to include his old comrades Dan (Phil LaMarr, who also voices Rand Robertson) and Ox has the Tinkerer (Thom Adcox) assemble specialty costumes for them. Dan gains a suit that absorbs and then repels kinetic energy and takes to calling himself "Ricochet". The Ox (played by Danny Trejo), clad in bulky armor, is a simple brute who thinks Ox is a good enough name, and that no mustache is too silly looking. The only problem is that their colors clash with Shocker's and ironically despite standing next to a guy in yellow & brown, their outfits look bland in comparison. They're not bad designs by Cheeks Galloway by any means; they just don't POP like some of his other villains. I do appreciate the attempt to not only bring back the Enforcers from the pilot episode, but move them all up to a par with their leader, Shocker, who "stepped up" to the super-powered club (or at least the super-gadget club). Being funded by the Big Man (the always reliable Kevin Michael Richardson), who is actually hiring the help personally and going around his go-between, Hammerhead (John DiMaggio), they are the New Enforcers.
Let's talk about the Enforcers, since it has been a while. Created by Lee & Ditko (the era this show adores), they were some of the earliest villains Spider-Man ever faced in the comics, around long before Green Goblin or Kraven or even Scorpion. More a bunch of skilled oddballs than real superhumans (although Ox's strength and durability was always kind of on the border of superhuman to me), fans either love them for their unique charms (a cowboy with a lasso, a midget fighting phenom, a hulking brute who isn't ashamed of Moe Howard's haircut), or consider them jobbers. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was the first show in my memory that animated the three of them and while I was partisan about ditching Herman Schultz to make Montana into Shocker, it has really worked for the show's continuity, allowed all three of them to be more than one shot flunkies. They're almost intentionally cheeky, although I could imagine a modern audience could see them as a bit of a Spidey version of an "Ocean's Three" if you will. Being some of the first worthy opponents Spider-Man faced in his SS-M career alongside the Vulture, Montana has naturally returned to menace Spidey and this time the whole squad is in for a rematch. I got a little tired of seeing Ricochet bounce all over the place to be honest, but they are a bit intentionally cheesy; at one point Dan exclaims, "Let's get FANCY!" like a catch phrase. That's either atrocious or awesome depending on your delivery, and let's just say LaMarr makes up for Gambit in this series. Personally I always had a soft spot for the Enforcers in the comics; they're oddballs who just keep coming back like a bad penny.
The ongoing "silent joke" of Hobie Brown never actually getting a chance to speak is almost becoming more and more obvious, as if trying to convince some viewers, "yes, this is intentional", which works in the long run. It worked for Maggie Simpson for ages, right? Hawkgirl in JL spent nearly two seasons before she took her mask off. Spider-Man/Peter Parker (star Josh Keaton, the new modern voice of Spider-Man who is rocking the house) is in one of his "big head" moods, y'know, where Spidey feels like his superhero and social life are as good as they can be and you almost know some strife is coming, because he's almost arrogant about it. No sooner does Spidey embrace his powers if only to escape being caught in a traffic jam and thus late for class, does he have to dive behind a dumpster and thus smell like garbage the rest of the day to avoid being spotted by Hobie. That's the ol' Lee/Ditko/Romita Sr. way, man. Ironically of course, Flash Thompson came very close to unmasking his own hero by tossing a wayward pass to Brown in another desperate attempt to impress Sha Shan (Kelly Hu), which doesn't work.
Flash Thompson is another character who has really gotten a lot of focus this season as opposed to last, along with Liz Allen (Alanna Ubach). Joshua LeBar brings a lot to the part and thankfully Wiesman remembers that Flash is more than a one punchline bully, when he very well could be written as by lessor teams. Humbled by his football injury, losing Liz to Peter's affections and now another girl who is disinterested in all his best jock powers, ol' Eugene has gotten a bit to chew this season to showcase the lunk has a good heart after all, just it's behind sacks of beefcake. The subplot with Harry Osborn (James Arnold Taylor) is also refreshed.
George Stacy, still running his high school criminology course to keep an eye on both his daughter Gwen (Lacey Chabert) and now Peter, picks this as "ride along" day where the students buddy up and ride on patrol as a class trip with two other cops for a run. This naturally leads to the episode teaser of Peter being stuck with the obnoxious cheerleader, Sally Avril (Grey Deliese), but it also results in other interesting character pairs, if only for a few lines each. Thompson gets to ride alongside Harry, potential cat-fighting with Liz and Gwen sharing Peter's heart, I mean a squad car, and MJ (Vanessa Marshall) getting to get some time with the guy she is "interested in but not in a deep, meaningful relationship DRAMA way" in, Mark Allen (Eric Lopez). Mark so far has been kind of a generic hunk with thankfully few Latino stereotype lines, but he has room to grow and is starting to get it. Besides, it is good that MJ at least has someone to be interested in besides helping Gwen with Peter.
Hammerhead is surprised that Big Man is hiring the Enforcers without him, but becomes concerned when Big Man brings up his failure last episode as well as with that heist that Sandman was supposed to fetch for him a few episodes back. Thinking that Hammerhead is no longer as useful, his boss is scaling his responsibilities back, which Hammerhead seems to know means his usefulness is starting to end (since he worked for an old boss, Silvermane, before). The New Enforcers begin their reunion by knocking over a bank, which attracts Spidey's attention. He is initially overwhelmed by Ricochet & Ox's new toys alongside Shocker (who was always a difficult opponent for Spidey), and the bad guys escape after leaving the web-slinger buried in some debris. As the episode moves on, George Stacy, who was naturally the one driving Sally and Peter along, almost helps Peter make excuses for things like being late, or ultimately when he has to depart for another go at being Spider-Man.
Clancy Brown has really brought Stacy to life alongside the writing, which is cool for an actor who is usually better known for the voices of bad guys like Luthor, Mr. Freeze, Mr. Sinister, and Rhino. The show uses musical cues and clever dialogue to strongly allude to the idea of Capt. Stacy being aware of who Spider-Man is and actively helping him in and out of costume, without outright spoon feeding it to all the "dumb kiddies" and telling them. At least not yet. It is a nice kind of mentor relationship that doesn't have any dark overtones to it like any sort of thing with Norman Osborn usually does. Thankfully for them, Sally is usually pretty dense so it never takes much lying to cover around her. Thompson gets in a good line at the bank robbery investigation and notes that he has a grudge against Harry for "going to Europe with Mommy" in the middle of the season and he even assigns blame for the injury on the lack of Harry being there. When Harry admits that he was drinking "Globuline Green" for his performances, that just adds a whole new level of pressure to the situation.
At first puzzled as to why the New Enforcers would escape into a dry cleaning store after a bank heist, it soon comes to pass that they were only stealing enough to sneak their way into a bigger score, a billion in gold bars. The trio sneak and battle past the guards before setting out on their robbery, with Big Man providing the underground monorail getaway train (for his cut, of course). Despite being injured in their last encounter (Peter is limping when he first meets with Sally & George, "crashing a bike" no one has ever seen him use), Spider-Man swings in to foil the whole scheme, with George backing up the crime-fighter with his fellow officers to allow him to better operate. It's akin to Gordon and Batman, only not quite as blatant. Meanwhile, MJ and Mark continue to bond, while Liz seems to try to set down firm limits with Gwen by commenting how "great" a couple she is with Harry. Without making Liz into a B****, they do iron out that she is more assertive than Gwen and was trying to make her dominance clear, which is hard enough for live action, much less a cartoon to pull off.
Spidey has his rematch with Shocker, Ox, and Ricochet and that means more having to hear that awkward bouncing sound effect of Dan's for another few minutes. It's not a bad showdown, but much more generic than many of the battles this show is known for. Compared to the average W&TXM action scene, though, it's studly. To their credit, while Spider-Man manages to derail the train and prevent them from a total score, the trio (with mangled suits) still might have gotten away with a few gold bars between them if not for Hammerhead making sure a few of their van's tires get pierced, resulting in their arrest. It was definitely a sign of Hammerhead moving past being a goon and into delusions of his own glory as he is known for being in the comics. A meeting he has trying to reforge ties between the Big Man and Norman Osborn defines that his days as a lackey may be numbered, and a power play is in order.
An interesting subplot of course is that an explosion from the battle seemingly causes Sally to believe that Peter was killed while ducking to take Bugle photos, only for her to actually be happy that Peter isn't dead. "I may think you're a geek, but I'm not a monster," basically. Nice to know even M-Cubed's most annoying cheerleader doesn't want to see "Stinky Pete" blown to bits.
The episode ends with officials putting Midtown High's championship trophy "under review" due to learning of Harry's "doping"; sorry kids, this isn't the major leagues where a few million and a hush between politicians, tax-collectors and corporations keeps cheating a semi-approved sin. Flash Thompson himself was the one who squealed, wanting to have won the championship fairly. While earning some scorn from Harry and his teammates, he finally managed to win Shan over, who was genuinely impressed. This, however, leads Harry to consider going back to the "green".
Let's talk about the Enforcers, since it has been a while. Created by Lee & Ditko (the era this show adores), they were some of the earliest villains Spider-Man ever faced in the comics, around long before Green Goblin or Kraven or even Scorpion. More a bunch of skilled oddballs than real superhumans (although Ox's strength and durability was always kind of on the border of superhuman to me), fans either love them for their unique charms (a cowboy with a lasso, a midget fighting phenom, a hulking brute who isn't ashamed of Moe Howard's haircut), or consider them jobbers. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was the first show in my memory that animated the three of them and while I was partisan about ditching Herman Schultz to make Montana into Shocker, it has really worked for the show's continuity, allowed all three of them to be more than one shot flunkies. They're almost intentionally cheeky, although I could imagine a modern audience could see them as a bit of a Spidey version of an "Ocean's Three" if you will. Being some of the first worthy opponents Spider-Man faced in his SS-M career alongside the Vulture, Montana has naturally returned to menace Spidey and this time the whole squad is in for a rematch. I got a little tired of seeing Ricochet bounce all over the place to be honest, but they are a bit intentionally cheesy; at one point Dan exclaims, "Let's get FANCY!" like a catch phrase. That's either atrocious or awesome depending on your delivery, and let's just say LaMarr makes up for Gambit in this series. Personally I always had a soft spot for the Enforcers in the comics; they're oddballs who just keep coming back like a bad penny.
The ongoing "silent joke" of Hobie Brown never actually getting a chance to speak is almost becoming more and more obvious, as if trying to convince some viewers, "yes, this is intentional", which works in the long run. It worked for Maggie Simpson for ages, right? Hawkgirl in JL spent nearly two seasons before she took her mask off. Spider-Man/Peter Parker (star Josh Keaton, the new modern voice of Spider-Man who is rocking the house) is in one of his "big head" moods, y'know, where Spidey feels like his superhero and social life are as good as they can be and you almost know some strife is coming, because he's almost arrogant about it. No sooner does Spidey embrace his powers if only to escape being caught in a traffic jam and thus late for class, does he have to dive behind a dumpster and thus smell like garbage the rest of the day to avoid being spotted by Hobie. That's the ol' Lee/Ditko/Romita Sr. way, man. Ironically of course, Flash Thompson came very close to unmasking his own hero by tossing a wayward pass to Brown in another desperate attempt to impress Sha Shan (Kelly Hu), which doesn't work.
Flash Thompson is another character who has really gotten a lot of focus this season as opposed to last, along with Liz Allen (Alanna Ubach). Joshua LeBar brings a lot to the part and thankfully Wiesman remembers that Flash is more than a one punchline bully, when he very well could be written as by lessor teams. Humbled by his football injury, losing Liz to Peter's affections and now another girl who is disinterested in all his best jock powers, ol' Eugene has gotten a bit to chew this season to showcase the lunk has a good heart after all, just it's behind sacks of beefcake. The subplot with Harry Osborn (James Arnold Taylor) is also refreshed.
George Stacy, still running his high school criminology course to keep an eye on both his daughter Gwen (Lacey Chabert) and now Peter, picks this as "ride along" day where the students buddy up and ride on patrol as a class trip with two other cops for a run. This naturally leads to the episode teaser of Peter being stuck with the obnoxious cheerleader, Sally Avril (Grey Deliese), but it also results in other interesting character pairs, if only for a few lines each. Thompson gets to ride alongside Harry, potential cat-fighting with Liz and Gwen sharing Peter's heart, I mean a squad car, and MJ (Vanessa Marshall) getting to get some time with the guy she is "interested in but not in a deep, meaningful relationship DRAMA way" in, Mark Allen (Eric Lopez). Mark so far has been kind of a generic hunk with thankfully few Latino stereotype lines, but he has room to grow and is starting to get it. Besides, it is good that MJ at least has someone to be interested in besides helping Gwen with Peter.
Hammerhead is surprised that Big Man is hiring the Enforcers without him, but becomes concerned when Big Man brings up his failure last episode as well as with that heist that Sandman was supposed to fetch for him a few episodes back. Thinking that Hammerhead is no longer as useful, his boss is scaling his responsibilities back, which Hammerhead seems to know means his usefulness is starting to end (since he worked for an old boss, Silvermane, before). The New Enforcers begin their reunion by knocking over a bank, which attracts Spidey's attention. He is initially overwhelmed by Ricochet & Ox's new toys alongside Shocker (who was always a difficult opponent for Spidey), and the bad guys escape after leaving the web-slinger buried in some debris. As the episode moves on, George Stacy, who was naturally the one driving Sally and Peter along, almost helps Peter make excuses for things like being late, or ultimately when he has to depart for another go at being Spider-Man.
Clancy Brown has really brought Stacy to life alongside the writing, which is cool for an actor who is usually better known for the voices of bad guys like Luthor, Mr. Freeze, Mr. Sinister, and Rhino. The show uses musical cues and clever dialogue to strongly allude to the idea of Capt. Stacy being aware of who Spider-Man is and actively helping him in and out of costume, without outright spoon feeding it to all the "dumb kiddies" and telling them. At least not yet. It is a nice kind of mentor relationship that doesn't have any dark overtones to it like any sort of thing with Norman Osborn usually does. Thankfully for them, Sally is usually pretty dense so it never takes much lying to cover around her. Thompson gets in a good line at the bank robbery investigation and notes that he has a grudge against Harry for "going to Europe with Mommy" in the middle of the season and he even assigns blame for the injury on the lack of Harry being there. When Harry admits that he was drinking "Globuline Green" for his performances, that just adds a whole new level of pressure to the situation.
At first puzzled as to why the New Enforcers would escape into a dry cleaning store after a bank heist, it soon comes to pass that they were only stealing enough to sneak their way into a bigger score, a billion in gold bars. The trio sneak and battle past the guards before setting out on their robbery, with Big Man providing the underground monorail getaway train (for his cut, of course). Despite being injured in their last encounter (Peter is limping when he first meets with Sally & George, "crashing a bike" no one has ever seen him use), Spider-Man swings in to foil the whole scheme, with George backing up the crime-fighter with his fellow officers to allow him to better operate. It's akin to Gordon and Batman, only not quite as blatant. Meanwhile, MJ and Mark continue to bond, while Liz seems to try to set down firm limits with Gwen by commenting how "great" a couple she is with Harry. Without making Liz into a B****, they do iron out that she is more assertive than Gwen and was trying to make her dominance clear, which is hard enough for live action, much less a cartoon to pull off.
Spidey has his rematch with Shocker, Ox, and Ricochet and that means more having to hear that awkward bouncing sound effect of Dan's for another few minutes. It's not a bad showdown, but much more generic than many of the battles this show is known for. Compared to the average W&TXM action scene, though, it's studly. To their credit, while Spider-Man manages to derail the train and prevent them from a total score, the trio (with mangled suits) still might have gotten away with a few gold bars between them if not for Hammerhead making sure a few of their van's tires get pierced, resulting in their arrest. It was definitely a sign of Hammerhead moving past being a goon and into delusions of his own glory as he is known for being in the comics. A meeting he has trying to reforge ties between the Big Man and Norman Osborn defines that his days as a lackey may be numbered, and a power play is in order.
An interesting subplot of course is that an explosion from the battle seemingly causes Sally to believe that Peter was killed while ducking to take Bugle photos, only for her to actually be happy that Peter isn't dead. "I may think you're a geek, but I'm not a monster," basically. Nice to know even M-Cubed's most annoying cheerleader doesn't want to see "Stinky Pete" blown to bits.
The episode ends with officials putting Midtown High's championship trophy "under review" due to learning of Harry's "doping"; sorry kids, this isn't the major leagues where a few million and a hush between politicians, tax-collectors and corporations keeps cheating a semi-approved sin. Flash Thompson himself was the one who squealed, wanting to have won the championship fairly. While earning some scorn from Harry and his teammates, he finally managed to win Shan over, who was genuinely impressed. This, however, leads Harry to consider going back to the "green".
Honestly this episode wasn't as manic or exciting as the last episode, but still pretty good; just not up to the awesome level of many others this season. It still is an essential episode in the ongoing serial storyline and was entertaining unto itself. The next episode completely blows it out of the water, though. The animation quality was pretty good, though, with some excellent swinging bits.
WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN? Who needs that? SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN still has a season to finish and things are looking brighter than ever.
