World The Definitive Spider-Man Cartoon

[Mike Murdock]

I think there's a debate about which cartoon was the best Spider-Man cartoon and, with news of a new animated movie, I thought it was a good time for a topic about it. Typically, the debate centers around two shows, but I've included all of them for completeness. As a child of the 90s, when I think of Spider-Man, I think of 1994's Spider-Man series. To me, it has all the classic stories, mature themes, great voice acting from Christopher Daniel Barnes as Peter Parker. It uses Kingpin effectively as a villain and even does a really good job with Venom. But, from a lot of comments around here, it seems that many people like Spectacular Spider-Man better.

So here's a poll. The choices are:

Spider-Man (1967) - Famous for introducing Spider-Man's iconic theme song.
Spider-Man (1981)
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends - A different take that introduced more characters
Spider-Man (1994) - The longest-running Spider-Man series
Spider-Man Unlimited - A very different take with a very different costume
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series - A followup to Raimi's Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man - Sony's take on a High School age Peter Parker
Ultimate Spider-Man - The most recent version of Spider-Man. I like it when Deadpool appears at least

 

[zeptron]

Isn't Ultimate Spider-man now the longest running Spidey series? I think that now has over 70 episodes.

Anyway I think both Spider-man TAS and Spectacular excel in different areas. TAS pretty much introduced me to the majority of Spidey's world. Kingpin was a pretty effective villain.(though a bit overused) Hobgoblin was pretty good. Animation in episodes like Night Of The Lizard was great. There's some real quality episodes in there. Especially from the first three seasons. And it actually has my favorite version of Black Cat. Can't go wrong with Jennifer Hale.

Spectacular was pretty much the creators attempt for us to see Peter grow up rather than already have him as adult. It included Gwen Stacy as a main character for the first time. Flash developed into a person. Hell just about every character was so well developed that Peter didn't need a be around for there to be a story. In a mere two seasons it did classic Doc Ock stories from the comics such as the Sinister Six, The Master Planner and the Gang War. I also really liked Eddie/Venom in this. His story pretty much rivaled Two-Face's in Batman TAS. Another thing I liked Sandman's partnership with Rhino. Not only do they display the comical dumb and dumber routine as partners, but they also displayed some side of goodness in them and I think that it appeals to people when the villain does something good.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

What defines definitive?

Spectacular did a great job defining Peter learning, his supporting cast, and his villains.

90s Spider-Man did a great job showing Spidey, unfortunately they were accurate even in displaying how he falls in battle fast in Marvel Team-Up, which is something I hate about plenty of issues in that title, and I hated in this show, he needed the help of the guest star.

The 80s shows did the best job defining the more mature character of Peter Parker, his side as Spider-Man, and most of his personal life.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Isn't Ultimate Spider-man now the longest running Spidey series? I think that now has over 70 episodes.

Well, I guess I was going by seasons rather than episodes.

And it actually has my favorite version of Black Cat. Can't go wrong with Jennifer Hale.

I loved the Black Cat in the show. I was sad when she more or less disappeared.

It included Gwen Stacy as a main character for the first time. Flash developed into a person.

Yeah, this is the thing that intrigues me most about Spectacular. It was an attempt to reach back to the beginning and not just assume there was only Mary Jane (they even squeezed Betty Brant into the mix).

What defines definitive?

However you define it. I know that's a cop out, but it's a subjective measure. If there was only one Spider-Man cartoon you could point to, what would you point to?

 

[spiderman2]

Isn't Ultimate Spider-man now the longest running Spidey series? I think that now has over 70 episodes.

Anyway I think both Spider-man TAS and Spectacular excel in different areas. TAS pretty much introduced me to the majority of Spidey's world. Kingpin was a pretty effective villain.(though a bit overused) Hobgoblin was pretty good. Animation in episodes like Night Of The Lizard was great. There's some real quality episodes in there. Especially from the first three seasons. And it actually has my favorite version of Black Cat. Can't go wrong with Jennifer Hale.

Spectacular was pretty much the creators attempt for us to see Peter grow up rather than already have him as adult. It included Gwen Stacy as a main character for the first time. Flash developed into a person. Hell just about every character was so well developed that Peter didn't need a be around for there to be a story. In a mere two seasons it did classic Doc Ock stories from the comics such as the Sinister Six, The Master Planner and the Gang War. I also really liked Eddie/Venom in this. His story pretty much rivaled Two-Face's in Batman TAS. Another thing I liked Sandman's partnership with Rhino. Not only do they display the comical dumb and dumber routine as partners, but they also displayed some side of goodness in them and I think that it appeals to people when the villain does something good.

Man that is depressing the worst spider man show ultimate now as the most episodes lol

 

[zeptron]

Yeah, some people like to use the length of a show's run to determine it's overall quality. This right here should show otherwise. I mean there are plenty of good shows that shined briefly and had good ratings and good reviews, but got cancelled after it's first or second season for some other reason. Whereas some inferior shows tend to drag on.

If people determine a show's quality by how long it lasts, then by that logic that would make Firefly one of the worst shows ever.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

Man that is depressing the worst spider man show ultimate now as the most episodes lol

THAT'S the truth... it just goes to show that there's more bad taste in the world, then there is good, in regards to people's viewing...

and as long as the PTB keep on dishing up this s**t on the viewing public's TV plate, there will always be viewers out there clutching a fork and spoon tightly, ready to happily eat it up and go... "mmmmmmm, goooood"...

 

[ernesth100]

Spectacular without a doubt. It had the perfect...everything. The perfect amount of comedy and not too overboard like Ultimate(which mind you I am a fan of). But also the perfect amount of action and drama and not the extreme censorship of the 90's series(which I am also a fan of).