Greg Bishansky writes...

Just a few comments. I'm sure we'll discuss it in more detail soon.

Okay, first two episodes were pretty damn good.

- Loved Keith David as the unseen Big Man.
- Spidey's quips were funny, and as Pete he was very geeky and awkward, which was cool.
- I am really liking Gwen Stacy here, she's like a spunky version of Willow when she was in High School.
- On that note, you can tell that Greg is a Joss Whedon fan, but in a way, this had a bit of a Buffy feel, especially in the High School scenes.
- I liked Vulture a lot. The re-design was great. Loved hearing Freddy Kruger's voice come out of him.
- Electro was both an imposing an sympathetic villain. Crispin Freeman did a great job with that voice.
- Eddie Brock was great... I never thought I'd ever say that, but I like this Eddie. Giving him a connection to Peter is a brilliant move, which will make things all the more tragic when he becomes Venom.
- Cameos, cameos, cameos. Flint Marko and the Rhino as criminals before they become supervillains.
- Nice foreshadowing for the Lizard. I like how the villains are interconnected. Works better than random radiation accidents.
- And Gargoyles fan service. Goliath, Hudson and Broadway statues... Broadway shattered in the fight with Vulture.
- Norman Osborn is perfect in this series. He was a ruthless businessman. Unscrupulous, amoral and a bully. His one scene with Harry said all we needed to know about what kind of father he is, and how disappointed he is in his son. I love how Harry calls him "Sir."

I also loved how Vulture didn't even manage to faze him. He is being held hundreds of feet up in the air, and dropped, and he still insults him. Yes, this is the Norman Osborn I always read in comics. Much better than the 90s version who was reduced to being the Kingpin's whiny victim, and who wasn't a bad guy before he got powers.

Algernon writes...

My Thoughts on The Spectacular Spider-Man

Wow, I am truly gobsmacked by these first two episodes. I'm particularly impressed by how many figures of Spidey-lore you have managed to squeeze in here. From big names like Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy to the insanely obscure ones like Sally Avril and Stan Carter. Most comic-based shows don't intro this many familiar faces in a whole season, this show does it in the pilot. Pretty much every single character with a speaking role is lifted directly from the comic page. But on to the episodes themselves...

Survival of The Fittest

A whole lot going on in this ep, Vulture's vendetta against Osborn, Foswell and the Enforcers cracking down on Spidey plus a whole lot of pipe laying for future story lines. It really is a great running start for the series, hope you keep up the momentum.

Interactions
Another episode bursting at the seems, lots of different plot lines interweaving. Seriously I'm amazed these episodes are only 22 minutes long. Electro's never been a fave of mine but I like what you did with him here.

Random Thoughts

*Keith David's Big Man is the standout for me. I especially dig the unseen ominous voice angle, Kingpin, shmingpin I Say.

*It seems your going the Ultimate route with Eddie Brock's character development. Not my favorite incarnation of Brock but it'll be interesting seeing where you go with it.

*I'm pretty sure this is the first time Sandman's been animated since the eighties.

*Who does the voice of Norman Osborn? It kinda sounds like Kelsey Grammer

Great work so far, keep it up.

Jordan writes...

Hey Greg,

I caught the spider-man premire and I have to say it was one of the best saturday mornings I've had in years. Congrats to you and your crew.

In the time between Gargoyles and Spider-man, how would say the overall process of creating an animated show has changed, for better or worse?

chuck logan writes...

Saw the new Spider-Man series and I have some quick questions:
1. Why does Doc conners have a robot arm?
If he has a perfectly fuctioning macanical arm, that may work better then a real one, why is he in such a hurry to grow a new arm? With this macanical arm (unlike in the comics) his life and ability to function is not hindered like it would be without it. The machanical arm deflates his motivation and the urgency to experiment on himself. I understand his wanting a flesh and bone arm but with a wife and child and a perfecly good maybe better robo arm his motives come across purely selfish and even more unnessisary.

2. Why do all the characters have eyes like the children in those old marionette/claymation christmas specials? This is especilly distrubing on Peter Parker.
3. Why introduse eddie brock so eairly in the series and not marry jane? Both these characters came much later in spider-man's life.
Mary Jane The Amazing Spider-Man #42 November 1966 (full apperence) \
Eddie Brock Web of Spider-Man #18 (Sept. 1986 Venom)

4. There are a couple other things that bug me, those are the big ones. Aginst my better judgment I actully like the new look of Vulture and Electro. My only problem with Electro is he is basicly a mutent. I would like it better if he uesed the suite to as a means of power not a way of containing it. This way he can lead an outwordly norm life and look like any rondom guy on the street until it is time to strike. At the end of the episode electro shattered his helmet. I hope he dosen't get another one he lookes cooler without it.

The animation on Spider-man during the action sequeces is great.
Thank You, Thank, You Thank You for giving Peter Parker/Spider-Man web shooters.
Is it true Kingpin will not appear in this show?

Todd Jensen writes...

I saw the first two episodes of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" this morning, and enjoyed them. I immediately spotted a few of the elements that people have commented on here before me: the stone gargoyles in the first episode (knowing that you'd written that one, I wasn't at all surprised that they showed up), Keith David being cast as the mysterious boss determined to get rid of Spider-Man, and the way that Electro's accident evoked "Metamorphosis".

I'm looking forward to seeing the others - and I'm pleased that it's easy to follow for someone who (like me) has only a general familiarity with Spider-Man (though I got a few of the allusions, such as to Uncle Ben's death and the significance of lizards in Dr. Connors' lab). Congratulations.

Demonskrye writes...

I'm really glad we're able to give you our feedback on "Spectacular Spider-Man". My husband and I watched it this morning. We're big Spidey fans - the kind with all the Essential volumes on a easily accessible bookshelf - so I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that we both loved it. The "Cheeks" designs look great in animation and I'd even say this series looks better than any previous animated incarnation of Spider-Man. My husband got a kick out of seeing the Enforcers and we both really liked the takes on Liz Allen, Gwen Stacy, and Eddie Brock. Great buildup to the upcoming Lizard episode and nice subtle tease of the Sandman too. I was also impressed that we're two episodes in and there's no direct reference to Spidey's origin. I think by now it's fair to assume most viewers know what happened. I'm sure I won't be the first person to comment on the cameo by Hudson and a couple of Broadways (or was the other one Hollywood?)), but it was really fun.

So since I feel like I should ask a question, do I recall correctly that you mentioned reading "Untold Tales of Spider-Man" in a previous interview about the show? It's one of our favorite Spider-Man comics and we'd both be thrilled to see some aspects of it make their way into the show.

I know the show has been a lot of hard work for you and likely everyone else involved, but it looks like you're having a lot of fun too. Keep up the great work; it's paying off big time.

KingCobra_582 writes...

**SPOILERS**

Weeks of waiting, and it's finally here. Video-taped "The Spectacular Spider-man" this morning on Kids WB! (the only reason I would ever watch that channel) and thought I'd leave my two cents.

It has a lot of nice touches to it. Loved the brief, but still informative info on the characters. Peter's infamous spider-bite, etc. I figured the entire first episode would've been devoted to it, instead of a little scene. Nice to be proven wrong, for once.

Of course, I loved the little nods to 'Gargoyles'.

Recognized Robert Englund right off (having been watching Fred Kruger movies since I was 7 or 8, not to mention his other horror films over the years, how could I not?) and thought he was just spot-on as Vulture. Vulture is now on my growing list of favorite Spider-man characters, thanks to Robert's performance and your writing. I don't know much about the character in the comics, but in the series, I think you did Vulture justice. Hope I get to see him again!

Electro. Another great villain, and another character that I could get used to. Gotta feel sorry for the guy, thrown into a situation that he didn't ask for nor could do anything about. I am curious, though. Why, when Dr. Connors said he needed more time for a cure, did Electro rage "I don't have time!"? Was he dying? Did he have something that's now impossible to do? Or was he just being impatient? Curious...

Captivating show, Greg. Definitely can't wait for next week's episode.

Never used to be a Spiderman fan, but then the movies came out, which (Not as much on part 3, though I still liked it) made me like it a little. Now we have this show, and now I just want to start reading the comics. I think I'm on the path to full fledged-spidey geek.

Thanks for that. :)

Jess writes...

Hey Greg! Just watched the premeire episodes of Spectacular Spider-Man, and I loved them! The scripts were tight as usual. I thought the way you used voice-overs for Peter was perfect. It didn't feel gimicky at all, and gave a lot of insight into Peter's thoughts. My favorite moment is during the fight with the Vulture, where Spidey's quipping away and then all of a sudden we hear "I can't let Harry lose his dad the way I lost Uncle Ben." Beautifully understated and very powerful.

The animation style took a little time to adjust too, but it grew on me, and IMO felt very fluid. Also, I noticed the Gargoyles that showed up during the opening shot and at the end of the first episode. Nice shout out.

I'll also add that the cast is very strong. Was it just me, or was Keith "Goliath" David the mysterious man on the phone?
I'm amused at find out that Josh Keaton and James Arnold Taylor have played each other's characters in various videogames, but both were great at the parts they won in the series.I was also very very happy to hear Crispin Freeman as Electro. I'm something of a fan, espicially since I just finished The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

I can't wait 'til next week!